Justice committee  Well, I'm so pleased to have received the question. First of all, let me explain that the John Howard Society supports just, fair, and humane responses both for the offender and for the victims of crime and its consequences. We do believe that offenders need to be held fairly an

Justice committee  Well, Kim Pate is the executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies; she's not with John Howard and she doesn't speak to the John Howard position. I don't think that's really reflecting a 180-degree shift in John Howard thinking.

Justice committee  That would be a very narrow perspective. There are elements of Bill C-10 that we supported. For example, there was a provision in the elements looking at youth justice where they were going to ensure that young people would not be housed with adults in the same facility. We suppo

Justice committee  We're not pitted against Bill C-37. We're pitted against the removal of the judicial discretion to not impose the victim surcharge if the person is unable to pay. That's a fairly fundamental principle of justice that has been reflected in fine provisions, that's embedded in the C

Justice committee  First of all, I congratulate the government and would like to express the John Howard Society's support for the measures you have taken with respect to crime prevention. I think we're all on the same page on that. With respect to offenders contributing to the victims in overcom

Justice committee  No, I'm talking about the fine itself, not the surcharge.

Justice committee  Proportionate and fair is based on a variety of things. It looks at the sentencing principles and it looks at the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender. It's a measure that reflects those two components.

Justice committee  I agree with you. It depends on what amount of fine the judge decides to impose in a particular circumstance.

Justice committee  I think you point to an interesting issue. I would say they're probably fair, but I think your issue is the consistent waiving of the surcharges and how to address that. I'm not sure that making them mandatory is the way to address the judicial determination to waive them.

Justice committee  To me, you're bringing in some civil law concepts in the question of criminal law.

Justice committee  Yes, but the point is that your measure of accountability is not necessarily linked to the cost of your crime; it's linked to the seriousness of your offence and the degree of your responsibility. You're being held accountable for what you did, not necessarily for the broader fin

Justice committee  I'd be happy to talk to that—

Justice committee  Well, I'd be happy to—

Justice committee  This was an evaluation of the Federal Victims Strategy Evaluation, Final Report, 2012. In table 7, there is an indication for the “Provincial/Territorial Component of Victims Fund” showing that $16,475,000 was made available and that only $2,956,000 was actually spent, leaving a

Justice committee  I'm not at all confident that they will be able to meet that obligation. The fact of the matter is that a lot of people who are marginalized and impoverished are charged with offences, and they may have committed those offences—I'm not denying that. But to scrape together the add