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Justice bills to focus on child predators, victim support

Reducing violent crimes against children and strengthening the rights of victims in the justice system will be the priorities for the Harper government's criminal justice agenda in the coming months, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said today.

Victims' rights advocate Sheldon Kennedy and Ontario Provincial Police deputy commissioner Vince Hawkes joined Nicholson for a roundtable in Toronto to promote the government's next steps, which appear focused on several familiar themes.

Although other types of crime are going down, Nicholson said, the government wants to act on the "serious issue" of violent crime, including those against very young children.

"This is wrong, this is unacceptable, this has to stop," Nicholson told reporters. "The interests of victims and law-abiding Canadians are the priority."

Nicholson said the government will move forward with its commitment to pass a victims' bill of rights, entrenching several measures into a single piece of legislation. The justice minister also said additional changes will enhance victims' ability to obtain restitution for the losses they incur when crimes are committed.

Bill C-37, styled by the government as the Increasing Offenders’ Accountability for Victims Act, was passed by the House of Commons just before Christmas and is currently before the Senate. It changes the rules for victims' surcharges — the monetary penalty that convicted criminals pay to their victims — a move applauded by Kennedy at Monday's news conference.

The Harper government also created a new federal ombudsman for the victims of crime, who said in a report last year that the government needed to do more to improve the treatment of victims in the criminal justice system.

The justice minister also said that later this year the government will introduce legislation to stiffen penalties for child sexual offences, including addressing "the risks posed by known sex offenders."

The government was criticized for introducing a controversial online surveillance bill last year that was titled the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act, despite the fact that the text of the bill did not specifically discuss children or predators.

Government House Leader Peter Van Loan has said C-30 won't be debated in the Commons in the near future, and some have speculated it will be replaced with different legislation to alleviate concerns expressed about C-30, including by members of the Conservative caucus.

Nicholson also announced something Van Loan mentioned last week: that the government would soon introduce legislation to "ensure that public safety should be the paramount consideration in the decision-making process involving high-risk accused found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder."

Nicholson and Hawkes also spoke of other measures under consideration including changes to the current systems for bail and extradition. New technologies may be made available for law enforcement officials to reduce the amount of red tape they must deal with and the inefficiencies or delays in the justice system that result.

"These delays cause personal and social costs that are incalculable," Nicholson said, pointing out that current issues with delays in cases coming to trial can see charges stayed or victims no longer able to give accurate testimony.

Kennedy, a former NHL player who was abused by his coach during his junior hockey career, is a vocal advocate for victims rights in the justice system through the organization he co-founded, Respect Group.

Kennedy is a proponent of stiffer measures against child sex offenders. At various times in recent years, he has appeared before parliamentary committees and at news conferences to endorse the government's focus on support for victims of crime.

"I couldn’t have imagined, 16 years ago, when I disclosed my abuse, that we would be talking about these issues so openly and with such commitment to make positive change for victims," Kennedy said in a press release Monday, thanking the Harper government for its attention to his issues.