Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen members of Parliament.
With me today is Carman Baggaley, Senior Policy Analyst at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
My comments today will focus on the amendments proposed to the Sex Offender Information Registration Act, or SOIRA, and the creation of the High Risk Child Sex Offender Database.
While Canadian courts have recognized that privacy is a quasi-constitutional right, it is not an absolute right. In certain cases, it can be restricted to achieve other important societal goals, including enhancing public safety and protecting the most vulnerable members of our society.
However, with any proposed incursions into privacy, we need to evaluate beforehand whether these incursions are necessary and likely to be effective; whether they are proportional to the benefit that may be derived; and whether there are other less privacy-intrusive measures that would achieve the same objective.
SOIRA received royal assent in 2004. The act imposes significant obligations on convicted sex offenders. These are obligations that are not imposed on other offenders who have completed their sentences. In previous appearances before parliamentary committees on this act, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has raised questions about the effectiveness of this registration scheme.
In 2009, we recommended a formal evaluation of the effectiveness of the legislation and the registry by an independent third party. To our knowledge, no publicly funded evaluation has been done. On the contrary, evaluations that have been done based on the experience in the United States suggest that there is little or no evidence that registration and notification laws are effective, either in terms of deterring sex offender recidivism or in reducing reported sex offences.
The high-risk child sex offender database act would establish a publicly accessible database that contains information about persons who have been convicted of sexual offences against children, and who pose a high risk of committing crimes of a sexual nature. Although this information would be limited to information that a police service or other public authority has made public—through existing provincial registries, for example—making it available on a national database would greatly expand the number of people who have access to this information. This, in our view, is a clear intrusion on privacy, which if justified, should be based on a proportionate and effective public safety objective.
Based on the research we have read, we at the OPC are concerned that the publicly accessible high-risk offender database proposal may not be a proportionate nor an effective response to the very real problem it is trying to address. This is in part because law enforcement agencies already have access to information about registered sex offenders through the national sex offender registry and other databases such as CPIC. How would the publicly available database increase the likelihood of arrest or reduce the risk of recidivism? We've not seen any evidence of such outcomes.
There is, however, research that supports the view that laws that reduce the privacy of sex offenders make rehabilitation and reintegration more difficult. Ultimately, this could increase the rate of recidivism.
A publicly accessible database also creates a risk of vigilantism, as recognized on provincial dangerous offender websites such as the one in place in Alberta, and increases the risk that fears of being attacked or harassed will drive offenders underground. There is evidence that similar databases in the United States have actually led to the killing of sex offenders in the community.
To be clear, we empathize with victims of sexual offenders and we understand the importance of the problem that this bill is attempting to address. However, we urge the committee to look carefully at the likely effectiveness of this proposal.
Thank you, and I will be pleased to answer questions.