Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the committee members for allowing me the opportunity to speak to my amendment.
The bill proposes a measure intended to address new funding sources for victim services through restitution orders, but what it does not address, and what we don't have, is data to measure against to determine if the funds are sufficient to effectively meet the critical need for services for victims of crime at the time those critical supports are needed.
This is a long-standing problem, Madam Chair. The federal government's own 2011 “Federal Victims Strategy Evaluation: Final Report” clearly stated that, “Although the Federal Victims Strategy is improving the experience of victims in the criminal justice system, funding lapses are impeding the full potential of the Victims Fund.”
Calls for justice 5.6, 16.29 and 17.27 of the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls all speak to the need for meaningfully funded supports and a holistic, comprehensive approach to supports for indigenous victims of crime and families and friends of indigenous murdered or missing persons, including those specific to the needs of Métis people and Inuit people and communities.
Submissions by the Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime to the government continue to highlight various gaps and shortcomings in victim services. Members hear this regularly too, from people who have trouble getting the supports they need and from frontline victim service providers who struggle to meet the demand.
This amendment addresses the need for transparent reporting on the gaps and requires that the minister table an annual report to Parliament, in consultation with provincial and territorial governments, on gaps in victim services, broken down by province and taking into consideration the realities of vulnerable populations, including youth, indigenous people, women and racialized people.
I hope committee members will support my amendment.