Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to pursue the issue of prevention and how this bill could become an effective way of doing that.
I want to just mention briefly that I have spent most of my professional career fighting for victims of crime. I received awards in the United States and internationally for getting the UN General Assembly to adopt basic human rights for victims. I worked with Manitoba to establish the first victim rights legislation in this country. I've recently done work for a think tank for David Cameron in the U.K. The report was called “Less Crime, Lower Costs”, and I've done a book on rights for victims of crime addressed to legislators.
It won't surprise you to hear that I agree with the Minister of Justice that 440,000 victims of violence and 1.3 million victims of property crime need addressing. It also won't surprise you that $83 billion in harm to victims of crime deserves action and deserves additional expenditure and energy. However, there is a very important element missing from Bill C-10, Safe Streets and Communities Act, and the two previous speakers have mentioned it. That is prevention and that is victims.
I am proposing, respectfully, that the committee consider a crime reduction board for Canada. This would be a permanent and high-level office to sustain efforts to prevent crime and bring our services up to international standards. We would achieve this in a variety of ways that are specified in my written submission.
I want to close with a couple of very important examples. Canada has moved to implement effective prevention strategies, but unfortunately, these are a patchwork from coast to coast and we need federal leadership to make more happen. The province of Alberta now has the leading crime reduction and community safety strategy in North America, which, to quote the previous speaker, balances smart enforcement with smart treatment with smart prevention, in sum, combining what this bill needs to combine.
Just last month the province of Saskatchewan, with the approval of the previous speaker and the provincial Association of Chiefs of Police, endorsed a similar strategy for Saskatchewan. But we do not yet have this federally.
My second example illustrates the cost effectiveness of investment in crime prevention. In Winnipeg the number of victims of car theft was significantly reduced by a collaborative process between police, social agencies, and the provincial insurance company. The $50 million that it cost has been recovered, and $40 million is saved every year to taxpayers, and of course much more to victims who are not harmed. Car thefts often cause serious injury.
In my written brief I've shared details of the compelling knowledge that shows that violence can be prevented but requires investments in prevention. I've talked about the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit. I've talked about the British Youth Justice Board.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to interest you in a small step toward making Canada the safest country in the western world, if we can add to this bill this small amendment that will stop victims, reduce harm, and save costs to the criminal justice system.
Thank you very much for listening.