UCP facing pushback over plan to redirect victims-of-crime cash

EDMONTON Alberta’s United Conservative government is facing pushback from victim services groups after saying funds earmarked for victims of crime might be used to fund police and prosecutors.

Victims of certain crimes in Alberta are eligible for financial benefits, paid out through a multimillion-dollar provincial fund that receives revenue from fines and court surcharges. Those who qualify typically receive a direct payment from government. Money from the fund also goes toward police-based and community-based victim-services units.

On Thursday, the UCP announced plans to amend the Victims of Crime Act. If passed, Bill 16 would “expand the scope” of the victims-of-crime fund to cover “public safety initiatives that deter crime to prevent victimization while continuing to provide supports to victims of serious crimes,” a news release said.

Several community organizations, however, worry the changes would see victim-services groups competing with the justice system for funding. Six organizations that receive money through the fund — including the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) and the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services — wrote to Premier Jason Kenney on May 25 seeking assurances the original purpose of the program would not change.

“We want to ensure that the intent of the act remains the same,” the group wrote, “with the priority being to serve victims and organizations that provide services for victims of crime rather than expanding the mandate.”

Launched in 1997, the fund has not always seen smooth sailing. In 2016, then auditor general Merwan Saher said tens of millions of dollars were “sitting unused.” Saher said the fund had been accumulating surpluses for more than a decade, and that it was expected to reach $56 million in 2016, with no solid plan to disburse the cash.

Former NDP justice minister Kathleen Ganley told Postmedia the previous government had been working to implement Saher’s recommendations to spend down the surplus before the 2019 election in which the UCP won a majority government. “Essentially what they appear to be doing is altering the purpose of the fund ... so it can also pay for police and lawyers,” Ganley said.

The government said Thursday it wants to expand the fund’s mandate to include drug courts, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), funding for additional Crown prosecutors and for its Rural Alberta Provincial Integrated Defence (RAPID) force — a group of peace officers given new powers last year.

In a statement, Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer said including those services would support victims and “prevent Albertans from being victimized” and address concerns around rural crime. UCP MLAS Tracy Allard and Angela Pitt are reviewing the financial benefits program and carrying out consultations, with the aim of having a new model in place in 2021.

Areni Kelleppan, executive director of St. Albert-based Stop Abuse in Families Society, said her organization was recently denied a grant for a program aimed at helping victims of elder abuse, despite the fund’s “healthy” balance sheet.

“Our concern is opening up that fund to things that are not victim-centred,” she said.

Jan Reimer, executive director of the ACWS, is concerned about the future of the witness-to-homicide benefit — a $5,000 payment to those who’ve seen a loved one die by violence. In many cases those people are children, said Reimer.