Hello, my name is Laurent Champagne and I am the President of the Church Council on Justice and Corrections. I also work for Correctional Services of Canada, as an institutional chaplain at the Leclerc facility and at the Aumônerie communautaire de Montréal, as a coordinator. I work with some 15 partners.
Although we share the government's concern with ensuring the safety of Canadians, we would however like to point out that harsher sentences have no deterrent effect on offenders and no effect on recidivism. The American experience has been eloquent on this point. Mandatory minimums would only serve to provide Canadians with a false sense of security, because sentence length and decreased crime rates are independent variables. There is no causal relationship between the two. We would like to remind you that there has been a drop in the crime rate in Canada, based on a Statistics Canada study.
Bill C-10 would also hamper the social reintegration of offenders. Excessively long incarceration may jeopardize an offender's chances at a successful rehabilitation, because it is crucial to allow offenders to re-enter society when they are prepared to take this step in the process. If offenders remain in custody despite that, their chances at reintegration may be compromised.
Finally, we are very concerned by the possible effect Bill C-10 may have, in particular on the Canadian criminal justice system. This bill undermines one of the basic tenets of our legal system, the principle of the individualization of sentences. This principle allows for the consideration of multiple factors and for an in-depth assessment which serve in the determination of a fair and appropriate sentence, based on individual needs.
Moreover, this bill strikes a serious blow to judges in terms of the trust they are granted. By eliminating judicial discretion in sentencing, the government is removing some of the judiciary's discretionary tools. However, are judges not in the best position to decide on a fair and appropriate sentence and to assess an offender's ability at social reintegration?
The Church Council of Justice and Corrections of Quebec's mission is to promote preventive and restorative justice, based on Christian values, by working with legislators, offenders, victims, communities and society through research activity and support for groups and individuals in their quest for growth.
With respect to legislators, we work with provincial and federal governments.
With respect to offenders, our work centres on all forms of support to individuals, be they accused or not, detained or formerly detained.
Victims play a very important role. This overlooked group of individuals deserves special attention if we want to ensure full offender reintegration.
The community is defined as individuals living within a specific area who share an awareness of situations of conflict. These individuals are aware of their own value and of a social responsibility to recognize the facts.
When it comes to society, we wish to mobilize a variety of political forces and their power to address the issue of globalization in order to promote the spirit and the letter of preventive and restorative justice.
This year, Correctional Services of Canada celebrated Restorative Justice Week. We discussed innovative partnerships and strong cooperation. It is on this basis that the Church Council on Justice and Corrections works with its various partners.
I had an opportunity to live in Latin America as a missionary for 15 years, and I can say that Canada is a peaceful and safe country compared to many others. We are proud of this peace and of this safety. However, the growing indignation in society about the effects of crime are concerning to all of us. We have witnessed the suffering felt by so many victims of crime. We feel compelled to seek out a justice system which treats crime in an honest and fair manner, and which contributes to healing individuals, families and society as a whole. Fear and indignation undermine our collective well-being and social fabric.
The growth in the prison population indicates that incarceration is too often regarded as the solution to social and criminal problems. Although it is important to recognize the genuine need to protect ourselves from certain offenders who represent an immediate risk to society, we must also admit that incarceration as a punishment is a costly and exacting type of justice which is clearly ineffective as a deterrent. The rate of recidivism is also a sign of incomplete healing and rehabilitation among offenders. Victims' needs for healing and safety are not being met. To address these issues, overly simplistic measures based solely on the desire to appear tough on crime will not lead to the desired results, because our society as a whole cannot heal until offenders, victims and society in general experience healing.
Our current justice system as it is applied does not work. Suffering and fear continue to grow. We believe that the search for genuine and satisfying justice will forever be linked to the spiritual growth of the individuals involved. Conversely, over-incarceration, which is so typical of a vengeful spirit and repressive mentality only harden the soul of this country.
Under the amendments proposed pursuant to Bill C-10, the following situation could occur. A person carrying a loaded long gun like a hunting rifle commits a robbery in a convenience store, for instance. He has a long criminal record which includes many previous firearms-related guilty pleas. Under section 344(1)(a.1) he would be punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of four years.
Another person commits a robbery under similar circumstances, but carries an unloaded handgun. It is a first offence and the person has no criminal record. In this case the offender would receive a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, under section 344(1)(a). The same provision would apply if instead of robbery, the offence was sexual assault, kidnapping, hostage taking or extortion.
This proves that the length of mandatory minimum sentences under the bill depends on the legal status of the firearm in question rather than on the actual danger to the public caused by the offence. An unloaded handgun is considered more serious than a loaded long gun, shotgun or hunting rifle, regardless of the actual circumstances of the crime or of the offender's actions, the actual harm caused or any victim-related considerations.
The specific technical details of this bill would add insult to injury by maintaining mandatory minimum sentences in Canada long after the 1987 Canadian Sentencing Commission, and all other commissions having considered the matter over the last 50 years, recommended abolishing all mandatory minimum sentences—fines and custodial sentences—for all offences, except murder and high treason. These grounds are all well documented, as you must know, and this basic criticism has remained unchanged.
When judges must contend with mandatory minimum sentences, they cannot consider the context within which an offence was committed, in other words the seriousness of the crime and the situation the person who committed it was in, in order to consequently mitigate the sentence. As highlighted in the commission's report, mandatory minimum sentences can lead to cruel and unusual punishment, arbitrary imprisonment and serious concerns with respect to liability during the legal process. Under mandatory minimum sentences,
[...] discretion would not be exercised as overtly and would be transferred from judges to crown prosecutors and the police. The Crown would not exercise its discretion to decide which charge would be considered in a public hearing, but rather it would do so unilaterally, through plea bargaining which only judges are privy to, and of which the public are largely unaware.
This was a quote from Mr. Renate Mohr, criminal lawyer and former president of the Church Council on Justice and Corrections in Quebec.
Lastly, those sentences pose yet another significant problem, in that they are against the principle of using imprisonment as little as possible, a principle to which the Church Council has been committed for a long time.
Last week, I took part in a conference entitled "What works in the Community Reintegration of High-Risk Offenders." I have today brought those elements I considered most significant. Victims and offenders worked together on the conference, in an effort to work together to achieve community reintegration.
Thank you.