Drumheller and area is now without the service of Big Country Victim Services Association (BCVSA) after the board disbanded late last year.
According to Ina Lucila, Communications advisor for Justice and Solicitor General, “The Big Country Victim Services Association informed the department of their decision to discontinue the victim service unit and dissolve their society in December 2019.”
Big Country Victim Services served residents in the Drumheller Detachment as well as the areas served by the Hanna Detachment and the Oyen Detachment.
According to its website, BCVSA has been in operation since 1994.
Its goal is to promote and advocate the rights and entitlements of victims of crime and trauma through information, referral, support, assistance, community liaison, and education.
Its area covered over 20,000 square kilometres and a population of over 45,000.
Lucila said the board has returned the grant funding it has received to the department. This funding comes from the Victims of Crime Fund, which is primarily financed by a 15 per cent surcharge collected from all provincial statute fines and selected federal statute convictions as identified in the Victims of Crime Act.
BCVSA was a registered society with a board of directors, a full-time coordinator, RCMP Liaisons and volunteers. It is not known the status of its employee at the time of dissolution.
Lucila said the role of victim services would be carried out by the RCMP. As to whether a victim services organization could again operate in the areas, she said the government is conducting a review.
The board of BCVSA at the time of dissolution could not be reached for comment.
