Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members.
I am very happy to be here this afternoon and have an opportunity to address you. I am a co-founder of Canadian Parents of Murdered Children and Survivors of Homicide Victims. I manage the education and community outreach programs.
Canadian Parents of Murdered Children is a national charitable organization first formed in 2009 to provide ongoing emotional support, education, and assistance to parents and survivors of homicide victims while promoting public awareness and education of all Canadians.
There are many kinds of victims of crime. My work involves a specific group of people who have become co-victims or what is commonly referred to as survivors of victims of homicide. I speak to you today on behalf of those parents whose child or children were murdered, as well as other family members who have lost a loved one to homicide.
It is impossible to expect anyone who has not been directly impacted by the act of murder to understand the enormous grief, the immense anger, and the depth of hopelessness that those of us who have experienced such a life-changing, traumatic event feel. The grief caused by murder does not follow a predictable pattern, and no one can ever be prepared for such a loss. No amount of counselling, prayer, justice, restitution, or compassion can ever bring a child or a loved one back. In homicide the primary victim is dead.
However, what we can do as a society to reduce ongoing trauma and in many cases re-victimization is to give the living victims, the survivors of homicide victims, the right to have a voice, to be acknowledged and considered as having been directly impacted by the crime. Our criminal justice system has evolved over many years. It is neither designed nor equipped to heal the victims of the trauma caused by the crime. It is set up to consider the guilt of the accused and protect the public. An effective criminal justice system is the basis of a civilized and prosperous society. I believe that without creating unjust or unfair treatment of the offender, rebalancing the criminal justice system in favour of the law-abiding majority sets out a blueprint by which equality can be achieved.
Bill C-32 is a significant and greatly welcomed piece of legislation that seeks to create clear statutory rights to information protection, participation, and restitution at the federal level for victims of crime for the very first time in Canada's history. However, there are those who would have you believe that giving reasonable and enforceable rights to victims would throw us back into medieval times when vengeance and retaliation were the rule of law.
I believe that the creation of the Canadian victims bill of rights is a major and positive shift in the criminal justice culture and its implementation will codify a modern, balanced, and just society. In preparing for today, I had a difficult time deciding which proposed right to address within the timeframe available to me. Therefore, I decided to focus on a systemic problem that currently exists among jurisdictions in Canada, the correction of which is vital to the success of the administration and enforceability of Bill C-32.
One must acknowledge and understand the vast challenges and inequality of services that victims face across the country. The federal government has constitutional authority for the enactment of criminal law and criminal procedure. However, the provinces and territories have constitutional authority over the administration of justice, including investigation and prosecution, as well as victim services.
Although every province and territory has legislation addressing victims' rights and services, they vary greatly from one jurisdiction to another. While we must respect the constitutional jurisdiction of the provinces, the Canadian victims bill of rights provides an opportunity to engage all jurisdictions to revisit their legislation and make it parallel with the federal government's victims bill of rights.
The interpretation and administration of these rights must be the same in every jurisdiction. Only in this way will universality and fundamental equality of rights as identified in Bill C-32 benefit all victims in Canada. The successful administration of Bill C-32 requires social change throughout the country that actively promotes crime victim-centred legal advocacy, training, education, public policy, and resource sharing.
Nationwide training on the meaning, scope, and enforceability of victims' rights through practical skills courses, online webinars, and teleconferences open to, but not limited to, attorneys, judges, advocates, law enforcement, and policy-makers, is imperative if Bill C-32 is to enhance fairness and justice for victims.
Similar to the criminal justice community's need for training, victims also need to be educated in order to best understand and exercise their rights under Bill C-32. Therefore, resources need to be available to help victims effectively access the federal, provincial, and territorial programs and services available to them. The important principle is that all Canadians have access to the same type of information in a timely manner.
People who use public services want to know what services are available to them and how to access them. This is especially true for victims of crime who have to try to understand and negotiate a complex and intimidating criminal justice system, which they may have never dealt with before. The result is the victims' needs are unmet and they are left uninformed, resulting in a negative impact on their well-being as well as their confidence and engagement with the police and the wider criminal justice system.
It is important to clearly identify the role of each agency within the criminal justice system. Access for victims to a single Web portal would provide the means to lessen, if not eliminate, gaps and create a seamless flow of information. Should there be a breach of rights under the Canadian victims bill of rights, the efficiency of the internal complaints process to correct an infringement and provide a resolution in a timely manner is absolutely essential to avoid additional harm to the victim in another long, drawn-out process.
The fulfilment of these rights should be measured by performance indicators developed for each criminal justice agency in contact with victims. If victims are able to secure participatory status in the criminal justice processes, it will provide them with a sense of empowerment, something we lose when we become a victim of crime, and it will promote a positive interaction with the criminal justice system. It will reduce trauma and additional victimization, which is extremely detrimental and debilitating. And it will restore public confidence in the Canadian criminal justice system.
Finally, I wish to comment on the cost of implementing new legislation and the resulting services when the Canadian victims bill of rights comes into force. Tens of millions of Canadian tax dollars go into the maintenance and enforcement of justice and to incarcerate, educate, and rehabilitate offenders. While education and rehabilitation of offenders as well as crime prevention programs are critical to reducing crime and creating safer communities, it is equally important to provide rights, services, and rehabilitation for the victims of those crimes. To help offset the cost borne by victims and their families through no fault of their own, and to reduce demands on the Canadian tax dollars, some of this financial responsibility should be borne by the offenders.
While our constitutional rights are near and dear to our hearts, and are the foundation upon which this great country thrives, the implementation of the Canadian victims bill of rights must over time—because it will take time—ensure that all parties operating within the criminal justice system shift their mindset to one of equality for both the offender and the victim. Bill C-32 will have a profound impact on how the criminal justice system, and other government departments and agencies, treat victims. I appeal to all political parties and all levels to work cooperatively to ensure its effective implementation.
Thank you.