Okay. Thank you.
First of all thank you so much for inviting me to speak today. I really appreciate it. I am extremely grateful for this bill.
I'll give you a little background on myself and why I can speak to this issue. I myself am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. As a child I was sexually abused for two years by a boarder in our home. I ended up with a very destructive life and ended up in suicide prevention at the hospital, so I speak as a survivor and a victim.
As a result, 22 years ago I also started the agency called the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness. We are a national agency, and we service over 200,000 victims a year. We have just opened up in the United States. I think there are a few of them down there. We are the only non-native agency working with the first nations residential school survivors. We were the agency that worked with Maple Leaf Gardens survivors and we continue to do that as, unfortunately, Gardens survivors are still coming forward. We've done 16 conferences with the OPP for male survivors. We have a national television show and two monthly e-zines, Canadian and U.S., and we have several programs. That's just a little background so that you understand that when I speak, I'm coming at this from both sides.
I'm very pleased with this bill. There are a few things in the bill that I would really like to emphasize. The proposed Corrections and Conditional Release Act amendments to increase victim access to information about the person who harmed them are very necessary so victims can feel empowered and can have a sense of control. As I'm sure this committee has heard many times, the most healing thing for a victim is to be heard.
I'm in agreement with the amendments that entitle a registered victim to certain things, but in particular to information regarding the date, destination, and conditions of an offender's conditional release. This information is critical. We are working with the Maple Leaf Gardens survivors, and when Gordon Stuckless was released the first time, they were not allowed to go before the parole board. They didn't even know that Gordon Stuckless had been released after serving two-thirds of his sentence, and they were devastated and revictimized. I know how critical it is for the victims to have a say in and a presence at the parole hearings and to understand what's happening with the perpetrator.
The definition of a victim needs to be expanded. In the case of death or if someone is unable to act on their own behalf, a family member or relative should be allowed to act on their behalf. Again, I'm speaking from experience. A lot of the victims I work with are male. One of the Stuckless victims recently came forward. He was so traumatized by having to go to court and face Gordon Stuckless that during the trial we had to have several recesses just because of the trauma he felt sitting in front of Stuckless, who sat there with a smirk on his face. I have to work through the victim's wife even to get him counselling. This would be a wonderful example of how his wife could represent him at a parole hearing, because I don't think he could handle one. A lot of the victims I work with are extremely traumatized, and such situations re-traumatize them.
I think it's important for a victim to know about all the support programs that are available to them and what their rights are, including registering with Correctional Services or the parole board. I just think there's a disconnect between what the provinces are doing and what the federal government is doing. I know the federal ombudsman does an amazing job. I just feel more needs to be done for victims, not only at the time of the sentencing but also, for a lot of the victims we work with, long term. There needs to be a better way of letting everybody else know what everybody's doing. I know in my own case, I've been at this for 23 years, and I'm still finding out about agencies that could help victims.
There should be a mechanism in place to handle complaints with the federal organizations and there should be a right to participation. Victims who need to face perpetrators in court require support. Again I would emphasize that when victims go before the perpetrators in court, as great as victims assistance is, they really need therapeutic support. I see them traumatized and I see them being re-traumatized. They really could use some serious therapeutic help at the time. As I said, I just sat through the Gordon Stuckless trial and there were many breaks because the victim was so traumatized.
Acknowledging the harm done to victims is critical to the victim. They need to feel that they have been heard and the community has heard them. I like the idea of a standard victim impact statement and community impact statement, because my experience is that victims have a very difficult time even putting thoughts together. This is re-traumatizing. I can speak as a victim myself. The trauma doesn't go away until you deal with it. There's a saying that what you don't work out, you act out. The trauma comes up and every time a victim has to face his perpetrator or just the process, it's re-traumatizing.
All attempts must be made to secure the safety at a parole hearing. For instance, the victim should not have to be in the waiting room with their perpetrator. The right to restitution is another point that is very critical to me, because I do work with victims, for instance, women coming out of a domestic abuse situation. I know at the time they can give a list of all the things they need. We have a huge warehouse and we provide a lot of support for the women. For instance, we give them sheets but they don't have a bed. It isn't just the immediate time when sentencing takes place; I realize that's when you go through the first list. But I do think it's critical that this can be re-evaluated on a regular basis. I also want to say that it's not just women. I work with a lot of men. A lot of the Stuckless survivors have been in prison, have been sick, have drug problems. How do you assess at the time of sentencing everything that man needs? It's a lifelong process. I'd like to see something that is looked at on an ongoing basis.
There is a reference to referrals for counselling, but I would like the language to be stronger, that the judge would automatically know that there has to be money for counselling. To assume that any victim doesn't need counselling, I haven't seen one yet who doesn't. They may not even realize it. There should be something that is consistent in the restitution so that counselling is covered. We work with the first nations people and even though they get money, some of the money just goes to some of their life needs. They all need counselling and there is so little counselling available, especially for men. I would like that language to be stronger.
There's the right to protection. It's as simple as providing a woman with a cellphone. We work with women in domestic abuse situations. Some of those things should be automatic, as well as counselling. What other things can you provide a victim with for safety?
We work with children as well. It's critical that the children can ask to testify outside the court. I think that's done more and more now, but it needs to be really emphasized that children need the process to be as normal as possible. In the Toronto sex crimes unit interview room we hid a camera in a tree. The child was in the room with some toys and didn't realize they were being interviewed. It is critical that we make it as normal as we can for children, and that there be as much support as we can give them to normalize what's happened.
In closing, there are two really important points for me. Number one, it has to happen as quickly as possible. I don't think anything that slows the process is really good for a victim. They're traumatized and they need to get through the process as quickly as possible and with the support they need. Also, there's counselling. I can't emphasize enough that if we provide the counselling, even for the perpetrator.... The perpetrators do get counselling, but a lot of the men who perpetrate domestic abuse were abused themselves, so it's about stopping the cycle. There are women who keep going back to their abusive partners. If the counselling was in place, you would stop the cycle for them and the children.
I really am so grateful to the government for bringing this bill forward and I really support it.
Thank you very much.