FAILING WOMEN: Protection orders aren’t enough, enforcement and prevention need improvement

Article content

Almost nine years after her sister’s shocking murder, Maddie Laberge sees disturbing similarities with the horrific mass murder that took place in a rural Manitoba community last week.

Article content

“What I see is a disastrous repeat of an abuser who couldn’t be stopped, despite a protection order,” Maddie Laberge, the sister of Camille Runke said.

Laberge, who lives in Edmonton, said she heard last week’s news that a woman escaped from her own home in the RM of McCreary after her estranged common-law husband forced his way in with a firearm.

While the woman hid in the woods for more than 10 hours, her husband went to another home and shot and killed his wife’s mother and father and her brother. The man later died by a self-inflicted shotgun wound, leaving four people dead.

The woman who hid was later found unharmed, and RCMP have confirmed she had taken out a protection order against her husband in 2023, that legally prohibited him from having any direct contact with her and had made “additional calls for service” to police.

Article content

Article content

Laberge says she sees last week’s event as another example of legal systems that are supposed to be protecting women, but that are instead “failing them.”

“My sister Camille’s life couldn’t be saved, and this poor family suffered the same fate, and my heart goes out to that woman and all of those affected,” Laberge said.

Laberge’s sister Camille Runke was gunned down by her ex-husband Kevin Runke on the morning of Oct. 30, 2015, outside of her St. Boniface workplace as she was arriving for work that morning. Kevin died by a self-inflicted shotgun wound near the community of St. Malo two days later, after being spotted by police.

The man who killed Camille was not supposed to be anywhere near her that day, as the married couple were separated at the time, and Camille took out a protection order against Kevin in July of 2015, just months before she was killed.

Article content

According to Laberge, despite the protection order, Kevin refused to leave Camille alone and there was a series of disturbing incidents, as he continued to harass her and her family and damage her property and her home.

“This included trying to flood her basement as well as cutting her brake lines. He also slashed our mom’s tires and broke her window,” she said. “He hid in the dark and played terrifying games.”

Winnipeg police confirmed in a 2017 email that Camille Runke called police on 19 occasions regarding issues with her estranged husband and that Kevin was arrested on two occasions and both times released on a promise to appear.

Laberge wonders if her sister would still be alive today if her protection order had done what it was supposed to do, and said although she believes protection order serve a purpose, there needs to be more done both on the enforcement and on the prevention side of keeping women safe from abusers.

Article content

“For repeat and violent offenders, ankle bracelets could be considered. But we know this doesn’t solve the root of the problem,” Laberge said. “There are mental health issues going on here and help needs to be available for those who cannot cope.

“Men especially need to call out other men for their bad behaviour and be an ally and a hero for women in need, women are generally more vulnerable to this type of violence, and we could use all the help we can get.”

And after losing her sister, she is also calling on women to trust their gut and to keep a support system around them, if they are concerned that someone they are in a relationship with is or could become abusive because she doesn’t want to see more lives lost.

“I beg women not to rush in or ignore red flags. Make the effort to find out more about someone before making a commitment,” Laberge said.

“Don’t ignore your gut, and keep your friends close.”

— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

Have thoughts on what’s going on in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada or across the world? Send us a letter to the editor at wpgsun.letters@kleinmedia.ca

Article content