As just noted, the provision referred to paragraph 734.7(1)(b), where the court cannot issue a warrant of committal to commit an offender who cannot pay...or an offender who refuses to pay without a reasonable excuse cannot be committed to jail. I know the Wu decision has received a lot of consideration around this table, and rightfully so, because it directly impacts on the issues addressed by this bill.
In Wu, the facts of that case were whether a conditional sentence was appropriate. The court held it was not, but then the court went on to consider what is appropriate when dealing with an offender who has been fined and has a true inability to pay. The court went through the listing of the considerations. If there are administrative actions that can be taken, then that would be the next recourse. It could be that a civil judgment enforcement isn't going to be effective in those circumstances. If the real reason that the individual offender is unable to pay, or refuses to pay, is due to their impecunious state, then Wu does very much stand for that proposition; it would be inappropriate to incarcerate that person.
Wu stands for that proposition, and the Criminal Code reflects a similar interpretation: that the court wouldn't have the authority to do it in those circumstances.