Just so you know, this is definitely new to me and you can probably tell I'm a bit nervous. Coming from where I'm coming from, and being in a room of this magnitude, set up in this form, is definitely intimidating, to say the least. It's my first time, and you're going to have to bear with me. It will take a minute to get rid of the nerves, but I'm sure that in due time everything will roll pretty smoothly, as I'm protected by the higher power, no question about it.
The first thing I wanted to speak about is the accessibility of the application process. Speaking from my experience, being from a low-income, marginalized community, I can say that the application is definitely not, generally speaking, accessible.
Now I had the gracious opportunity to go on to university. Many young people in my community just don't get that opportunity. In fact, most of us end up either in jail or, sad enough to say, dead. I'm here today to represent my membership, the 7th Step Society. Most of our core group members are ex-offenders, so I'm more than humbled to be here to speak not only on my behalf, because I have my criminal record suspension now, but for my fellow group members who, sad enough for them, don't have that.
Funnily enough, when I got the criminal record suspension, I didn't feel any different. In fact, it brought up old memories and it made me feel like a criminal again. It almost made me feel like asking, why did I go through such an arduous process?
I brought the application along. I remember when I first decided.... I waited extra long. I knew the time period was five years, and then 10 years for indictable offences, so I actually waited 15 years because I was too intimidated to even approach the process. I just didn't know how to go about it, and I definitely knew that I couldn't afford it, no question about it. The $631 was a deterrent, not even a thought, and I had to wait till I had actually saved up the money and had some support from friends who were willing to help me out during the time that I was getting ready to graduate from university and apply to law school. It was very important, obviously, that I had all my ducks in a row, so that I wouldn't meet some of the same issues that we heard here.
For me, the $631 is the obvious deterrent, because that's the application process fee, but what we didn't hear today are those other fees that are attached to this application. When I go through and look at the 10 steps.... I was very diligent in taking my time and going through each one, because I just didn't have the means to hire a lawyer. For me, getting the criminal record check, that cost money. Getting all the information that is actually required throughout this process costs money, and it adds up. When you don't have that money to spend, these things become deterrents for you.
Now, that's only one thing. The next issue is that you have a lengthy time period to wait just to get some of these documents to put the application together. I remember when I started my application. I started it because, just like I said, I wanted to be prepared to apply to law school. It took literally almost two years to put this application together. I remember when I first got it together. It's a pretty big document, and I remember just holding it. I was so happy with myself, because I had actually accomplished, you know, going through 10 steps of very scrutinizing....
I don't even know how to describe it, revisiting my past in a way that just brought up some old nightmares, to say the least. I'd changed my life for so long that it just brought up some old memories that I really didn't want to be thinking about.
I remember when I finally reached that 10th step. It's the checklist, and you actually have to go through the checklist. It's a part of your application; you have to put it in there. I was just so happy to put that stamp on there and put it in the mail. I was just extremely happy. Then I just remember waiting and waiting and waiting for so long that I actually forgot I had applied for a criminal record suspension, until one day I get home and I get this letter. I'm not going to read the whole letter. It would just take up too much of my seven minutes.
I will read the very bottom part of it for you. It says, “Accordingly, the Parole Board proposes to refuse your request for a record suspension. Please note that this is not the Board's final decision in regard to your application. You and/or someone on your behalf are entitled to make any written representations that you feel are relevant to this matter for the Board's consideration before a final decision.
I was broken. I was devastated. I was stressed out. It literally just took me right out of my current livelihood and brought me back 15 to 20 years. I didn't even know how to respond. I remember that when I first got it, right away, tears came to my eyes. I worked so hard—so hard—to prove that I was a law-abiding citizen. I worked so hard to pull my life together. I gave back so much time to my community, because that's all I knew growing up in my community. In fact, where I come from, we say that giving back is not a requirement. It's an expectation. That's what we do in order to support one another to come out of that marginalized situation.