MCC report calls on government to declare gender-based violence 'an epidemic'
Authors of the final report into Nova Scotia’s April 2020 mass shooting said gender-based violence is an epidemic in Nova Scotia and across Canada, and it requires a society-wide response.
The authors are recommending “epidemic-level” funding to end this type of violence and for all levels of government to declare “gender-based, intimate partner and family violence to be an epidemic that warrants a meaningful and sustained society-wide response.”
It’s also calling for men to take up individual and concerted action.
The report referenced the work of Mass Casualty Commission’s (MCC) commissioned experts Brian Braganza and Nick Cardone.
They told the MCC while violence is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men, most men do not perpetrate violence. The experts said their aim is not to demonize all men as perpetrators of violence but at the same time, they believe men can take responsibility for ending violence in our communities.
“Women have been carrying, through community-based organizations, the burden of protecting women almost exclusively for far too long,” Michael MacDonald, MCC commissioner, told reporters Thursday.
He noted there is a need for education and services in place but leaders also have a role to play.
“Men who are leaders in society have to call it out for what it is it’s an epidemic,” MacDonald said.
Long before a gunman brutally shot and killed 22 Nova Scotians, the report notes the gunman was abusive and controlling to women around him, including his common-law spouse.
“Those who perpetrate mass casualties often have an unaddressed history of gender-based intimate-partner or family violence,” MacDonald said.
Kristina Fifield, a trauma therapist with Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in Halifax, is pleased with the final report.
“What the report has done in the recommendations is making sure there is core funding to gender-based violence organizations,” Fifield said.
She vows to put pressure on governments to make sure it happens.
“Because it’s vitally important for our communities here in Nova Scotia and across our country,” she said.
Commissioners also criticized the RCMP for its treatment of the gunman’s common-law spouse, Lisa Banfield, and said she was re-victimized by the investigation.
Banfield was charged for supplying the gunman with ammunition, but those charges were eventually dropped after she completed a restorative justice program.
“The way she was treated in the aftermath of this massacre, which began as an assault against her, is disgraceful,” said Jessica Zita, Banfield’s lawyer. “This report is the first step in giving back to Ms. Banfield her voice.”
The RCMP maintains it treated Banfield with a trauma-informed approach.
“I do recognize that Ms. Banfield was the first casualty. We are facing litigation, and so I’m limited in really getting into the full story at this particular time,” said Assistant Commissioner Dennis Daley, Commanding Officer of the Nova Scotia RCMP.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6952207.1720136375!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Britain's Labour on track for landslide victory, exit poll suggests, amid anger with Conservatives
Britain's Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll suggested, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval.
'Ford's dry summer begins': LCBO workers set to strike Friday after talks fall apart
Thousands of employees with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario are set to walk off their jobs on Friday as the union says 'talks have broken down' and it is not hopeful that a deal will be reached to avert a strike.
Saskatchewan has the lowest hourly minimum wage. How does it stack up to the rest of Canada?
Hourly minimum wages increased in several Canadian provinces this spring with more on the horizon, which economists say will likely impact workers and businesses differently.
Trying to sell or buy a home this summer? What a realtor says you should know
In the first few weeks of summer, the real estate sector is experiencing an upturn marked by more housing inventory, a Canadian realtor says
Canada to host the 70th annual NATO session in Montreal
Canada will host the 70th annual session of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly from Nov. 22 to 25 in Montreal, Que.
No Frills grocery stores drop 'multi-buy' offer
As receipts tick ever higher for Canadians at the grocery store and shoppers continue to search for savings, one Canadian grocer has ended a perceived deal.
Hurricane Beryl churns toward Mexico after leaving destruction in Jamaica and eastern Caribbean
After leaving a trail of destruction across the eastern Caribbean and at least nine people dead, Hurricane Beryl weakened as it chugged over open water toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday, going from the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic to Category 2 by the afternoon.
CSIS director David Vigneault stepping down after seven years on the job
David Vigneault says he is stepping down from his job at the head of Canada’s spy agency. The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who spent seven years at the helm, is leaving the public service altogether.
Son asks court to sell B.C. home he co-owns with his mother, despite her objections
A B.C. judge has ordered the sale of a Surrey home despite the objections of the woman who lives there, who owns it jointly with her son.