The Ford government is facing fresh calls to immediately declare intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario but insists it will not “rush” the process, despite committing to the declaration earlier in the year.
On Monday, politicians on both sides of the aisle at Queen’s Park stood for a moment of silence to honour the victims of intimate partner violence, with many also wearing purple to acknowledge the lives lost.
The appearance of unity ended there, however, as the Ontario NDP sought government support to immediately declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.
Tempers flared and, at the end of question period, both Housing Minister Paul Calandra and NDP MPP Jill Andrews were ordered to leave the chamber after a shouting match following another question about intimate partner violence.
Asked why the government was so reluctant to fast-track the NDP’s request to declare an epidemic — an action that would not immediately come at any cost to the government — so that other supports could be put in place.
“I don’t want to rush something like this,” Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity Charmaine Williams told reporters.
“I’ve worked in this sector for 20 years. We know that there are things we can be doing and we’re government, (so) we need to be thinking upstream, I want to address those root causes.”
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Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said all the research required has already been done, accusing the government of stalling to avoid the potential costs of following through.
“(They have) a coroner’s inquest that said explicitly the first step and the most important step is declaring intimidate partner violence an epidemic,” Stiles said.
“Government knows exactly what needs to happen, they have the road map already, they’re just spinning their wheels, and it’s really offensive to, I will say, to many people out there.”
On Monday, Premier Doug Ford also weighed in on the issue.
“We’re 100 per cent behind making sure there’s zero violence against women,” he said.
“I have four daughters, anyone ever touched my daughters, it would be the worst days of their lives. That’s for anyone out there, it’s unacceptable, I have zero tolerance for any sort of violence against women or anyone.”
Earlier this year, the government had indicated it would finally agree to support the NDP’s request to declare the epidemic. Shortly after, the government sent the bill to a committee to study it, rather than making the declaration.
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“There’s a bill before committee — the government can move on that bill or put their own bill forward,” Ontario Liberal MPP John Fraser.
“And it’s not good enough for me to say, or my colleagues to say, ‘I’ve got a daughter,’ or for the premier to say, ‘I’ve got four daughters.’ What we need is action and what I wish is that the government had the same sense of urgency for intimate partner violence that it does for bike lanes or for booze. Pretty crazy when you think about that.”
Last year, the province rejected calls from an inquest into the deaths of three women at the hands of their former partner to formally declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.
The jury at a coroner’s inquest into the 2015 deaths of Nathalie Warmerdam, Carol Culleton and Anastasia Kuzyk in Renfrew County recommended declaring the epidemic.
Last year, the province said at the time it would not declare intimate partner violence an epidemic because it was not an infectious or communicable disease.
But on Monday, Williams said simply declaring the epidemic wouldn’t be enough, pointing to several towns and cities around Ontario that have done so.
“We’ve heard many municipalities declare IPV an epidemic. (They) went to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, they had a huge conference and asked, ‘What’s next?’”
Stiles charged that is because Ontario needs to step forward — and offer leadership and funding on the issue.
“He is not just a father, he is the premier of this province. He has a responsibility to everybody in this province,” Stiles said.
“And today, under his government, he had an opportunity to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic. The reason they will not do this is very simple: they do not want to commit the resources to actually addressing the issue.”
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