Victims’-rights regime falling short, ombudsman says
OTTAWA — The 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, said Heidi Illingworth, who became federal ombudsman for victims of crime late last year.
Illingworth said 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,” she said in an interview.
“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 … there is no way to enforce the rights that have been given to victims.”
She used the example of how relatives of Tori Stafford weren’t able to provide their thoughts on transfer decisions for the two people convicted in the Ontario eight-year-old’s 2009 murder, finding out only after the killers had been moved.
Terri-Lynne McClintic had been moved to an Indigenous healing lodge — a move corrections officials later reversed — and Michael Rafferty from a maximum-security prison to a mediumsecurity facility.
“It’s a second victimization to many folks when they’re dealing with these big systems,” Illingworth said. “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 to the government to consider.
In late September, Illingworth became the third person to hold the post of victims watchdog, after the government took months to fill the position vacated by Sue O’Sullivan.