Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak about the Canadian victims bill of rights tonight. This is an important topic and we are very open to discussing it.
For once we can work together to try to make improvements and come up with a bill that will improve the lives of the Canadian public and the people affected.
I hope that the government will also be receptive in committee when we propose amendments to help improve this bill, so that we can be more proactive. I think that is important at this stage.
I am thinking of all the victims, including aboriginal women, and the people around them who have gone through very difficult times. I am thinking of women primarily, but also of homosexuals who have had to deal with prejudices at National Defence and the RCMP, where they were victims of all sorts of violence. They were not able to speak out about it or did not dare to. I hope that this proposed bill of rights will make a difference.
I must say that it is rather unfortunate to see that the government did not use this bill as an opportunity to respond more proactively to the recommendations made by the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. The ombudsman actively participated in the consultations and made recommendations. I could name a few. My colleagues also spoke about them. For instance, victims need to be treated fairly and respectfully and they need to receive personalized attention. They are entitled to speak and to have a standing in court. They have the right to information.
This bill should also be something that, as Canadians and as a government, we are proud to have introduced. We must also feel proud of it later. Victims and their families must be given full support, including financial support. They must be given help to move forward so that they feel better and more comfortable. It would be nice if they could say that, after everything they went through, at least they got the support they needed and that they were grateful to the government in power and Parliament for helping them to meet their objectives.
It is important for victims to be part of the system. They need to feel good, to feel protected, to feel safe, and to feel comfortable throughout the entire process.
Of course, the bill has some really worthwhile provisions that could help to broaden the definition of victims of crime and codify victims' right to information, protection, participation and compensation.
We are talking a lot about victims. However, I am also thinking of the families, friends and others who live with the victim. I would like to see all this support extended to victims' loved ones for the future, not just immediately following the crime, but afterward too.
We must ensure that we have a policy statement that serves a purpose. We cannot just have a nice bill that victims say does not really change anything for them.
Victims have a lot of expectations. Parliament did not address all of these issues and expectations in this bill of rights. These victims need support, not just nice words and press conferences.
I would like to talk about some of the testimony that was given by jurists and experts with regard to the bill.
I am thinking about William Trudell, chair of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers. He said, “I don’t think this bill was necessary because basically what’s needed is education and properly funded victim services across the country.” We can do that if we propose amendments to the bill. The committee can respond to that. The bill would then meet the needs of victims and their families.
I would like to quickly read out what Andrew Swan, Manitoba's attorney general, had to say. Just before the bill was introduced, Manitoba's justice minister, Andrew Swan, told The National that there is benefit in Ottawa creating a national program, arm in arm with the provinces. “We don't want this to be an exercise where the federal government lays down some regulations, say they've done their job and then wash their hands of it.”
The Minister of Public Safety's speech did not give me the impression that this has been a collaborative effort. I asked one of his colleagues about that, and I was not told that they would work with the provinces or that they had worked with them. On the contrary, I was told that they were expecting that the provinces would take over the program. That is a dangerous approach. It is unfortunate. We have seen the same thing happen in other situations, where the government in power has passed laws before telling the provinces to deal with the changes. It is very unfortunate.
The Association québécoise Plaidoyer-Victimes was calling for the necessary resources to be allocated so that victims can be informed, heard and supported.
Today, I contacted the Outaouais Crime Victims Assistance Centre, an organization in my region funded by the Quebec government. What I learned was very interesting. In fact, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone in that organization for the work they do and the way they support victims. I learned that 17 centres across the province reach up to 100,000 victims. In the Outaouais alone, 5,000 victims have turned to the centre for help. The person I talked to told me that the centre's priority was to show victims consideration. This is the main goal, the priority. People who have been victims of a crime want to be treated and seen as full-fledged citizens as they go through that crisis.
Victims also want to feel safe. This is not to say that they always need someone by their side. Safety means psychological and physical safety. Across Quebec, one way to help victims is through video-link testimony. When victims do not want to meet their attacker, they can use alternate ways to testify.
She emphasized the fact that we must work together with the provinces. She says that what is currently happening is positive and that this is causing a change in mentality and a renewal. However, she would like this to go further. As I was saying earlier, she fears that the expectations will be quite high. She talked to me about some of her experiences with the victims. The papers talk about cases where victims report someone who was close to them 25 years after the fact. They have a hard time doing so and they are torn between reporting the offence and not wanting their abuser to go to jail. They would like these people to have some support.
She thinks it is extraordinary that the crown prosecutor from Quebec is taking over. We must consider all that. Again, I commend them on their excellent work. I would also like to mention that in Quebec there are victim support agencies. There is the Centre d'aide et de lutte contre les agressions sexuelles de l'Outaouais, which does excellent work in the Outaouais and elsewhere in Quebec, and the Centre Mechtilde, which also does good work.
We should be talking about prevention, assistance and subsidies. If we added what Quebec and the other provinces are doing, this would be extraordinary.
Then we would be able to talk about prevention and training.
