The position of ombudsman for victims of crime has been vacant for nine months

The Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims aims to ensure that the government fulfills its responsibilities to victims of crime.

Heidi Illingworth, former Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. criminal acts, was very critical of the government before he left.

The federal government has yet to appoint an ombudsman for victims of crime, more than nine months after the previous person in charge of the office left.

No one has been running the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime since last October 1, and the Department of Justice has only started the call for nominations process since the end of February.

For Conservative senator and long-time victims' rights activist Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, this is an essential position and he recently denounced the very long delay in the appointment process.

In June, Senator Boisvenu addressed a House of Commons committee to stress that the ombudsman could have represented a strong voice for the families of the victims as part of the public inquiry into the 2020 Nova Scotia shootings.

The last person to hold the position, Heidi Illingworth, was highly critical of the government by stating in particular that the application of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, adopted in 2015, is done sporadically and irregularly.

A person responsible for communications within from the team of Minister of Justice David Lametti replied that the steps leading to the replacement of e Mrs. Illingworth are ongoing and the appointment will be announced in due course.