Victims of Crime Research Digest No. 13

• Table of Contents
• Next Page

Introduction

20 Years of the Federal Victims Strategy

Welcome to Issue No. 13 of the Victims of Crime Research Digest! This year’s theme is Recognizing Courage, Renewing Commitment! Victims and Survivors of Crime Week (Victims Week) 2020 has been postponed from the end of May 2020 to 22 November to 28 November 2020 and it will be a different kind of event. We are in a very different place now with COVID-19 restrictions in place. Regardless of which issues are front and centre, we continue to need robust and relevant research in order to help us better understand those same issues, whether in public health or in criminal justice matters.

To mark 20 years of the Federal Victims Strategy (FVS), this introduction begins with a history of the strategy. In this issue, readers will find a review of policy research from before the strategy (Part I) and under the strategy, from 2000 onwards (Part II). Next up is an article on young victims, memory, and testimony by Sonja Brubacher and her colleagues, a fascinating exploration of the psychological research on children’s memory. This is followed by a summary of the Listening Project, an important research study that brought together victims who participated in restorative justice processes across the country to learn about their experiences. Finally, researchers describe the exciting work that is happening at the Department of Justice Canada (Justice Canada) on the development of a tool and guide to identify families at risk for violence, for use by family law lawyers across the country.

The History of the Federal Victims Strategy

Before the federal government established the national strategy, it had been consulting with the provinces and territories on victim-related issues for almost three decades. For example, in 1973, the federal government entered into cost-sharing agreements with the provinces and territories to cover compensation programs for criminal injuries. Between 1981 and 1983, the Federal-Provincial Task Force on Justice for Victims of Crime reviewed victims’ issues. In 1985, Canada played a major role in the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime. And between 1987 and 1990, the Department of Justice Canada established a Victim Assistance Fund to promote victim services in the provinces and territories.

Furthermore, many Criminal Code amendments related to crime victims were made during the 1980s and 1990s. They related to sexual assault, child abduction, and child sexual abuse. The federal victim surcharge (FVS) and the victim impact statement (VIS) were both introduced in the Criminal Code in 1988. Then Bill C-41 was enacted in 1995, which

• added compensation to victims as a sentencing objective,
• required that victim impact statements be considered in sentencing, and
• clarified the use of restitution as a sentence.

In 1997, a Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) working group recommended that existing victims’ programs and services be reviewed. It also recommended some specific amendments to the Criminal Code, and suggested that the federal government further improve how it addressed victims’ concerns. In 1998, the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights reviewed the role of victims in the justice system and released its report, Victims’ Rights – A Voice, Not a Veto.

The government responded to this report in two fundamental ways. First, in 1999, it introduced amendments to the Criminal Code to improve victims’ ability to participate in criminal proceedings. Second, it established the Policy Centre for Victim Issues (PCVI) within the Department of Justice and funded it with $25 million over five years. Within the first five-year mandate, there was funding for both salaries and operations to support a strong program of research. This resulted in a number of foundational reports on: the role of the victim in the criminal justice process (Young 2001); victims and restorative justice (Wemmers and Canuto 2002); plea bargaining (Verdun-Jones et al. 2004); victim impact statements; and other key areas, such as the needs of Indigenous victims, particularly in the newly-formed Nunavut, and increasing general awareness and understanding of the Criminal Code provisions about victims. This initial research is available on Justice Canada’s website^{Footnote 1}.

As with all federal initiatives, the Victims of Crime Initiative (VCI) was evaluated before the end of its five-year mandate. The evaluation found that the VCI was addressing victims’ needs in an efficient and relevant way. The VCI was renewed and funding was made permanent so that the work could continue. In 2005, under the Strengthening Community Safety Initiative (SCSI), the National Office for Victims (NOV) was established. It had two purposes:

• to provide a single point of contact for public enquiries and complaints for victims of federal offenders, and
• to coordinate policy, communications, and information development with the Correctional Service of Canada and the Parole Board of Canada.

The Federal Victims Strategy (FVS) was introduced in 2007 under a new government and continues today under the same name. Key changes at that time included the establishment of the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. For the next nine years, the Victims Fund grew to include:

• the development and enhancement of Child Advocacy Centres,
• support for underserved communities in the provinces and territories,
• dedicated funding for Indigenous peoples, and the North, and
• putting in place important legislation such as (former) Bill C-2 on testimonial aids.

National Victims of Crime and Survivors Week began (under a different name) in 2006 with a federal symposium and with funding to support local events across the country.

The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights came into force in July 2015,^{Footnote 2} and once again signalled the importance of victims within the criminal justice system. Over the years, especially with the introduction of It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence Strategy,^{Footnote 3} other departments have been mandated to research and fund projects for violence against women, family violence, and other areas under the large umbrella of victims of crime. Expanding the scope from beyond the criminal justice system to prevention and health shows that policy and program decision makers understand that when people are victimized, the impacts extend beyond the justice system. The FVS will continue to advance our knowledge and understanding of the needs of victims of crime and how to best respond. And research will continue to play a crucial role.

As always, we hope you enjoy this issue of the Digest and welcome your comments.

• Table of Contents
• Next Page