Speakers
Pamela Cross
Feminist Lawyer
Pamela Cross is a feminist lawyer; a well-known and respected expert on violence against women and the law. She works as a researcher, writer, educator and trainer with women’s equality and violence against women organizations across Canada.
In June 2024, Pamela was awarded a Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa, by the Law Society of Ontario.
In March 2023, Pamela was appointed to a two-year term with Ontario’s Domestic Violence Death Review Committee, which reviews all domestic homicide deaths to identify risk factors and propose recommendations for systemic change.
In 2022, Pamela participated in the Inquest into 2015 triple femicide of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam in Renfrew County, Ontario, both as an expert witness in her role as Luke’s Place Legal Director and as an external consultant producing a report for the Inquest on behalf of the community. Following the Inquest, Pamela was commissioned by End Violence Against Women Renfrew County to develop a toolkit about community engagement with inquests, We Remember.
Pamela also participated in the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Inquiry as an expert witness on intimate partner violence.
Pamela is an author on the Luke’s Place toolkit, The law and parenting arrangements after separation (2021) and Family Court and Beyond (2018, 2021). With funding from the federal Department of Justice, she led a team that conducted research into the use of family violence screening tools for family law practitioners. The final report, entitled What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: The importance of family violence screening tools for family law practitioners (2018), includes a draft screening tool.
As a member of the teaching faculty with the National Judicial Institute, she trained criminal and family court judges on managing domestic violence cases, and, in 2012, she developed violence against women curriculum for law schools in a project with the Law Commission of Ontario.
For the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, Pamela co-authored Muslim and Canadian Family Laws: A Comparative Primer and was the author of Violence Against Women: Health and Justice for Canadian Women. She also delivered workshops on family law to CCMW members.
In her previous role as Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela was the lead trainer for Ontario’s Family Court Support Workers, providing both in-person and online training and support for approximately 100 frontline workers who assist abused women in family court. She led the development and delivery of domestic violence awareness training to approximately 2,500 Legal Aid Ontario staff, community clinics and lawyers across the province. She was also Co-Chair of the Violence Against Women Roundtable, which provided guidance to the provincial government on this issue.
Pamela is the 2020 recipient of the Corry Award from Queen’s Law, the 2019 recipient of both the Laura Legge Award from the Law Society of Ontario and the Guthrie Award from the Law Foundation of Ontario, and a 2015 recipient of the Attorney General’s Victim Services Award of Distinction. In 2006, she was a YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction for her work in the area of law reform.
She is a frequent speaker at provincial, national and international conferences and is a regular commentator on violence against women and the law for print media, radio and television across Canada.
Mark Dapat
Deputy Chief, Peel Regional Police
Deputy Chief Mark Dapat leads the Community Safety and Well-being Command pillar at Peel Regional Police and is responsible for sworn and civilian member Recruiting, Training, Organizational Wellness, Community Engagement and Mobilization.
Mark represents the Peel Regional Police on several Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police committees, including the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Community Safety and Crime Prevention committee that he co-chairs. He is also a member of the Canadian Association of Chief’s of Police – Crime Prevention and Community Safety and Well-being Committee.
Stephanie Gray
Coordinator, Lanark County Situation Table and Community Safety and Well-Being Plan
Stephanie Gray has been the Coordinator of the Lanark County Situation Table and Community Safety and Well-Being Plan for Lanark County and Smiths Falls since 2015. A graduate of Carleton University’s Journalism and English programs, she has more than 30 years of experience in communications, including corporate communications for municipal government, as well as college-level teaching. She also serves as the Coordinator for the Lanark County Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Advisory Committee, which includes representation at the provincial community of practice for coordinating committees. Collaboration, partnerships and a strong desire to enhance health and well-being in her community and beyond keep her inspired.
Michaela Johnston
CEMC, Accessibility and Health & Safety Manager, Town of Goderich
Michaela is the Emergency (CEMC), Accessibility and Health and Safety Manager for the Town of Goderich and sits as Chair of the Community Safety and Well-Being for Huron Municipal Working Group, as well as Secretary of the Oversight Committee which guides the implementation of the Community Safety and Well-Being for Huron Plan.
Born and raised on a farm in rural Ontario, she studied criminology and psychology at University of Toronto before working as a Law Clerk and Paralegal in Toronto, Grand Cayman, and Goderich. Her education, work and life experiences have provided a keen interest and insight into the work being done by municipalities with respect to Community Safety and Well-Being. Michaela is thrilled to work with municipal and community partners to enact change through education and by supporting or creating campaigns and initiatives to address the Plan’s priority areas.
Erin Lee
Executive Director, Lanark County Interval House & Community Support
Erin Lee is a passionate advocate who has spent decades working to end violence against women. Her experience spans anti-violence programs, school board initiatives, provincial associations and numerous boards and committees. Currently Erin is the Executive Director of Lanark County Interval House and Community Support, a Community Safety and Well-Being Plan (CSWBP) member, a Coordinating Committee member and member of the Victimology Advisory of Algonquin College. In recent years, Erin was a recipient of the MAG, the Attorney General’s Victim Services Award of Distinction (2021) and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario award for social change (2016). Erin was a member of the Ending Violence Association(EVA) Renfrew County Inquest working group and offered testimony related to rural realities. Erin was appointed to a two-year term in 2023 as a member of the Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review committee. Erin’s advocacy is characterized as solution-focussed, mentoring to new advocates and inclusive to all.
Danielle Letang
Manager, Data Strategy, Rural Ontario Institute
Danielle Letang is the Manager of Data Strategy at the Rural Ontario Institute. ROI’s data analysis program is focused on providing information and evidence for local decision making. Danielle develops interactive rural data dashboards, writes factsheets to present rural and urban trends, and leads the community wellbeing project. Before joining ROI, Danielle worked for federal and provincial governments on natural resource management, climate change research, and sustainability reporting.
Brianne Luckasavitch
Victim Advocate & Public Education Coordinator, Lanark County Interval House & Community Support
Bri has worked for Lanark County Interval House & Community Support for over 15 years; first as the Public Education Coordinator and most recently as the Victim Advocate (VA). In her role as VA, Bri works alongside the Lanark County OPP ensuring that victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking are supported using a trauma informed, harm reduction approach. Her relationship with Police and Community has been instrumental in the improved response for victims and survivors of SADV & HT in Lanark County.
Margaret MacPherson
Research Associate, Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children, Western University
Margaret has been leading social change initiatives on gender-based violence for over twenty years. She designs projects, curriculum and related materials for CREVAWC on topics that include community coordination, workplace domestic violence, sexual harassment and violence, elder abuse and exploitation.
She also convenes the Building a Bigger Wave network, a provincial network of Violence Against Women Coordinating Committees.
Margaret is passionate in her belief that everyone has an important contribution to make in creating safe and supportive environments at work and in our communities.
Felix Munger (he/him/il)
Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Safer Cities
Felix joined the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities in 2015 as the executive director. Felix has over 25 years of experience facilitating strategic planning, priority setting, and collaboration building with a wide range of participants including equity-deserving and Indigenous communities. Originally trained as a psychiatric nurse, he has experience in community safety, organizational collaboration, mental health and addiction, equity, diversity, inclusion, and organizational capacity development. He holds a master’s degree in environmental studies and a PhD in community psychology. Most recently, his work is focused on the impacts of climate change and social polarization on community safety, as well as evaluation and monitoring of community safety. Felix resides in Waterloo Region, Ontario, which is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Neutral peoples.