Federal Victim Surcharge in New Brunswick: An Operational Review

5. Recommendations

The data were analyzed with a view to providing recommendations for improving revenues from the federal victim surcharge in the province of New Brunswick. Within the constraints for this review, the recommendations present no obvious limitations and/or have been purported to have been implemented with success in other jurisdictions.

  1. In an attempt to address the high waiver rate and ensure the federal surcharge provisions of the Criminal Code are fully addressed, it is recommended that:
    • The Department of Public Safety in partnership with the Department of Justice initiate the opportunity to meet once with the Chief Provincial Court Judge to provide information on the Victim Services Program and to determine the most effective mode to communicate program successes to the full judiciary. This should happen as soon as possible.
    • A feasibility study and possible pilot project based on its results be undertaken to further explore the offender's ability to pay in situations where offenders receive custody dispositions. The goal of such a study would be to produce concrete resources to aid judges in their decision making (e.g. alternative payment schedules, easy to use guidelines/tables), recognizing that surcharge amounts on non-fine dispositions are small ($50 for summary convictions, $100 for indictable offences).
  2. To maximize surcharge collection rates, the Department of Public Safety examine the feasibility of utilizing motor vehicle registration and/or driver's license renewal as a mechanism for satisfying the surcharge. As part of this feasibility assessment, the use of this option in other jurisdictions should be examined, as well as the success of using this as a remedy for non-payment.
  3. In order to better understand the positive and challenging aspects of federal victim surcharge regimes in other jurisdictions, it is recommended that similar research be conducted in other provinces and territories and results shared with relevant stakeholders and decision makers (e.g. Federal Provincial Territorial Working Group on Victims of Crime, FPT Deputies and Ministers Responsible for Justice).
  4. Given the disconnect between the intention of the 1999 amendments to the Criminal Code federal victim surcharge provisions and what is occurring, it is recommended that once research has been completed in other jurisdictions, a summary and discussion paper that focuses on this disconnect be provided to relevant stakeholders and decision makers (e.g. Federal Provincial Territorial Working Group on Victims of Crime, FPT Deputies and Ministers Responsible for Justice).

6. References

Li, Kuan. (2005). Projections for the Federal victim surcharge. Research and Statistics Division, Department of Justice Canada.