'Feels like a kick in the face': Advocates criticize Ontario government's response to Ottawa Valley triple murder coroner's inquest

One year on from the public inquest into the triple murder for Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam, and frustration is still paramount in the Ottawa Valley.

Ontario rejected the recommendation to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic, saying intimate partner violence is not "not considered an epidemic as it is not an infectious or communicable disease." The government is also declining to establish an intimate partner violence commission and create the role of a survivor advocate.

A conference was held in Petawawa, Ont. on Wednesday to review the government's responses to the 86 recommendations from the five-person jury that examined the 2015 murders of Culleton, Kuzyk and Warmerdam. 

The majority of the recommendations were directed at the province, including formally declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic and establishing an independent commission dedicated to eradicating it. One of the recommendations was for a gathering to be held one year later to review the recommendations.

"I felt betrayed," said Elizabeth Warmerdam, daughter of Nathalie, upon hearing of the province's decisions.

"It makes me wonder how many women have to die before they start to take notice."

"[I feel] angry, pissed off, appalled," added her brother Malcolm Warmerdam, who was heavily involved in the public inquest last summer.

"It can be hard to keep up hope through these these kinds of responses," he told CTV News.

'KICK IN THE FACE', ADVOCATES SAY

Luke's Place advocacy director Pamela Cross says the Office of the Solicitor General's response to the 68 recommendations directed at the Ontario government was received Tuesday night.

"I have to tell you, I don't feel very encouraged. I always look for hope in the work that I do, inspired by the courage of women who have been subjected to intimate partner violence and all of the frontline workers who support those women; this response from the province really, honestly it feels like a kick in the face," Cross told CTV Morning Live Wednesday morning.

"They have rejected virtually every single recommendation that calls for accountability and transparency. They have said no, they will not declare intimate partner violence an epidemic."

Thirty-two municipalities across Ontario have declared intimate partner violence an epidemic, including the city of Ottawa, Lanark County and Renfrew County.

Cross says the Ontario government has said it will not put in place a committee to oversee the implementation of the recommendations.

"I guess we don't need that implementation committee because it's clear the province does not intend to honour a single one of the recommendations the five jurors thought hard and carefully about when they wrote those 86 recommendations."

Cross says of the recommendations the Ontario government has accepted, the province lists programs and services that are already available.

"To me, it means this province does not care about the lives of women and children, and I find that absolutely shocking and obviously completely unacceptable," Cross said.

PROVINCE SAYS IT IS ADDRESSING VIOLENCE, WORKING TO KEEP OFFENDERS BEHIND BARS

In February, the Ontario government said it was working on implementing some of the recommendations from the inquest, including looking at amending the Family Law Act to give court the authority to order counselling in restraining orders involving intimate partner violence. 

The Office of the Solicitor General of Ontario says it is investing $112 million into bail enforcement and prosecution teams to "make sure that repeat, violent offenders stay off the streets," and $250 million to combat violence against women and to support victims of violence.

“Our thoughts continue to be the victims’ families and friends, and all those who were impacted by this terrible tragedy," a spokesperson said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

"The individual who committed these heinous crimes should never have been released in the first place and was given too many second chances by the justice system. That has to change.

"We know there is more to do, and the Renfrew Jury recommendations will help inform future investments made to fight violence and ensure the justice system is there to protect victims of crime.” 

The province of Ontario responded to the 68 recommendations directed towards it with two documents, one covering some recommendations in February, and another addressing the rest Tuesday night.

A representative from the province was also invited to attend the one year anniversary of the inquest in Petawawa but did not attend.

"The Ontario government refusing to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario when 32 municipalities across the province have already done so and many more in the works of doing so, feels a bit like a slap in the face," said Kirsten Mercer, lawyer for Ending Violence Against Women Renfrew County.

The other 18 recommendations were directed to groups such as the Office of the Chief Coroner, the Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner, and the federal government, all of which are working to fulfill their recommendations, according to Cross.

The final recommendation was for inquest parties to reconvene one year later to assess progress made. About 70 women's advocates gathered in Petawawa Wednesday for the event.

"If I find myself unable to keep doing this," said Malcolm Warmerdam, "I know this ball is going to continue rolling because these people are going to keep fighting for this issue."

The Solicitor General's office says it continues to work to address intimate partner violence, "using a concerted, whole-of-government approach." The government says ministries are working on the following:

Enhancing supports for IPV survivors and improving their experience in navigating systems, by exploring investments and opportunities to: 

• Improve current systems, coordination, collaboration and communication between service providers and sector partners, 
• Enhance training and education offered to frontline personnel, and, 
• Stabilize funding to IPV service providers across sectors. 
• Enhance to court supports for IPV survivors and ensure that police services have the ability to submit proposals that support integrated IPV service models. 

Studying the best approach for permitting disclosure of information about an individual’s history of IPV and potential risk to partners who request this information (e.g., a Clare’s Law-type mechanism). 

Exploring opportunities to: 

• Enhance perpetrator programming to improve outcomes and protect survivors. 
• Increase workforce training and development for IPV service providers. 
• Expand and increase capacity of Indigenous-specific IPV prevention programs. 
• Enhance IPV/gender-based violence (GBV) training and resources offered to justice and youth justice personnel, while also examining enhancements to GBV prevention programming. 
• Stabilize and expand existing youth justice programming, including programs that are culturally responsive for Indigenous and racialized communities, and improve the services addressing the intersection of child protection and IPV perpetration in the province. 

With files from The Canadian Press