B.C. is expanding the circle of crime victims eligible for financial support from the province.
On Wednesday (Oct. 18), Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth tabled amendments to the Crime Victim Assistance Act which provides crime victims, family members, and witnesses with financial assistance and other measures of support. The money comes from the seizure and sale of assets gained through crime.
“So when you have heard that the province has seized three Hells Angels clubhouses and we will be selling the properties, that revenue will go toward ensuring services are available to support people who are victims or witnesses of crime,” Farnworth said.
The proposed changes remove a requirement that grandparents and grandchildren must be financially dependent on crime victims before being eligible for financial support. The province also plans to expand the definition of witness by removing the requirement that a witness had a strong emotional attachment to a victim. The latter represents a “significant barrier to eligibility” for those who witness violent crime, according to government.
If passed, the changes will also extend the time limit for benefit applications to two years from one.
Victims, immediate family members and witnesses have received more than $275 million in benefits through CVAP since its inception in 2002. In 2023 alone, CVAP distributed $16.9 million.
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Farnworth’s announcement coincided with news the government is restoring funding for five centres that support survivors of sexual assault in Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, Prince George and Surrey. Beginning in April 2023, $10 million annually will support the centres, as well as the delivery of the 70 sexual assault programs offering community-based services.
Government says it now provides more than $54 million annually for services to support victims of crime, including more than 475 victim-service, violence-against-women and sexual-assault programs operating in communities throughout B.C.
“Today is a fundamentally important step in our government’s work to take action against sexualized and gender-based violence,” Paddon said at the legislature.
Lynnell Halikowski, executive director of Prince George Sexual Assault Centre, welcomed the funding.
“As the only sexual assault centre in the North, this funding will assist the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre in supporting survivors in the northern region of our province, in providing critical wraparound care and mitigating the impacts of sexual violence to provide a clear path of healing for survivors,” Halikowski said.
@wolfgangdepner
wolfgang.depner@blackpress.ca
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