Two- tier system unfair: critics

Canadians looking to get criminal pardons are getting preferential treatment if they pay more for the service, critics say.

A pardon services company wrote to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews on May 28.

It complained that the Parole Board of Canada was giving priority to applicants who had paid heftier fees introduced earlier this year, and not responding in a timely manner to the “substantial backlog” of applications — about 22,500, the government admits — submitted before the fee increase.

“One can only imagine the outcry that would occur, if, for example, municipalities gave preferential access to municipal services to residents who paid higher property taxes because they live in more expensive homes,” wrote Azmairnin Jadavji, president of Pardon Services Canada, a Vancouverbased company that helps individuals with their applications.

In February, the fee for applying for a pardon — or what the government now calls a “record suspension” — quadrupled to $ 631.

The government said the increase was needed to address workload increases and ensure the sustainability of the pardons program.

But the fee increase has resulted in a two- tier system that benefits those who applied more recently under the higher fee structure, according to Pardon Services Canada.

The company says clients who filed applications before the fee increase have had to wait as long as 18 months to have their case assigned to a parole officer, while clients who paid the higher fee have waited as little as two months.

“Applicants for record suspensions can face serious prejudice if their applications are not dealt with in a timely way,” Jadavji wrote in his letter to Toews.

“Job applications, and thus employment opportunities, can be lost, and the applicants can also be deprived of the ability to travel abroad.”

Caroline Douglas, a spokeswoman for the Parole Board of Canada, confirmed Thursday that those who paid the higher fee are getting their applications processed more quickly.

That’s because new “service standards” were adopted when the $ 631 fee was introduced.

She said there is a backlog of 22,500 applications under the old fee structure.

Julie Carmichael, a spokeswoman for Toews, said the government is exploring giving a partial credit to those who paid the $ 150 fee but who wish to resubmit their applications under the higher fee.

“The fact remains that record suspensions are not a right,” she said.