Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has agreed to support a bill from the opposition New Democrats that declares intimate partner violence an epidemic in the province, almost a year after Premier Doug Ford rejected such a move.
The support means the bill is set to head to a legislative committee for study, but advocates and opposition members say the government should pass it into law immediately.
The declaration of an epidemic was the first recommendation from a coroner’s inquest two years ago that examined the deaths of three women murdered by a mutual ex-partner in rural Renfrew, an hour west of Ottawa, in 2015.
In response to that recommendation, the Ontario government argued the term epidemic is reserved for the spread of an infectious or communicable disease, not violence against women – a decision condemned by anti-violence advocacy groups. Mr. Ford instead blamed the federal government for what he deemed was the failure of the justice system, specifically allowing perpetrators of violence to obtain bail too easily.
Amplify: Why we must declare intimate partner violence an epidemic
The Ontario NDP’s Bill 173 would declare intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario – a move already made by 94 municipalities in the province. Supporters of the bill said it is an important step in making systemic changes to address the urgency of the problem, including increasing public awareness and putting pressure on governments for additional funding in areas such as transitional housing for women and others fleeing violence.
Government House Leader Paul Calandra said during Question Period that the PC party would be supporting the bill hours before it was debated and passed at second reading in the Ontario legislature Wednesday evening.
Mr. Calandra said the Premier has asked the justice committee to do an “in-depth study” on all aspects related to intimate partner violence, including the programs available, root causes and solutions.
“This is a very, very and I will say a very sincere attempt to work together, and bring the ministers forward, bring the service providers forward, hear from victims and see where we can close gaps,” Mr. Calandra told reporters.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Wednesday she was surprised the government agreed to support the bill, seeing as the recommendations from the inquest have been public for two years. She urged the government to pass the bill immediately, and not send it to committee for further review. Ms. Stiles also cast doubt on the government’s motives, saying sometimes it sends bills to committee to delay or kill them.
“Enough talk. This is retraumatizing victims. We’ve had report, after report, after report. We know what’s happening out there. And believe me, the government knows perfectly well that they are underfunding the supports,” she told reporters at Queen’s Park.
“I find it frankly quite insulting to all of those folks who have spent so many years fighting for this.”
Ottawa-area Liberal MPP Stephen Blais said the government has in the past supported opposition private member’s bills only to let them sit idle. He cited his own legislation to address harassment by municipal politicians, which the government said it would take up, but has yet to do so.
“Unfortunately with this government too often, their words and their actions just don’t line up, so I hope this is not simply the government ragging the puck to try to look good for doing the right thing,” he said.
Opinion: Intimate partner violence is not a women’s issue
Declaring an epidemic was the first of 86 action items put forward by the coroner’s jury in June, 2022, after an inquest into the murders of Carol Culleton, Nathalie Warmerdam and Anastasia Kuzyk in Renfrew County. The three women were killed at their homes during a shooting rampage across the Ottawa Valley on Sept. 22, 2015.
The inquest heard that the killer, Basil Borutski, had a long history of violence against women. He had been deemed high-risk in multiple assessments, was well known to local police and was on probation at the time of the murders. Despite that, he flouted court orders without consequence, continuing to own weapons and skipping the group counselling program he was mandated to attend. He was ultimately convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder.
A woman is killed by a current or former intimate partner every six days in the country, according to Statistics Canada. Including attempted murders, that stat becomes one almost every other day.
The coroner’s jury’s recommendations also included better funding for intimate partner violence resources; enhanced education in schools and continued training for law-enforcement personnel; and the exploration of justice-system reforms.
The government accepted – in full or in part – the majority of the recommendations, but rejected several, including an independent intimate partner violence commission, the appointment of a survivor advocate and the creation of a committee to ensure the inquest’s recommendations are implemented.
Fartumo Kusow, whose daughter Sahra Bulle was slain in 2023, said Wednesday her daughter suffered 18 years of abuse because she was ashamed to talk about it. Ms. Bulle’s ex-partner has been charged with first-degree murder. Speaking at Queen’s Park on Wednesday, Ms. Kusow said declaring an epidemic earlier would have shown her daughter that the government is taking the issue seriously.
“If the Ontario government wants to show me that it cares about me, it cares about my daughter, and all the other daughters around that are struggling with this, they would pass this bill into a law today,” she said.
With reports from The Canadian Press and Jeff Gray
Laura Stone