Community News Update - January 10, 2025
Special Community News Update - Intimate Partner Violence Study Phase 3
Dear community,
Intimate partner violence is an epidemic in Ontario. Survivors and their families know this. I've given Doug Ford countless opportunities to pass Bill 173, finally declare it epidemic, and join the hundreds of municipalities across that province that have already done so. Yet time and time again, Doug Ford and his politicians decline our calls, and have instead chosen to go forward with a lengthy study to determine what we have already known for years.
Ford's inaction is sickening. I was kicked out of the legislature by this government back in November for calling Ford out on his failure to address Intimate Partner Violence, one of the many times I've called him out on his inaction. By declaring it an epidemic today, they would unlock the resources needed to address the crisis and treat it with the gravity it deserves. Survivors deserve better.
You can watch me call out Ford and his politicians at Queen's Park here.
Sadly, with Ford's majority government, we are bound by the process that they have set out. The Intimate Partner Violence Study is now in Phase 3 and is accepting registered speakers who have directly experienced intimate partner violence.
Community, I know that further deputations shouldn't be needed for this government to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic. From the very start, we've known this study is unnecessary and will only serve to discover what survivors, service providers, and subject area experts have already known and have been calling for for years.
If you would like to participate in the government's third phase of the Intimate Partner Violence Study, you can submit your interest to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy Committee Clerk by emailing [email protected] by no later than January 10th at 12 PM. Participants can include survivors or their families.
The presentations will be held online or at Queen's Park and they will be confidential and "in camera". There will be counsellors provided by the Legislative Assembly on standby to support individuals sharing their story. The Standing Committee on Justice Policy Committee Clerk will provide additional information directly to each witness to better prepare them for their presentation.
Recognizing how difficult this may be, if you would like to speak to me directly first to discuss Bill 173, my advocacy alongside my ONDP colleagues, including my calls for more transitional and supportive housing, shelter spaces, funding for the frontline workers who run rape crisis and sexual assault centres, and what this process may look like, I encourage you to do so. Please reach out to my community office via email at [email protected] and include your postal code in your email. You may also call the office at 416-656-0943.
In solidarity,
Dr. Jill Andrew, PhD
MPP, Toronto--St. Paul's