NEWS RELEASE
THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Ottawa , December 3, 2009 – The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs presented its report today on Bill C-15, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts .
The bill amends the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) to provide for mandatory minimum penalties for certain drug offences, such as dealing drugs for the benefit of organized crime or by the use or threat of violence.
The Committee amended Bill C-15 to ensure that it will trap organized crime, and the “kingpins” or major players in the drug trade, those who profit from the vulnerabilities of people addicted to drugs. The amendments minimize the chance of ensnaring the “one-off” person or the vulnerable individuals who are involved as offenders that do not deserve extra harsh penalties.
The Senate amendments:
- Restore judicial discretion when it comes to sentencing those committed of producing less than 200 cannabis plants
- Tighten the bill’s language to ensure that minor drug offences committed in the past do not automatically trigger a mandatory minimum for persons convicted of drug offences today
- Add the Senate to the review clause and provide that a parliamentary review take place after two years AND after five years.
The Criminal Code currently urges judges to consider penalties other than imprisonment for aboriginal people (s.718.2(e)). The final amendment ensures that similar consideration would be given when sentencing aboriginal people under the amended Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The report on Bill C-15 will be presented to the Senate as a whole for the Senators to consider the proposed amendments.
The Committee heard testimony from 62 witnesses over a four week period in the course of its rigorous study on Bill C-15 . The witnesses comprised government officials, representatives of law enforcement associations, legal organizations, public health organizations, and academics. Nine written submissions were also received from organizations and individuals who did not or could not appear before the committee.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who appeared before the Committee, stated that “ the proposals represent a tailored approach to mandatory penalties for serious drug offences . . . the offences being targeted are trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking, production, importing, exporting, and possession for the purpose of exporting drugs.” Minister Nicholson also stated “We are targeting those who profit off of the vulnerabilities of those addicted to drugs. We are targeting organized crime.”
However, witnesses representing the criminal defence bar who appeared on October 8, 2009 suggested that Bill C-15 will not have this effect, because the bill would make it more attractive for heads of criminal organizations to recruit low-level dealers, who are also addicts, to deal drugs for them, and that these latter individuals are the ones who would receive the mandatory minimum sentences that Bill C-15 would impose.
There were no mandatory minimum penalties in the CDSA. Bill C-15 imposes several mandatory minimums. It also increases the maximum penalty for cannabis (marijuana) production and takes certain substances from Schedule III of the Act and places them in Schedule I, thereby increasing the potential punishment for offences committed in relation to those substances.
Howard Sapers, Correctional Investigator, stated that “ there is a large body of research that points to both the lack of a deterrent effect for mandatory minimum sentences and the fact that they can lead to significant increases in the prison population with little or no positive impact on public safety. Mandatory minimums are contrary to the notion that the punishment should fit the crime, and current conditions inside Canada's penitentiaries do not support easy access to proven correctional interventions.”
Professor Neil Boyd, Simon Fraser University, stated that “ two empirically based Department of Justice Canada studies take issue with mandatory minimum terms for crimes of illegal drug distribution. . . . There is some indication that minimum sentences are not an effective sentencing tool: that is, they constrain judicial discretion without offering any increased crime prevention benefits.”
Joëlle Roy, Vice-president of the Association québécoise des avocats et avocates de la défense,stated as follows: “ the imposition of minimum sentences also puts a muzzle on us. It muzzles not only the judges who impose sentences, but also the defence lawyers, the crown prosecutors and the probation officers.”
For a copy of the report, or to find out more about the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, please visit www.senate-senat.ca/LEG-JUR.asp.
For more information or to receive a backgrounder on Bill C-15 please contact:
Mona Ishack
Media Relations
Tel: (613) 944-4082
E-mail: ishacm@sen.parl.gc.ca
Jessica Richardson
Committee Clerk
Tel. (613) 990-6087
Email: richaj@sen.par.gc.ca
