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OTTAWA — Conservatives are keeping crime at the forefront of their fall agenda in Parliament with a private member’s bill that would expand the rights of crime victims.
Mel Arnold, Conservative MP for Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, introduced Bill C-221 this week. The legislation proposes amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to ensure victims receive timely explanations about the sentencing, parole and movements of offenders who harmed them.
“Victims of crime deserve to be respected, and that means they must be provided with a clear and timely explanation about the status, movements and parole of criminals that have already inflicted pain on their lives,” Arnold said in a statement.
The bill has been tabled in four successive Parliaments, most recently by former Oshawa MP Colin Carrie. Carrie’s successor, MP Rhonda Kirkland, seconded the bill, saying victims of violent crime often serve a “life sentence alongside their offender.”
The measure is inspired by victims’ rights advocate Lisa Freeman, whose father Roland Slingerland was killed in Oshawa in 1991. Freeman said the proposed changes would help reduce the burden carried by families like hers.
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