After plea from murder victim’s father, Sault declares intimate partner violence epidemic

The City of Sault Ste. Marie is one of two northern Ontario municipalities to pass motions this week declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic.

It comes after a mass shooting in the city last week that claimed the lives of four people.

Only a week after losing his daughter, Angie, in that attack, Brian Sweeney appeared before council to support the motion.

"This IPV scenario we're dealing with is definitely an epidemic in my eyes," said Sweeney.

"It's been going on, and on, and on, and no one seems to be paying real attention to it."

"I'm not looking for vengeance, I'm looking for justice," said Dan Jennings, who lost his daughter, Caitlin, to violence in an incident in southern Ontario last summer.

Councillors Angela Caputo and Lisa Vezeau-Allen were behind the motion, which also calls on Mayor Matthew Shoemaker to write a letter to the premier urging him to take action at the provincial level.

Caputo and Vezeau-Allen are also calling for action across the board.

Adding weight to the motion was the presence of Brian Sweeney, whose daughter Angie Sweeney was murdered in last week's shooting rampage that also claimed the lives of three children. (Photo from video)

"Call out the societal atrocities against women, girls and gender diverse people in your everyday life," said Caputo.

"I urge all of my council colleagues here, police services boards here, and all throughout Ontario to really not get lost in the data, but to understand what it is we really need to be doing in creating sound action items," said Vezeau-Allen.

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board officially put its support behind the council motion, which Chief Hugh Stevenson said he firmly supports.

"I don't think one could go forward after what we've experienced as a frontline officer, civilian, or non-officer, to the extent that we all realize the tragedy that occurred and that more needs to be done," Stevenson said.

NORTH BAY ADOPTED SIMILAR MOTION

North Bay city council adopted a similar motion this week. Kathleen Jodouin, executive director of Victim Services of Nipissing District, is applauding them.

"I am hopeful that they will reach out to those community partners who do this work every day, and consult us on what actions this city can take moving forward now that they've declared it an epidemic," Jodouin said.

Jennings told council that police and the law “failed his daughter.”

"There's no reason that many calls in that short of time … and things were let go,” he said.

“And I appreciate … you wanting to make intimate partner violence an epidemic."

Caputo said it’s clear that the violence in the Sault is part of a larger trend of intimate partner violence.

"I want to be very clear,” she said.

“The horrific events that led to the femicide of Angie Sweeney and the murder of three children we lost are not isolated incidents."

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Vezeau-Allen said statistics from the Sault emergency shelter shed light on the depth of the crisis.

"Women in Crisis from 2022 to 2023 had 3,275 calls, they had 498 walk-ins and they were 98 per cent at capacity," she said.