Image Credit: Mel Arnold via CPAC

By Victor Kaisar

Victims of Crime

Kamloops MP Mel Arnold tables victims’ rights bill in House of Commons

Sep 19, 2025 | 7:12 AM

OTTAWA — The Conservative Member of Parliament for Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies has tabled a private member’s bill to expand the rights of victims of crime.

Mel Arnold’s Bill C-221 is proposing amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to ensure that victims of crime get timely and accurate information about the sentencing, parole and movements of offenders.

Arnold says the Bill also proposes measures to end arbitrary barriers that prevent victims from participating in parole hearings while also “avoiding the false comfort of misleading parole eligibility dates.”

“This bill is relatively short that it is meaningful in that it will make a much needed difference in the lives and experiences of victims of crime,” Arnold said, in the House of Commons.

“This Bill proposes a small but significant step towards respecting victims. Their rights and those of survivors and their families, must be upheld and prioritized above the criminals that victimized them.”

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Arnold says versions of this Bill have been tabled in four consecutive Parliaments, noting the last iteration – Bill C-320, sponsored by former Oshawa MP Colin Carrie – was on track to get Royal Assent before Parliament was dissolved in the spring. Carrie’s Bill was pending third reading at the Senate after it made its way through the House of Commons.

“The proposals of this bill were inspired by Ms. Lisa Freeman, whose father [Roland Slingerland] was brutally murdered in 1991,” Arnold added.

“Ms. Freeman’s experience have compelled her to be an incredible advocate for victims’ rights and I thank her for her perseverance and bravery in dealing with government systems and processes that can be unfriendly to victims of crime.”

In a statement, Carrie said he is pleased that Arnold has picked up this “nonpartisan and positive Bill” while also applauding Freeman’s “years of hard work on behalf of victims and their families.”

“I hope Parliamentarians get behind this Bill and pass it as soon as possible,” he said.

“The Bill will lessen the load carried by victims,” Freeman added, in the statement.

The move means both Kamloops MPs have tabled private member’s bills in the first week of the fall session of Parliament. Frank Caputo, the MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola is proposing legislation to crack down on intimate partner violence.

“I am honoured to sponsor this Bill and it deserves to be passed in this Parliament,” Arnold said. “I look forward to working with all Parliamentarians to move this bill to completion.

Arnold and Caputo previously worked together on legislation (Bill C-291) to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to replace the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse and exploitation material.”