Mass shooting in Sault Ste. Marie highlights Ontario’s epidemic of gender-based violence

Intimate partner violence has a tragic link to mass shootings, Jack L. Rozdilsky writes

Thespec.com
Nov. 1, 2023
Jack Rozdilsky

It took only 11 months for Ontario to experience its next mass shooting after the one in Vaughan in December 2022.

Sault Ste. Marie residents are contending with the loss of five lives in Ontario’s latest mass shooting on Oct. 24. Police say the shooting was a case of intimate partner violence.

A man allegedly killed three young children and one woman, and wounded another woman, before taking his own life. The shooter has been identified as the father of the children.

As someone who was personally impacted by the Vaughan mass shooting, this latest gun violence incident brings with it anxiety, pain and empathy.

With another grim addition to the list of mass shootings in Ontario, now is the time to reflect on why this latest tragedy happened and to ask if resources are available to cope. As a post-disaster researcher, I believe it is important to consider femicide as the context for the mass shooting in Sault Ste. Marie.

Femicide is generally defined as the killing of women and girls. It is the most extreme form of violence on a continuum of violence and discrimination against women.

In Ontario, intimate partner violence has been a long-standing issue. A list published by the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses lists 54 femicide deaths in the province during 2021-22, many of which occurred by gun.

Recognition of femicide as a specific form of violence has led to increased advocacy and attention. In 2013, a 26-year-old woman in Bracebridge, Ont., was killed in a murder-suicide perpetrated by a former intimate partner.

The slain woman’s mother has called for using the term femicide as opposed to domestic abuse. She has also played an instrumental role in federal gun reform legislation through Bill C-71, which, when fully implemented, would allow for a background check on a gun buyer’s entire life.

In 2015, three women were murdered in Renfrew County, Ont. The findings of the coroner’s inquest included a recommendation that public governments act to formally declare intimate partner violence as an epidemic, and to explore adding the term femicide and its definition to the Criminal Code of Canada.

In June 2023, the Ontario government refused to recognize femicide as an epidemic.

But the decision by Sault Ste. Marie police to come forward quickly using the term intimate partner violence to describe the mass shooting gave advocates renewed hope.

Mass shootings and misogyny
There are connections between intimate partner violence and mass shootings. Data from the United States indicates most mass shooting victims are not random: research has indicated two-thirds of mass shootings are domestic violence incidents, or are perpetrated by shooters with a history of domestic violence.

Police in Lewiston, Maine, are reportedly pursuing a theory that a mass shooter went to places he used to frequent with a longtime ex-girlfriend, killing 18 people on Oct. 25.

For the Sault Ste. Marie mass shooting, police indicated the alleged killer had previously been the subject of intimate partner violence complaints.

There is also a history of other significant mass shootings in Canada related to misogyny. Thirty years after the 1989 École Polytechnique mass shooting, the City of Montréal changed the words on a memorial plaque from a “tragic event” to a “anti-feminist attack.”

And after the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting, the final report from the inquiry listed 17 recommendations to address gender-based violence.

After the Vaughan mass shooting, the estranged daughters of the perpetrator called him an abusive and controlling man.

Insufficient resources
Intimate partner violence has a tragic link to mass shootings. Ontario’s latest mass shooting in Sault Ste. Marie is a case in point.

Advocates working to prevent femicide say funding has not kept pace with the growing demand for services.

In the immediate aftermath of the Vaughan mass shooting, I pointed out mental health coping services were not present and consistent when they were needed the most.

The victim services agency serving Vaughan pointed to insufficient resources to respond to major incidents.

Between January and September, the local victim services agency serving Sault Ste. Marie has handled 193 calls related to intimate partner violence and assisted 232 individuals.

Do they have sufficient resources to continue to meet that demand?

An aspect contributing to the devastating impact of mass shootings in Ontario and Canada is the lack of public funds and political will needed for the prevention of gun violence incidents and the response to their impact.