Families of murdered, missing children mixed on payment plan

SURREY (NEWS1130) – Friends and family of Devon Allaire-Bell are gathering in Surrey tonight to remember the 19-year-old who was killed outside a high school one year ago. Police are still asking for help to find his killers.

At the same time, families who have lost children to violence are mixed on a new federal plan to compensate parents who take time off work to cope with the loss of murdered or missing kids.

Starting January 1st 2013, the federal government is offering $350 a week for up to 35 weeks for parents of lost or killed children who are under 18. To qualify, parents would need to have earned at least $6,500 in the past calendar year.

Gord Penner lost his 20-year-old son Jesse after he was stabbed to death outside a house party in Port Coquitlam in 2006. A then-16-year-old boy was sentenced to six years in prison for Jesse’s death and will be finished serving his sentence in July.

Penner, who has openly challenged the justice system to do better for victims and their families for years, is not impressed with the new payment plan. “What the Harper government has done is made a two-tiered victim services program. I guess in Jesse’s case, the other 19 years that he was a young person don’t count for anything.”

“What’s the difference if it’s a 25-year-old child? It’s still somebody’s child, whether they’re an adult or not. What’s the difference? I don’t get it,” he adds.

Penner doesn’t feel the support that is offered to victims’ families is enough, saying he was forced to return to work 16 weeks after his son’s death because his employment insurance ran out, even though he needed more time to grieve with his family.

Penner’s wife was off work for several more months and the couple struggled, financially.

The federal government expects the new plan will help about 1,000 families a year, but Penner argues most missing children are found.

“There’s about a 90 per cent or something recovery rate,” he argues. “And the rate of young people under the age of 18 that are murdered is also very low.”

“Most 15, 16, 17-year-olds don’t think about murder.  They’ve got other things on their minds unless they’re psychologically damaged or they’ve been subjected to severe violence,” he adds.

“So [the federal government knows] that those numbers are low, and so it looks like they’re doing something when really, it’s peanuts,” maintains Penner.

Family of murdered Schoenborn children pleased with compensation

At least one family who has suffered through the loss of young children believes the new plan is a good start. Darcie Clarke’s three young children were murdered by her estranged husband Allan Schoenborn in their Merritt home in 2008.

Schoenborn admitted to killing Kaitlynne, 10, Max, 8, and Cordon, 5, and was found guilty of first degree murder. However, a judge found him not criminally responsible, saying he was not sane at the time.

Clarke’s cousin Stacy Galt tells us Clarke is going to apply for the payments, since she can’t work. Galt says she sympathizes with Penner’s frustration but believes the plan is a good first step.

“This poor man, because his son is older, is not going to be able to benefit from this,” she explains. “But we have to look at the big picture.”

“One thing.. Darcie has always wanted to do is help others through her pain. Fortunately, the government is now thinking about those parents with the small children and it is a start to this process,” she adds.

Galt says it would be wonderful “in a perfect world” if the compensation program was expanded to help parents who have lost children of any age.

“Before, victims weren’t even thought of; we were just kind of shoved underneath the rug and the people that committed the crime got all of the rights and got all of the say,” she argues. “At least now the government is standing up and saying, ‘We’re going to do something for these victims,’ and it’s a start.”