CRIME BILL WON'T HELP VICTIMS, SAY ADVOCATES

Legislation Missing Balance, Former Ottawa Deputy Claims

The Conservative government's omnibus crime legislation to be
introduced this fall may put too much focus on offenders, leaving
victims in the dark, crime victims advocates say.

The legislation, likely to be sweeping in scale and scope, will be
bundled into omnibus bills that represent a larger group of about a
dozen bills the government was unable to pass in the previous minority
Parliament.

Advocates for victims of crime are concerned the bill -- expected to
dramatically expand mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug
crimes, harshen sentencing for certain sexual offences against
children and affect the privacy of young offenders -- puts more weight
on punishment than prevention, and won't go far enough to help victims.

The government has said harsher sentencing will help victims of crime
by ensuring offenders stay off the streets and behind bars.

But the answer isn't that simple, said Sue O'Sullivan, the federal
ombudsman for victims of crime.

"It's not an 'either/or,' " she said. "It's a balance. And what's
missing is that attention to victims of crime. The legs of the stool
aren't equal right now."

O'Sullivan, the former deputy chief of Ottawa police, is the second
ombudsman in the office, which Prime Minister Stephen Harper's
government created in 2007.

When it was launched it was given a mandate to help victims of crime --
individually and collectively -- access federal programs, address their
complaints about federal programs and increase awareness among
criminal justice policy-makers of the needs and concerns of victims.
Funding for the office has been steady -- it continues to receive an
approximately $1.5-million annual budget, the same as when it was launched.

But because the office has no legislative power, it has to go through
the Justice Department to get important reports tabled or to make
funding requests.

In 2007, the Conservatives committed $13 million per year for four
years through the Federal Victim Strategy, a package of programs and
services that included the creation of the ombudsman's office. The
government renewed funding for the strategy and the ombudsman's office
in the 2011 budget.

But the money being funnelled into the government's crime agenda is
off-balance, leaning steeply toward offender-management instead of
victim-management, Sullivan said.

To help balance the funding, former ombudsman Steve Sullivan, in his
new role as executive director of Ottawa Victims Services, submitted
three recommendations for the 2012 pre-budget consultations, a process
through which Canadians can present funding ideas for the minister of
finance to consider while developing next year's budget.

In October 2010, the government decided to establish a $5-million,
five-year fund to help support the growth of Child Advocacy Centres --
something the ombudsman's office had asked for a year prior. But the
day before the justice minister announced funding for those centres,
the public safety minister had announced $150 million in prison spending.

Sullivan had noted the government had been idling on a commitment it
made in the 2010 Throne Speech, to make victim fines surcharges
necessary, something the current ombudsman is pushing for.