Minister’s Opening Remarks

Minister of Justice

Speech (10 minutes)

April 8, 2022

I am pleased to appear before this Committee today to speak about the important amendments proposed in Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

This Bill is part of our Government’s efforts to address systemic racism and discrimination. These are realities faced by too many people who come into contact with the criminal justice system, from initial interactions with law enforcement, all the way through to sentencing.

Bill C-5 includes three categories of reforms. First, it will repeal mandatory minimum penalties for all drug offences, some firearm offences and one tobacco-related offence. Second, it will allow for greater use of conditional sentence orders (CSOs). The third reform will require police and prosecutors to consider other measures for simple possession of drugs such as diversion to addiction treatment programs.

These reforms are long overdue. Indigenous people, Black Canadians and members of marginalized communities, including those suffering from mental illnesses or problematic substance use are overrepresented at all phases of the criminal justice system, but most notably, they are overrepresented in Canada’s correctional facilities. This simply cannot continue.

When we look to the factors that are exacerbating these serious issues, we cannot ignore the fact that some mandatory sentencing policies that reduce judicial discretion have disproportionately impacted members of these communities.

These measures, which purported to reduce criminal offending by deterring offenders and separating them from society, have proven to be ineffective, expensive and harmful.

Between 2007 and 2017, Indigenous and Black adults were more likely than other Canadians to be admitted to federal custody for an offence punishable by an MMP. Their admission to federal custody with an offence punishable by an MMP almost doubled during those years.

For example, Black Canadians comprised 43% of individuals admitted for importing/exporting drugs in 2016/2017, and Indigenous people comprised 40% of adults admitted for a firearm-related offence that same year.

The reforms we are proposing are consistent with what stakeholders involved in social justice and criminal justice work have been saying about for these sentencing policies for many years.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission noted the issue of overrepresentation of Indigenous people in correctional institutions, and called for its elimination over the next decade. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls also called for the government to evaluate the impact of MMPs on the over-incarceration of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, and to take action to address the problem. The Parliamentary Black Caucus has also called for the elimination of MMPs.

The Government is listening, and is taking appropriate action. The reforms proposed in this Bill would repeal some MMPs but not all. The focus is on repealing those MMPs that have had the most significant impact on the aforementioned communities, while ensuring that courts can continue to impose serious sentences for violent and serious offences.

Let me be clear on that last point - these reforms will not negatively impact public safety, and they do not signal to courts that these offences are not serious.

MMPs would remain for such serious offences as murder, sexual assault, all child sexual offences, and for certain offences involving restricted or prohibited firearms or where the offence involves a firearm and is linked to organized crime.

With respect to the second category of reforms, Bill C-5 would increase the availability of conditional sentences of imprisonment, or CSOs.

A CSO is a sentence of incarceration of less than two years that is served in the community under strict conditions, such as a curfew, house arrest, treatment, and/or restrictions on possessing, owning or carrying a weapon.

This will increase access to alternatives to incarceration for low-risk offenders, while also furthering the sentencing goals of denunciation and deterrence.

The evidence is clear. Allowing offenders who do not pose a risk to public safety to serve their sentences under strict conditions in their community can be more effective at reducing future criminality. Offenders can keep a job and maintain ties with their family and community.

These measures bring back flexibility in sentencing by allowing judges to help people, not just jail them. For example, a judge can impose a CSO for an offender to serve their sentence at home and receives appropriate mental health and rehabilitation supports.

The measures allow communities to take on the responsibility for the rehabilitation of their members through a community justice sentence, which we are funding. Experts in the field and the communities themselves tell us that this is the best way to move a community forward, to move society forward and to help everybody heal while maintaining public safety. That is what CSOs do.

The reforms in C-5 will remove many limitations on CSO eligibility, but not all.

CSOs will not be available for some offences including advocating genocide, torture and attempted murder, as well as terrorism and criminal organization offences when they are prosecuted by way of indictment, and for which the maximum term of imprisonment is 10 years or more. CSOs will only be available for sentences under two years for offenders who do not pose a risk to public safety.

Finally, while it is important to enact sentencing measures that aim to reduce recidivism and overrepresentation, it is equally essential to ensure that there are adequate “off-ramps” at the earliest stages of the criminal justice process. This is especially true for conduct that could be more appropriately treated as a health concern.

To this end, Bill C-5 will require police and prosecutors to consider alternatives to laying or proceeding with charges for the simple possession of drugs. Alternatives will range from taking no action at all to issuing a warning or, if the individual agrees, diversion to an addiction treatment programs.

These measures are in keeping with the Government’s public-health centered approach to address substance use and the opioid epidemic in Canada.

The damage caused by failed criminal justice policy is not just a Canadian problem.

I was in Washington last month and met with a number of bipartisan groups and think tanks working on criminal law reform. The message from all of them was that incarceration has failed. Many States, both Democratic and Republican, have abandoned MMPs, because they simply do not work.

The reforms we are proposing are the reforms they are advocating: repealing MMPs, bringing greater flexibility to sentencing, diverting offenders out of the criminal justice system in the first place.

These are solutions that will address the problems we face.

In addition to the reforms in Bill C-5, our government remains committed to work with our partners in the provinces and territories, as well as with Black, Indigenous and marginalized communities, in order to eradicate the overrepresentation of these communities in the criminal justice system.

Community safety is what we all want. These reforms will help make that happen.

I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Thank you.