Public Safety committee  Thank you very much for the opportunity to be heard. On behalf of CABL, we really appreciate the fact that somebody thinks our voice is worth hearing. My apologies for not attending in person. This assignment came to me quite late in the process, which is why there's also no wri

Public Safety committee  Oh.

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I was on my last point—

Public Safety committee  —and I didn't think it would take 10 minutes. Thank you very much. With regard to some of the deals that were referred to, I'd like the committee to take into account that many deals are made as a result of overcharging. I think that it's a red herring to go down that path. I'

Public Safety committee  Yes. If it does, if it's not been challenged—and the point is that we're talking about young kids filling out applications for Walmart and other places like that, who will not have the legal resources to challenge that.... It would take a group, for example, the Black Legal Actio

Public Safety committee  Thank you.

Public Safety committee  In fact, I'm the chair of the advocacy committee for the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers. The first time this came to our attention was when the notice for this hearing came up.

Public Safety committee  To be truthful, there's no experience for the numbers, but I think Ms. Finestone has mentioned that point as well. If it's automatic, that changes the number dramatically. If the suspension of the record is automatic and you don't actually have to start the process, that changes

Public Safety committee  I just have a couple of thoughts on it. In my personal practice, a lot of the people I represented were homeless, mentally ill or on the verge of being homeless. They also had very low levels of education. By not making it automatic, it won't help a lot of people who actually hav

Public Safety committee  That is correct, and that is one group that I focused on, because I had a number of those situations where most parents would not go to the police if they had found marijuana in their kids' clothing. What about the children who are wards of the CAS? All of those charges went stra

Public Safety committee  I think you've made the point. Many times I'm invited to the table. On this issue we were not. I suspect it's because other groups were included, and perhaps somebody thought I was not to be heard. I don't know.

Public Safety committee  I really believe that. I have to admit that I'm not fully aware of the cons of expungement, but I really believe these records should be expunged.

Public Safety committee  That is correct, which is why I scoured my brain to see what could be done. I got the recommendation from our committee that perhaps deeming them regulatory offences, which cover firearms acts and so many other acts, could work.

Public Safety committee  That's correct.

Public Safety committee  No, I was referring to when the criminal records check goes to the employer.