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	Survey Infuriates Victims By Randy Richmond Longdon Free Press December 17, 2010 http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/12/17/16598061.html The Liberal government has infuriated male sexual abuse victims and advocates by using an online survey — not promised face-to-face meetings — for feedback on its controversial new counselling program. Conservatives also attacked the online survey Friday, and demanded the province delay plans for the new program until male survivors are properly consulted. "These men have already been through enough," said Tory MPP Steve Clark (Leeds-Grenville). "To be referred to an website is insulting." Hundreds of abuse survivors, such as those living in poverty or in jail, will be unable to respond, and many others simply won't provide personal information to nameless bureaucrats, critics said. Even if people respond, there won't be time for the province to revise its plan in time. The latest speed bump in the problem-plagued drive to set up services has some agencies considering a boycott of the entire process, said Rick Goodwin, head of The Men's Project in Ottawa. "I just don't get it," an astounded Goodwin said of the online survey. He said his agency, the only publicly funded male-centred counselling service in Ontario, would still try go join the provincial program. But he warned the province's process to consult survivors is deeply flawed. The Liberals had given Ontario's social service agencies until Nov. 1 to apply for $2 million to set up four new regional counselling networks and one Ontario-wide crisis line for male survivors of abuse. But male survivors and advocates complained the very people to be served by the new system weren't asked for their opinions on how to set up services — a key recommendation of the Cornwall inquiry into abuse that prompted the province to take action. As well, the province's plan would likely fund some agencies some male survivors don't trust, such as those associated with the Catholic Church or women-only counselling centres. In response to a growing outcry, Attorney General Chris Bentley announced in November the deadline would be extended to Jan. 31, 2011, and survivors would be consulted. Those consultations would include meetings with survivors, Bentley's communications advisor, Nauman Khan, said. But Friday, Khan said the province decided an online survey would do a better job. "The advice we received from clinicians and survivors was that an online questionnaire is the best way to ensure that voices of male survivors from across the province can be heard as soon as possible so we can start offering the services that don't presently exist," he said in an e-mail. Londoner John Swales, a leader in the battle to get services for male survivors in Ontario, was furious that face-to-face meetings will be replaced by an online survey. "The government doesn't know what it's doing. This is the only opportunity we have to get things right."
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