Ontario to support opposition bill to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic

Ontario says it will support an opposition bill to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic in the province.

Government House Leader Paul Calandra says his party will ask the justice committee to thoroughly examine intimate partner violence and return with recommendations.

The New Democrats have tabled a bill that simply declares intimate partner violence an epidemic.

Calandra says more needs to be done on the issue to help victims, who are disproportionately women.

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.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2024.

READ MORE: Ontario won’t declare intimate partner violence an epidemic after inquest