N.S. Justice Minister Brad Johns resigns from cabinet

Nova Scotia·Breaking

In a news release on Friday evening, Premier Tim Houston said he had accepted Johns’s resignation.

Premier Tim Houston says domestic violence is an issue his government takes seriously

Man in dress shirt sits in front of Nova Scotia flags.
Brad Johns has resigned as Nova Scotia’s justice minister. His resignation comes a day after he said he didn’t believe that domestic violence is an epidemic. (CBC)

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Brad Johns has resigned from cabinet.

Premier Tim Houston made the announcement in a news release sent Friday evening.

The resignation comes a day after Johns’s comments on domestic violence in Nova Scotia.

The minister said he doesn’t believe it’s an epidemic — a position that’s contrary to the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commissions’s final report.

Thursday and Friday marked the four-year anniversary of the Nova Scotia mass shooting, a tragedy that resulted in the deaths of 22 people. The rampage began with the shooter assaulting his common-law wife.

Johns apologized for his comment on Thursday afternoon, and subsequently contacted several women’s shelters across the province to personally apologize. 

Houston said domestic violence is an issue his government “takes very seriously.”

MORE TO COME…

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