moved for leave to introduce Bill C-328, an act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (withdrawal of applications for full parole by offenders serving two or more years.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Lethbridge for seconding the bill.
I am pleased to reintroduce this private member's bill, formerly designated Bill C-388 in the previous session, which seeks to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.
There is no provision in the current legislation to prevent offenders from withdrawing an application for parole at any time, right up to the actual commencement of the hearing and then they can reapply immediately.
As I said previously, many victims of crimes expend enormous emotional and perhaps financial resources in preparing to attend parole hearings which are frequently held far from their homes.
In addition, significant time, effort and money is expended by authorities to facilitate the hearings. There is no good reason why offenders should have complete control over a process that burdens taxpayers and revictimizes victims.
These amendments will place a consequence on offenders who withdraw applications for parole at the last moment for no good reason. Unless there is reasonable and valid grounds for withdrawal, the offender will be barred from reapplying for a period of two years.