Thank you very much. Thank you for inviting our organization, Victims of Violence, to appear today on Bill C-37, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, on victim fine surcharges.
I will briefly tell you about our organization—only half of it.
Our mission is to promote a more balanced justice system through legislative action and public awareness. Victims of Violence was founded in 1984 to provide support and assistance to victims of violent crime, to advance the rights of crime victims, and to enhance the safety of all law-abiding Canadians by addressing problems in Canada's criminal justice system.
We are appearing here today in support of Bill C-37. We agree that doubling of the victim fine surcharge and making it mandatory is crucial to the provision of victim services across Canada. Twenty-five years ago the concept of rights for crime victims was not widely recognized by either the justice system or the general public. Within a growing movement consisting of a group of determined individuals made up of victims of crime and associated professionals, the movement began advancing the vision of a system that would acknowledge and protect not only the rights of the accused but also those of the victim.
Great progress has been made since then. But progress does not come without challenges. While it is clear that there is an increased need for victim services across Canada, allocations from the victim fine surcharge have steadily decreased over the past number of years. Today the government recognizes this dilemma, and steps are being taken with the proposed amendments in Bill C-37 to restore allocation levels.
It is our opinion that the need for victim services has increased because the past 25 years have seen such a growth in understanding of crime victims' rights and services and of the network of crime victim advocates, service providers, and associated professionals who work to restore a sense of normalcy to victims' lives that crime victims are today more aware of services and seek to use them. Unfortunately, violent crime is a fact of life, and there continues to be a need for increased public awareness of the dynamics of crime. Attention must be paid to the fact that crime is not just a violation of a criminal code, but it also causes harm to victims, including economic loss, emotional suffering, and physical and mental injury.
I wish to bring the committee's attention to an issue that does not seem to get enough attention when we are discussing issues affecting crime victims. The cost of violent and serious crime consists not only of taxpayers' dollars but of the loss of human life, loss of family, loss of law and order, and loss of faith in the criminal justice system.
In 2008 the Department of Justice released a report that estimated the costs of crime. The report stated that the tangible costs of crime—including police, court, corrections, health care, victim costs, etc.—were approximately $31.4 billion, while the intangible costs of pain and suffering, loss of life, etc., were more than double that, at a whopping $68.2 billion.
We would therefore like to ask the committee to take into consideration the costs that crime has had on victims, primarily in three areas: one, in drawing comparisons about whether convicted offenders can afford to pay the fine surcharge or not; two, in deciding whether or not the new amendments to Bill C-37 should be made mandatory; and three, in determining why some question that the new amendments will take away a judge's discretion.
Further, we would submit to the committee that you should consider recognizing that the victim fine surcharge is a major source of funding for victim services throughout Canada. The surcharge is unique in that it is composed primarily of fines from convicted offenders, making it a self-sufficient source of support that does not rely on Canadian tax dollars to carry out its work. We feel that by way of the victim fine surcharge, those who cause victims suffering contribute to alleviating their pain and helping them rebuild their lives.
That said, we wish to touch on a few challenges that we see. The victim fine surcharge legislation has now been in place for 24 years, and we find that there is very much disparity across the provinces as to how the provinces use the victim fine surcharge funds. It is our humble opinion that there is seemingly no transparency. To date, and to our knowledge, there has never been adequate research study done on the use of the victim fine surcharge funds in all provinces, with the exception of four—New Brunswick, B.C., Ontario, and Saskatchewan.
We would therefore suggest a review of provincial practices by the federal government, possibly done by the Office of the Federal Ombudsman. A result of this study could potentially lead to a legislative requirement for something akin to the Victims' Justice Fund, which is generated by the victim fine surcharge in Ontario and which compels the money to be used only for victim assistance use, with maybe a requirement of an annual report on the use of those funds.
We understand that this suggestion would be considered somewhat controversial, if not impossible, since the victim fund surcharge is federal legislation and it is left to the discretion of the provinces to deliver victim services in the manner that they deem appropriate.
In closing, I wish to thank the government for the proposed amendments to the victim fine surcharge as stated in Bill C-37, which we support. I also thank the committee on behalf of Victims of Violence for the opportunity to not only voice our support, but to listen to our concerns as well.
Thank you.
