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© a OPINION ‘HONOURING Beaver | Thursday, December 22, é NEW LAW TO HELP 2 PROTECT VICTIMS OF 8 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, WRITES EFFIE TRIANTAFILOPOULOS EFFIE TRIANTAFILOPOULOS Column For too long, women have been silenced from speaking out about domes- tic violence and the trauma faced while navigating our legal systems. «mist is eoming toanend ice moved a step veloser to protecting women and children who victims of intimate partner violence and coer- cive control. On Nov. hae the legisla- ture voted foramotion! introduced to launch consultations to implement Keira's Law in Ontario. Keira Kagan was four later, remem- bers her for her love of ani- mals, her sweet-natured and her courageous On Feb. 9, 2020, Kiera dead, at the base of a cliff, in the Rattlesnake Point Conservation area in Mil- ton in an apparent murder- suicide. In the years eading up to Keira's death, s ~ 5, 3 Though she'd left him KEIRA'S MEMORY years earlier, she worried about the safety of her daughter during his unsu- pervised visits. She went to the courts seeking protection for Kei- his alleged violent ande coercive behaviour but said she was met with hur- dles — and a system that didn't take seriously the sed by her ex- husband. The Keira's Law motion is the first step to ensuring that training in intimate partner violence and coer- right tools, they will be able to recognize the signs of intimate partner vio- lence and coercive control and keep women and chil- dren safe. anada, a woman is murdered every 2.5 days, and 50 per cent were mur- dered by an intimate part- ner and 26 per cent by a family member. Seventy-four children were killed between 2010 to 119 — of those 70 per cent were biological children and 24 per cent were step- children. In our own community, in 2021, Halton police re- sponded to 3,500 intimate TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM SNAPSHOT Steven Prowse photo A fox explores the forest along West Oaks Trails. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. INTEREST RATE HIKES PAINFUL BUT NECESSAR INCREASES NEEDED TO HELP STABILIZE ECONOMY, WRITES PETER WATSON There's a whole lot of fi- nancial pain beinginflicted on Canadians. This comes from the Bank of Canada rai: terest rates again by one vartner violence-related | half of one per cent. This i is calls, laid 2, the sevent made 890 arrests. central bank has raised in- We can honour Keira's | terest rates. memory, by keeping other In my opinion, the BOC women and children at | is not to blame. An expres- risk safe. sion I have used in past ar- ticles is this is an example Effie Triantafilopoulos is the MPP for Oakville North—Burlington. She can be reached at ef- fie.triantafilopou- los@pc.ola.org. of the BOC exerting "tough love." taost Canadians under- stand inflation has been far abort the je target rate of two PETER WATSON Column Many Canadians are ex- periencing financial suffo- cation with rising prices. With respect to the Ca- nadian economy or how we all manage our household A good stable economy is key. Without it, Canadi- ans cannot build and main- tain a financially secure life. The cold reality is some Canadians are less equipped to handle infla- fon. or cope with increas- interest rates inflicted tral bank. Higher interest rates to contro] inflation is a neces- sary evil. Yes, it inflicts without the decisive action or increasing interest ai perear e signs that pre- vious interest rate hikes have started to control in- flation. That is a positive sign because the more quickly inflation is under control, the quicker inter- est rates can start to be re- duced. will be good news forthe thee economy and for the many coping with the strains of high interest rates are on their debt. Peter Watson, of Watson Investments MBA, CFP®, REP, CIM®, FCSI offers a weekly financial plai ning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted through www.watse vestments.com. This newspaper, published very Thursday, isa wan of pli, a brite ‘owned ae of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family mprised publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the pate NewsMedia Council. omplainants are urged to bring ther concerns to the attention of insidehalton@metroland.com facebook.com/OakvilleBeav @OakvilleBeaver WHO WE ARE a and Operations Dana Rol Regional General Manager Jason Pehora Director of Fontent Regional Mareaing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor faen Miceli leped or Distributi Charlen Circulation | Manager Kim Mossman Directors of Advertising Cindi Campbell and Graeme Macintosh Director Creative Services Paul Gostlin CONTACT US Oakville negtd 901 Guelp! Burlington, ON. LR 3N8 Phone: 905-845-3824 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Advertising: 289-293-0620 am ait delivery inquiries, please lossman@metroland.com or all 905-631-6095. Letters to the editor Send letters to insidehalton@metroland.com. All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. 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