Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasant evening listening to the debate on this important piece of legislation. Canadians have been talking about and asking for this legislation. They want to see some changes in this area with regard to the Canadian Criminal Code.
The not criminally responsible reform act was introduced on February 8, 2013. This legislation would, in brief, enhance victims rights. The legislation would enhance the safety of victims by ensuring that they are specifically considered when decisions are being made about an accused person, an NCR, and ensure that they are notified when an NCR accused is discharged. The bill would allow non-communication orders between an NCR accused and the victim.
Putting public safety first of course is our main concern. The legislation explicitly sets out the public safety parameter considerations in the decision-making process relating to accused persons found to be NCR. The legislation would create a new designation to protect the public from high-risk NCR accused. Upon being designated by the court as a high risk, an NCR accused must be held in custody and cannot be considered for release by a review board until the designation has been revoked by the courts.
There are some good questions that I will go through here. I will talk about what some of my constituents have been telling me and some of the questions they have in regard to this piece of legislation and why it is so important. Why do we not look at those questions in the order that some of them have addressed to me?
One of the questions that I have had is, what happens to someone who is found not criminally responsible? If a person is found to have committed an act that constitutes an offence but lacks the capacity to appreciate what he or she did or know that it was wrong due to a mental disorder at the time, the court makes a special verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. The person is neither convicted nor acquitted. Instead, that person is referred to a provincial or territorial review board, which decides on the course of action to both protect the public and provide opportunities for treatment for the underlying mental disorder. Under the current law, a review board can make one of three possible decisions: an absolute discharge for a person who does not pose a significant threat to public safety, a conditional discharge or detention in custody in hospital.
One of the other questions that I have been asked is, how will the proposed amendments better protect Canadians? The highest priority of this government is to keep citizens safe. This legislation would amend the mental disorder regime of the Criminal Code proposed in the not criminally responsible reform act and explicitly set out that public safety is the paramount consideration in the court and review board decision-making process relating to an accused person found to be not criminally responsible on account of mental disorders or unfit to stand trial.
The legislation would also amend the Criminal Code to create a process to designate an accused person found NCR for serious personal injury offences who poses a substantial risk to commit further violent acts as a high-risk accused. Upon being designated by the court, a high-risk NCR accused must be held in custody and cannot be considered for release by a review board until the high risk status is revoked by the court.
The other consequences of being designated as a high-risk NCR accused include his or her review period being extended up to three years. Such individuals would not be entitled to unescorted passes and could only obtain an escorted pass in narrow circumstances and subject to sufficient conditions to protect the public safety.
Why does the high-risk NCR designation apply to those found unfit to stand trial? The high-risk accused designation only applies to the verdict of an NCR because the person was found by the courts to have committed the alleged act and an unfit accused has not yet been tried for the offence. If a person is not fit to stand trial, he or she would not be fit to participate in a high-risk hearing. The majority of unfit accused become fit within a very short period of time at which point they would be tried. An individual may be convicted as charged, acquitted or found NCR. If found NCR, the individual could be subject to a high-risk designation if the criteria were met.
Will legislation increase the possibility of an NCR accused person being kept in custody longer or indefinitely regardless of whether he or she continues to pose a risk to society? This is a good question. As long as the NCR accused person continued to pose a risk to public safety, the individual would remain under supervision of the provincial or territorial review board. The issue of whether the individual is kept in custody in a hospital or under conditional discharge would depend on the level of risk in each case. The creation of a high-risk NCR accused designation further enhances public safety while ensuring judicial and review board oversight and ongoing detention of these individuals. The possibility of indefinite detention exists under the current law and would continue to exist under the proposed law.
Why is this legislation tightening the eligibility criteria for the Criminal Code defence and mental disorders?
The purpose of the legislation is focusing on the decision-making process after a person has been found NCR. This proposed legislation responds to the primary concerns of the stakeholders, including victims as well as provincial and territorial governments.
Will these amendments apply to all accused persons who suffer from a mental illness who come into contact with the criminal justice system? No. The bill only applies to accused persons who are either found unfit to stand trial on account of mental disorder or who are found by the court to be NCR.
What is the difference between someone who is found unfit to stand trial and someone who is found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder? That is again another good question.
Under criminal law, if an accused person cannot understand the nature of the trial or its consequences and cannot communicate with his or her lawyer on account of mental disorder, the court will find that person unfit to stand trial. Once an accused becomes fit to stand trial, that person will then be tried for the offence with which they were initially charged.
If a person is found to have committed an act that constitutes an offence but lacks the capacity to appreciate what they did or know that it is wrong due to mental disorder at the time, the court makes a special verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. Such a person is neither convicted nor acquitted.
Do these reforms address situations like the one that occurred with Ashley Smith? No, they do not. The bill does not deal with the correctional system. Persons found to be NCR are unfit to stand trial on account of mental disorder and are not imprisoned. They may, however, be detained in a hospital or psychiatric facility.
What information or research does the government have on reoffending by NCR accused persons to justify these reforms? There has been a limited amount of data on the rates of reoffending by NCR accused persons. What we do know about NCR accused persons is that the majority have committed serious acts that brought them into the review board system. These reforms will provide the data we consider necessary for public safety to come first. Let me make that point clear: public safety must come first.
Why are changes to the current regime for NCR accused being proposed? Is there evidence that the system is not working?
Recent high-profile cases, including in British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, have caused Canadians to question whether or not the laws are strong or clear enough to ensure that public safety is given paramount consideration in decision-making.
Stakeholders, including victims, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for justice and public safety, and concerned Canadians have urged the government to take action that would ensure the safety of the public is paramount in consideration of the decision-making process regarding NCR accused persons and enhance the role of victims in the process.
The responsibility of the ongoing monitoring of NCR accused persons rests with the provincial established review boards.
If the bill passes, would it prevent people like Guy Turcotte, Vince Li, Alan Schoenborn and Andre Denny from being released into the community?
This proposed legislation provides important new tools to deal with high-risk NCR accused and ensure that the concerns of the victims are heard. It would not be appropriate to comment on specific cases, of course.
What were some of the concerns raised by victims? This is important because the victims should be considered.
Victims were concerned that their safety was not being specifically taken into consideration by review boards when they made a disposition. Victims often expressed concern that they often had no way of knowing if and when an NCR accused would be given access to the community and were afraid that they would unexpectedly run into them without being adequately prepared.
That would be a shock. A victim would walk down the street and all of a sudden see the person who did harm to a family member, colleague or friend and not know about it. I do not think that is acceptable and I do not think that constituents accept it, which is another reason the bill is moving forward.
How would the bill respond to the concerns raised by victims? The bill would enhance the safety of victims and provide an opportunity for greater involvement of the victims in the Criminal Code mental disorder regime. The legislation would help ensure that victims were notified upon request when an NCR accused is discharged, allow a non-communication order between NCR accused and the victim and ensure that the safety of the victims would be considered when decisions are being made about an NCR accused person.
What are the concerns raised by provinces and territories? Some provinces and territories expressed concerns that public safety was not being adequately taken into consideration by review boards when determining which decision to order for a mentally disordered accused.
How would our new legislation address the concerns raised by these provinces and territories? Addressing concerns raised by victims, provinces and territories, the proposed legislation would clarify that the safety of the victim must specifically be considered and that public safety must always be of paramount consideration in the review of decisions.
There are lots of questions and there are lots of good answers. That is why it is a good idea to get this bill to the next stage and to move it forward to committee. I notice that the New Democrats have some questions, and I look forward to their participation in the committee work.
I see this piece of legislation actually meeting the needs that our constituents have asked the government to meet, by making sure victims are understood and their rights are protected in these situations.
