WHEREAS some crimes perpetrated in communities have direct monetary and social effects on the communities in which the crimes occur; AND WHEREAS, when confiscated, profits from various crimes and proceeds from associated forfeited property must all be remitted to the provincial government: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government once again be asked to consider expanding the legislation governing proceeds of crime to allow local governments to share directly in some of the proceeds from those crimes which have direct monetary and social impacts on communities.
Ministry of Justice The Province of British Columbia created the Civil Forfeiture Act in 2005 to suppress illegal activity and take the profit motive out of crime. Under the legislation, property can be forfeited where it has been proven that property was acquired as a result of unlawful activity proceeds or was used for unlawful activity instruments. All property that is forfeited is sold and the proceeds are paid into the Civil Forfeiture account. The Civil Forfeiture Office is entirely self-funding and as such, it derives all its operating income from the forfeitures it obtains through successful settlements. The legislation also authorizes payments from this account for crime prevention initiatives and compensation to victims of crime such as fraud. Since 2006, the Province has disbursed 16 million in crime prevention grants to community organizations, policing agencies, First Nations bands, school boards and others throughout BC and directly to eligible victims of crime. Under the Criminal Asset Management Act, which was passed in 2012, the Province consolidates funds from two sources of criminal forfeiture into one special account; these two separate sources of funding are: 1.Proceeds from the criminal forfeiture of assets derived from non-Federal offences; and 2.Proceeds received pursuant to a Memo of Understanding with the federal government which shares the proceeds of crime resulting from Federal offences, such as illegal drugs. This Act is structured similar to the Civil Forfeiture Act with respect to the disbursement of funds, namely payments can be made for crime prevention initiatives and compensation to victims of crime. As this is a relatively new Act, there have been no disbursements from the account to date; however, it is envisioned that similar to the disbursement of Civil Forfeiture grants, a robust application and review process would be undertaken to identify and prioritize recipients.