PC Resolution Defends Rights of Manitoba Homeowners to Use Force in Home Invasions
WINNIPEG — In the wake of a recent violent Winnipeg home invasion of an elderly couple, Progressive Conservatives are calling on the federal government to amend the Criminal Code to clearly establish that a person is justified to use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect themselves and their family from a home invasion.
In September, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s were attacked in their Garden City home by a repeat violent offender. In October, a home-based jeweler and his father were shot several times during an armed robbery in the Maples.
“This resolution calls on Ottawa to provide better protections to homeowners who are defending their lives, the lives of their loved ones, and their property,” said Borderland MLA Josh Guenter, who introduced the resolution. “Self-defense exists as a defense at trial—you have to be charged by police first, before you can defend yourself in court. That takes a heavy financial and emotional toll on people who were only trying to protect their loved ones from potentially deadly criminal activity.”
Inspired by ‘castle law’, the resolution follows other recent incidents in Canada where homeowners faced serious criminal charges after defending themselves and their families from armed intruders. In August, a Lindsay, Ontario man confronted an intruder in his home brandishing a crossbow. The man grabbed a knife and a fight broke out, wherein the intruder was seriously injured and the resident charged with aggravated assault. In 2023, a Milton, Ontario man was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after using his legal firearm to fatally shoot an armed home invader. The homeowner spent nine days in jail before being released. The charges were dropped five months later.
“Homeowners should be able to use force—including deadly force—to repel home invaders trying to break into their homes and harm their loved ones,” said Guenter. “I’m disappointed but not surprised that Wab Kinew and his NDP would not support our Progressive Conservative resolution. The NDP’s soft-on-crime, catch-and-release bail policies are what got us here today, where crime has become an epidemic in Manitoba.”
The NDP did not support the PC resolution Thursday. Guenter vows to continue pressing Wab Kinew to live up to his 2023 promise of reforming the bail system within his first 100 days to prevent repeat violent offenders from victimizing more Manitobans.
-30-
For media inquiries, please contact PCCaucus_Media@leg.gov.mb.ca