Public Safety Committee on April 29th, 2019

[Brigitte Lavigne]

I couldn't speak to the number of people who have come forward and who we have returned as ineligible for not having the application because of the fact that they were in a remote area. I don't have that data. We do have folks who have been convicted across the country who come forward to access the program and then end up with a pardon or record suspension.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Prior to your bringing out Bill C-93, did you have discussions with any stakeholders? Can you tell us of any concerns that the different groups may have had, whether you were talking to the RCMP or municipalities that may have to provide these records or have people research these records? Can you give me any indication about whom you met with?

[Angela Connidis]

I met with a number of criminal justice organizations: John Howard Society, Elizabeth Fry Society, the St. Leonard's Society, members of the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice. We also had an online survey a couple of years ago about the pardon system generally. One of the responses was that they thought there should be more simplified pardon processes, particularly concerning convictions for same-sex offences. There should be a way of expunging them as well as other offences that are no longer crimes.

The issues that would be raised from the people I consult with regularly would be the marginalized communities and the fact that many of them would have more difficulty accessing pardons. There's been a lot of discussions about expungement versus pardon. Many of the same issues we've discussed here, I've discussed with stakeholders.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Have you addressed any of them? Can you give me some examples?

[Angela Connidis]

Bill C-93 is the result of many of those discussions, and ongoing discussions about how to make it easier for some of these marginalized communities to apply.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

The northern community in the middle of the Arctic is a marginalized community.

[Angela Connidis]

Yes.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

How does that person who's now living in Toronto get that record when there's no one there who might be able to find it because the court might have just been held on an ad-hoc basis?

[Angela Connidis]

That is a very good question.

I'm not sure if you've experienced—

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

It's not fair right across the board, is it?

[Angela Connidis]

It's difficult across a big country. You're exactly right.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

I think that's about it.

Mr. Dubé—

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

I had another quick one, but that's all right.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

You and Mr. Dubé seem to be asking the same questions today.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Our concerns are around the same things, I think.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

It's not always a good thing.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

I'm glad you're changing. Are you going to become a Conservative now?

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Careful, there's an election coming up, you know.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

I have a couple of quick eligibility questions. I just want to be clear because there might have been some confusion over an earlier question. An individual who has unpaid fines is not eligible for the expedited process proposed in the legislation. Is that correct?

[Angela Connidis]

They can pay their fine and they're eligible right away.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Then if they have unpaid fines, they do not qualify?

[Angela Connidis]

They have not finished their sentence.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Okay, thank you.

It's the same thing with those who have administrative justice charges, so failure to appear in court, for example, would disqualify them from the process proposed in Bill C-93.

[Angela Connidis]

Not if it was not related to this, I don't think.... Go ahead.