Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all the witnesses for their participation today and their opening statements. This is going to be very helpful to us in undertaking this particular study.
The focus of my questions in the time that I have allotted will be to justice officials and public safety officials. I won't be addressing anyone in particular, so anyone who is comfortable in answering the questions, please chime in.
I've taken the opportunity of reviewing some of the progress reports that were prepared by the former federal ombudsman, and specifically I took a look at her progress report. I couldn't agree more when she stated that “the adoption of a law in the books is different from its implementation in action.” While putting victims first in every concept...“putting [that] into practice is far more difficult.” The adversarial justice system relegates victims to roles of observers or witnesses in proceedings between state and accused. The Department of Justice acknowledged “that victims often feel 'revictimized' under the current system, and [agree] that major changes are needed to support...rights of victims”.
As a former Crown prosecutor, I have seen first-hand the disconnect in terms of swaying the pendulum between protecting the rights of the accused at the expense of victims and not ensuring that they are properly informed. They have a right to proper information from not only the police but from Crown prosecutors, and to full participation in the process.
Bearing in mind the progress report from the former federal ombudsman, I'd like to know, from a departmental perspective, what changes had been discussed and what changes are about to be implemented to strengthen the Victims Bill of Rights?