Over the years, the CRCVC has advocated extensively on a number of important issues, influencing several positive legislative reforms and important policy changes affecting crime victims. The following are a few examples of our success:

• CRCVC PLEASED FORMER PRESIDENT APPOINTED CANADA’S FIRST FEDERAL OMBUDSMAN FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME

  On April 23, 2007, Steve Sullivan was named Canada’s first Ombudsman for crime victims, a position the CRCVC has long called for. The Ombudsman will be responsible for helping victims tap into existing federal programs for crime victims, promote the needs of victims within the justice system and government, review complaints and identify emerging victims’ issues. The Ombudsman can also issue reports, along with recommendations, to the ministers of justice or public safety, and request a government response. The Ombudsman will operate at arm’s length from the federal departments responsible for victim issues, namely the Department of Justice and the Department of Public Safety.

• CRCVC APPLAUDS ANNOUNCEMENT OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS TO ATTEND NATIONAL PAROLE BOARD HEARINGS & THE CREATION OF A NATIONAL OFFICE FOR VICTIMS

  As of November 1, 2005, victims of crime in Canada will now be able to apply for financial assistance to attend the National Parole Board (NPB) hearings of the offender who harmed them. In addition, a new National Office for Victims has been established to provide information and support to victims.

  The CRCVC has long advocated for such a fund to pay for travel given the fact that some hearings take place thousands of kilometres from where the victim lives. While victims may have had the right to attend and speak at federal parole hearings, until now, many could not afford to travel to these hearings to exercise their rights.

  We are also very pleased about the creation of the National Office for Victims to voice their complaints and frustration with the federal corrections system. We have lobbied extensively for such an office and believe it is an important component in supporting crime victims.

• PASSAGE OF BILL C-13, LEGISLATION TO STRENGTHEN THE DNA DATA BANK

  Amidst parliamentary chaos in May, the CRCVC, along with the help of three women who have suffered incredible loss, successfully pushed Bill C-13 through the House of Commons and the Senate. The amendments to the legislation will allow courts to make DNA data bank orders for a much wider range of offences – potentially, for any offence punishable by a sentence of five years or more. The Bill also expands the retroactive provisions of the legislation so that all persons convicted before June 30, 2000, of murder, manslaughter or a sexual offence, and who are still under sentence, will be included in the National DNA Data Bank.

  Some of the other amendments to the Criminal Code under Bill C-13 include:

  • making it mandatory for a court to make a DNA data bank order for those persons convicted of the very worst and most violent offences, for example, murder, manslaughter and aggravated assault;
  • authorizing courts to make DNA orders for persons who have been found to have committed a designated offence, but who have also been found “not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder”;
  • adding Internet luring of a child, child pornography and criminal organization offences to the list of “primary designated offences”; and,
  • providing a mechanism that will result in the review of DNA data bank orders that may have been made without legal authority.
• EXPANSION OF INFORMATION PROVIDED TO VICTIMS

  The CRCVC has long advocated for an expansion of the type of information provided to victims of offenders serving federal sentences. Information about programming (or lack thereof) will allow victims to better judge the risk an offender may still present to them, if any. Advance notifications of transfers, reasons behind transfers and access to recordings of the most recent National Parole Board hearings are crucial pieces of information for victims to access. In the past, the denial of such information under the pretense of protecting an offender’s privacy was seen as unacceptable. Accordingly, the government has introduced Bill C-46, which will amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) to:

  • Enshrine in law the right of victims to present a statement at National Parole Board hearings.
  • Revise the definition of victim to ensure that guardians/caregivers of dependants of victims who are deceased, ill or otherwise incapacitated can get the information that victims are permitted under the law.
  • Provide victims with access to a recording of the most recent hearing held by the NPB regarding the offender who harmed them.
  • Expand the type of information that can be provided to victims to include information on offender program participation and the reason(s) for offender transfers, with advance notice of transfers to minimum security institutions, whenever possible.

  In Ontario, the government has introduced Bill 190, which amends both the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to provide next of kin with the disclosure of personal information about a deceased loved one for compassionate reasons (as long as the access request does not constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy). The CRCVC has worked vigorously to have such amendments introduced, and are currently lobbying all other provinces/territories and the federal government to amend their access to information laws similarly.