Manitoba reviewing claim by murdered woman's family

Manitoba Justice is taking a second look at a Victim Services decision to deny the grieving family of a murdered indigenous woman compensation for her funeral after a CBC I Team investigation into the matter.

• Manitoba Justice refuses to help with funeral for slain aboriginal woman

Angela Poorman was fatally stabbed in Winnipeg in December 14, 2014. At the time the 29-year-old had 10 minor criminal convictions on her record.

In a letter to Poorman's family, Victim Services told the family because of those offenses it rejected their application for funding to cover her $4,500 funeral bill.

Before May of 2011 only victims with serious criminal convictions had those crimes applied against compensation figures from Victim Services. The government amended that to include lesser criminal offences like probation breaches. At the time the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties spoke out against the change out of fears it would revictimize vulnerable people.

'Callous, unfeeling, wrong'

MARL President Corey Shefman says he isn't surprised to see the family of a murdered indigenous woman affected by the policy change.

"It's not only callous and unfeeling. It's also wrong from a human rights point of view," Shefman said, "By refusing to pay the funeral costs by excluding from the program this woman because of her past actions because of crimes she has been punished already for you're revictimizing her even in death."

We've reached out to the family- Justice Minister James Allum

Shefman believes the new policy is not being properly applied by Manitoba Justice. "What we're hearing is that the discretion which has been written into the law that has been taken away from the experts by the politicians and instead this blanket has been put on top of the law which makes the law unfair.

The province says it is now reconsidering the case and the policy.

"We've reached out to the family to make sure that they understand that we're concerned with their well-being, " Justice Minister James Allum said Thursday. "We want to make sure that they get closure on this issue that we eliminate the stresses so we'll review the case and in addition to that we're going to review the policy."

After CBC'sinquiries 'they started phoning me like crazy'

The victim's mother, JanettPoorman had been trying to connect with provincial officials for months after the application was rejected. After telling her story to CBC she received two calls from government workers who let her know papers were being filed to reconsider her application.

"Likeafter you stepped in, " She told CBC News Wednesday, "They started phoning like crazy like one after another."

But Poorman is angry it took going public to get her case reviewed by the province. "Why did it take the media for them to do their job? Like why does it have to go so far for them to get their job done right?"

Poorman is happy the case is being reviewed but is sore about the way she believes the province mishandled the case.

"That's really what Iwould like to see an apology made to me and my family for putting us through all this."

When CBCasked whether the province would apologize to the Poorman family, the Justice Minister didn't offer a response.

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