City of Guelph Recognizes the issue of gender-based violence in Guelph as serious to the health and wellness of our residents and their families. That Guelph…

2:24:17This has been requested by councillor Orwork

2:24:20to bring this forward.

2:24:21We do have one delegation.

2:24:25What I was hoping to do council is maybe just to ask

2:24:31if I could have the mover, you know, introduce the motion,

2:24:36have it moved and seconded to allow her to speak

2:24:40to the motion and then we can invite our delegate up.

2:24:46Just to frame it a little bit better.

2:24:49Councillor Orwork and councillor Richardson

2:24:51have both agreed to move and seconded it.

2:24:54And so I would consider it on the floor now.

2:24:56Let me move to the mover to give some commentary to it.

2:25:00And then Cindy McMahon is here.

2:25:02Hi, Cindy.

2:25:03As soon as councillor Orwork is done framing the conversation,

2:25:08I would welcome you to come up to the microphone

2:25:09for your delegation.

2:25:10Okay, over to the mover.

2:25:12Thank you.

2:25:13Thank you, Mayor Guthrie.

2:25:15So as an introduction to this moment, this motion rather,

2:25:19I won't rhyme off the national or the local statistics

2:25:22from women in crisis or a Gulf police.

2:25:24You have that information in the motion.

2:25:27And we all know those reported cases are growing.

2:25:31And we know they are the tip of the iceberg

2:25:33because it takes a lot of courage for somebody

2:25:34to pick up the phone and phone a local social service.

2:25:38And it is insurmountable for many people

2:25:40to pick up the phone and call police.

2:25:42So what I will tell you is that while I brought

2:25:44the motion forward to declare intimate partner violence

2:25:47and epidemic, I did it because it is the number one

2:25:50recommendation out of 85 jury recommendations

2:25:53in the coroner's inquest into the murders of Carol

2:25:56Culleton, Anastasia Kuzik, and Natalie Warmeram

2:26:00in Renfrew County.

2:26:01And they were all murdered on the same day.

2:26:04Because it is Women Abuse Prevention Month,

2:26:07the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

2:26:10And we are days away from the national day of remembrance

2:26:12and action on violence against women.

2:26:14I brought the motion because more than 70 municipalities,

2:26:18Peterborough just yesterday, have already done so,

2:26:21as well as AMO and Ontario Big City mayors.

2:26:24And I felt we too should join this important conversation

2:26:27that has been ongoing since June of this year.

2:26:33I wanted to bring the motion forward

2:26:34to raise awareness of the issue of intimate partner

2:26:36violence and gender-based violence.

2:26:40Because there are tangible actions

2:26:41we can take individually, as well as the corporation

2:26:44of the city of Guelph, Guelph Police,

2:26:46and the Guelph community and its organizations,

2:26:49to prevent intimate partner violence,

2:26:51to support survivors and the organizations that

2:26:53help them, and to advocate for them.

2:26:56Because intimate partner violence

2:26:58is a largely invisible epidemic, it

2:27:01knows no socioeconomic age, cultural, or religious boundaries.

2:27:05It touches individuals, usually women and children.

2:27:09And this notion of epidemic is because it

2:27:14also touches their extended families, their friends,

2:27:17their neighbors, their workplaces, their classrooms,

2:27:19and their communities.

2:27:22And I brought the motion forward for the survivors

2:27:25and hope to reduce additional cases.

2:27:30It was important to work with Guelph, Wellington Women

2:27:32in Crisis to craft a motion that is meaningful.

2:27:34And I want to thank our staff who worked with us

2:27:37to bring this motion into their existing and future work plans.

2:27:42I was initially going to table this motion at our October

2:27:45Council meeting.

2:27:46And that same day, a 44-year-old man

2:27:48shot and killed a 6-year-old, a 7-year-old,

2:27:51and a 12-year-old, another adult, and then himself

2:27:55in Sault Ste. Marie last month.

2:27:56It's another tragic case of intimate partner violence.

2:28:00And the police chief there says he welcomes an inquest.

2:28:03Well, that could happen here.

2:28:05But let's not wait for another inquest or a mass casualty

2:28:08commission or a national report on missing and murdered

2:28:11Indigenous women and girls to take

2:28:13more decisive action on IPV.

2:28:17What I did not expect when working on this motion,

2:28:20because all the other municipalities had done it

2:28:21and thought we should too, and we'll pull it together.

2:28:25And what I found really touching over the last several weeks

2:28:29were lots of phone calls and emails from women

2:28:31thanking me for bringing it forward

2:28:34and sharing their stories.

2:28:36It's important to me and to all of us, I think,

2:28:38to center them in this conversation,

2:28:41because I'm just the conduit.

2:28:44This past Saturday, on the International Day

2:28:46for the Elimination of Violence Against Women,

2:28:48the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition

2:28:50Houses released their annual Femmicide List.

2:28:54It showed that over the last 52 weeks,

2:28:56there have been 62 women and children killed in Ontario.

2:28:59That's more than one fatality each week.

2:29:02And they're not numbers, and they're not only in other places.

2:29:07Just this morning, I spoke with a mom from Guelph.

2:29:10Her name is Kate.

2:29:11She asked me to tell you about her eight-year-old son, Charlie,

2:29:15who was murdered by his dad last May.

2:29:17It's a little boy and his devastated mom

2:29:20right here in Guelph.

2:29:22There are many others whose stories are not mine to share,

2:29:26but that I hold in my heart right now,

2:29:28and I ask that you do the same when you vote

2:29:30on this series of recommendations.

2:29:33Great, thank you so much, Councillor.

2:29:35That's very well, very well-tabled.

2:29:40Thank you very, very much.

2:29:41And we do have one delegate here.

2:29:44As I said, it is Cindy McMahon.

2:29:46And so I welcome you to come on down and be a delegate to this.

2:29:54And I think you've been here all along,

2:29:55so you heard me say you have no more than five minutes,

2:29:58and you'll hear a chime at the four-minute and 30-second mark

2:30:01to give you a 30-second warning.

2:30:03And then feel free to stick around,

2:30:04just in case there is a follow-up question.

2:30:06Okay, go right ahead.

2:30:07Got it.

2:30:08So good evening.

2:30:09My name is Cindy McMahon.

2:30:10I'm the public educator at Wolf Wellington Women in Crisis.

2:30:13And thank you very much for the opportunity

2:30:15to come and speak in support of this motion

2:30:17on behalf of Women in Crisis,

2:30:18and also on behalf of the Wolf Wellington Action Committee

2:30:21on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.

2:30:23Our position on this is pretty straightforward.

2:30:26We think intimate partner violence is an epidemic,

2:30:28and we think that the sooner we call it that

2:30:30and treat it like it is,

2:30:31then the sooner we can meaningfully actually address it.

2:30:34The Government of Ontario has so far refused

2:30:36to use the term epidemic

2:30:38to refer to intimate partner violence

2:30:40because I'll quote from them.

2:30:42It is not an infectious or communicable disease,

2:30:45but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2:30:48helpfully remind us that a health issue

2:30:49does not have to be contagious to count as an epidemic.

2:30:52Heart disease is often referred to as an epidemic

2:30:55by the medical establishment.

2:30:56The opioid crisis has been referred to as an epidemic,

2:31:00most notably by the Government of Ontario.

2:31:03The word epidemic, and I'll quote here

2:31:05from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health,

2:31:08quote, can refer to a disease

2:31:10or other specific health-related behaviors

2:31:12such as smoking with rates that are clearly

2:31:15above the expected occurrence in a community or region.

2:31:18So what then is the expected occurrence

2:31:20of rates of intimate partner violence in Guelph?

2:31:23Like what number of cases would be commonly acceptable here?

2:31:27We live in a country that values human rights

2:31:29in a community that cares for and about each other,

2:31:31so the expected and acceptable number of cases,

2:31:34of course, is zero.

2:31:36That is not, as you have heard,

2:31:38the number of cases that we have here in Guelph.

2:31:41So last year at Women in Crisis,

2:31:43we supported 998 clients and 54 children

2:31:46across our programs and took 2,452 calls

2:31:49on our crisis line, and most people

2:31:51who experience intimate partner violence

2:31:53do not call a gender-based violence support organization.

2:31:56They don't call the police.

2:31:57This is the absolute tip of the iceberg,

2:31:59and rates are going up.

2:32:01So in Canada, rates of intimate partner violence

2:32:03were 19% higher in 2022 than they were in 2014.

2:32:07There was a 27% increase in feminicides from 2019 to 2022.

2:32:12About 44% of women in Canada experienced some form

2:32:15of intimate partner violence in their lifetimes.

2:32:18About 54% of trans folks do.

2:32:20So last year, 52 women were killed in 52 weeks in Ontario,

2:32:24and this year, as you've heard, that number is 62.

2:32:27Our current systemic approaches

2:32:29to addressing intimate partner violence are not working.

2:32:33So we need to do better, and to do better,

2:32:35we need to do something different.

2:32:36We need to stop thinking about intimate partner violence

2:32:39as just a private matter between couples.

2:32:41We need to recognize that the place

2:32:43to prevent intimate partner violence,

2:32:44to see it, to name it, to speak out about it,

2:32:47to step in and step up, to take action,

2:32:50to support people when they're being harmed,

2:32:51is the community.

2:32:53This is community work.

2:32:55And it's work that strengthens the community, too.

2:32:57Each person who survives violence

2:32:59experiences health impacts,

2:33:01as well as social and economic consequences

2:33:03that are wide-ranging and also uniquely damaging to them.

2:33:07But the impacts of intimate partner violence

2:33:09go well beyond the individual.

2:33:10They impact our entire city.

2:33:13The economic costs of intimate partner violence

2:33:15are enormous for our criminal justice system,

2:33:18our civil justice system, our healthcare system,

2:33:20our social service operations, and our employers.

2:33:23The social and emotional costs of intimate partner violence

2:33:26on families, friends, coworkers, neighbors,

2:33:29support people, community members, children, everyone,

2:33:32these are even higher.

2:33:34So no one knows this better than the County of Renfrew,

2:33:36where Carol Colleton, Anastasia Kuzik, and Natalie Warmerdam

2:33:39were murdered by a man with a history of gender-based violence

2:33:41in 2015.

2:33:43So the Coroner Jury's inquest made these 86 recommendations

2:33:47to various offices and levels of government

2:33:49to help prevent feminicides resulting

2:33:51from intimate partner violence from happening again.

2:33:53These recommendations are the result

2:33:55of a great deal of research and analysis

2:33:57and a great deal of soul-searching

2:33:59from the community in crisis and in mourning.

2:34:01They are a gift to the rest of us,

2:34:03a path forward to a more effective systemic response

2:34:06to intimate partner violence, and it's time to lend Guelph's

2:34:09voice to the growing chorus of calls

2:34:11to enact the inquest's recommendations.

2:34:13We have an opportunity here to take the initiative

2:34:16where the provincial government has failed to lead.

2:34:18We can leverage the strengths of our community

2:34:20to collaborate on effective strategies for prevention

2:34:23and survivor supports that turn rising rates

2:34:25of intimate partner violence around.

2:34:27But we can only do that if we put the problem out in the open

2:34:30and name it for what it is, an epidemic.

2:34:32Thank you.

2:34:34Well, thank you so much and thank you for your advocacy too

2:34:37on behalf of council.

2:34:38We really appreciate it and the work that you do.

2:34:41Is there any follow-up question at this time?

2:34:44No, thank you so much for being here and stating that.

2:34:47Thank you.

2:34:48All right, is there any questions from council at all

2:34:50before I go any further?

2:34:53No, okay.

2:34:55And is there anything further from a commentary

2:34:57in regards to this?

2:34:58So well laid out if I might add a commentary there.

2:35:02Okay, well, thank you to you, councillor O'Rourke

2:35:04and Richardson for tabling.

2:35:06I know, oh, I'm sorry, councillor Keaton.

2:35:09I'm sorry, go right ahead.

2:35:10Go right ahead.

2:35:11Sorry about that, go ahead.

2:35:12Thank you through you to the mover.

2:35:14I just wanted to thank you for bringing this forward.

2:35:17It's a really, really important topic

2:35:19and with every intersection of equities deserving group

2:35:24that you kind of attached to your risk increases

2:35:28and I know that I hear from so much

2:35:30in the disability community that especially

2:35:33with the lack of social support and the reliance

2:35:38on finances from marriage that this is something

2:35:41that really affects that community quite largely.

2:35:44So I just appreciate this and I'm glad that you brought it

2:35:46forward.

2:35:49Great, thank you so much.

2:35:50All right, I'll call the vote.

2:35:52Is anyone against these recommendations?

2:35:56Unanimous, that's fantastic.

2:35:58So thank you again.

2:36:01We're gonna go to bylaws.