National Post (National Edition)
Liberals tackling `systemic racism' with crime bill
Proposals expected to be election issue
OTTAWA • In an attempt to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system, the Liberal government has tabled legislation to reduce prosecutions for lowlevel drug offences, allow for more use of conditional sentences served in the community, and scrap mandatory minimum sentences for some drug and firearms offences.
The bill does not go as far as outright decriminalizing personal drug possession, as many advocacy organizations — and, increasingly, law enforcement groups such as the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police — have called for. Still, the proposed changes are bound to stir up political divisions that could play out in the next election.
“We are turning the page on a failed Conservative criminal justice policy,” said Justice Minister David Lametti at a news conference. “It was an approach that did not make our communities safer. It did not deter criminals. It did not make the justice system more effective or more fair. Its singular accomplishment has been to incarcerate too many Indigenous people, too many Black people and too many marginalized Canadians.”
Conservative MPs Rob Moore and Gérard Deltell responded with a statement saying their party is “focused on ensuring Canada's drug laws target individuals who prey on Canadians struggling with addictions through trafficking and the sale of drugs.”
“Unfortunately, this bill does little to help those struggling with addiction,” the statement said. “Instead, it eliminates mandatory prison time for those trafficking and producing harmful drugs ... The elimination of mandatory prison time for violent firearms offences is also concerning and requires a greater degree of scrutiny.”
Moore and Deltell said they're also concerned about the provision to allow for more conditional sentences, and warned the Liberals not to try to rush the bill through Parliament without full scrutiny.
Bill C-22 would require police and prosecutors to consider alternatives to laying criminal charges for simple possession of drugs. This could include taking no action, giving out a warning or referring offenders to a public health treatment program.
The bill also allows for greater use of condition sentence orders for some crimes where the sentence is less than two years. In such cases, a judge could order the term be served in the community under certain conditions, including house arrest, curfew, and mandatory counselling or treatment for substance abuse.
“Let me underscore that these are not offenders that we're worried about,” Lametti said. “They're not a menace to society, they're not putting society in danger. These are people with health problems. These are single mothers. These are young people who perhaps have made a couple of mistakes.”
Lametti said the goal is to divert such offenders into “positive programming” that can help them turn their lives around, rather than putting them into a rigid criminal justice process.
“Specifically, incarceration is the wrong response,” Lametti said.
Finally, the bill repeals 20 mandatory minimum sentences that the government says disproportionately hurt Indigenous and Black offenders. This includes
THEY'RE NOT A MENACE TO SOCIETY, THEY'RE NOT PUTTING SOCIETY IN DANGER.
six mandatory minimums in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and 14 other mandatory minimums including some for possession of firearms (with the exception of firearms offences involving trafficking or links to organized crime.)
The move to eliminate mandatory minimums for some firearms offences comes in the same week the Liberals introduced Bill C-21, which increased maximum penalties for firearms offences related to gun smuggling and trafficking.
As part of a tough-oncrime agenda, Stephen Harper's Conservative government enacted many mandatory minimum sentences that were intended to remove a judge's ability to impose a lesser prison sentence or even no prison at all.
However, mandatory minimums have been constantly challenged in the courts as a Charter infringement, and judges have since struck down a large number of them as unconstitutional.
Some of the mandatory minimums being scrapped in C-22 had already been struck down, but the bill leaves many other mandatory minimums untouched — including some that have also been found unconstitutional, such as offences related to sexual interference and child pornography. Justice Department officials said the bill is focused on measures found to exacerbate systemic racism.