Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of sitting on the justice committee which produced the report “Victims' Rights—A Voice, Not a Veto”, which is behind the legislation that we are currently dealing with.
I have only been in the House for two years, but I have never heard such compelling testimony as the testimony I heard from those who came before the committee. While sitting there, many of us would take off our glasses, stop reading the reports and literally put down our pens. For those of us who had been involved in the legal system in this country, we would hang our heads in shame listening to the horrific crimes that these people had been subjected to and the awful way in which our criminal justice system had treated many of them.
Mr. Speaker, you and I share a profession outside of the House which has, how shall I say, a problematic reputation at best, probably second only to that of politicians. Frankly, this was and is a shot across the bow of the justice system, a justice system that this country is supposed to serve.
This is a warning to judges, crowns, defence attorneys and the police that parliament and the public are watching. Parliament and the public will hold the custodians of our justice system accountable for how they implement legislation and how they treat many of the most vulnerable victims in society. Victims cannot be taken for granted. Victims want a voice, not a veto.
In some respects the title of our report captures the essence of what we had heard. Victims want to be able to say, “This is what happened to me. This is how the criminal act impacted on me and my family”. They want to be heard and to be taken seriously. They want the justice system to sit up and take notice when they speak.
In October 1998 the justice committee produced the report “Victims' Rights—A Voice, Not a Veto”. The chair of that committee at the time, the late Shaughnessy Cohen, worked tirelessly in producing the report. I would also note the contributions of the member for Surrey North and the member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough who were both were very active in the production of the report.
I, along with many other committee members, held town hall meetings to ask members of our constituencies what they thought. We held the meeting in June 1998 and produced our own report. We had contributions from Barbara Hall, the former mayor of Toronto and now the national chair of the crime prevention initiative; Tim Danson, a noted civil rights lawyer; Priscilla de Villiers, the chair of CAVEAT; Carol Sparling from the National Parole Board; and, Terry Spencer from the Toronto Police Victim Services. We had an excellent meeting. My constituents were fully engaged in the discussion. These people were truly very articulate and those who came away from the meeting were very impressed by the extent of their knowledge and ability to articulate the problem.
That report, along with other members' reports, became part of the report that made 17 recommendations to the government in October 1998 to which the government, to its great credit, responded in a very detailed fashion in December 1998 and dedicated its response to the late chair. In its response it quoted extensively from the report and promised to make every effort to fulfill the spirit of the recommendations in a timely manner.
The tabling of the bill in April 1999 is a substantive response to the committee's recommendations. It is both timely and substantive and, I would argue, a good response in less than six months of the committee's report.
I will not go into a lot of detail right now, but I do want to pick up on a couple of points that may be of interest to members. The creation of a policy centre for the victims of crime is a good idea. All legislation should be looked at through the lens of the victim. The only fear I have is that it will raise false expectations among the victims' communities that have become something of an ombudsman's office. I think we need to be very clear about that.
The second area is with respect to victim impact statements. In the proposed amendments, it would ensure that the victim is permitted to read an impact statement at the time of sentencing if he or she wishes to do so. At present, the judge is required to consider the written statement, but allowing the victim to read it is discretionary. It removes the judge's discretion in this matter.
It also requires the judge to ask before imposing sentence whether the victim has been informed of the opportunity to prepare a statement. It further authorizes adjournments to permit a victim to prepare a statement or to submit other evidence about the impact of the crime. After reading that, I wondered why someone had not thought of it before. In some respects that encapsulates why the public is in part so upset with the system of justice that we have in the country.
It requires that victim impact statements be considered by courts and review boards following a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. It also clarifies that at proceedings to determine whether an offender who is sentenced to life in prison should have his or her parole eligibility reduced, the information provided by the victim may be oral or written. At present the Criminal Code provides that any information provided by the victim will be considered. However, in practice some victims have been discouraged from making statements.
This is a good piece of legislation and I compliment the government. This time I think it got it right. The bill deserves the support of all members. I hope it will receive the support of all members and arrive in committee in a timely fashion so that the committee can determine whether it is in fact an adequate response to the testimony that the committee has already heard.