Victims’ rights regime criticized
OTTAWA • The new federal watchdog for victims of crime says rules meant to give victims and their families louder voices in the justice system have fallen short.
The previous Conservative government introduced what it called a victims’ bill of rights almost four years ago that allowed victims of crime to get information about offenders in the corrections system and have their views taken into account when decisions are made about them.
The regime to enforce those rights doesn’t go far enough, says Heidi Illingworth, who late last year became federal ombudsman for victims of crime.
In an interview, Illingworth says she wants to see the regime strengthened to give victims “legally enforceable” rights because “we still are not there yet.”
“To me, it doesn’t go quite far enough,” Illingworth said. “If we’ve given rights in legislation, there has to be a remedy to that right otherwise it’s not an actual right. That’s what the problem is right now, is that there is no way to enforce the rights that have been given to victims.”
She used the example of how relatives of Tori Staf- ford weren’t able to provide their thoughts on transfer decisions for the two people convicted in the eight-yearold’s 2009 murder, finding out only after the killers had been moved.
Terri-lynne Mcclintic had been moved to an Indigenous healing lodge, which corrections officials later reversed, and Michael Rafferty from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security facility.
“It’s a second victimization to many folks when they’re dealing with these big systems,” Illingworth said this week. “They’re not able to give input. A decision is made and then they’re informed after the fact.”
Illingworth plans to launch a special review of the victims’-rights framework to highlight the issue and provide recommendations for the government to consider.
In late September, Illingworth became the third person to hold the post of victims’ watchdog, after the Liberals took months to fill the position vacated by Sue O’sullivan, who had held the post for seven years.
Prior to her appointment, Illingworth spent two decades at the Canadian Re- source Centre for Victims of Crime, having become interested in victim services during her post-secondary studies when she did a placement with a victims’ agency.