By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

With each tragic death and case of domestic violence recorded, “we tell ourselves that this is another victim too many and that we must not have one more,” said Darlington councillor Stephanie Valenzuela, spokesperson for the Official Opposition on the status of women. “Today, we are calling on all levels of government to put words into action and strengthen their support, both for victims and for the resources that help them. Each of them has the capacity to act to fight against domestic violence.”

The PolySeSouvient group, the Halte-Femmes Montréal-Nord organization and elected officials from Ensemble Montréal met at Montreal City Hall to call for concrete actions from all levels of government to better protect women, particularly in relation to gun control, knowing that they are present in approximately 25% of cases of domestic violence recorded in the country.

To complete Bill C-21, adopted on December 14, PolySeSouvient representatives want the Trudeau government not only to put strong and comprehensive regulations to expand on C-21, but also to prohibit all assault weapons and large capacity magazines, which was his electoral pledge. In addition, the mandatory buyback program for assault weapons should be deployed as quickly as possible, they say, so that these weapons are removed from circulation and destroyed before the next elections in the fall of 2025. For its part, the provincial government must ensure that the weapons registration rate is higher, in compliance with the Quebec Firearms Registration Act. According to PolySeSouvient estimates, around 30% of long guns are not registered.

At the municipal level, the Plante administration is being called upon to implement the commitments proposed by Ensemble Montréal and unanimously adopted by council in March 2021 and then again in 2022, to alleviate the burden weighing on victims and community organizations. Among the measures that were expected to be implemented quickly include: free provision of available city premises to organizations supporting victims of domestic violence who must juggle a lack of space to offer their consultations due to the occupancy rate; launch of two periodic communications campaigns to encourage all those affected to obtain help, to disseminate contact details of available resources offered to victims and to share contact details for resources dedicated to people with violent behaviour.

“By fighting to protect victims of intimate violence against firearms, we not only ensure the safety of the population,” said Sophie Lemay, general director of the Halte-Femmes Montréal-Nord. “We are helping an entire system which also suffers from the damage caused by violence. The requests made today cover a broad field of action: what we can do to better protect victims of domestic violence and what we can do to support and disseminate the resources that help these victims.”

Firearms are the first or second most used weapon in crimes committed – depending on the year – in the context of domestic violence, says the group. In 2022, calls for service and cases of victimization in the context of domestic violence represented more than 23% of all crimes against the person recorded in Montreal. n