Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to promoting fairer and more effective responses to criminal conduct, and to addressing systemic racism and discrimination in Canada’s criminal justice system, while maintaining public safety. To that end, on November 18, 2022, Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, received royal assent. This legislation allows for the sequestering of a record for any simple drug possession conviction under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. It eliminates the need for individuals to submit an application; rather, eligible records will be set aside and apart from other convictions on their record. This ensures sequestered records for simple drug possession convictions cannot be revoked or cease to have effect. In effect, this sequestration eliminates the existence of the record for that offence only. Keeping simple possession convictions separate and apart from other convictions seeks to help reduce the negative consequences of conduct that is increasingly viewed as a public health and social problem.
Given the decentralized manner in which criminal records are stored and that the possession of controlled substances is governed across several legislative frameworks, effective implementation of section 10.6 of the CDSA requires federal, provincial, territorial and municipal government co-operation. Since coming into force in November 2022, Public Safety has been working closely with partners to implement Bill C-5 by November 17, 2024.
Public Safety recognizes there is much work left to be done to reduce the barriers those with a criminal record continue to face. The government remains committed to pursuing the best way forward to continue implementing these reforms and looks forward to continuing to work closely with partners at all levels to help ensure the handling of criminal records is fair and supports reintegration.
There is currently no plan to proactively notify individuals as to the status of their impacted record. Such proactive notification raises privacy concerns and distribution complexities, such as long-outdated contact information or individuals without access to Internet, mail or telephone. In addition, different jurisdictions have different rules for the disclosure of information and different means of defining, holding and setting aside records of conviction.