Justice committee  Yes, I noticed that. But you will find that if you give very burdened organizations like parole boards and review boards an option to extend the review periods, they always take it to the outer limit. At least this is certainly the case with the parole boards, even though they co

Justice committee  But it could be, and that is what the statute says. In fact the statute doesn't even suggest, by my reading of proposed paragraph 672.64(1)(b), that you're looking at future behaviour. You're looking at a past incident. At least in proposed paragraph 672.64(1)(a) you are lookin

Justice committee  Three years later.

Justice committee  The point of the John Howard Society is that when it's within their range of expertise, they should be the ones making the determination. With sentencing, a judge is aware of the particular set of factors and the individual. They're in the best position to shape a sentence that b

Justice committee  He's not necessarily bound by them. He only needs to consider them.

Justice committee  I do think that they should have discretion, but I think that the efficiency and economy of the courts are best served by allowing boards to make determinations in specialized cases where specialized knowledge is needed. The review boards are ones where particular knowledge of ca

Justice committee  I was just going to ask why you need it, then. What you're describing is pretty consistent with the existing structure, so that the review board would make the determination. I don't understand why this is an advance.

Justice committee  No, the John Howard Society would not support the bill in its current form.

Justice committee  I think you raise a very interesting point. It is one of the great challenges for police to decide how to deal with people with mental illness, because you will be first on the scene. They are the ones who are called when there is an incident and a problem. I know that the Ment

Justice committee  It is the front end, but if you look at the YCJA, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, for example, which is tucked in the back, the police can make referrals. They can do things. But you are powerless. You could refer them to the CAMH or to an addictions organization, but if the addi

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much. I'm with the John Howard Society of Canada, which is a community-based charity whose mission is to support effective, just, and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime. The society has more than 60 front-line officers across the country off

Public Safety committee  I agree with that. In fact, I think you could even parse the categories of murderers. A lot of murderers, not the psychosexual serial killer types but a lot of one-off murderers, are actually your lowest-risk people when they are actually released on parole. I think you need to

Public Safety committee  Given the length of what most federal offenders are actually serving, it would be extremely unlikely that they would get out on parole. Most people do not get parole on their first appearance. If you're going to have to wait another five years, then what is the point of participa

Public Safety committee  I have no problem with that, but I would prefer that the comments made be relevant to the decision that the quasi-judicial board is considering at that time. As you've heard from many of the victims who have appeared before you, it's very difficult not to go back to the original

Public Safety committee  Thank you.