Months after her sister was found dead, woman says she was never told of her legal rights as a victim

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Caitlyn Bates says she and her family have struggled to access information about the investigation into her sister's suspected murder, unaware that their rights as victims of a crime are enshrined in Canadian law.

"I had no idea the rights I had to this investigation; this wasn't expressed to me or my family," said Bates, whose sister, Shannon MacDougall was found dead in her Brantford, Ont., home in March.

The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, passed in 2015, gives victims the right to information about the investigation of the crime they have suffered, including its progress and any prosecutions that arise. The legislation also offers the right to protection during the process, the right to participation by providing victim-impact statements, and the rights to restitution over the crime, and to complain if those rights are not upheld.

Bates said she didn't realize she had those rights until contacted by The Current. 

"I almost felt a little stupid, I hate to say," she told The Current's guest host Mark Kelley. 

"I felt like: 'Wow, if I had known this sooner, I could have been getting more information in the beginning and not eight months later, where I feel like some of this information is now lost."

Police found MacDougall, 37, dead at her home while performing a wellness check on March 11. When they broke the news to her family, Bates says they indicated she could have died of suicide, or an accidental overdose. (MacDougall previously had a problem with drug use, but her sister doesn't believe it could be a factor in her death.)

But when Bates later asked funeral directors for an open casket, they cautioned her that "it probably wasn't a good idea because of the injuries she had come in with."

The family had not been informed of injuries. On learning of them, Bates did not believe they could have resulted from suicide.

In the weeks that followed, Bates said she called detectives daily to ask for more information. At one point, she said a detective reiterated that "it could be a suicide."

"I said no, it's not. Quit lying to me. Quit telling me that. I spoke to the funeral director. I know of her injuries. It wasn't a suicide," she said.

"He just went dead quiet and he said: 'You're not wrong.' He finally admitted it to me because I found out myself."

Soon after, police informed the family that they had opened a homicide investigation, but did not make it public knowledge until Nov. 30, telling CBC News that secrecy was necessary to avoid "damaging" the active investigation. The investigation is ongoing.

In a statement to The Current, Brantford Police Department said that "once the manner of death was determined to be a homicide, the MacDougall family was notified."

There is "a team of officers dedicated to this investigation, working diligently to solve this case and provide closure for Shannon's grieving family," the statement said.

The statement added that police "are confident that the decisions made by investigators to protect the integrity of the investigation were necessary and thank the family for their continued involvement."

But Bates said the family should have been told sooner.

"I would have rather have been told that from the beginning than have to sit for three weeks, if not more, crying because my sister killed herself," she said.

"I just really hope that the word gets out there and anyone else going through this knows that they do have options and to not feel helpless like I did, because if I had known months ago what I know now, it might be different."

Heidi Illingworth, the federal ombudsman for victims of crime, said Bates's situation is not that uncommon — and there is a "huge gap" in public awareness of the rights that can be asserted.

"All victims under the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights have a right to information, to participation, to protection and to seek restitution," said Illingworth.

"The problem that we have in this country though, is that the Bill of Rights requires people, requires victims to ask for information," she told Kelley. 

"So they have to be aware of their rights and have to be able to assert them."

Provide victim information 'automatically': Illingworth

In a report released last month, Illingworth called for a parliamentary review of the 2015 act, and offered 15 recommendations for reform.

"We think that strengthening victims' rights and providing them a guarantee of support and assistance would encourage more people to actually come forward and empower them to seek legal support and social supports to get through what's happened to them," she told CBC News.

Among the recommendations, the advocate wants police and other first responders to provide victims of crime with information cards explaining their rights.

"We should do the same that we do for people accused of crime in this country," she told Kelley.

"We should automatically provide victims with information about their rights and about support system services."

Catherine Latimer, executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada, cautioned that people accused of a crime are read their rights "because the state is about to unleash coercive powers" against them.

"You're protecting the individual from the potential abuse of state powers, whereas the victim is not facing any kind of consequences vis-a-vis the state," she told The Current.

Illingworth disagreed, pointing to the case of Serrece Winter, who in Nov. 2019 was due to testify against her on-again, off-again boyfriend for allegedly assaulting her.

When Winter did not appear in court — because she was afraid of her former partner — police arrested her. She was later strapped to a restraint chair when she became distressed in her cell, and faced charges for kicking one of the police officers restraining her.

Winter told The Current that testifying can present danger for some victims, and forcing them to testify without addressing that threat is "playing into the hands of the abuser."

"You say you're doing it to help the victim, right, get justice, but you're putting the victim in jail," she told Kelley. 

"At what point does that not make you the same as the abuser?" 

The charges against Winter were dropped last month, but she said that the experience means she no longer trusts the police, and would not call them if she was in danger.

The Halifax Regional Police told The Current that "as there is currently an ongoing process related to this matter with the police complaints commissioner, it would be inappropriate for us to speak to the specifics."

But Illingworth described it as a case where "the power of the state came after" the victim.

"If we care about the proper administration of justice in Canada and we care about access to justice, that means that we have to do better for victims," she said.

"So that they can come forward, they can report crime and they can be supported throughout the system to give that evidence."

Written by Padraig Moran, with files from CBC News. Produced by Lindsay Rempel and Ines Colabrese.