Justice Committee on June 10th, 2026

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

While judges already have the ability to provide restitution to communities, they rarely do. That is because communities are not well defined within the Criminal Code. There's also what would be an appropriate cost that could be allocated in a restitution. There's a real lack of definition and guidelines for a judge to use, which is why they often won't.

What this bill attempts to do is provide those definitions within the Criminal Code in that section specifically so that it can equip a judge with those tools should a case come forward where it would be deemed appropriate to order restitutions to an organization providing services to victims of those crimes.

[Marilyn Gladu, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong, ON]

Thank you.

We're doing a study at the status of women committee. We've heard unbelievable testimony about the number of women being turned away from shelters and the number of women being human trafficked. We heard testimony about how it's rampant everywhere, but especially in the north.

You did give a shout-out to a couple of organizations in your riding. I wonder if there are others that are involved in the shelter victim services that might benefit from this bill.

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Absolutely. There are so many who provide such important services, our hospitals, our emergency departments, our paramedics, as well as our women and youth shelters. They do so on very limited resources. That is something I've heard over and over again, their ability to continue to provide these services as demands increase, which is very unfortunate. They are extremely stressed in terms of the resource allocation that they have.

They need to resubmit for grant funding. This is another avenue for a funding opportunity for them. It's not meant to replace the responsibilities we have as federal, provincial and municipal governments to support these organizations, but it does allow another pathway for these services.

[Marilyn Gladu, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong, ON]

Thank you.

Practically speaking in terms of the funds, the court will collect the funds that are ordered and they're the ones that will distribute them to the organization. How do you envision that working?

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I want to make it clear that there isn't a new or added layer of administrative burden being created by this bill. Restitution orders exist within the Criminal Code now. They are managed through those. This would simply continue along within a process that already exists.

[Marilyn Gladu, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong, ON]

Thank you very much. I wish you the best of luck.

[The Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you very much.

We're moving to Monsieur Fortin for two and a half minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Wells, I was talking to you earlier about the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. I would like to revisit the evidence that will have to be produced and the procedural framework set out in the bill of rights.

Aren't you concerned that trials will be abandoned because, at present, the delays for criminal cases are much too long and they can't be completed within the deadlines prescribed and deemed reasonable under the bill of rights by the Supreme Court?

I'm concerned that this will burden the proceedings because almost every trial will require that a certain number of hours be devoted to establishing the harm and the link between the harm and the fault of the accused or the guilty party in this case.

Is that one of the factors you considered when you decided it would be appropriate to go ahead with this bill?

[Joanna Wells, Senior Counsel and Team Lead, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice]

I'll ask my colleague Mr. Godlewski to take that question, if that's okay.

[Aleksander Godlewski]

To answer your question, we haven't evaluated the specific amount of time that would be added.

There could be situations where there would need to be evidence added for those points. Generally, the intention is that restitution is supposed to be a very easily quantifiable expense, not one the court needs to untangle, for example, a complex commercial transaction or that kind of thing.

We haven't done this assessment specifically, but it is possible that evidence would need to be heard.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Okay.

Ms. Lapointe, do you have any specific examples in mind for what you were telling us earlier about the possibility of restitution for victims?

Are there any specific cases in which the courts have ruled, and how long did it take for the hearing to be held?

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

The bill is not based on a specific case. The services included in the bill were recommended by victim services agencies.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you. Were victim surcharges taken into consideration?

[The Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Your time is up.

I apologize.

We're moving to Mr. Gill for five minutes.

Please go ahead, sir.

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thanks to all of you.

MP Lapointe, do you think most drug dealers have the money to pay a restitution order?

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

As I stated before, restitution orders exist today. Judges provide restitution to victims of crime. It would very much be the purview of the judge presiding over the case to determine ability to pay.

I will tell you that whether the degree of enforceability is strong or not, we don't abandon restitution orders. We know they are not always collected. What we need to do is strengthen them. That is what this bill aims to do. Again, providing some definitions to the judge would give them some tools to explore that avenue—if it's appropriate for a case and for the criminal standing before them.

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Prosecutors drop half the cases in Canada. Every day, serious crimes against a person get dropped because we don't have enough Crown lawyers or courtrooms.

Will an influx of financial hearings in drug cases add an extra burden to the court system?

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I'm not sure I understand the question. I'm sorry.

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

I can repeat it for you.

Prosecutors drop half the cases in Canada. Every day, serious crimes against a person get dropped because we don't have enough Crown lawyers or courtrooms.

Will an influx of financial hearings in drug cases add an extra burden to the court system?

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Again, restitution orders already exist within the judicial system. They are there. Judges deal with restitution orders within their courts on a regular basis. This doesn't add bureaucracy. This doesn't add to a caseload. It simply adds definitions for a judge when making a decision on restitution within their courts and within the case that appears before them.

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Do you think community organizations have the time and resources to produce readily ascertainable expense reports? Do they have the time and resources to go to the court?

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I'm glad you asked that question because that was a concern raised when we had the debate in the chamber.

I actually went back and did some further consultations with agencies. What they told us was that because most of their funding comes from federal, provincial or municipal grants, they have to keep track of all of those costs when they submit at the end of the funding period. They felt there wasn't an additional burden and that all of those costs, those expenses, have to be kept in order for them to continue receiving grants and funding.

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Where do most drugs that enter Canada come from? Are we going to go after citizens of the country for the restitution order?

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

So I—

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

I will repeat my question. Where do most drugs that enter Canada come from? Are we going to go after citizens of that country for restitution orders? Is that at all feasible in the current climate?