Public Safety committee  That's my understanding of how it happens.

Public Safety committee  They are numbers that have been provided through either freedom of information requests and that have been processed by academics or Statistics Canada.

Public Safety committee  I would imagine that it wouldn't surprise them.

Public Safety committee  Right, yes. The case I was referring to wasn't about historical injustices. It was about equality.

Public Safety committee  The definition of equality under the charter is a definition that has been developed through case law, and it's a term of art. When you say “equality”, you don't mean formal equality, you mean substantive equality, and that has a meaning. It has content. Historical injustice is not a legal term of art.

Public Safety committee  Well, what I was trying to lay out had to do with the harm that was done by the historical injustices, the offences that essentially were homophobic in nature. They discriminated against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation. That is a violation of the charter, and it is false to try to draw a distinction, if you're looking at what is a violation of the charter, between laws that are discriminatory on their face and those that are discriminatory in their effect.

Public Safety committee  My understanding is that it is half that number that reflects people who have a previous cannabis conviction record or a previous criminal record for simple cannabis possession. You said something that might be the reason for that. You said there are about 250,000 people who would eligible.

Public Safety committee  I think that's correct. It doesn't surprise me that the number is so low. I'm surprised because I hope it would have benefited more people, which is one of the reasons we are asking for it to be automatic. If it's just the push of a button, you don't have to go through the process.

Public Safety committee  That's certainly one thing we're contemplating, once the government has passed legislation on pardons. We would be very much interested in assisting people as much as possible. However, until we see the model the government is implementing for the purpose of pardons, it will be difficult for us to know whether we are capable of doing that.

Public Safety committee  I could reach out to them as well because I know they've created a database for the cause. It varies. I know in my jurisdiction it's around $50 for a local police check. I can't remember whether it's Regina or Winnipeg, but I think it may be Winnipeg where it can be up to $125.

Public Safety committee  Yes, they do.

Public Safety committee  I'm not sure. I haven't really talked to them about the cost model because our discussions were focused on providing it pro bono because we are not-for-profit. They did mention that even with attempting to reduce the costs as much as possible because of the ancillary costs of fingerprinting....

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  Yes, that's correct. It would be very difficult for those prior to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, but schedule II of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is only cannabis.

Public Safety committee  It's cannabis, cannabinoid, cannabis derivatives, cannabidiol. It's the schedule of cannabis derivatives. There is a list of around 10, 11 or 12, and of those there may be only one that is presently not legal.