Justice committee  We are not doing so currently. I was vice-president of the Manitoba Organization for Victim Assistance for several years. It is a Manitoba group that helps victims of homicide go through the court system. In fact, I almost applied for the ombudsman job when it came up three years

Justice committee  Yes, I know, but I'd have to move to Ottawa. Move it here and I'll be okay. I came this close, though, believe me. That position is incredible, and it is becoming more and more useful. My wife and I have not accessed it personally, but I know people who have.

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  I do, very much so, and so do your parole service people. We just had parole services meet with us two weeks ago, and there were many victims in the room who didn't know about it. The Government of Canada is also promoting to victims that it is available, and it should absolutely

Justice committee  We didn't get together on this.

Justice committee  I just started. I'm very grassroots. I have a $100,000 provincial grant for a one-year term. Vic Toews has indicated that they will probably match that somehow. I did appear at the western Canadian justice ministers conference a while back. I've got all four western provinces in

Justice committee  I don't know that the other panel members will agree, but I believe in laws that take people like the Zig Zags and above, those public clubs.... And, yes, I might disagree with the panel about jails. But I'm sorry; these people are calculated, organized people who don't come from

Justice committee  I personally believe that you can.

Justice committee  In our case we had one juvenile, the mastermind behind TJ's murder. He was held in the Manitoba Youth Centre for 32 months. Even though the murder happened prior to the Youth Criminal Justice Act--it came in on April 1, 2003--my son was murdered January 5, 2003, so he came under

Justice committee  That example was a Zig Zag Crew member. Actually he's a former Zig Zag Crew member. This individual was raised right next door to me; he lived there basically his whole life, so I know him very well. He did get involved in the Zig Zag Crew. In Winnipeg, you have to understand thi

Justice committee  He's absolutely a criminal businessman. He will admit that to me every time I visit him. He knows what he's doing. He knew when he came out of jail that if he ever got caught with gun involvement again, he would get a minimum ten-year sentence. He knew that. If he was trafficking

Justice committee  If you realize, the people in this room, that it's your budget that controls the $3.1 billion in prisons--it's your budget here, right?--I think it makes sense, then, for you to figure out, with the ten provinces, why you're inheriting all those people from the provinces into you

Justice committee  I think in my speech I referred to that very instance. When I read the new bill--I've read so many bills in the last few days, fourteen or fifteen, I don't remember which one it was--where it discusses organized crime, basically, as I recall, it's just a very simple one-liner, th

Justice committee  First of all, to answer your last question first, when you were talking about the victims ombudsman, I think that Bill C-43 before the House is absolutely perfectly written. It addresses many concerns from victims. In fact, we are attending a parole hearing just weeks from now,

Justice committee  Thank you very much for inviting me to participate in this committee. I'm probably the only person to appear before this committee who wishes he wasn't. My 20-year-old son TJ was brutally murdered on January 5, 2003. His murder was well planned by four young men aged 17 to 20.