Good morning. Thank you very much for having me here today.
Thank you for inviting me to share with you the work of Public Safety Canada with respect to the implementation of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights Act.
I am joined today by my colleagues from the Correctional Service and the Parole Board of Canada, who also have roles to play in upholding victims' rights under the CVBR.
Public Safety Canada is responsible for the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, which guides CSC and the PBC on how federal sentences of over two years or more are carried out. It gives life to the rights that can be exercised by the victims of federal offenders.
Within Public Safety, the national office for victims is a resource that is working to improve victims' interactions with the federal corrections and conditional release system by supporting a victims' lens during policy development. It shares information with victims and the general public regarding federal corrections and conditional release through the development of products such as the publication entitled “Victims of Crime: Staying Informed”, which is available in 20 languages, including seven indigenous languages. The office supports and complements the work of the policy centre for victim issues at Justice Canada through portfolio coordination and engagement with victims and other key stakeholders.
In addition, the national office for victims and Public Safety agency partners have developed a number of information products to ensure that victims are aware of their rights and of the services provided to them by the federal government.
We continuously strive to improve these products and develop new ones with feedback from victims.
Additionally, appropriate redress is a key element of the CVBR, which established a means by which victims can complain directly to federal departments and agencies if they feel their rights have been denied or infringed, in order to address issues quickly and with satisfaction. Should a victim not be satisfied with the outcomes of a complaint, they can contact the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime.
As part of its coordination role, the national office for victims annually publishes information on CVBR-related complaints to the Public Safety portfolio agencies and Public Safety itself regarding how these complaints were resolved.
Since the coming into force of the CVBR in 2015, the national office for victims also held annual round tables between 2016 and 2020 with victims, their advocates and victim-serving organizations, to discuss the implementation of the CVBR in the context of federal corrections and conditional release. Themes raised at these tables are broad ranging. Examples of themes include accountability, offender reintegration, restorative justice, outreach and engagement. Summary reports of these discussions are all available online at the Public Safety Canada website.
Importantly, we heard that information is essential for victims to be able to exercise their rights to participation and protection.
In 2019-20, CSC provided information to some 8,800 victims who requested information about the offender who harmed them.
The Public Safety portfolio is committed to implementing the CVBR to ensure victims of federal offenders are treated with compassion and respect, including receiving the timely information that is required to exercise their CVBR rights.
Recently, an internal audit by Correctional Service of their national victim services program found that Correctional Service offers services to victims in compliance with all relevant legislation, policy and procedures.
To further consider victims' needs in their operations, the Parole Board of Canada has established a national victim advisory committee and CSC has launched an internal victim engagement task team to ensure greater consideration of victims' concerns in decision-making.
I would also like to acknowledge that the current COVID global pandemic is a difficult time for vulnerable victims and families. To ensure that victims' rights have been respected, corrections and conditional release operations have had to pivot and use new methods and practices to fulfill their mandates in a way that conforms with public health and safety protocols.
We acknowledge that more can be done and as such, we're committed to working with stakeholder suggestions from round tables to do this.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear today.