INNISFAIL – Speaking to scores of attendees at Innisfail’s 2nd Annual Innisfail March Against Domestic Violence Intimate Partner Abuse on Oct. 2, Town of Innisfail Mayor Jean Barclay reminded them that future victims could face an ominous future in seeking help and support.
She noted the province, specifically under Tyler Shandro, the minister of Justice and Solicitor General, is moving to disband 62 victim services volunteer boards across Alberta, including Innisfail’s.
The goal is to create four new regional boards with a proposed start time of April 1, 2024. The boards would represent east, west, south, and central areas of the province. The plan is to have 131 case workers to serve all future victims of violence across Alberta.
“Chances are our service will at some point run out of Leduc. We don't think this is a very viable solution for our community,” Barclay told the audience. “We also know the rise we have seen in family violence in mental health through the collaboration we have with FCSS with victim services, with the RCMP and with our emergency management services.”
The mayor reassured her audience that municipalities across the province are fighting back, noting a special resolution was “overwhelmingly supported” by delegates at the Alberta Municipalities convention in Calgary from Sept. 21 to 23.
“The Town of Canmore and Town of Tofield brought forward an emergent resolution to speak to victim services and to open dialogue with the Alberta government to say, ‘stop, you need to listen to our communities, and we need to find a better path forward.”
As for the Town of Innisfail, the municipality is exploring different options for the future, including creating its own municipal victim services organization similar to the nine other ones in Alberta that operate outside of provincial control.
Barclay, in a follow-up interview on Oct. 4, noted there are many “considerations” into establishing a municipal victim services.
“First and foremost, it’s a budget consideration, you know capacity. We need to understand more what that looks like,” said Barclay. “I think having the emergent resolution come forward Alberta municipalities has put another layer on top of this where we are now advocating.”
Mary Dawn Eggleton has been the executive director at Innisfail & District Victim Services for close to three years. Her office has two full-time employees, and six to eight volunteer advocates.
She said they have handled “well over” 150 files this year.
“Our number one is domestic violence,” said Eggleton, who made a presentation at Innisfail’s march against domestic violence event. She added her office also handles sex assault cases, as well as many mental health calls, sudden deaths and next of kin notifications.
Last month she gave a presentation to Innisfail town council, outlining all the stats and reasons for the continued presence of victim services in Innisfail and area where staff and volunteers have built up relationships to the vulnerable and victimized.
However, when April of 2024 arrives the plan is to have new regional case workers as far away as Leduc connecting with this area’s victims of crime.
“In general people are very upset. They're concerned that victims of crime, one of the most vulnerable parts of our population, will now again get lost in gaps and be forgotten and no longer have a voice,” said Eggleton, who’s been told she will have to reapply to work as a case worker for the planned changes.
“Where do they go now? Yes, there's a model in place. But at the end of the day, they don't have somebody here. There won’t be somebody they can just call and say, ‘you know what? I'm having a bad day.
“Everything becomes more streamlined, and everything becomes more regionalized and impersonal. We go to a regional model, and it's going to be more like, ‘these are the things that we do and how does the victim fit that?
‘That's not right because we're now cookie-cuttering all their needs, and no victims are the same.”
Eggleton said the province’s initiative will also have an adverse impact on the Innisfail RCMP.
“They're outraged. They're also a little concerned the supports they rely on us for, like the next of kin notifications and mental health calls, that they won't have that extra piece of support for themselves,” said Eggleton.
Todd Becker, the chief administrative officer for the Town of Innisfail, said staff has been tasked to gather all information from victim services as well as the changes the province is planning and bring it back to council to determine whether it’s feasible to explore a business case to create a municipal victim services program.
“We have not got that direction yet. We’re just gathering all the information to present to council in the near future,” said Becker, adding it’s hoped council will be presented with an administration report in early November.
