BARRHEAD-The Town of Barrhead's municipal council is adding their voice of concern about the province's proposed Bill 16 (Victims of Crime Amendment Act).
Barrhead councillors at their June 22 meeting unanimously supported a motion by Coun. Ty Assaf to write a letter to the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General voicing their concern about the potential negative impact the legislation could have on Barrhead as well as other rural communities. As part of the motion, the administration will reach out in an effort and ask the County of Barrhead, Woodlands County and the Town of Swan Hills to sign on to the letter.
The act, if passed, would allow the province to access money from the Victims of Crime Fund. The United Conservative Party (UCP) proposes to use the money to support preventative measures through the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), the Rural Alberta Provincial Integrated Defence (RAPID) Force, drug treatment courts and the hiring of more Crown prosecutors.
In addition to the legislation, the UCP plans to wind down the Criminal Injury Review Board (CIRB). CIRB is an independent body established under the Victims of Crime Act to conduct an impartial review of decisions made under the Victims of Crime Financial Benefits Program.
The motion followed a presentation made by Barrhead Community Victim Services Unit (VSU) program manager Heidi Magus' annual report presentation.
The VSU makes these annual presentations to all the municipal councils that they serve. This was the third presentation to a municipal council, with the final one being to Woodlands County council the following day. Unfortunately, that presentation was done via teleconference and was marred by technical issues.
The VSU is a non-profit organization that helps support individuals who are the victims of crime, trauma, death or other emergencies in the Barrhead, Swan Hills and Fort Assiniboine regions. Most often the VSU volunteers, or volunteer advocates, are called upon at the request of the RCMP, but also receive referrals from fire services, the Crown Prosecutor’s office, healthcare centres, and ambulance crews.
Before stating her concerns about the legislation, Magus gave an overview of the unit and some of its activities over the last year.
The Barrhead VSU is comprised of a nine-person board and five victim advocates, all of who are volunteers. The VSU is further augmented by 25 general volunteers.
In 2019, Magus noted the unit created 170 new files, an increase of 34 from 2018. Of those files, 23 were crisis callouts.
Impact of COVID-19
A number she expects will increase exponentially due to the stresses brought about because of the coronavirus outbreak.
She noted in the initial few weeks of the lockdown due to the virus, VSU had to deal with fewer files due to lower referrals from RCMP and other agencies. But that is starting to change.
"In May, the numbers skyrocketed," Magus said. "People are spending more time at home together and if you don't have a healthy relationship, the stress of the entire situation is all of a sudden the dynamic changes to your life and relationships can cause things to spiral."
She added into the mix the added stress of sudden changes
to job status and income, et cetera, it is a recipe for problems.
"Even in the best of relationships, this would be taxing," Magus said. "But when this happens in an already unhealthy relationship it is no wonder we are seeing an increase in domestic and family issues."
She said the good news is that volunteer advocates come July 1 will once again be able to go on client visits, with certain COVID protections being in place. In July, they will also be able to return to their office at the Barrhead RCMP Detachment.
Regrettably, Magus believes VSUs, police and other social agencies will continue to see an increase in the influx of cases.
"Our communities need to get back to some kind of normality, instead of having to focus on the issues arising from COVID, until we will see the numbers go down or stabilize," she said.
Specific concerns about Bill 16
Magus said the concern she has is that the government's plan to raid the Victims of Crime Fund will quickly deplete the fund leaving little for VSUs and victims. It is also a view shared by the Alberta Police Based Victim Services Association, which represents over 70 VSUs.
The fund comes from provincial fine surcharges imposed following convictions to help crime victims through financial relief and support programs, many of them being provided through local victim support units. The fund is estimated to be in the range of $74 million partly due to a recent increase.
The government has argued that to help offset the loss, in April, the surcharge was increased from 15 to 20 per cent.
Magus noted that NDP Justice critic asked in the legislature for the UCP to commit to reserving 75 per cent of the fund for victim services and crime victims.
"Of course they shut that down," she said.
Magus added that VSUs and other crime victim advocacy groups were not consulted before they introduced the bill.
However, UCP Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken did promise her that she would be able to meet with the working group that has been tasked with to review the financial benefits program and consult on the creation of a new victim’s assistance model that will be launched in 2021.
Councillors response
Mayor Dave McKenzie suggested that council could send a letter to the justice minister and the Solicitor General department echoing many of Magus' concerns and adding how detrimental an improperly funded VSU would mean to the community.
"I spent half of my career as an [RCMP officer] without the benefit of a victim services unit and I can tell you, from my perspective, it was a huge assist when they came into existence," he said. "Before then all the effort seemed to be in catching the perpetrator and not the victim of crime."
McKenzie added it is important to note that VSUs are called out to help victims of other tragedies such as those displaced from fire, that in larger communities would fall to other organizations.
"I would rather have another VSU advocate than another prosecutor," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
