Today, the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, and MP for Provencher announced that legislation to abolish Accelerated Parole Review has passed in the House of Commons.
“This Government has committed to act decisively to crack down on crime to protect families and communities,” said Minister Toews. “The measures announced today will make offenders more accountable for their crimes.”
The proposed legislation, the Abolition of Early Parole Act (Bill C-59), would abolish the current system of Accelerated Parole Review and responds to concerns raised by victims’ groups and police associations across the country.
Under the current system, Accelerated Parole Review allows non-violent, first time offenders to access day parole at one-sixth of their sentence and full parole at one-third of their sentence if the Parole Board of Canada is satisfied that an offender will not commit an act of violence after being released.
Proposed changes would ensure that first time, non-violent offenders would be eligible for regular day parole at earliest six months prior to their full parole eligibility date.
“The opposition Liberals and NDP have argued against this bill almost solely on cost and whether a criminal would be inclined to commit a second offence. They continue to completely ignore the responsibility of the justice system to victims of crime. It is high time the sentence of the judge be respected. Three years will mean three years and not six months,” added Toews.
