Under the newly proposed bill convicted criminals will have to wait longer after the completion of their sentence in order to apply for a “record suspension”, which was formerly called pardon.
This bill is also known as the “Limiting Pardons for Serious Crimes” Act. Its purpose is to prevent people with serious offences from getting a pardon. Bill C-23A states that 10 years must be completed after any kind of sentence (and these include not only imprisonment but probation and payment of fines) before a pardon can be granted. There are several categories of offences that will be influenced by this bill:
- Any indictable offence that required at least 5 years in prison
- A Schedule 1 indictable or summary offence
- Manslaughter for which at least 2 years were served in prison
- An offence under the Criminal Code or other federal legislation)
The waiting time will be increased to 5 years for the following offences:
- An indictable offence other than a sexual offence
- A summary sexual offence
For a summary offence other than a sexuyal offence, the waiting time will be increased to 3 years. Furthermore, some people who are now eligible for a pardon will no longer be eligible for a “record suspension” because there are new rules concerning eligibility. For example, people who have been convicted of 3 indictable offences or offences of a sexual nature will no longer be eligible for a record suspension.
Under the current Criminal Records Act (CRA), anyone with a criminal conviction in Canada regardless of their immigration status may apply for a Canadian pardon for one or more of their crimes once three to five years have elapsed. A pardon or a “record suspension” does not mean that a criminal record is wiped out although it will be taken out of the Canadian Police Information Centre and will not show up on any checks of the public records in Canada.