Sister of murdered woman says rash of intimate partner violence deaths ‘rocks my soul’

Paula Gallant, a N.S. school teacher, was killed by her husband 19 years ago. Her sister continues the fight to bring attention to violence against women.

It’s been 19 years since Paula Gallant — a new mother, loving sister and elementary school teacher — was murdered by her husband.

Her sisters have never let her name be forgotten, and as fatal instances of intimate partner violence continue to rise in Nova Scotia, the family is reflecting on their personal fight for change.

“If it can happen to her, it can happen to any woman, and that message needs to be repeated over and over again,” said Lynn Gallant-Blackburn, Paula’s sister.

Since October 2024, five women have been killed in the province by a male partner. In one case on New Year’s Eve in Halifax, the woman’s father was killed as well. All five incidents were murder-suicides.

These homicides, which have shattered families and left communities reeling, come mere months after the legislature adopted a bill in September declaring domestic violence an epidemic.

Gallant was killed in December 2005. It took more than four years for her husband, Jason MacRae, to confess to the crime.

He was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder in March 2011. According to an agreed statement of facts, Gallant had been strangled after a fight over MacRae’s gambling debt.

“It took almost four and a half years to get a conviction. Since that time, I’ve continued to not only advocate for Paula, but to advocate for all women and girls living with men’s violence,” said Gallant-Blackburn.