Bill C-479 (Historical)

An Act to Bring Fairness for the Victims of Violent Offenders

An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (fairness for victims)

This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session, which ended in August 2015.

This bill was previously introduced in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session.

Sponsor

David Sweet Conservative

Introduced as a private member’s bill.

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

The purpose of this enactment is to amend Part II of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act in respect of the following matters:
(a) the parole review of offenders who are serving a sentence of at least two years for an offence involving violence;
(b) the attendance of victims and members of their family at parole review hearings;
(c) the consideration of victims’ statements by the National Parole Board when making a determination regarding the release of an offender;
(d) the manner of presentation of victims’ statements at a parole review hearing;
(e) the providing of information under consideration by the Board to a victim;
(f) the cancellation of a parole review hearing if an offender has repeatedly refused to attend, or waived his or her right to attend, previous hearings;
(g) the providing of transcripts of a parole review hearing to the victim and members of their family and the offender; and
(h) the notification of victims if an offender is to be released on temporary absence, parole or statutory release.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Votes

May 7, 2014 Passed That Bill C-479, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (fairness for victims), as amended, be concurred in at report stage with a further amendment.

May 7, 2014 Passed That Bill C-479, in Clause 6, be amended by ( a) replacing line 9 on page 5 with the following: “6. (1) Subparagraph 142(1)( b)(iii) of the Act is repealed. (2) Subparagraphs 142(1)( b)(v) and (vi) of the Act are repealed. (3) Paragraph 142(1)( b) of the Act is” ( b) replacing line 18 on page 5 with the following: “(4) Subsection 142(1) of the Act is” ( c) replacing line 1 on page 6 with the following: “(5) Section 142 of the Act is amended by” ( d) replacing lines 4 and 5 on page 6 with the following: “information referred to in paragraph (1)( c) at least 14 days, where”

Public Safety and National Security Committee, on Feb. 13, 2014

Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Leif-Erik Aune
Sue O'Sullivan, Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime

Public Safety and National Security Committee, on Feb. 25, 2014

Mona Lee, As an Individual
Arlène Gaudreault, President, Association québécoise Plaidoyer-Victimes
Mike McCormack, President, Toronto Police Association
Steve Sullivan, Executive Director, Ottawa Victim Services
Catherine Latimer, Executive Director, John Howard Society of Canada
Terri Prioriello Armour, As an Individual

Public Safety and National Security Committee, on Feb. 27, 2014

Daryl Churney, Director, Corrections Policy, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Michel Laprade, Legal Counsel, Legal Services, Correctional Service of Canada, Department of Justice

Public Safety and National Security Committee, on March 4, 2014

Daryl Churney, Director, Corrections Policy, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness