Evidence of meeting #3 for Bill C-35 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was offences.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bernard Patry
I will ask Mrs. Barr-Telford if she can provide this to the committee as soon as possible. It is quite important.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
On the same line of questioning, are individuals remanded or directed into psychiatric care in terms of their ability to stand trial in this category as well?
Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
Again, that is something I will follow up on.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
With regard to that, if they are, would you advise on that? At the very least, can you give us some rough proportion of how many of them are in that category?
On slide 4, the “Robbery with other weapon”, are we talking knives and clubs? Is there any substantial number on that?
Chief, Policing Services Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
I don't have the numbers here, but I'm pretty sure most of them are knives or other cutting-type weapons. We have about four or five different breakdowns. I could get you that if that is important.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
I guess overall we're seeing that that is one area where there has been an increase in the occurrence rate. It's a fairly substantial occurrence rate from 17% to 18% overall to about 33% to 35%.
Chief, Policing Services Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
Approximately, yes.
NDP
Chief, Policing Services Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
Certainly.
Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
As a follow-up to your earlier question, I can provide the further information that last year we had only about 350 individuals in temporary detention. We cannot provide you with a more detailed breakdown of that number.
This is in the “other temporary detention” classification.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
I'm sorry, but could that be both psychiatric and immigration—or just psychiatric? Or you just don't know?
Director, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
We can't break it down any further.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Do any of the statistics you've given us today include charges arising for individuals currently in the military?
Chief, Policing Services Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
The police statistics don't include those, as we don't have information from the military police.
Project Manager, Courts Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
And for the courts, if it was a Criminal Code charge that had been heard in provincial or superior courts—
Project Manager, Courts Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
It could.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
In terms of the conviction rate, where you show multiple charges against an individual, do you track and thereby provide some explanation for the low conviction rate where, in a number of cases, because of plea bargaining or whatever, there would be withdrawal of charges?
Project Manager, Courts Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
We can't speak specifically to plea negotiation. We know whether or not there was a guilty plea, and in those cases the guilty plea is less frequent than we see within the data set as a whole. We expect to see somewhere around 90% guilty pleas.
The way the data are organized, if there is a conviction in the case, that offence becomes the most serious offence. So if the case is described as stayed or withdrawn, or as “other disposition”, then all of the charges in the case would have a decision that didn't carry a conviction.
Project Manager, Courts Program, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
It becomes a presentation issue, because I may have a case with four or five charges and I'm trying to present those in two dimensions.
We can describe the cases, as we've done in this deck, in terms of the most serious offence. One of the characteristics of the cases for this deck is a Bill C-35 offence, and we can describe whether or not the Bill C-35 offence also had a conviction. We can do those things, but it becomes a presentation issue in a deck like this.