Good. Too many, he says. That is what is wrong over here. We have too much time to talk about victims rights. That is what is wrong with the Liberal Party.
Victims should have the right to be informed of their rights at every stage of the process, including those rights involving compensation from the offender. They must also be made aware of any victim services available. Is that too much to ask?
Victims should have the right to be informed of the offender's status throughout the process, including but not restricted to location of the accused from time of arrest, notification of any arrests, upcoming court dates, sentencing dates, plans to release the offender from custody, including notification of what community the parolee is being released into, parole dates and on and on it goes.
All information is to be made available on request. What is wrong with that? What is wrong with people having those rights today? Bonnie Lucas in my riding would say: "That is what I wanted when my estranged husband came home and burned our house down with our kids in it. We just escaped from it".
All she asked the parole board was: "Would you mind telling me when he is getting out, because he is going to come after me again?" That is all she asked. What happens? We find out he is out living very close by, and on and on it goes.
Victims should have the right to give oral and written victim impact statements before sentencing, at any parole hearings and at judicial reviews. What is wrong with that?
Victims should have the right to be informed of details of the crown's intention to offer a plea bargain before it is presented to the defence. Allen and Debbie Wayne are appalled, as everybody should be, that this young offender had five of the eight charges against him dropped conveniently. He was out on the street the next day while the police were still filling out their forms.
Victims should have the right to know why charges were not laid if that is the decision of the crown or the police. So often we hear they are going to lay some charges but no charges come. They wonder why. It happened in my office. My secretary had her house ripped off three times in a row. She did not know why charges were not forthcoming. To this day she still does not know, except we hear these guys are into bigger things: "You are kind of a zero and we are after the bigger stuff". She does not know why charges were not laid yet they know who did it.
Victims have the right to protection from anyone who intimidates, harasses or interferes with the rights of the victim. I can speak to that one with Joan Cave who was sexually assaulted. The guy was sent into Vancouver remand, writing her threatening letters from remand while we paid the postage. Surely there is something better we could do.
The government has been an absolute disaster on criminal justice programs.