Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to the bill today. I too would like to give credit to the two Reform members, the hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford and the hon. member for Surrey North, for all the work they have done in leading up to the legislation being presented.
As others have already said, the legislation will not go nearly as far as it should in terms of providing victims their rights. To demonstrate that, I want to read one of the most touching letters I have ever received from a constituent. This person was the victim of a heinous crime. I will read as much of this letter as I can and use it to demonstrate that there are still some huge gaps in legislation that must be filled to deal with situations such as this one.
This letter is from Linda Ryan of Lloydminister, Alberta, and I received it about a year ago. She wrote:
I am writing this letter in regard to the parole hearing of Jack Edgar. I am aware that Jack will receive a copy of this letter. I am asking that the parole board members take my letter and the enclosed documents into consideration in making a decision regarding Jack's application for parole.
I will just interject by saying that this woman desperately wanted to make a verbal petition to the parole board not to allow Jack Edgar to be released on parole. She went on to write:
On August 18, 1985 Jack Edgar murdered my mother and my aunt and that act changed my life forever. That act began my life sentence of fear, grief and betrayal. This man was my stepfather. A man who portrayed a caring, loving father, grandfather, uncle and son-in-law. Although in hindsight, I can see the cracks in his facade.
She goes on to talk about the impact of this murder committed by her stepfather against her mother and the impact on her daughter. In part she wrote:
It was a very long time before my little girl began to heal. She, too, carries a life sentence of grief and fear and betrayal. My children have missed so much. They had a right to all the love these two special people had to give them. My heart aches for the part of my children's lives they are missing. They also had a right to a mom who was not incapacitated by grief and to a family that was whole. It has taken a great deal of courage to survive this and make a life for my family. I have struggled to regain my optimism in life, to trust people and my ability to judge character; to maintain a sense of humour. I have done this for my children, for my mom and for my aunt. They would want this, as these are qualities they instilled in me.
The letter was written to the head of the parole board who was to hear the parole hearing which may have released Jack Edgar, the person who murdered her mother and aunt. She continued:
I know I can't predict what Jack will do, no one can, perhaps not even Jack himself. I do know I cannot live my life and raise my children with “what if's”. I cannot imagine being able to stay here in my home, near my family if Jack is released. I have not slept through an entire night since Nellie Taylor called to tell me he is applying for parole. The thought of him being released terrifies me. I live each and every day with what he did to them, their terror, their helplessness. That is enough. I should not have to live in fear of what he may do next. Releasing Jack is a violation of my right to safety. My fears are real and grounded and shared by many.
She goes on to list people who are also terrified at the thought of this person being paroled and who would see it as extremely important to have a say at the parole hearing. She wrote:
Money, power and position were always crucial to Jack, for his sense of self-worth. If Jack is released, there will be no money, no power, no position. The “important” people will no longer be there for him. He is a convicted double murderer. I fear he is a man with little to lose.
For the sake of time I will omit parts of what she had to say. I want to read a bit more about what she feels about this person that she desperately wants to remain in jail, this person who killed her mother and her aunt. She continued:
There is, however, another side to Jack Edgar which no one can predict.
In the paragraph before she talked about Jack and the impression he had left on people in the prison. She indicated:
I know from reading letters from the prison that Jack is highly regarded and is viewed to have many good qualities. This does not surprise me as Jack is a highly polished con artist and he has a way of gaining people's trust.
There is however another side to Jack Edgar which no one can predict. It enabled him to slaughter my Mom and my Aunt while they sobbed on their hands and knees. He did this with no regard for their lives, no regard for the agony he would cause for their families. His needs came first and he did not care who he destroyed to get what he wanted. This side of Jack is still there. He was 57 years old when he committed the murders and his character was cemented.
Over the years, in my conversations with the National Parole Board, I know that Jack has never taken any responsibility nor has he shown any remorse for the brutal murders of my Mom and my Aunt. I believe that Jack's recent admittance of “some” responsibility for the murders is directly related to his desire to obtain his freedom. I think Jack is a man with little conscience and his only remorse is for himself and his situation.
I realize that nothing will ever bring my Mom and my Aunt back, but a mere 6.5 years each of the loss of Jack's freedom is an insult to their memory.
I am asking that you deny parole for Jack, for the safety of myself, my family—
Then she named some other people. She continued:
I ask that if an error is to be made let it be made on the side of caution.
Those are some excerpts from a letter which unfortunately is in a file of about a dozen victims of extremely serious crime from whom I have heard.
The question is whether the bill we are debating today will in any way do anything to provide what this woman, a victim of a heinous crime, wants. She wants to be able to go to a parole hearing and to say what is in her heart, what she feels and what she lives with every day, so that she can put some kind of closure to the whole situation. She wants to feel safe in knowing that this person will probably never be released. That is what she wants. She wants to be able to read that impact statement herself at a parole hearing.
Unfortunately the legislation does not provide for that. It does nothing to provide for that. There is some word that legislation will be coming to deal with corrections and conditional release. That of course would deal with this issue, but it would make sense that it should be in place before this legislation is debated.
Let us make sure this is only considered by the government to be the first step. Let us carry forth and do a lot more to help victims of crime.