WESTLOCK — Some victims of crime in the Westlock area are facing significant gaps in support services following the province's overhaul of its victim services program, according to local RCMP.
The restructuring, which took effect Oct. 1, resulted in funding to all RCMP-based Victim Services Units (VSU) in the province ceased. In its place, regional offices were created to manage the program.
“As a result of some transition challenges the Westlock VSU employee was utilized at a surrounding detachment leaving Westlock with no in person services available for several days with no prior communication given to Westlock RCMP,” said Staff Sgt. Jeff Sehn during his presentation to Westlock County council on Nov. 12.
In a recent domestic violence incident, a woman and her one-year-old child were left on the side of the road near Westlock and no one from Victim Services was available to help.
“The woman and child were only roadside for a small period of time before our members arrived but when we went to turn them over to VSU then the challenges started where VSU was not able to meet the victims’ needs, resulting in our member having to drive them to Slave Lake,” said Sehn.
This removed an on-duty police officer from the Westlock community for approximately three hours.
Alberta Works, which was supposed to provide transportation support for victims, allegedly hung up on the woman when she reached out for help.
In another incident, a fatal motor vehicle collision required VSU assistance for witnesses and victims, but none were available to respond.
“These stories are heartbreaking,” said NDP Opposition Shadow Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Services David Shepherd in a phone interview on Nov. 20. “It shows how this UCP government has utterly failed the victims of crime in rural communities.”
Shepherd said the previous system was working well with “local representatives who had built these services over years working hand in glove with the RCMP to ensure people had the support 24-7 in the community when they needed it.”
He said the UCP government broke that system for their own political agenda, saying the changes were part of the province’s strategy to transition to a provincial police force.
“What we see is that this is a government that is dead set on replacing the RCMP with their own provincial police force and they are willing to use any tool they can get their hands on to try and squeeze the RCMP out."
He said the government started out by raiding the victim services budget, the funds set aside for victims of major crimes, and diverted them to other areas of the justice system when they were looking to cut the budget.
“We have a situation where the government, out of its own political interests, stripped these services from local communities from these local providers to shut out the RCMP and centralize that control at a few sectors across the province. Now, when people need that, when they are in a bad situation, the help is not available. That’s tragic. It’s unacceptable. It’s unconscionable and it was a direct decision of the UCP.”
Shepherd said the public consultations held by the UCP were little more than a “sham” with the government pretending to listen to communities but they had already made up their mind to proceed with the new model.
“In fact, they knew exactly what they were going to do. Now they have done it. They have forced it through and it’s hurting people.”
The provincial government must return victim services back to the people in their communities who can provide help directly on the ground when they need it, said Shepherd.
Provincial response
In response to concerns raised by both local RCMP and opposition parties, Arthur Green, a spokesperson from the office of Mike Ellis, Alberta’s UCP Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Services, acknowledged that the transition has faced challenges but maintains that the changes will improve victim services.
“In any transition to a new system, there will always be specific circumstances that could be highlighted to demonstrate the successes or difficulties presented through the change,” Green told Town and Country Today in an email on Nov. 22.
He said the government is committed to providing appropriate and stable funding for the new regional victim-serving societies and continue to work in collaboration with RCMP detachments across the province.
“We continue to support their efforts in completing their current staffing and volunteer advocate recruitment and any temporary gaps identified will be addressed in a timely, respectful and professional manner.”
Green said the new governance model for RCMP-based victim services in Alberta’s smaller, rural and remote communities allows for coordination across detachments throughout the region – something that was not available under the old model.
“Previously, while some communities and victims received excellent service, there were many other communities and victims that received poor service or no service at all. No single organization can meet all of the complex needs of a victim or client. Therefore, the government continues to work with partners, including police agencies, regional victim-serving societies, community-based organizations such as shelters and food banks, mental health supports, social services and other government ministries to ensure that every attempt is made to help Albertans in crisis.
“Local victim services workers (navigators) continue to be co-located within their local RCMP detachments,” he added. “In fact, under the new model, government has increased funding for the total number of local front-line navigators. These dedicated professionals continue to live in the same communities they serve.”
