Fear, Anger, Misunderstanding Vs. Statistics and Evidence

Canada is being urged to learn from the Americans’ mistakes: the U.S. mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws turned out to be not only ineffective in reducing drug use but also contributed to a disastrous over-incarceration problem. A zero-tolerance approach allows organized crime and gang violence to flourish and saddles non-violent drug offenders with jail and criminal records that have “ruined countless lives.”

The “Smarter Justice Network,” a Canadian group, shares the same sentiments as the “Law Enforcement Against Prohibition” (LEAP), an American group – both having much in common. Comprised of lawyers, criminal law policy advisors, victims, victim advocates, and retired judges and police officers, these groups oppose the mandatory sentencing regimens that remove judicial discretion scattered throughout the Conservative government’s Bill C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act.

Citing overcrowded jails and “countless ruined lives,” LEAP released an open letter to Prime Minister Harper and senators, explaining that they had been deeply involved with the war on drugs but now realize that such policies are a costly failure.

The Smarter Justice Network is more broadly worried about, beyond drugs, the cumulative impact of Bill C-10, its mandatory sentencing rules, and what they see as a regressive, reactive, costly, and ineffective approach to crime, corrections, and parole.

The general public’s lack of first-hand experience or knowledge of the criminal justice system contributes to a debate fueled by high emotions. Since LEAP’s letter warns us about the costly “failure of U.S. crime policies that those proposed in the Canadian federal government’s Bill C-10 legislation seem to be modeled on,” Canada should not be ignoring the lessons learned in the United States.

Pardon Services Canada shares the same views as the Smarter Justice Network – urging a more forward looking stance that won’t burden offenders so harshly.

Strong Opposition Hasn’t Deterred Pardon Application Fee Increase

It’s important to note that Canadians who seek pardons, most typically to find employment, are low-risk offenders with minor charges. The Parole Board of Canada’s own statistics show that only 4% of those who receive pardons go on to re-offend. Despite this fact, the Canadian Government has increased the Parole Board of Canada’s pardon application fee from $150 to $631 – a 320% jump. Increasing the application fee does nothing to help these people reintegrate into Canadian society.

Despite strong opposition voiced during a government-mandated public consultation process last year, the Conservative Government decided to push through this counter-productive rate hike, effective February 23, 2012.

Pardon Services Canada is of the opinion that this increase is unfair and burdensome and does not represent the views of the majority of Canadians who believe strongly in giving people a second chance. A study commissioned by the Parole Board of Canada last year projects that the fee increase will result in a 40% decrease in pardon applications.

Pardon applications that were submitted to the Parole Board of Canada on or before February 22 were processed at the former rate of $150. Pardon Services Canada was doing everything possible to submit applications prior to that deadline to save the costs for as many clients as possible. We have also introduced an option enabling clients to finance their application fees into monthly payments to help diffuse the impact of this decision.

Pardon Services Canada is the oldest Canadian company offering professional support to individuals in obtaining pardons and serves as an advocate for Canadians to exercise their lawful rights under the Criminal Records Act of Canada (CRA) and the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of the United States. Since 1989 the company has successfully assisted over 100,000 Canadians to overcome the obstacles of a criminal record and live a record-free life.

Pardon Applications Expected to Become More Costly

A cost-benefit analysis conducted by consulting firm RIAS Inc. for the Parole Board of Canada says operations have changed significantly since the legislative changes regarding pardon applications. The number of legitimate applicants for a criminal pardon is expected to plunge by almost half under stricter new rules. The law requires the Parole Board to assess the behaviour of applicants from the time of their conviction to ensure granting a pardon would not “bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”

Board staff now requires more time to obtain additional information from applicants, research cases, wait for responses to queries from criminal justice participants, build files, and make recommendations. In addition, board members require more time to review cases and to make decisions based on the merits of each case.

As a result, the Conservative government wants to hike the cost of seeking a pardon to $631 from the current $150, saying taxpayers should not have to subsidize the process. The move to hike the price is in the final stages of approval under the User Fees Act. Such a fee increase means that fewer people are expected to apply, and more will be screened out early on.

An individual with a criminal record faces many roadblocks in life, and receiving a pardon eases the burden. A pardon doesn’t erase a person’s criminal record; rather, it removes the federal records of a criminal conviction from federal databases so that it is no longer visible and cannot be accessed. A pardon thus makes it easier to get a job, travel, find accommodation, arrange a loan … in essence, return to society and live an unencumbered life.

About 10 per cent of Canadians, which is over three million people, have a criminal record. Under the former legislation, the Parole Board of Canada received about 37,000 pardon applications a year — 27,750 of which were complete enough to be processed.

A law passed in 2010 toughened the requirements and, in some cases, increased the waiting times for pardon applicants. Under the current legislation, the Board anticipates 25,000 applications annually— expecting to evaluate only 15,000 (down from 27,750) of which will be eligible for processing.

Critics say the planned fee hike will mean a tougher path for convicts trying to turn their lives around. That’s because the law now demands more detailed information, including more supporting documentation, says the analysis. Applicants may also require more time and effort to complete applications.

These are estimates based on historical intake, but of course, actual applications received and percentage accepted for processing will only be known with time, following any increase in the user fee.

If you need a pardon, contact Pardon Services Canada to assist you. A Client Specialist will ensure that all the required forms are created and compiled to support your application. Pardon Services Canada’s pro-active approach ensures that your case is processed expeditiously and you will be kept informed at each stage of the process. Your pardon is guaranteed. 

Freedoms and Liberties of Citizens Vital to Progress of Society

Furthering the freedoms and liberties of citizens should be a principal goal of government. However, the Tories are instead straying farther away from supporting the individual freedoms that are vital to the progress of society by inducing government control and restriction of human behaviour. Proposed legislation for a criminal pardon in Canada threatens to curtail such freedoms and liberties.

Bear in mind the fact that, in many instances, tough-on-crime approaches do work. However, as a whole, we need a system that is smart on crime – one that seeks to address the root causes of criminal behaviour and that deals with these problems through prevention and treatment – rather than through the internment and repression of those who have made mistakes.

A section of the Conservative government’s Bill C-10 that bears particular mention is the amendment to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. This amendment aims to vigorously attack the criminals who control the drug trade by imposing longer sentences on traffickers and consumers, and imprisoning those who are convicted of benign drug offences. Our new legislation on pardons in Canada will result in considerably greater numbers of individuals being inordinately burdened.

Millions of individuals are compelled to act and be treated as criminals simply because they enjoy the effects of certain substances as a result of drug prohibition by overbearing governments. Drug prohibition has also been distinguished by violence, corruption, and poverty. Through a system of indirect state sponsorship, profits associated with this trade have also surged as prohibition has entrenched the criminals involved in trafficking by allowing them to be the sole financial beneficiaries.

Certainly, the prospect of drug legalization is extremely complex. But most developed nations have been moving toward more liberal drug policies. For example, Portugal has decriminalized all drug possession, and the experience has, by almost all indications, been notably successful. Drug consumption, crime rates, and violence have all dropped significantly since people have been free to consume drugs without the fear of jail casting a shadow. Regrettably, new laws about pardons in Canada are nearly diametrically stanced.

Governments must cautiously calculate their actions and enact sensible policies that bridge the gap between what the government believes it was elected to achieve and what is best for the country.

Fortunately, there is a course of action for anyone with a criminal record who sincerely wishes to make a new start. One can remove that criminal record by obtaining a record suspension. Pardon Services Canada will handle the entire process, assuring you of results. Call 1-8-NOW-PARDON (1-866-972-7366) to speak with a Client Specialist.

Treatment and Rehabilitation Should Take Precedence

In principle, an offender is presumed to be rehabilitated once his time has been served. However, the reality is that our prisons have an almost flawless record of failure in this area. Treatment and rehabilitation, more effective and less expensive recourses, are being superseded by the government’s choosing to impose harsher sentences for relatively benign crimes and making it increasingly difficult to obtain a pardon for one’s past wrongs.

Truly, parts of the Conservative government’s omnibus crime bill make a great deal of sense, such as stiffer sentences for violent offenders and mandatory minimums for child sex offenders. However, provisions included in the new laws about pardons, along with these commendable steps, make it unacceptable and diametrically opposed to the most critical purpose of our justice system – the rehabilitation and reintegration of criminals into society and crime prevention.

New laws about pardons resulting from the bill are causing people to ask whether we are becoming a society that extinquishes hope instead of fostering it. The government’s new legislation on pardons in Canada favours incarceration and punishment over treatment and rehabilitation.

Conservatives have been pitted against almost everyone else in coverage of the debate surrounding this bill. Although the Conservative Party under Stephen Harper espouses many of the values that conservatives uphold, policies remain that cause significant rifts, both moral and philosophical, within the party. Many Tories did not vote for the rigorous, severe, and misguided measures in this backward-thinking legislation.

Proposed legislation for a criminal pardon will make it disproportionately difficult to obtain a pardon, which is the only means by which an ex-offender can remove the stigma of a criminal record and move on with life. One of the true measures of society is how it treats those who have made mistakes and paid for their errors, made restitution for their crimes.

Moreover, since those who have served time are more likely to re-offend when released, the bill’s provisions to increase incarceration for what are presently minor offences will only serve to create more of the recidivist offenders the bill is attempting to combat.

Fortunately, there is a course of action for anyone with a criminal record who sincerely wishes to make a new start. One can remove that criminal record by obtaining a record suspension. Pardon Services Canada will handle the entire process, assuring you of results. Call 1-8-NOW-PARDON (1-866-972-7366) to speak with a Client Specialist.

Hidden Dangers in Conservative Omnibus Bill

Peter McKnight’s November 5 article in the Vancouver Sun, “Ottawa seems determined to gut youth act,” adds an element of concern regarding the Conservative government’s omnibus crime bill. The Youth Criminal Justice Act was passed in 2002 when Canada had the highest rate of youth imprisonment in the Western world. The YCJA was designed specifically to remedy this problem, to decrease our reliance on costly and ineffective imprisonment and provide alternatives to jail. Since the Act was passed, youth imprisonment and youth crime rates have dropped significantly.

Now, the federal government’s proposed amendments to the YCJA contained in Bill C-10 are directed toward getting more youths in jail and keeping them there. The YCJA provided for a lot of alternatives to jail, extra judicial measures that keep kids out of court but require them to accept responsibility for their behavior and to make amends through such efforts as engaging in community service or educational programs.

An important aspect of extra judicial measures is their informality, as such measures are typically imposed and accepted in the absence of legal advice or a judicial finding of guilt. If Bill C-10 is passed, this informality, as well as extra judicial measures, will likely become a thing of the past. The amendments require judges to consider past use of extra judicial measures as well as the existence of past findings of guilt.

The many alternatives to prison currently offered by the YCJA are better situated to address the reasons youth come into conflict with the law and thereby reduce their chances of reoffending. And the cost-effectiveness of such measures is apparent, since for one year it costs $20,000 to supervise one youth in the community, compared with $215,000 to house one youth in custody.

On a related note: Early November, Maclean’s and CPAC, the Cable Public Affairs Channel, hosted a round-table discussion on the subject “Stephen Harper’s Canada. How do you like it so far?” CPAC’s Peter Van Dusen moderated the event. Mr. Van Dusen began by stating that the majority Conservative government has been in office for six months now and has been clearly advancing on the agenda they believe they were elected on, such as getting rid of the long gun registry, scrapping the wheat board monopoly, and tabling anti-crime legislation.

Among the attendees was Montreal Liberal MP and House Leader Marc Garneau. Mr. Garneau expressed concerns about the omnibus crime bill, stating that it will not lower crime rate and will do nothing for victims. He feels the government is ignoring the evidence with respect to crime rates going down and the lessons learned, which our American neighbours are passing on to us, that the crime bill is a deeply flawed policy approach.

Another attendee, NDP finance critic Peggy Nash, feels that, “on what Canadians say are their priorities – jobs, the economy, securing their retirement income, and making life more affordable – the Conservatives have not delivered.” She also feels that this government is becoming divorced from the concerns of the average person, having spent billions on mega-prisons and increasingly shutting down debate on important issues. 

More Discussion Warranted on Conservative Government's Omnibus Crime Bill

Texas tried to do what Canada plans to do, and it failed. A state budget crush in 2005 forced Texas to take a hard look at its own justice policy. Texas had the highest incarceration rate in the US, with one in 20 of its adult residents behind bars or on parole or probation. Policy makers found that sending people to prison was costing ten times as much as putting them on probation, on parole, or in treatment.


Texas reversed a $2 billion plan to build new prisons and spent a fraction of that amount – about $300 million – on improved drug treatment programs, mental health centres, probation services, and community supervision for prisoners out on parole. The strategy worked: Costs fell and crime fell also. By strengthening some of the alternatives to prison, the rate of incarceration fell 9 percent between 2005 and 2010, while the crime rate fell by 12.8 percent.

A coalition of experts in Washington DC attacked the Harper government’s omnibus crime package, Bill C-10, in a statement early October.

Tracy Velazquez, executive director of the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute said, “Republican governors and state legislators in such states as Texas, South Carolina, and Ohio are repealing mandatory minimum sentences, increasing opportunities for effective community supervision, and funding drug treatment because they know it will improve public safety and reduce taxpayer costs. If passed, C-10 will take Canadian justice policies 180 degrees in the wrong direction, and Canadian citizens will bear the costs.”

Conservatives in Texas say the Harper government’s crime strategy won’t work. Judge John Creuzot of the Dallas County Court states that billions and billions will be spent locking people up, but there will come a time when the public will say “That’s enough.” Representative Jerry Madden, a conservative Republican who heads the Texas House Committee on Corrections, says that building new prisons is extremely expensive, and if they are built, they will be filled. But if they are not built, innovative, creative strategies will evolve that keep the community safe and yet still do the incarceration necessary.

Even though crime in Canada is down to its lowest level since 1973, the Canadian government has increased the prison budget sharply. Federal spending on corrections in Canada has gone up from $1.6 billion in 2005-06 to $2.98 billion in 2010-11 – an increase of 86 percent. The budget for 2012-13 is $3.13 billion.

Prison sentences have already increased with the elimination of the two-for-one credit for time served waiting for trial. Bill C-10 would add new and longer sentences for drug offences, increase mandatory minimums, and cut the use of conditional sentences such as house arrest. In each of these aspects, Texas, as well as several other states, is doing the opposite.

Studies in Texas show that treatment and probation services cost about one-tenth the costs to build and run prisons. Besides, offenders emerge much less likely to commit fresh crimes than those with similar records who go to prison.

What this means for anyone interested in applying for a pardon is that the time to act is now. Any applications acknowledged and accepted by the Parole Board of Canada prior to the new legislation passing will be governed by the current laws. What is still unknown is exactly if and when the new legislation will take effect. The new legislation is currently before Parliament, but the timelines for passage and what the final version will look like remain to be seen.

Restorative Justice Deserves Greater Consideration

Restorative justice emphasizes repairing the harm caused by crime. When victims, offenders, and community members meet to decide how to do that, the results can be transformational. It is viewed as a process that improves upon the traditional criminal justice in that it has significant benefits:

• Rather than defining crime only as lawbreaking, it recognizes that offenders harm victims, communities, and even themselves.

• Rather than giving key roles only to government and offender, it includes victims and communities as well.

• Rather than measuring how much punishment has been inflicted, it measures how much harm has been repaired or prevented.

• Rather than leaving the problem of crime to the government alone, it recognizes the importance of community involvement and initiative in responding to and reducing crime.

The concept that true healing after a crime doesn’t necessarily come from harsher punishment but rather from the coming together of criminal and victim, giving them a chance to understand one another and work to repair the harm done.

In theory, this approach has merit, viewed strictly from an objective point of view. But when a victim is given the opportunity to be involved in such a program, the prospect of meeting with the offender could well be daunting. So a better understanding of the process would be helpful and beneficial for anyone concerned with the Federal Government’s Safe Streets and Community Act, Bill C-10.

Three principles form the foundation for restorative justice:

1. Justice requires that we work to restore those who have been injured.

2. Those most directly involved and affected by crime should have the opportunity to participate fully in the response if they wish.

3. Government’s role is to preserve a just public order, and the community is to build and maintain a just peace.

Resources for information on the process, when reviewed, show it to have great potential. Yet, although programs exist across Canada to facilitate such meetings, restorative justice hasn’t become widely accepted. Now some victims’ advocates fear such programs will be used even less often due to the federal government’s tough-on-crime agenda and its emphasis on incarceration. Of particular concern are the mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug and sex offences.

Measures introduced recently in the government’s sweeping omnibus crime bill interfere with judges’ abilities to tailor sentences and consider restorative-justice options. Mandatory minimums do not allow restorative justice to take place.

Understandably, for anyone wanting to get a pardon to clear his record, now is the time to act. Pardon Services Canada assists people in the process. A Client Specialist ensures that all the required forms are created and compiled to support the application. Pardon Services Canada’s pro-active approach ensures that each case is processed expeditiously and applicants are kept informed at each stage of the process.