This workshop will present current research on violence, trauma, language and social responses in cases of violence. Participants will learn gentle, straight forward and effective interviewing skills for honouring victims’ responses and resistance to violence, identifying offenders’ pre-existing ability to act respectfully, and promoting positive social responses.

‘Witnessing Victims’ Resistance to Violence and Oppression’ is for human service workers — counsellors, therapists, nurses, physicians, justice and court workers, Crown counsel, lawyers, victims’ services workers, transition house workers, shelter staff, womens’ advocates, social workers, child protection workers, police, journalists, researchers — and anyone in the role of helping others, particularly those who have experienced violence, mistreatment or other forms of violation.

For the event poster and to register visit: http://crcvc.ca/en/2010-training/

Ontario men and boys who are victims of sexual abuse will soon be able to get coordinated help, support and counselling.

Attorney General Chris Bentley says the province will spend $2 million over the next two years to establish four networks across Ontario, each with a lead agency to co-ordinate services for men.

Bentley says it’s the first government program to offer specialized help for male victims of sexual abuse in Canada, and won’t be scrapped after two years.

“It’s a first and you know what, it’s about time,” he said. “We’re doing what’s right.

Bentley says the four networks will provide individual counselling, group counselling, and other support for male victims of sexual abuse. The networks will also assist in training and education initiatives.

A toll-free hotline for male victims of sexual abuse will provide crisis support.

“They’re going to be set up immediately,” Bentley said of the services.

The idea stemmed from the recommendations of a public inquiry into allegations of a sexual abuse ring operating in Cornwall, Ont.

One of the allegations was that a clan of powerful men sexually abused boys at a cottage during strange rituals while clad in robes.

Ontario Provincial Police spent four years investigating allegations of sexual abuse and laid 115 charges against 15 people under Project Truth. One person was convicted.

Provincial funding had been provided for victims in Cornwall to seek counselling, but the funding ran out in January.

Rick Goodwin of The Men’s Project, a non-profit men’s counselling agency based in Ottawa, calls Bentley’s announcement a “historic” first step in supporting men who have been victims of sexual abuse.

However, he says the $2 million will only go so far.

“We would have liked to have seen more as a first step,” he said. “We’ll work with it. We’ll do what we can with it.”

After setting up these basic services across Ontario, the focus will need to shift to addressing the issues that emerge as a result of sexual abuse, such as family violence and addiction, Goodwin says.

“That’s the next big piece that we need to do.”

Goodwin says for years, male victims of sexual violence have been left without essential support and counselling.

“There’s very few places to go to deal with the original trauma,” he said.

Bentley acknowledged that there hasn’t been “the type of co-ordinated response that we should have and need for male victims.”

Bentley says funding will be increased if demand is greater than expected, and the program is designed to be flexible to meet the changing needs of victims.

28 June 2010 - Saskatchewan’s victims of crime will now have a voice on a national stage, with the appointment of a Standing Buffalo woman to a national victim’s advocacy board.

Lois Isnana was recently named to the board of directors of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime. She is the first person from Saskatchewan to hold a position on the board.

“I feel that to be able to represent my community and my province is a real honour,” said Isnana, shortly after the appointment was announced.

Isnana’s advocacy comes from her own tragic experience. Her husband, Lloyd, was injured during a violent incident at a house on the Standing Buffalo First Nation on June 16, 2006, and died later in hospital.

Another man was charged with manslaughter in his death, but that charge was stayed during a trial in January.

The experience of her husband’s violent death — and then navigating her way through the slow and frustrating court process that followed — was an eye-opening experience for Isnana and her family.

Isnana says she hopes to help others struggling with the same difficult issues.

“People really don’t know,” she says. “To many people, the justice system is black and white, but it isn’t that way. I learned that the hard way.”

Many of the members of the national board have long histories working in the area of victims’ advocacy.

The board includes members like Charles Momy, president of the Canadian Police Association, and Susheel Gupta, a federal prosecutor whose mother was killed in the Air India bombing.

Isnana says she was “honoured and humbled” by her appointment, and is glad to be able to represent Saskatchewan on a national level.

“When all this started, I couldn’t even do public speaking,” she said. “But the strength has had to come, because who else is going to talk for us, if we can’t speak?”

The Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime represents victims around the country, including by providing resources and support to victims of crime and advocating for victims’ rights.

Four years after her husband’s violent death, Isnana says she has found a lot of her own healing by helping others.

“It helps to help others,” she says. “It’s something I never would have chosen, and I would never wish is on anyone else, but I just think that I’ve been a very lucky person to be able to serve people who have been hurt the way I have.

“My late husband, he loved life so much, and that really motivates me. I like to think that he would be proud of me,” she said.

“I think this is the right thing to do. In my heart, I know that it will help me, too.”

Canada’s new Federal Ombudsman is Ottawa Police Deputy Chief Sue O’Sullivan - a well known leader in the police community. Read her bio here.

In 2007, the Government of Canada created the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime to serve as an independent resource for victims in Canada. The Ombudsman’s role is to ensure the federal government meets its commitments; to promote access to existing government programs and services; and to identify and explore systemic and emerging victim issues. The Office operates at arm’s length from the federal departments responsible for victim issues, namely the Department of Justice and the Department of Public Safety. The provinces and territories continue to be the primary providers of victim services.

This appointment is effective August 16th, 2010. For more information on the Federal Ombudsman of Victims of Crime, please visit http://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/

There will never be closure on the 1985 Air India bombings, despite the release of a long-awaited report on the matter, relatives of the victims say.

“I think closure is a word that continues to haunt us,” said Lata Pada, whose two teen daughters and husband perished in the bombings. “We can never have closure from a tragedy of this enormous devastation.

“What we can have is the satisfaction that we’ve come to a point where an inquiry has actually happened and an extensive report with recommendations has actually become a reality.”

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Thursday, family members said the inquiry into federal mismanagement of the investigation of the bombings answers many of their concerns and confirms it was not an accident that their loved ones died.

“I think the report addresses most of the concerns that the families raised. … It confirms what families suspected when asking for the inquiry: that it was not a sheer accident, that it was a compounding of mistake after mistake after mistake,” said Bal Gupta, who lost his wife in the bombings.

The report and the government’s acknowledgement of the tragedy has been a long time coming, added Gupta.

“We were not allowed to meet any government minister for almost 10 years,” he said. “The first time we met with the government was in 1995. … We were treated like trouble-makers.”

The report will have international implications, said Pada.

“For over two decades, Canada was seen as a country that harbours terrorism, is soft on terrorism. I think this report and the strong recommendations it makes is going to prove that Canada is going to continue to be as vigilant as it can be against ongoing acts of terrorism.”

The commission of inquiry was created in May 2006. In his report released earlier Thursday, retired Supreme Court justice John Major blamed a “cascading series of errors” by government, the RCMP and the country’s spy agency for failing to prevent the disaster.

Major called for sweeping changes to Canada’s national security system, including an enhanced role for the national security adviser to oversee and mediate between the RCMP and CSIS and report directly to the prime minister.

If the government implements the recommendations, Canada will be a much safer place,” Gupta said.

In responding the report, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the government is “very committed” to implementing the recommendations.

“And if there is no good reason to implement a recommendation, that would have to be carefully explained to the Canadian people and specifically the victims.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the report a “damning indictment of many things that occurred before and after the tragedy” which the government is “determined to avoid in the future.”

Harper said the government takes Major’s report “very seriously” and will “respond positively” to his recommendations for an apology and compensation for families.

Harper said the inquiry was called “to bring closure to those who still grieve and to ensure that measures are taken to prevent such a tragedy in the future.”

“We thank Commissioner Major for his work and once again extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends for the loved ones they lost,” Harper said. “Our thoughts are with them on this day.”

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff spoke of the “tremendous burden” on families of the victims and said he hoped Major’s report would give them “some measure of closure.”

“As a Canadian, my hope is some of that burden will be lifted,” Ignatieff told reporters in Ottawa.

■eliminating the practice of granting early parole;
■enshrining victims participation in conditional release board hearings, and keeping victims better informed about the behaviour and handling of offenders;
■increasing offender accountability;
■authorizing police to arrest of an offender breaking their release conditions without the need for a warrant; and
■emphasizing the importance of taking into consideration the seriousness of an offence in National Parole Board decision-making.

These changes will ensure the “protection of society” becomes the paramount principle of corrections and conditional release.

The CRCVC is particularly pleased by the proposed changes enshrining the rights of victims and providing them with more information about the offender who harmed them.

Better Support for Victims of Crime
Enshrining in law, a victim’s right to participate in parole board hearings.

Although the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) clearly recognizes the interests of victims of crime and the role they play in the correctional and conditional release process, victims and victims’ advocates have voiced dissatisfaction with the current provisions and have called for enhancements. Therefore, a victim’s right to attend and make statements at National Parole Board hearings will be enshrined in law.

Additionally, the CCRA will be amended to expand the information that may be disclosed to victims by CSC and the National Parole Board (NPB). This includes:

■providing information on the reason(s) for offender transfers with, whenever possible, advance notice of transfers to minimum security institutions;
■disclosing information on offender program participation and any convictions for serious disciplinary offences;
■sharing the reasons for a temporary absence from a correctional facility; and
■providing guardians/caregivers of dependents of victims who are deceased, ill or otherwise incapacitated with the same information that victims themselves can receive.

When offenders withdraw their participation 14 days or less before a parole hearing date, the Board may still proceed with a review and decision. This ensures that victims will no longer travel long distances to attend a parole hearing which is then cancelled at the last minute. Victims will also be able to request information on the reasons for a waiver of a parole hearing.

In addition to the proposed reforms to maximize the knowledge available to victims of crime, a National Advisory Committee on Victims Issues co-chaired by the Departments of Justice and Public Safety has been created. This committee gives victims the opportunity to provide input into policies and procedures that impact victims and victims’ services.

The Globe and Mail reports,
Family members say they do not anticipate the report will give them any peace, because it is not expected to name those responsible for the bombings that killed 331 people, most of whom were Canadian.

“We have given up hope, [we believe] that no one is going to help us,” said Rattan Singh Kalsi, whose 21-year old daughter Indira was on the ill-fated Air India flight that blew up over the Atlantic Ocean on June 23, 1985. “We did not get justice.” Those who put the bombs on the planes are still free, he said.

Mr. Kalsi, who went to Ireland to mark the anniversary of the bombing every year for 20 years, said the victims’ families had lobbied for a federal inquiry because they thought an inquiry would bring out the truth.

Mr. Major was appointed in May of 2006 to look into the government’s response to terrorism threats, terrorism financing, aviation security and how to protect witnesses against intimidation in a terrorism case. He was also to examine how government departments and agencies, including the RCMP and CSIS, share information and the use of security and police intelligence as evidence in a trial.

The Air India bombings remain the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history. Two bombs were placed on planes leaving Vancouver on June 22, 1985. Hours later, they exploded on opposite sides of the world – in Tokyo’s Narita airport and off the coast of Ireland.

B.C. mechanic Inderjit Singh Reyat is the only person to be convicted for activities related to the bombings. Mr. Reyat, who admitted he collected components that were used in the two bombs, served 20 years in jail for manslaughter.

The Prime Minister’s recently summed up his approach to crime victims during his address to a crowd of victims and advocates. He described how the criminal justice system has traditionally focused all of its attention on offenders and not enough on victims, which is true. So you can imagine the audience’s confusion when he spent 95% of his speech talking about offenders.

It should not be surprising. He believes the get-tough-on-crime agenda is synonymous with the crime victim agenda. The common belief that all victims favour harsher penalties is simply not true. The real needs of victims - information, financial, support, etc. – are not addressed by how much we punish the offender.

To be fair, sentencing is an issue for many victims. They expect offenders to be held accountable for their actions. But the truth is tougher sentence will not help the majority of crime victims.

Most victims of violent crime do not even report the crime to the police. Less than 10% of sexual assault victims report the crime. Most child victims will never tell anyone what happened. Tougher sentencing, and all the resources that go with it, will not help these people.
For those victims who report and charges are actually laid and there is a prosecution, the process is often more important than the outcome. If they are engaged throughout the investigation, if they understand why the Crown makes decisions and are given a voice, victims may be less concerned with the sentence. In our current system, we largely ignore victims, make complex decisions without explanation and rarely ask for their input. It is no wonder they look to the sentence (the outcome) for satisfaction because the system (the process) failed them.

To its credit, the government has taken some positive steps. In 2007, they created the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, developed an emergency fund to help Canadians victimized abroad and put more resources into Northern communities for victim services because the rates of victimization are so high. The government initiated special temporary residence permits for victims of trafficking that provide legal immigration status to victims, allowing them access to health-care benefits and trauma counselling and the ability to apply for a work permit.

Last summer, the government reversed its position and introduced legislation to require Internet Service Providers to give basic subscriber information to law enforcement without a warrant. This long awaited legislation will address a problem identified as a barrier to finding child victims by child exploitation cops (unfortunately, this bill died when the Prime Minister prorogued and it has not been reintroduced, despite the fact that cops have been begging for it for years to help them to catch child sexual predators and rescue victims).

Instead of building on these positive initiatives and doing more for victims, the government contends its crime agenda is for victims. They contend their initiatives will prevent more victims by keeping offenders off the street longer, but 95% of offenders are coming out of prison one day. Will we really be safer if they stay in prison and extra year or two or three? If the answer is yes, then the government should release the evidence to support these measures. This evidence, or the lack of it, should be front and centre in a debate that is going to cost lots of money during a fiscal crisis.

Which begs the question, why is the government unwilling to be upfront the costs of the crime agenda? According to the Public Safety Minister, one piece of legislation is going to cost $2 billion over five years (others suggest it will be higher). As for the rest of the bills, he would simply rather not share that information. However popular these proposals may be, we need to know what they will cost to determine if it is the best way to spend scarce resources.

Whatever is spent on these measures can’t be spent on initiatives that actually might make a difference in the lives of victims. For example, the government can’t put the resources necessary to help fund Child Advocacy Centres in every major city in this country (which the US Government does). The government can’t fund innovative programs and shelters to help trafficked youth escape a life selling themselves for food and shelter and survival to different men every night. The government can’t provide much needed support to male victims of crime, a truly under-served group of victims who are in desperate need of support. The government can’t fund crime prevention research to address the fact that 2% of Canadians experience 60% of all violent crimes. And the list goes on.

Victims and victim groups are often called upon to support these measures, but if they were given a choice between spending limited resources on offenders or on supporting and protecting vulnerable victims, their answer might not be the one the government wants to hear.

The Prime Minister should reflect back on his speech because his government is focusing all its attention on offenders and not enough on victims.

Steve Sullivan has been an advocate for victims of crime for almost two decades and has testified before numerous Parliamentary and Senate committees. Most recently, he was Canada’s first ever Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime.

The CRCVC is calling upon all Canadians to join the efforts in your community to end all forms of sexual violence!

Koepke has been a free man while my family and I serve a life sentence of loss and sadness. There is no comfort or reason to be found when a loved one is taken from us while the offender goes free. We look to our government and our justice system to protect us, but the system has failed.

It is astonishing that a repeat offender with a known mental illness has been in and out of the mental health and justice systems on so many occasions – each time being released into the community only to repeatedly inflict harm onto others. There are no words to describe how distressing this situation is. Koepke’s continual reappearances in the Ottawa media are extremely painful for my family and bring back feelings of sorrow and loss that no one should have to experience over and over again.

Fredrick Koepke killed my father, assaulted his own mother and now faces charges of criminal harassment. His history clearly illustrates that significant changes are desperately needed in our mental health and justice systems. I can only hope and pray that during the current proceedings against Koepke someone, somewhere, will finally do the right thing and make sure - once and for all - that he will never hurt anyone again.”

- Statement by Tricia Kirkwood upon recent reports of her father’s killer harming others in the Ottawa community.