The ALS Clinic team engages in law reform and advocacy. In September, I twice had the opportunity to provide submissions to the Senate of Canada’s Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (the Committee). ALS will be invited or seek opportunities to make submissions to such committees when bills are before parliament and undergoing review at a House of Commons Committee or Senate Committee. We do this so that we can provide perspective on how laws will impact Indigenous people before they are enacted and to advocate for a bill; against a bill; or to suggest amendments.
On Sept. 20, I provided submissions to the Committee on Bill S-212. This is a bill sponsored by Senator Kim Pate. It seeks to amend the Criminal Records Act to provide for the expiry of criminal records. ALS supports this Bill becoming law because there are already many barriers for Indigenous people without having a criminal record after the expiry of their sentence and the passage of time. If brought into law, this Bill will allow for automatic expiry of a criminal record for some offences and not require an individual to apply for a pardon.
A link to the transcripts of my submissions and question period are below.
https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/Committee/441/LCJC/67EV-56319-E
On Sept. 28, the Indigenous Bar Association (IBA) was invited to make submissions before the Committee on Bill C-48 concerning bail reform. The IBA asked me to testify on their behalf as a member at large and agreed to joint positions with ALS on some aspects of the proposed legislation. The IBA and ALS oppose this Bill even though we recognize that the current government will push it through. This Bill is supposed to be a “tough on crime” approach to bail, but undoubtedly will have dire outcomes for Indigenous people, whose mass incarceration is already a crisis in Canada. Particularly problematic are reverse onus provisions for intimate partner violence (IPV) because Indigenous women are too often charged with domestic assault when the true assailant claims, “she started it”. The practice of dual charging disproportionately impacts Indigenous women, who often plead guilty rather than face lengthy processes waiting for a trial or because they fear losing their children.
One amendment adopted by the Senate (proposed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and supported by IBA and ALS) would require judges to provide reasons why they have not considered the circumstances of Indigenous, Black and vulnerable people if they deny bail. The Bill will now go back to the House of Commons.
The transcript is available at:
https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/Committee/441/LCJC/56348-E
One of the neat things about doing this type of law reform is often our comments will come up on the floor of the House of Commons or the Senate and form part of Hansard (the official written record of debates in Parliament) when the law is being debated. When we intervene during appeals, we cite Hansard, particularly when we have previously advised that the law will likely harm Indigenous people or may be deemed unconstitutional. This way, we are advocating at the front end and the back end of law so that both politicians and judges have opportunities to understand the potential effects laws may have on Indigenous people.
Christa Big Canoe
Legal Director