Harper spending more on ads than on crime plan

London Free Press:

Ottawa – A federal program to help victims of crime is set to spend more money on advertising this year than it spent on helping people last year.

The Victims of Crime Initiative pays victims' expenses if they want to attend parole board or sentencing hearings, helps people submit victim impact statements and helps fund programs that help provincial and territorial victims of crime.

But an evaluation released last week said the program didn't have the resources to spend its $8.7-million budget. One program worth $1.2 million lapsed “due to lack of uptake,” the report says.

In the end, the Victims of Crime Initiative spent only $4.9 million last year.

Meanwhile, the government has already approved $6 million in advertising spending for the program in 2010-11, according to a document posted on the Treasury Board's website.

“It should also be noted that the resource requirements in administering the Victims Fund were underestimated and internal capacity at Justice Canada has limited our ability to deliver funding,” the departmental performance report says, calling it “a resource intensive process.”

Anita Neville, Liberal status of women critic, called the spending cynical, saying it's a disproportionate amount on advertising compared to program delivery.

A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson pointed out total program spending over five years is set at $58.6 million and covers an ombudsman for victims, money for victims' organizations and funding for provinces and territories to help victims of crime.

“The Department of Justice is continuing to work on rectifying the issue to better ensure that all the funding is fully allocated to meet the objectives of the Victims Fund,” Pamela Stephens wrote in an email.

"Our government remains committed to supporting victims of crime through existing programs."