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This article was published 24/4/2015 (1976 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper strongly defended his government’s tough-on-crime agenda during a speech Friday night in Winnipeg, saying the justice system had become too focused on the rights of the accused over those of victims.

"Some are quick to proclaim, even in the most vile of acts, that criminals themselves are somehow victims of society," said the prime minister, who was the keynote speaker at the 30th anniversary gala for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection at the Fort Garry Hotel. "Don’t look at the crime, they say, look at the root causes. But we ask: When criminals are considered victims, what happens to the real victims?

"The shameful answer is that historically, victims have very, very often been ignored and shunted aside," Harper added. "Our government strongly believes that it is not criminals that must be protected from society; it is society that must be protected from criminals. It is this fundamental idea that has fuelled our actions and nowhere more so than when it comes to protecting our children."

The centre was established as Child Find Manitoba in 1985, shortly after the death of Candace Derksen, a 13-year-old Winnipeg girl who went missing in November while walking home from school. Her frozen body was found in a shed near her family home two months later.

Candace’s mother, Wilma Derksen, was a founding member of Child Find Manitoba, which eventually grew into the centre, a national organization with 40 staff members and support systems and protection programs that reach millions of children each year.

In a video message, Derksen said she has marvelled at how a fledgling group that began with a handful of volunteers three decades ago has become a "sophisticated and relevant organization."

Derksen said one main focus of the centre is family support. "When something as horrendous as the murder of a child happens, it tears you apart," she said.

Harper and his wife, Laureen, have long been strong supporters of the centre. Last year, the Conservative government renewed the organization with a $9.5-million, five-year commitment. That’s in addition to the $251,000 announced for the centre in January 2012. In 2013, the centre received $100,000 as the government’s way to mark the birth of Prince George, the son of Prince William and his wife, Kate.

Harper restated the federal government’s commitment to tougher laws and sentencing for predators and child abusers.

"I don’t have to tell you that we will never come to terms with those who seek to harm children," Harper told the crowd, "whether they be militant terrorists in places like Iraq, or the kinds of offenders that you run across in the good work done by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

"I know that what you do is hard work. Ironically, it is the basic decency of most people that causes so many to wish — even pretend — that such harm to children did not exist. You cannot do that. And so what you do is tough, noble and invaluable, and our society is much better for it."

Meanwhile, centre executive director Lianna McDonald thanked the dignitary-filled crowd — which included Justice Minister Peter McKay, Heritage Minister Shelly Glover, Mayor Brian Bowman and police Chief Devon Clunis — but pointed out families, in particular. "You continue to keep us grounded," she said.

"It is our core dream to find the hidden and silent children and be in their corner," McDonald added. "It is our dream that one day every child gets to be a child. This is my Canada."

Earlier in the day, the Harpers participated in a round table with Manitoba child-protection agencies. The gala dinner wrapped up the prime minister’s visit to the city that began Wednesday.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca