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News Release - May 10, 2001, RE: CAVEAT Closing. TOGETHER WE MADE A
DIFFERENCE. After Ten Years CAVEAT
is closing. It’s time to say good
bye. In August
1991 a small group of unlikely activists started a petition addressed to the
Federal Government as an expression of local horror, fear, and a deep and
abiding anger at a system that had failed us so horribly. We intended the
circulation to last for six weeks. It became the largest petition in Canadian
history with 3 million signatures. None of us dreamt that we would be in
existence and active ten years later. We could not have foreseen that a
grassroots movement, focused on distributing the petition, would develop into an
organization that would play an important role in profoundly changing the
criminal justice system in Canada. Our
surprising growth and development has been due to the generous support of
thousands of individuals and businesses locally and across Canada, which gave us
the energy to continue when everything else told us to stop. Many of our original supporters still sustain us, whether in
small cash donations or ongoing pledges; service clubs and businesses, private
citizens and young children all have added their support. Our Board, staff and
volunteer corps have been faithful and unstinting in donating time, expertise,
financial resources and contacts while their families have invariably found
themselves involved as well. The
growth of CAVEAT has been quite remarkable. We have consistently broken new
ground, and have brought an intelligent, integrated holistic approach to the
problems of crime prevention and public safety. CAVEAT has been a part of the
remarkable progress achieved for victims of crime and society including the
legislative and policy recognition that victims do have a role in Canada’s
criminal justice system as well as in public safety. The
establishment of the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) in Ontario as well as
Justice Canada’s Policy Centre for Victim Issues were both landmark
institutional developments in which CAVEAT played a significant role. The role
of the victim in the criminal justice system is now accepted as an integral part
of the system itself and the inclusion of victims in policy making signals that
our work has not been in vain. As
progress has occurred, we have been faced with increasingly complex work,
requiring sophisticated resources. Over the years we have explored every avenue
in search of funding for our operations and projects. Time and again, our core
supporters came to our rescue as we struggled to balance our need to move
forward with our need to pay the bills.
A
decade has gone by and we now find ourselves in a new environment. With the
assistance of and funding from The Policy Centre for Victims Issues, Justice
Canada, this past year we have exhaustively examined the changing role of CAVEAT
both internally and through an independent feasibility study. It is clear that
major changes would have to be made if CAVEAT is to continue to be an effective
voice for victims and public safety within the new criminal justice landscape.
Our Board has determined that we do not have the necessary resources, nor the
organizational capacity at this time, nor in the foreseeable future, to
undertake these fundamental changes. Accordingly, CAVEAT will cease operations
May 31, 2001. Priscilla
de Villiers President of
CAVEAT For
a full list of a decade of accomplishments, see our May 2001, CAVEAT Report as
well as the full text of the Vision Recommendations, see our web site at www.caveat.org
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