Ontario reverses course on NDP bill
Ford government will support opposition bid to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic The move came after the New Democrats tabled a bill that simply declares intimate partner violence an epidemic
Ontario will support an opposition bill to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic in the province, Government House Leader Paul Calandra said Wednesday, reversing an earlier rejection of the idea.
Calandra said the Progressive Conservative government will ask the justice committee to thoroughly examine intimate partner violence and return with recommendations.
The move came after the New Democrats tabled a bill that simply declares intimate partner violence an epidemic.
The private member’s bill was set for second reading Wednesday night, but could easily be defeated by the majority Progressive Conservative government.
But that bill will not be defeated, Calandra said in response to Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles’ question in the legislature about whether the bill would be supported.
“Indeed, the government and this caucus will be supporting the private member’s bill that comes before the House later today,” Calandra said.
“In fact, we will be going a step further, Mr. Speaker ... the premier has asked that we seek the advice of the standing committee on justice to do an in-depth study on all of the aspects, with respect to intimate partner violence, both the current programs that are available, some of the root causes of it, and how we can do better in the province of Ontario.”
Last June, 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 made that recommendation one year ago Wednesday, along with 85 others aimed at preventing similar tragedies.
The province said at the time it would not declare intimate partner violence an epidemic because it was not an infectious or communicable disease.
The government’s change in position surprised Stiles.
“There’s not many days when we do something like that,” she said to the legislature. “So I want to thank the government for agreeing today.”
Stiles then pushed the government to go beyond a simple declaration.
“This is an emergency, it’s a crisis,” Stiles said. “Fifty-eight women were killed in intimate partner violence last year.”