Global Courant 2023-04-30 22:10:33
Jennifer Kagan wipes away a single tear as she calms herself down to discuss her daughter’s legacy.
Her four-year-old, Keira Kagan, was found dead next to her father’s body at the base of a cliff in a conservation area in Milton, Ont, in February 2020. of murder-suicide involving a father and a child.
Kagan, who had been embroiled in a bitter custody battle with Keira’s abusive father for years, was determined to let the tragedy result in changes in the way the justice system handles cases of intimate partner violence. She and Keira’s stepfather, Philip Viater, have spent years urging lawmakers to bring about change.
Those efforts have now resulted in Keira’s name being enshrined in new federal and provincial legislation designed to help other children avoid her fate.
“We remember Keira in this positive way because she really didn’t deserve this,” Kagan said in an interview at Toronto’s Queen’s Park.
“We hope people remember her as a beacon of protection for other children.”
The chief coroner’s office will conduct an inquest into the circumstances surrounding Keira’s death.
Kagan and her ex, Robin Brown, had been in and out of court due to Keira’s custody.
A total of 10 different judges were involved and 53 court orders were issued against Brown for his violent and unpredictable behavior. He had sexually assaulted and beaten Kagan, but several judges did not take that into account when determining his access to the girl.
“If a woman is in danger, so are the children,” says Kagan. “So it’s very relevant and that’s really the culture that needs to be changed.”
It’s “important” to remember and take action: Attorney General
On the last weekend of Keira’s life, the court forced Kagan to hand over her daughter to Brown for his weekend visit, despite his increasingly violent behavior and knowing his custody rights would be curtailed the following week.
Keira didn’t make it to Monday.
Ontario last week introduced legislation allowing provincially appointed judges and justices of the peace to receive education and training on intimate partner violence and coercive control.
“Keira’s Law” is an initiative bill introduced in the House of Commons named after 4-year-old Keira Kagan. (Jennifer Kagan-Viater)
As Attorney General Doug Downey debated the bill on Wednesday, he stood speechless for a full minute as he struggled to introduce Kagan and Viater.
“I am very emotional,” he told the legislature.
“It is so important that we acknowledge this tragic story and take action.”
Outside the legislature, Downey explained why the county had introduced the legislation.
“It’s critical because we want to make sure the people who make decisions understand what’s happening in terms of the dynamics of intimate partner violence,” he said.
Violence within the family is on the rise
Similar guidelines for education and training were part of the recommendations that emerged from the jury in a coroner’s inquest investigating the murder of three women at the hands of a disturbed ex-boyfriend in eastern Ontario.
The province is still investigating the 86 recommendations from the jury that looked into the 2015 deaths of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam.
Domestic violence has increased for seven consecutive years, according to a report from Statistics Canada last fall. Of the 788 homicide victims reported in 2021, 154 were killed by a family member, according to data reported by police. Sixty percent of these victims were women and girls.
The federal government has also acted in the wake of Keira’s death.
The Keira Act, as it has come to be known, has just received royal assent in Ottawa, meaning all federally appointed judges will receive the same training and education on domestic violence.
“It doesn’t change for us, we still wake up without her,” says Viater.
“What we’re doing is really for other families, for other kids and if there’s any kind of comfort it’s that we keep hearing Keira’s name in public discourse.”
Kagan echoed that feeling.
“If I could save someone even a millionth of the pain of this kind of traumatic loss, it would be a worthy undertaking,” she said.
As friends and family gathered to say goodbye to the little girl on a cold February day in 2020, Kagan read from two of Keira’s favorite books and promised her little girl she would never be forgotten.
Federal and provincial legislation now ensures that promise is fulfilled.
