N.S. justice minister phoning women's centres to apologize for comments

Nova Scotia Minister of Justice Brad Johns has begun calling dozens of women's and domestic violence support organizations to discuss his public comments downplaying concerns about domestic violence, the CBC has learned.

At least four organizations say Johns called them to apologize directly, but they say damage has been done. 

"I was shocked that a minister of justice did not know how serious domestic violence is in our province," Myrene Keating-Owen, the executive director of LEA Place Women's Resource Centre in Sheet Harbour, N.S., said in an interview Friday.

After a cabinet meeting Thursday on the anniversary of Nova Scotia's 2020 mass shooting, Johns told reporters he doesn't agree with the Mass Casualty Commission's description of domestic violence as an epidemic, saying there are bigger issues, like guns and drugs. 

"An [epidemic], you're seeing it everywhere all the time, I don't think that's the case," Johns said.

Immediately after, Premier Tim Houston said his government does believe domestic violence is an epidemic. Opposition leaders called on Johns to resign.

A few hours later, a Justice Department spokesperson released a statement attributed to Johns acknowledging the minister "made comments that were wrong and have caused pain."

'A slap in the face to survivors'

Around the same time, Keating-Owens got a call from Johns. She said he apologized for his comments, but she thinks the apology was misdirected.

"What I had replied with was that of all those remarks, saying that to me ... really the harm had been done to the women that suffer every day with domestic violence, right? It certainly is real in our province."

Sarah Rodimon, executive director of Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in Halifax, said she missed a call from Johns, who left a message. She said she doesn't plan to call him back.

Rodimon said she believes such comments will make women more afraid to come forward and report domestic violence, in fear that they might not be taken seriously. 

"I think that those comments are hurtful, painful," Rodimon said. "They further this narrative that we don't believe survivors, we don't believe that domestic violence and gender-based violence is an issue in this province. I think that is a slap in the face to survivors and everyone who supports them."

Jodi McDavid, executive director of the Cape Breton Transition House Association, and Sheri Lecker, executive director of Adsum House in Halifax, also say they received calls from Johns.

McDavid was one of two community members to participate in the Mass Casualty Commission because of her research as a professor at Cape Breton University.

"The time to talk was before those statements were made," said McDavid, saying she has no confidence in Johns.

Provincial association calls for meeting

Keating-Owen said Women's Centres Connect, the provincial organization that her centre belongs to, has asked Johns for a meeting to discuss the work they do. 

Keating-Owen said Johns agreed, and she is planning to call his office to book an in-person meeting. 

She said she isn't calling for Johns to resign from his position for now. 

"It's really not out of the question," Keating-Owen said. "I would like to know what steps he will take to improve his knowledge around domestic violence, not only in our province. It's certainly a global issue."

Rodimon said Avalon Sexual Assault Centre hopes to attend the meeting and is calling for Johns to retract his statements.

Mass Casualty Commission recommendations

Johns also said Thursday he agrees with some, but not all, of the recommendations made by the joint federal and provincial inquiry that examined the circumstances that led a gunman to target 22 of his neighbours, acquaintances and strangers, including a pregnant woman and an RCMP officer, in several rural communities on April 18 and 19, 2020.

The Mass Casualty Commission's final report, released in March of last year, called for sweeping changes to end gender-based violence, which it called an epidemic. The commission found the violence in Portapique, N.S., began with a brutal assault on the gunman's spouse and that he had a long history of violence.