As the minister said in his remarks, victims do not currently have standing in a criminal process. To provide victims with standing would be to essentially introduce a whole new party to the process. Right now the criminal process consists of the state and the offender, and the crown represents the victim, the state at large. It's true, as the minister said, that some victims or organizations representing victims were supportive of receiving standing throughout the criminal justice process, but many victims also said that they didn't want to cause upset to the overall system, cause further delays and impede the efficiency of the process. That was one of the considerations taken into account, as the minister said. That was a challenge.
Was there a different way to achieve the voice that victims were asking for, to be represented throughout the system? I think that's in some of the measures the minister mentioned: giving victims a stronger voice through the victim impact statement and community impact statement, and requiring the crown to take reasonable steps to consult with victims before a plea is accepted.
The balance that the bill seeks to achieve is to recognize what is at the heart of the victim's seeking standing and ask if there is a different way to achieve this, in a way that won't upset or impede the efficiency of the system.