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Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Issue 24 - Evidence for March 22, 2011


OTTAWA, Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, to which was referred Bill C-59, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (accelerated parole review) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, met this day at 9:05 a.m. to give clause-by-clause consideration to the bill.

Senator Joan Fraser (Chair) in the chair.

[Translation]

The Chair: Honourable Senators, as you know, clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-59, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (accelerated parole review) and to make consequential amendments to other acts, is on our agenda today.

Before we proceed, I want to point out that you all should have received certain documents, specifically, the 2010 annual report, a statistical overview of the corrections and conditional release system.

[English]

These are the numbers that Mr. Stewart referred to last night. You will find, in section D, the relevant data that we were discussing last night.

In addition, we have received an email from Ms. Mary Campbell of Public Safety Canada. We asked for gender analysis and the impact of this bill. Ms. Campbell either stayed up late or got up very early to give us the material that she could, but there was no time to translate it. Therefore, I have an email from her and I propose to read it into the record for translation purposes. It is from Mary Campbell to the clerk of the committee. It says:

A summary GBA was done in Public Safety. Abolition of APR will have a disproportionate impact on women, in terms of ratios, not in terms of absolute numbers. Approximately 13,000 men are in penitentiary, and only about 500 women. But as a proportion, APR will affect more women because women proportionately get APR more than men. Since 2000-01, of the 1,257 female offenders released on their first federal full parole, 74.1 % were released through APR. Of the 11,004 male offenders released on their first federal full parole, 62.8 % were released through APR.

This proportion also holds when the rates of APR day parole are examined: since 2000-01, female offenders were released on APR day parole more often than male offenders (60.9 % - female, versus 45.5 % - men).

The statistics above show that the abolition of APR is likely to have a disproportionate effect on women offenders. However, it should also be noted that all offenders would have access to regular day and full parole reviews with the coming into force of C-59, if Parliament approves it.

Last year, approximately 1,500 offenders (male and female) were released through APR on day parole.

I hope this is satisfactory. We will be at Committee shortly, with copies of the Statistical Overview.

This email was written before I banged the gavel this morning. It is signed Mary E. Campbell, Director General, Corrections and Criminal Justice, Public Safety Canada.

As you know, colleagues, the steering committee has scheduled clause-by-clause consideration of this bill for this meeting.

[Translation]

Is it agreed that the committee proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-59?

Hon. Senators: Yes.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

Shall the title stand postponed? Is it agreed?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

The Chair: Carried.

Shall clause 1, which contains the short title, stand postponed?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

The Chair: Carried.

[Translation]

Shall clause 2 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

Shall clause 3 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[Translation]

Shall clause 4 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

Shall clause 5 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[Translation]

Shall clause 6 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

Shall clause 7 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[Translation]

Shall clause 8 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

Shall clause 9 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[Translation]

Shall clause 10 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

You will note, colleagues, that I have not been saying "on division," but it is clear that this is not a unanimous vote and the record will so show.

Shall clause 11 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[Translation]

Shall clause 12 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

Shall clause 13 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

Shall clause 14 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[Translation]

Shall clause 15 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

Shall clause 16 carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[Translation]

Shall clause 1, which contains the short title, carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

[English]

Shall the title carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

Shall the bill carry?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

Does the committee wish to consider appending observations to the report?

Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Is it agreed that I report this bill to the Senate?

Some Hon. Senators: Yes.

Some Hon. Senators: No.

The Chair: Carried.

No one asked for roll call votes. The record will show that on every vote there were some votes in opposition and a majority of votes in favour.

Thank you, colleagues. That concludes our business for this morning.

I will ask the steering committee to stay behind for what will probably be a brief meeting. However, pending conclusions by the steering committee, it is likely that we shall meet again on Wednesday evening to discuss Bill C-475 on methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Senator Joyal: Is that the next item on the committee's agenda.

The Chair: Yes. That bill has been referred to us.

Another private member's bill has been referred to us, but its sponsor appears not to be yearning to appear before this committee to work on that bill. Therefore, the simplest thing to do is to deal with the methamphetamine bill on Wednesday at our regular time, in our regular room.

I want to thank all committee members and all staff for the marathons that we went through yesterday and in the weeks before the break week. This committee has earned more brownie points than I can imagine.

Senator Joyal: I would like to commend the steering committee for the selection of witnesses that we had the opportunity to hear yesterday. I know it was tough to put all that together in a single day, but I think the selection was balanced and the input was appreciated, at least by members on our side. I would like to convey that to the steering committee. I know that Senator Wallace and Senator Carignan worked on that. It was a very good study of the bill. I appreciated that very much.

The Chair: Thank you.

With that, colleagues, unless anyone wishes to raise other business, the meeting is adjourned.

(The committee adjourned.)


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