Crime bill decreases Canadians' safety
Canada's criminal justice and prevention programs have been successfully decreasing our country's crime rates over the past 20 years. The tough-oncrime policies in Bill C-10, the omnibus crime bill, may actually increase crime rates, and they will come at a hefty economic and social cost.
The omnibus bill, in its third and final reading, combines nine previous bills that died before the federal election, into one.
In 2005, Texas had the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with five per cent of all residents in jail. Faced with overcrowded prisons and enormous costs, Texas switched its focus to treatment and prevention. In five years the rate of incarceration dropped by nine per cent, while the crime rate dropped by 12.8 per cent.
Jailing citizens for minor non-violent offences strips them from family, community and employment, greatly increasing the chance that they will re-offend.
Vulnerable groups, such as First Nations peoples, the poor and those who suffer from mental illness and addiction will be disproportionately affected.
Premier Christy Clark has publicly supported this bill, but vocal opposition from the Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and P.E.I. governments is sending a message to Ottawa: This bill is costly and counter-productive.
NDP MP Isabelle Morin called on the government to focus on preventing crime, rather than increasing sentences and therefore filling up jails with more convicts, rather than reducing crime rates.
"Increasing mandatory minimums will not prevent crime, it will not make our communities safer," Morin said.
"There have been many specialists who have come to provide their opinions based on scientific fact and the government continues to say based on our experience we think we should do this."
She also read a letter she had received from a constituent in her Quebec riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grace—Lachine, who said they had been convicted of a crime more than a decade ago and had moved on with their life and become a contributing member of society.
However, the constituent complained that tough new rules in Bill C-10 would make it difficult for those convicted of a crime to rehabilitate and move on from their past.
Morin was just one of many opposition MPs expressing serious concerns with the bill's punitive focus.
Other opposing witnesses expressed concern about effect the legislation would have on the courts, prison system and young offenders.
Liberal MP John McCallum said the Conservatives were returning to a "Middle Ages" approach that focused on "vengeance" against those who break the law, rather than rehabilitation. At a time when criminal offences are declining, McCallum said, Bill C-10 will actually have the opposite effect.
"This plan to dump thousands of new offenders into the system will simply break it. Low-level offenders will enter the system after convictions for petty crimes and they will leave having made new criminal connections and having learned the skills of the trade. That should never be the outcome of our justice system," McCallum said.
Crime destroys communities and individuals, and we need a crime bill that counters those effects. Bill C-10 will do just the opposite.
This bill prioritizes harsh punishment over restorative justice, undermines judicial discretion and ignores the potential for offenders to become positive contributors to society. A bill that does this cannot claim to make Canadians safer - it can only make us feel that we are, temporarily, before we are forced to learn the truth the hard way.
Canada's criminal justice and prevention programs have been successfully decreasing our country's crime rates over the past 20 years. The tough-oncrime policies in Bill C-10, the omnibus crime bill, may actually increase crime rates, and they will come at a hefty economic and social cost.
The omnibus bill, in its third and final reading, combines nine previous bills that died before the federal election, into one.
In 2005, Texas had the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with five per cent of all residents in jail. Faced with overcrowded prisons and enormous costs, Texas switched its focus to treatment and prevention. In five years the rate of incarceration dropped by nine per cent, while the crime rate dropped by 12.8 per cent.
Jailing citizens for minor non-violent offences strips them from family, community and employment, greatly increasing the chance that they will re-offend.
Vulnerable groups, such as First Nations peoples, the poor and those who suffer from mental illness and addiction will be disproportionately affected.
Premier Christy Clark has publicly supported this bill, but vocal opposition from the Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and P.E.I. governments is sending a message to Ottawa: This bill is costly and counter-productive.
NDP MP Isabelle Morin called on the government to focus on preventing crime, rather than increasing sentences and therefore filling up jails with more convicts, rather than reducing crime rates.
"Increasing mandatory minimums will not prevent crime, it will not make our communities safer," Morin said.
"There have been many specialists who have come to provide their opinions based on scientific fact and the government continues to say based on our experience we think we should do this."
She also read a letter she had received from a constituent in her Quebec riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grace—Lachine, who said they had been convicted of a crime more than a decade ago and had moved on with their life and become a contributing member of society.
However, the constituent complained that tough new rules in Bill C-10 would make it difficult for those convicted of a crime to rehabilitate and move on from their past.
Morin was just one of many opposition MPs expressing serious concerns with the bill's punitive focus.
Other opposing witnesses expressed concern about effect the legislation would have on the courts, prison system and young offenders.
Liberal MP John McCallum said the Conservatives were returning to a "Middle Ages" approach that focused on "vengeance" against those who break the law, rather than rehabilitation. At a time when criminal offences are declining, McCallum said, Bill C-10 will actually have the opposite effect.
"This plan to dump thousands of new offenders into the system will simply break it. Low-level offenders will enter the system after convictions for petty crimes and they will leave having made new criminal connections and having learned the skills of the trade. That should never be the outcome of our justice system," McCallum said.
Crime destroys communities and individuals, and we need a crime bill that counters those effects. Bill C-10 will do just the opposite.
This bill prioritizes harsh punishment over restorative justice, undermines judicial discretion and ignores the potential for offenders to become positive contributors to society. A bill that does this cannot claim to make Canadians safer - it can only make us feel that we are, temporarily, before we are forced to learn the truth the hard way.
