The provincial Ministry of Justice is digging deeper to try to figure out what more can be done to reduce the high number of domestic violence deaths in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan has the highest rate of domestic violence in the country. It also leads the nation in the number of murders by intimate partners. Since 2011, there have been 11 domestic violence deaths that involved murder-suicides. Among them, the murder of a woman and her three children in Tisdale last spring. In murder-suicide cases, police release very little information to the public — sometimes not even the victims’ names. In cases where a suspect is charged, details are released during court proceedings — but there is little investigation of what could have been done to prevent the death.
Justice Minister Gordon Wyant says all manner of domestic violence deaths will be looked at to find areas where improvements can be made.
“We want to look and see whether or not our programming is effective. And, obviously, having those high rates, perhaps the program is not as effective as it could be,” he says. “That’s what we need to get to — to make sure our programming is effective and we are putting the right resources into it.”
The panel is made up of representatives from the coroner’s office, community-based organizations, government and police. Aboriginal groups were also consulted.
The provincial coordinator for the Saskatchewan Association of Transition Houses, Jo-Anne Dusel, is glad the government is finally moving on this issue.
“Certainly we could say we wished this would have happened a decade ago or two decades ago,” she says. “But the fact that we are taking the step now is a positive one.”
Dusel also feels more information should be released in cases of domestic violence involving murder-suicide. She likens it to investigating a plane crash.
“There is always that study done,” she says. “They want to find that black box. They want to look at all of the reasons for that crash to protect people in the future so similar deaths don’t happen.”
The panel will review three to five cases this summer. After that, it will look at all domestic violence deaths in the province between 2005 and 2014. Only closed cases will be examined.
The panel’s final report and recommendations will be released by the fall of next year.