Yes, absolutely. On our recommendations, I'll again go back to my earlier comments. The federal victim surcharge was put in place in 1988. It was amended in 2000. What we have seen is that it has been routinely waived, so it's not fulfilling its intention. It was intended to raise moneys for provinces and territories to provide services to victims of crime.
I can tell you that we hear from victims of crime across this country. I'll use one example. I talked to a mum who had lost her daughter. Her daughter had been murdered. She said that she was one of the lucky ones because she got 30 counselling sessions paid for, but that it had been 18 months and they hadn't even gotten to pre-trial. She was wondering how many sessions she should save. Well, that's not meeting the needs of a victim of crime. As everyone at this table knows, when we're talking about victimization it can be lifelong, and the needs of a victim of crime don't end with the end of the criminal justice system, necessarily—they will go on.
As everyone here is aware, the majority of direct services are provided by the provinces and territories, so when we talk about giving the provinces and territories access to more financial support to be able to deliver those services, to be able to meet the needs of victims of crime, both at the time of crime and in the aftermath following the crime—and in many cases, over many years—this is something that we must do. We must start to take these positive steps forward. We must start to recognize that victims are not bystanders in the criminal justice system and that they have these needs that have to be met.