Thank you.
I am not bilingual, so I can articulate my remarks and ideas in English only, if that is okay.
I want to start by agreeing with Professor Doob that our sentencing system in Canada is in chaos. We lack workable principles. We lack appropriate guidance. We lack appropriate resources for options, including the state of our penitentiaries and prisons. All of this is being exacerbated by these piecemeal amendments to the Criminal Code.
I want to look at Canadian penal policy for a minute before we look at this particular bill. I would like members of this committee to recognize that for decades, for much of the past century, a lot of very thoughtful and serious work was done by a lot of people in developing Canadian penal policy. They were experienced, open-minded people, and included parliamentarians and even people from this committee. Behind that were consultation, debate, study, and data.
Look at the 1938 Archambault report: the principal author was J.C. McRuer. For those lawyers in the room, he subsequently became Chief Justice McRuer. The principal author of the 1969 Ouimet report was G. Arthur Martin, the dean of Canadian criminal lawyers, who later became Mr. Justice Martin of the Ontario Court of Appeal. A few years later, this committee worked very hard and very creatively in its examination of the legislation to replace capital punishment, and the members of this committee at that time deserve enormous credit. A few years after that, the McGuigan subcommittee, which came from this committee, also did an excellent study that produced changes to penal policy.
Now we've got Bill C-48. I'm going to talk about it conceptually rather than mechanically, but I first want to say something about making good penal policy.
It seems to me that there are two reasons one would reshape an aspect of penal policy. One is to fix a problem--to “address mischief”, as lawyers sometimes say. The second is to add a new direction, or maybe a new dimension, consistent with the goals of sentencing.
What's the mischief that this legislation addresses? I look at the short title, which reads, “Protecting Canadians by Ending Sentence Discounts for Multiple Murders Act.” I was involved in my first murder case in 1974. I started studying sentencing as a graduate student in 1972. Until I saw the predecessor of this bill, I had never, ever, seen the notion of discounts for multiple murders. I don't know who can see that. I've never seen it mentioned. I've never heard a judge, a lawyer, a police officer, or a victim suggest that Canadian sentencing provides discounts for multiple murders.
What we do is provide a life sentence with 25 years of parole ineligibility. I can tell you from participating in murder trials, including ones in which people were convicted of first-degree murder, that the people in that courtroom appreciated that this is a life sentence, and that it is grave and harsh. I don't hear people suggesting it's lenient. I don't think there's any problem that needs to be fixed.
Moreover, let's look at the current system. The current system does respond to multiple murders. Section 745 says that any person convicted of murder who has also been previously convicted of murder is automatically sentenced to life with no parole for 25 years. In other words, two seconds equal a first automatically. That is taking into account multiple murders.
As well, in sentencing for second-degree murder, for which the parole ineligibility could be anywhere from 10 years to 25 years, judges are clearly required by the jurisprudence to take a look at the number of victims, as well as prior record.
So why is this bill here? Given the history that I outlined, I have high expectations for the people on this committee. I'd simply like to try to understand why it's here.
I see, Mr. Petit, that you were the sponsor of this bill, and I have some of your remarks. Why do we have this bill? I quote: “...to balance the need to protect society and denounce unlawful conduct...”. Professor Doob has explained that the risk represented by paroled murderers is almost non-existent. Where is the protection? Is there not sufficient denunciation in a life sentence? Are we now going to look at life-50, life-75?
Mr. Petit also said that “...the proposed amendments reflect the fundamental principle of sentencing that a sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility...”. That's true. That's subsection 718.1 of the Criminal Code. A life sentence with no parole for 25 years is our harshest, gravest sentence. It certainly achieves that.
However, later he comments about groups in the community. I note the very felicitous language Mr. Petit used: “I am confident that the measures proposed in Bill C-48 will be supported by police and victims advocates...”. I don't want to challenge his confidence--that's up to him--but I've never heard police officers or victims' advocates saying we need life-50 or life-75.
Moreover, there's a suggestion that this is cost-neutral. Professor Doob went through some analysis of cost. He didn't mention one thing. What about the added cost to the penitentiary system? On the weekend I bumped into a group of former and now-retired and current senior CSC officers in Kingston, because I live in Kingston. I asked them what it's going to be like admitting someone to an institution when they show up with a warrant that says their sentence is life-50? What are you going to do for that person? It's mind-boggling. What is the correctional plan for a 30-year-old who might be able to go to the parole board when he or she is 80?
Then I also said to them, “What are you going to do if you don't have just one? What are you going to do if you have 12? What's that going to do to the environment in that penitentiary?”
Not only are the costs of this kind of proposal enormous, but no one has thought about them. That's my biggest concern. No one is thinking about this criminal legislation. What we are seeing is the parroting of remarks, starting over a year ago from the minister, that we know what Canadians want and what victims need.
Victims don't need this. Canadians don't want this. Talk to victims' advocates. They have concerns about being treated with respect, being treated with dignity, having opportunities to voice their concerns. They're not out there looking for harsher and harsher penalties. Let's be respectful to victims, and let's not use selected anecdotal comments to frame Canadian penal policy.
The last thing I want to say to this group is that Canada has a tradition of thoughtful, considered development of penal policy. What's happened to that tradition? Is it here still? If it's still here in this building, this bill should be rejected out of hand.
I'll be happy to answer any questions.