Thank you.
I'm speaking today on behalf of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association. I am chair of the policy review committee. I am also a professor in the criminology program here at Wilfrid Laurier University. I've spent the past nine years working and researching within circles of support and accountability, which is a community-based reintegration program for released sex offenders.
My perspective today is representative of the viewpoint of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association and it's also based on my own experience in my work and my research.
We'd like to emphasize that the CCJA sincerely supports the efforts being made to protect children from sexual abuse. Our comments today are not reflective of our disagreement with the spirit of this legislation, but we do have some very real concerns with some particular measures that it contains.
We believe very strongly that any changes made to the legislation need to be based on research, research that demonstrates that these changes are going to work, that they are actually going to give the effect of preventing child sexual abuse or reduce the recidivism--or for any other crime, for that matter.
We have some concerns with Bill C-54. Our concerns rest on three basic fundamental problems with this legislation.
Number one, as has already been alluded to, there is a lack of evidence in research to support the idea that mandatory minimum sentences will deter crime; that is, the preponderance of research has found that regardless of the length, the severity of the sentence, we are not seeing real deterrence from these types of measures.
In fact, in 2002, Gabor and Crutcher did an analysis of existing research and literature for the Department of Justice, which found only very marginal deterrent effects for drunk driving and regulatory firearm offences. This...[Technical Difficulty--Editor]...deterrent effects for more serious or violent crimes. Furthermore, the longer the sentence, as has been suggested, as has been stated, the more potential there is in fact for a reversal of the reduced recidivism that we want to see.
What we do know is that mandatory minimum sentences cost taxpayers money. They result in more people being sent to prison for longer periods of time. In some cases, they result in sentences that are fundamentally unjust, that is, they do not address the specifics of the case, and as Dr. Marshall eloquently pointed out, the very wide variety of offences that might fall under the category of incest, for example.
We are very concerned. Historically, we have taken a stance as a committee, as an association, against the use of mandatory minimum sentences because we simply don't see any reason for this expenditure of public funds with very little result.
The second major problem we have with Bill C-54 is the potential within the changes to the judicial order which restrict access to technologies such as the Internet and computers needed for ex-prisoners on parole. We feel there is a potential there for this change to have a detrimental effect on an ex-offender's ability to reintegrate, to obtain employment, or to pursue education.
We find that the change in the wording to say that they can't be using computers or technology for any reason at all except in an express judicial setting is simply just beyond the pale in terms of the impact it could have on these individuals' ability to be able to function in a society that depends so highly on technologies. As you can see, here I am talking to you from Brantford.
Anecdotally, I've worked with an ex-offender who did federal time. When he got out he went back to school, pursued an undergraduate degree, and is now pursuing a master's degree, none of which would have been possible if he had not been able to use a computer or the Internet.
I would very strongly urge the committee to consider maintaining the original wording of that clause, which states that computers and technology are not to be used for the purposes of communicating with individuals under the age of 16. It seems to me this is a fair restriction of that liberty.
The third problem we have with Bill C-54 is the new offence that is being created of making available sexually explicit material to a minor for the purposes of facilitating the commission of a sexual offence. We find that this particular offence category is very broad and in fact is probably too broad to be appropriately enforced. To ensure that miscarriages of justice do not occur, in the written brief that was submitted to the committee, we point to the fact that in watching the news we see numerous incidents of parents who are concerned about sexually explicit content provided to their children in sex education classes. I ask you, is there a potential here for a parent to perhaps suggest that a teacher is luring students...? It has to be up to the courts to sort out what the intent of that teacher was, but by that point an individual's life and career might have been utterly destroyed.
It is unclear why this providing of explicit material wouldn't fall under existing child luring legislation. It's also unclear how this legislation is going to protect children. Because research tells us that the majority of adolescents have already encountered pornographic or sexually explicit material on the Internet, either on purpose or by accident. I don't think that this provision is going to protect children in the way that it is suggested that it will.
In addition to these individual problems I've mentioned, the CCJA is also concerned with the cumulative impact of passing ineffective criminal justice legislation. Every time we pass a new law that does not deter, that does not reduce recidivism, money and effort are put into enforcing ineffective legislation, thereby taking money away from programs that might actually be effective. So you're claiming to be protecting Canadians from victimization and abuse, but in some cases the legislation that has been passed may in fact have the opposite effect by undermining various things might work.
As has been suggested already today, we need to put more money and more resources into appropriate programming and treatment for individuals who have been convicted of sexual offences. Over and over again, this has been demonstrated to work. As has been stated, at one point for Canadian programs, as Dr. Marshall suggested, Canada was on the world scene, and other countries were emulating our approach. Now I'm afraid that the resources have been so stripped that this is no longer the case.
We need to have money for counselling programs to treat the victims of sexual abuse. The money spent on prisons and incarceration, which are ineffective, could be much better placed in helping victims. We need consistent support for programs and initiatives that have been shown to be effective at reducing recidivism rates of sexual offenders. The circles of support and accountability are just one example of those types of programs that, like psychiatric and psychological treatment programs, have also been demonstrated to be effective.
We need education for parents and teachers about the warning signs of sexual abuse and sexual deviance. We need resources to support concerned adults in obtaining help for children who might be at risk of being abused or becoming abusers. We need resources and support for children's aid societies across Canada that deal with abused children on a regular basis and are often powerless to do anything.
These are the sorts of things that will actually prevent victimization. It could make a much larger difference in the long run.
It is the opinion of our association that the proposed changes contained in Bill C-54 will not have the desired stated effect of reducing victimization and deterring sexual predators.
Thank you for your time.