The Warden of Renfrew County is not impressed by the provincial government’s use of semantics to get out of making a serious proclamation.
Peter Emon says that the province will not declare intimate partner violence an epidemic, a major recommendation from last year’s inquest into the 2015 murders of three local women by a former partner.
Their reasoning is that intimate partner violence is not a communicable or infectious disease, an answer Emon suggests won’t win over County Council when they get the next chance to gather.
Emon calls the move disappointing considering how important and symbolic calling intimate partner violence an epidemic would be for survivors and the families of victims.
The inquest and its recommendations will most likely be in the public conversation for some time, and Emon says he’ll be pressing the matter with his counterparts at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and provincial ministers when he gets the chance.
Emon does credit Ontario for adopting around 30 of the 85 recommendations so far, but says their excuse here is not a “responsible response” to the issue.
(written by Kasey Egan)
