Victims left short by program changes: Ontario critics

Published On: September 17, 2019

People working on the front lines to support victims of crime say Ontario’s changes to support programs will rob some victims some of vital counselling and “life-changing” funding.

The government has scrapped the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and the Financial Assistance for Families of Homicide Victims program. The deadline for applications to each is Sept. 30.

Replacing the board is the Victim Quick Response Program, dubbed VQRP+.

But a local victim and those working with others like her say there will be a net decrease in support.

“It’s so disheartening and infuriating,” said one woman, a survivor of childhood sex abuse.

The ruling by the compensation board has helped her to to pay bills and continue her recovery, she said, and she’s concerned other victims may not have the same chance. If she were to have applied after this month’s deadline, she said, “I wouldn’t have qualified.”

Read the full story here.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

  • Violence against Indigenous women in Winnipeg case ‘purposeful and racially motivated’: OCRCC responds

    In 2022, four women were targeted, harmed and killed by the same man in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Rebecca Contois, 24, Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and an unidentified woman who [...]

    Published On: May 27, 2024

  • CKXS: CK Declares Gender-Based Violence an Epidemic

    “You have the opportunity to support a simple but incredibly powerful recommendation…to declare intimate partner violence as an epidemic and I implore you to do so.” - Michelle Schryer, Executive [...]

    Published On: December 13, 2023

  • CHCH: Hate crime investigation launched in assault at Take Back the Night: Hamilton police

    "At SACHA we know that because violence is contingent on power and control, there is an inherent relationship between ending sexual violence and ending all forms of violence."    Read [...]

    Published On: September 25, 2023