Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this opportunity to address you today on the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, which the Conservative government adopted in 2015. I worked for nearly 10 years to get this charter adopted.
In 2005, three years after my daughter Julie was murdered, I had a private meeting with Stephen Harper, who made a personal commitment to make his government the government of victims and to adopt a victims charter. Without that commitment, this charter would not have seen the light of day. He kept his word and I want to thank him for it.
The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights was intended, above all, as a recognition of the victims of criminal acts and their rights within the criminal justice system. This supraconstitutional act, need it be repeated, is based on four fundamental rights that actors in the criminal justice system have a duty to honour: the right to information, the right to participation, the right to protection and the right to compensation.
Unfortunately, victims have not always been treated in accordance with the charter's principles since the charter was introduced six years ago. The charter's objective is theoretically to rebalance the rights of criminals and victims within the justice system by recentring the importance of the role of both those groups. In practice, however, that concept has not been properly applied, as noted in the “Final report on the review of Canada's criminal justice system,” which was released in 2020.
First of all, the report shows that victims find it difficult to report crimes committed against them to police for fear of repercussions against them or apprehension that their cases will not be taken seriously. This lack of trust stems from the very lenient way in which justice is administered to the assailants of victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, in particular. As a result, sections 9, 10 and 13 under the charter's Protection heading are not complied with.
I would remind you that most of the 160 women murdered in Canada in 2019 had previously reported their attackers to police. That cost them their lives. The report also highlights a lack of compassion and respect for victims once they are in the justice system.
Last fall, I introduced a bill in the Senate to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to assist the families of victims who felt they were being excluded by the Parole Board of Canada and not informed of parole hearings that were being held.
Although the Senate and the House promptly adopted motions to hold meetings via videoconference, was it normal for the Parole Board of Canada to take nearly a year to allow the families of victims to attend those hearings? Section 8 under the charter's Protection heading was thus not complied with. The failings outlined in this report are a direct consequence of a lack of action by the federal government to have its own institutions comply with the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. When an act as complex as this one comes into force, the government has a duty to ensure it is administered and constantly improved.
The document entitled, “Progress Report: The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights,” which the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime also released in 2020, states that training opportunities for criminal justice officials are limited and that there has been no campaign to inform victims or the Canadian public of their rights.
The first point raised in the progress report is that there is no legal remedy for non-compliance with the provisions of the charter. There are no possible court remedies for victims whose rights have been violated. They may still file complaints with the organization concerned, but no mechanism has been established to review those complaints, as the charter provided when it was adopted in 2015.
To remedy this problem, it is imperative that the report's first recommendation be implemented: “Delete sections 27, 28 and 29 of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, which deny victims any standing to appeal to courts for review when their rights are not upheld.”
The other important point concerns an amendment that I think should urgently be adopted to improve the handling of these complaints. The Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime reports directly to the Minister and Department of Justice. Given the importance of the ombudsman's mandate, the office must be independent of the Department of Justice, and an act should be passed to that effect so that the position reports directly to Parliament. The Office of the Ombudsman should also be the sole competent authority to review the complaints of victims of criminal acts with regard to the way they are treated by a department or federal agency.
If the Correctional Investigator reports to Parliament to ensure the office is independent, why isn't that the case of the Ombudsman for Victims of Crime?
Ladies and gentlemen, it is essential that the act be reviewed every five years. In 2015, we were aware that we had just given victims a vehicle for equal recognition of their rights. Unfortunately, the federal government has forgotten how to maintain that vehicle since it was adopted and, even worse, has put no one in the driver's seat.
It is now up to you to decide the fate of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. It will be hard for the justice system to restore the trust that victims have lost in Canadian justice if the charter is not reviewed every five years so that their voices and opinions can be heard.
Thank you for your attention.
I am now ready to answer your questions.