The federal government has vacated a key victims’ rights watchdog function for more than nine months.
There has been no federal ombudsman for crime victims since Oct. 1, and the Justice Department only launched an application process for the position in late February.
Conservative senator and long-time victims’ rights advocate Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu recently criticized the delay in filling the “vital” post, which he argued should become a more independent official in Parliament.
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Boisvenu told a House of Commons committee in June that an ombudsman could have been a strong voice for the victims’ families during the ongoing investigation into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting.
“No ombudsman is currently conveying the anger of the families of the victims and denouncing the violations of their rights,” he said.
At the same hearing, Jennifer Gold of the Ontario Women’s Law Association called for an ombudsman to be found “quickly.”
Gold said the office should be expanded to provide more comprehensive oversight over the implementation of the 2015 Victims’ Bill of Rights, which sought to outline and strengthen the rights available to victims within the criminal justice system.
“It’s lovely to write all these wonderful things, but if you don’t see it in action and if the victims don’t experience it, it’s rhetoric,” he said.
Heidi Illingworth, who served as ombudsman until October, criticized the government for the “sporadic and inconsistent” implementation of the bill, which the House of Commons passed unanimously in the last days of Stephen Harper’s Conservative-majority government. .
In a scathing statement last summer, one of his last in office, Illingworth said there had been no significant efforts to inform victims of their rights or hold the system to account for its non-compliance, ultimately turned the bill into “a symbolic instrument.”
Illingworth was appointed in 2018 after another long vacancy of 11 months.
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The office was established in 2007 with a mandate to support and advocate for victims, including making recommendations to the federal government.
A press secretary for Justice Minister David Lametti said in a statement Monday that work to find a new ombudsman is ongoing and one will be appointed “in due course.”
The ombudsman’s office continues to address victims’ complaints and help them find services, the press secretary said.
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