Thank you, Chair.
The intent of CPC-3 is that clause 6 be amended by deleting proposed paragraph (b) which strips the Parole Board of the power to cause inquiries to be made to determine the applicant's conduct since the date of conviction.
The following two amendments were suggested. Both CPC-3 and CPC-4 were suggested by the Canadian Police Association, which believes the Parole Board should retain some limited authority and discretion to make inquiries to ensure that some consideration is given to the small number of applications that will be made by people who are repeat or habitual offenders, and to ensure they don't take advantage of a process that is clearly not meant for their specific cases.
As we were told by the association president, we know of situations where applications may be made by offenders where a simple possession charge was given by the courts and it was arrived at as a result of a plea bargain. Once the Parole Board would be able to drill down into those cases and have the authority to do so, the agreement by the Crown and the courts could form a more serious charge. They may have accepted those on the assumption that a conviction would be a permanent record of the offence that was made, and a lesser plea wouldn't have been accepted otherwise.
It's just an amendment to allow that to occur.