My agency was founded in 1992. We opened in 1993. The Canadian Police Association is the group that started us. They still house us in their offices here in Ottawa.
We work with victims impacted by all types of serious crime, so anything from fraud to domestic violence to homicide. First and foremost, we try to connect victims who call our office from across the country with supports in their local area. We provide information resources to them through our website. We have a monthly newsletter. We also do a lot of advocacy.
We try to be a voice for victims. We try to bring their voice to the table, as we've done here today. Our board of directors is made up of eight individuals who have been impacted by homicide from across Canada. We are constantly trying to bring the voice of people harmed by a crime to the table so that all sorts of crime and justice issues.... We're not trying to speak for them, but we bring attention to issues they call our office to talk about. These include the difficulties they are having, whether it's on the front line accessing services, whether it's with police, the Crown, or later on in the criminal justice process when it comes to prisons and following the offenders through the system.