Yes, I do.
Certainly, as you said, there's the Elizabeth Fry Society. Judith Murphy in Saint John has been absolutely fantastic. There is Dr. Mary Ann Campbell at the University of New Brunswick, who is director of the centre for criminal justice studies. There's Catherine Latimer, the executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada; and Kassandra Churcher, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies. Certainly Senator Kim Pate would be a wonderful witness.
I think, really, there would be a wide array of organizations and witnesses right across the country that would recognize that, since 2012 when the price went up to $631 and “record pardon” was changed to “record suspension”....
I believe in talking to the non-profits and organizations around Saint John—Rothesay, the shelters, those who live the life of advocating for those who don't have a strong voice. There is wide, wide support to examine exactly how this happened, why it happened, and the results of that change.
For example, in 2011, the Parole Board of Canada received 29,829 pardon applications. After the changes were made in 2015, it received 12,743 requests for record suspension, down 57%. That's a 57% drop, 17,086 fewer requests. Did crime change over those five years? No. The policy shift actively and demonstrably discouraged Canadians.
What's near and dear to my heart is particularly low-income Canadians trying to move on with their lives. My heart cries for.... I could give you story after story after story of people who came into my constituency office who told me stories that horrified me. She couldn't move on because when she was 18 they stole a bag of diapers from a drugstore, and that bag of diapers is over her head now stopping her from moving on. When you see those barriers, and you sit back objectively, she can't get a job, so she's a part of the system. Can you imagine what a transformational change it would be to have those people contributing to the system, having jobs, paying taxes, renting apartments, buying houses and what have you? That's kind of where we are right now.