Watch above: a Saskatoon mother is disappointed with the Victims Bill of Rights
SASKATOON – The federal government introduced its long-awaited Victims Bill of Rights Thursday in the House of Commons.
But after a decade of lobbying for better victims’ rights, Sharlene Lange was disappointed with the bill.
Eleven years ago, her son Kutler was brutally beaten. A group of teens broke in to rob his friend’s townhouse, and Lange was bashed in the head with a whiskey bottle and kicked repeatedly.
“My son was in the hospital for seven months. He was catastrophically brain injured. I brought him home in a wheelchair,” she said.
Lange said she had no choice but to quit her job to look after him.
“We’ve had very, very limited resources to actually rehabilitate him,” she explained.
Under the bill, victims of crime will have statutory rights in the justice system, and have a judge consider ordering restitution, something Sharlene has been lobbying for. But Sharlene said even if a victim succeeds, collecting money can be near impossible.
“Beyond the sentencing stage of the process, the victims basically fall off the face of the earth,” she explained.
“Rights need to go beyond the criminal process for this bill to even be a bill of rights.”
Sharlene said she will continue to lobby both the provincial and federal governments in the hope of one day obtaining true financial compensation for victims.
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