Ottawa and Lanark County Expand Public Awareness Campaign on Red Flag Laws and Weapons-Related Risk

OTTAWA, ON, July 28, 2026 /CNW/ -- Ottawa Victim Services (OVS), Lanark County Interval House & Community Support (LCIHCS), and the Victimology Research Centre (VRC) at Algonquin College have expanded the "See It, Name It, Change It" public awareness campaign to help communities better understand Canada's Red Flag laws and how they may be used to prevent weapons-related harm.

The campaign builds on an intimate partner violence education initiative originally created by Lanark County Interval House & Community Support for rural communities, and launched in 2017 following seven murders in rural eastern Ontario between September 2015 and February 2016. It was relaunched in 2022 in recognition of the inquest into the 2015 femicides of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam in Renfrew County.

Its message is simple but powerful: when people see violence, they must be able to name it before they can help change it. The campaign was designed to help individuals recognize signs of intimate partner violence, identify harmful behaviours, and understand how to intervene safely and effectively.

In 2024, OVS worked with LCIHCS to adapt and urbanize the rural campaign for Ottawa. The urban version reflected the needs of a larger and more diverse population while preserving the original focus on education, prevention, and safe community action, as intimate partner violence was deemed an "epidemic" in 2023.

Funded by Public Safety Canada, the three organizations have now come together to incorporate education about Red Flag laws into the campaign. The new additions explain that legal options may be available when someone's access to weapons creates a serious risk to themselves or others, including in situations involving intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, coercive control, suicide risk, or escalating threats.

"This next phase of our See It, Name It, Change It campaign builds on years of collaboration between rural and urban victim-serving organizations," said Heidi Illingworth, Executive Director of OVS. "We are helping people recognize risk earlier and understand that there may be legal options available to them before violence becomes lethal."

"When someone is being harmed by their partner, they're five times more likely to die if their partner has access to firearms, like guns. Weapons also increase the risk that a suicide attempt will end in death," said Erin Lee, Executive Director of Lanark County Interval House & Community Support.

"Red flag laws are legal measures that allow judges to temporarily remove firearms from individuals who pose a danger to themselves or others. Anyone can apply to a court for these emergency orders if they have safety concerns," said Diana McGlinchey, Principal Investigator, Victimology Research Centre.

For more information about Red Flag Laws and legal options that may be available when someone is likely to cause harm, please visit OVS' dedicated website at https://stopviolence.ca or Lanark County Interval House and Community Support's website at https://lcih.org/.

Learn More About Red Flag Laws

We encourage the public to visit www.stopviolence.ca/red-flags, where they can access clear and accessible information about:

• What Red Flag laws are and how they may help prevent weapons-related harm;
• Emergency prohibition orders and emergency limitations on access orders;
• Who may apply for these orders;
• What happens during the application process;
• Protections available to people making an application;
• Warning signs that someone's access to weapons may pose a risk;
• The connection between weapons-related risk, intimate partner violence, coercive control, and suicide risk; and
• Where to find legal information, safety resources, and victim support.

The website is intended to help individuals, families, friends, service providers, and other community members better understand the legal options that may be available when there are serious concerns about someone harming themselves or others with weapons.

LRT station advertisements are now appearing across Ottawa helping bring this information directly into the communities the campaign was created to serve.

The project is funded by Public Safety Canada. For more information about the "Safety from Weapons: Red Flag Laws - Using the Law When Someone's Likely to Cause Harm" campaign, please visit Ottawa Victim Services' dedicated Red Flag Laws website at https://stopviolence.ca/redflag/ or Lanark County Interval House and Community Support's website at https://lcih.org/.

SOURCE Ottawa Victim Services Inc.

Media Contacts: Heidi Illingworth, Executive Director, Ottawa Victim Services, 613-286-3646, [email protected]; Erin Lee, Executive Director, Lanark County Interval House, 613-878-5700, [email protected]; Diana McGlinchey, Principal Investigator, Victimology Research Centre, [email protected]