| Safe Streets and Communities Act | |
|---|---|
| House of Commons of Canada | |
| |
| Citation | Bill C-10[1] |
| Enacted by | House of Commons of Canada |
| Enacted by | Senate of Canada |
| Royal assent | March 13, 2012 |
| Legislative history | |
| First chamber: House of Commons of Canada | |
| Bill title | Bill C-10 |
| Introduced by | MP Rob Nicholson |
| First reading | September 20, 2011[2] |
| Second reading | September 28, 2011[2] |
| Third reading | December 5, 2011[2] |
| Second chamber: Senate of Canada | |
| Bill title | Bill C-10 |
| First reading | December 6, 2011 |
| Second reading | December 16, 2011 |
| Third reading | March 1, 2012 |
| Conference committee bill passed by House of Commons of Canada | November 24, 2011[2] |
| Conference committee bill passed by Senate of Canada | February 28, 2012 |
| Status: Current legislation | |
The Safe Streets and Communities Act (French: Loi sur la sécurité des rues et des communautés) is an act passed by the 41st Canadian Parliament 154–129 on March 12, 2012.
When Parliament re-convened in September 2011, the Minister of Justice introduced the Safe Streets and Communities Act, an omnibus bill of nine separate measures. The measures include replacing the pardon system with 'record suspensions', mandatory minimum sentences for certain sexual offences and mandatory minimum penalties for certain drug offences, making it illegal to make sexually explicit information available to a child, increasing prison sentences for marijuana offences, reducing the ability of judges to sentence certain offenders to house arrest, allowing immigration officers to deny work permits to foreigners who are at risk of being sexually exploited, and enabling Canadians to sue state sponsors of terrorism for losses due to an act of terrorism.[3][4]
A particularly contentious aspect of the bill was the proposed enhancement of powers given to government authorities to monitor online communications,[5] but this proposal was abandoned after an online petition opposing those measures garnered over 70,000 signatures.[6]
One of the smaller bills incorporated into this legislation was Bill C-23B, formerly called "Eliminating Pardons for Serious Offences." This section made significant changes to the country's pardon laws. Part 3 of the bill replaced the term "pardon" with "Record Suspension" and eliminated pardons for those with Schedule 1 criminal offences on their record or those with more than three offences each carrying a sentence of two years or more.[7]
The bill caused much controversy. While the Canadian Police Association said the bill would work towards keeping communities more safe, it added it was concerned about the cost.[8] The Quebec government said it would refuse to pay for the bill, calling it a short-term "Band-Aid solution."[8] The Ontario government would also refuse to pay.[9] Texan conservatives Judge John Creuzot, Republican Representative Jerry Madden, and Marc Levin also spoke out against the bill; according to Madden, "It's a very expensive thing to build new prisons and, if you build them, I guarantee you they will come. They'll be filled, OK? Because people will send them there."[10]
YouTube Encyclopedic
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Youth Criminal Justice Act - Principles
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Youth Criminal Justice Act - Reintegration
Transcription
YOUTH OFFENDER 1: I don't really remember all of what happened the night I was arrested because I was intoxicated and stuff. YOUNG OFFENDER 2: I started drinking, doing drugs so I kept on getting in trouble with the law so I kept on going back and forth in and out of jail, in and out of jail... YOUNG OFFENDER 3: I was just like whoa, what have I done? You know, like, what have I become? PROGRAM TITLE: 'YOUTH JUSTICE - BUILDING SAFE STREETS AND COMMUNITIES' SR. PROBATION OFFFICER ANNE LYNE-HAUGHEY: You know, it takes a village to raise a child and I think that's the perspective of The Youth Criminal Justice Act is coming from. CONSTABLE JEFFREY WESTMAN: It's about real consequences happening right away and youth can relate to that. COMMUNITY PROGRAMS OFFICER RHONDA STAIRS: I think it is important to remember that it's kind of not a one-size-fits-all approach, that we have to pay attention to every youth that we come into contact with. YRAP ERIK BISANZ: They get to take responsibility for what they have done and really own up to it and for a lot of people that is really freeing. NARRATOR: The Youth Criminal Justice Act, or YCJA, is the federal law which governs Canada's youth justice system. The Act applies to Canadian youth aged 12 to 17 who get into trouble with the law. The YCJA came into force in 2003 and was amended in 2012 to strengthen its handling of violent and repeat young offenders. PROFESSOR NICHOLAS BALA: Almost every country in the world has some special legislation or provisions that recognize that children, adolescents, are not to be treated in the same way as adults. That they have a limited state of maturity, they have a limited state of moral development, intellectual development and they are often more amenable to rehabilitation. YCJA PRINCIPLES NARRATOR: The Youth Criminal Justice Act states that the youth criminal justice system is intended to protect the public by holding youth accountable, promoting the rehabilitation and reintegration of youth back into society, and preventing crime. It emphasizes that the youth criminal justice system must be separate from the adult system, and based on the principle that youth are presumed to be less morally blameworthy than adults. In other words, the law recognizes that youth must be held accountable, but in a way that takes into account their greater dependency and reduced level of maturity. PROFESSOR NICHOLAS BALA: A key objective, a key principal of the Act is to try to promote the protection of Canadian public. And that includes the short-term protection which may in some circumstance mean removing the young offender from the community but it also includes the long-term protection of society by rehabilitating young people, by dealing with their underlying problems. It also provides more structure to the decision making of judges, probation officers and others, and tries to ensure that custody is used as a last resort and it's largely been successful in achieving that. DEFENSE LAWYER PATRICIA YUZWENKO: This is a much improved situation than we had before under The Young Offenders Act because I am now looking more at not just representing clients but we have to look at trying to find ways to deal with underlying issues which the court might need to address in sentencing in order to assist in the rehabilitation of young persons.
References
- ^ "Bill C-10". www.parl.gc.ca. House of Commons of Canada.
- ^ a b c d "Bill C-10 at LegisInfo". Parliament of Canada.
- ^ Chase, Steven (September 20, 2011). "Weighty Tory crime bill targets drugs, sex offenders, 'out-of-control' youth". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
- ^ Chase, Steven (September 20, 2011). "Sweeping Conservative crime bill only 'the beginning'". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
- ^ "Internet privacy experts raise concerns over crime bill". CBC News. August 9, 2011.
- ^ "70,000+ Strong Petition Sways Government Plan - OpenMedia".
- ^ "(S.C. 2012, c. 1)". Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ a b Fitzpatrick, Meagan (November 1, 2011). "Quebec will refuse to pay for omnibus crime bill". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
- ^ Fisher, Robert (November 4, 2011). "ANALYSIS: McGuinty sends shot across Harper's bow". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
- ^ Milewski, Terry (October 17, 2011). "Texas conservatives reject Harper's crime plan". CBC.ca. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
External links
- Safe Streets and Communities Act from the Parliament of Canada website
- LegalEase podcast discusses the Conservatives' Omnibus Safe Streets and Communities Act from a legal perspective
This page was last edited on 20 January 2024, at 08:34