{"id":11884,"date":"2014-11-05T14:54:36","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T14:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalpardon.org\/?p=11884"},"modified":"2014-11-05T14:54:36","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T14:54:36","slug":"pardons-backlog-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.nationalpardon.org\/?p=11884","title":{"rendered":"The Pardons Backlog Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever thought finding a job was impossible? Most of us have at one time or another. But imagine looking for work with a criminal record holding you back? Then imagine knowing that Canadian law says you\u2019re eligible to have that criminal record removed and that it should have been done years ago.<\/p>\n

Now imagine the only reason that criminal record still exists at all, which is the only reason you can\u2019t find work, is because of the Conservative government of Canada. You might just hope Stephen Harper will find himself looking for work about a year from now.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the current government\u2019s stance on criminal justice 22, 300 people found themselves unable to move on with their lives. It was all a result of the backlog of pardon applications that was created following the Conservative government\u2019s User Fee Act.<\/p>\n

It started back in spring 2012, when the Parole Board of Canada increased the fee for a pardon<\/a> from $150 to $631. That was the moment when finding a job became impossible for thousands of people who want to do better. And I\u2019m not even talking about the people who just can\u2019t afford it anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t get on with my life,\u201d said a guy on the phone, we can call him John. He\u2019s just one of the many people I\u2019ve spoken with recently. \u201cI\u2019m legally allowed to, but I can\u2019t. Try raising two kids on minimum wage jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently the Parole Board announced more good news regarding the backlog that was created as a result of the legislation passed by the Conservative government. Originally scheduled to be cleared by March 2014, the backlog is moving forward slower than ever, with no final clearance date in sight. The Board finally updated its backlog status. It is now expecting to have close to 70% of it cleared by March 31st 2015. This isn\u2019t actually good news.<\/p>\n

It also stopped processing indictable offences completely. It\u2019s doing nothing. If you have an indictable offence on your record that application is sitting somewhere. It\u2019s complete. It was prepared properly. You\u2019re legally eligible to get your pardon. It\u2019s just that no one is even going to look at it.<\/p>\n

What about summary offences? Originally scheduled to be done already, the Board is looking to that late 2015 date to have them complete, at which time we can assume it might start dusting off the indictable cases.<\/p>\n

Since the eligibility waiting period for a summary offence was increased from 3 years to 5 years, as a result of the Conservative\u2019s omnibus crime bill, it\u2019s fair to wonder if the backlog is just a stall tactic. Is it a way to make people who were eligible under the old rules wait the time required under the new rules? I\u2019ve no idea and I\u2019m not sure it matters. But if so, indictable offences should be cleared up 3-4 years from now, maybe more. It\u2019s not fair of course but what can you do? Taking the Parole Board of Canada to Federal Court comes with a hefty price tag. It\u2019s a price beyond the reach of most people looking for work.<\/p>\n

In the meantime John and several thousand other applicants are stuck in limbo, watching their lives pass them by. They can\u2019t get a pardon. They can\u2019t get a job. And they can\u2019t even get answers. What they can get is a sound bite from the Conservative government about keeping the streets and communities safe. They can be told the government has a strong mandate to tackle criminal justice, at a time when crime had been decreasing for decades. But they can\u2019t get a pardon and they can\u2019t get on with their lives. Assurances from the Parole Board of Canada that it has taken significant steps to fix the problem sound just as hollow as the all the tough on crime stuff by now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want a chance,\u201d John said as our talk was coming to an end. \u201cI\u2019ve had great opportunities. I\u2019ve been offered jobs. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m not trying. But something I did 20 years ago is holding me back. Every job needs a background check these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s to be the problem with this administration\u2019s stance on criminal justice. It\u2019s stuck in the past, unable to see the evidence that\u2019s right in front of them and the problems that ignoring evidence inevitably creates. It\u2019s also unable to see people who\u2019ve already paid their debt as real people.<\/p>\n

But John is a real person and Canadian law says he is eligible for his pardon, as are the thousands of other people stuck in this mess.<\/p>\n

The Parole Board of Canada and the Federal Conservative government should let them have it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever thought finding a job was impossible? Most of us have at one time or another. But imagine looking for work with a criminal record holding you back? Then imagine knowing that Canadian law says you\u2019re eligible to have that criminal record removed and that it should have been done years ago. Now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,6],"tags":[42,40,14],"class_list":["post-11884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-records","category-pardon","tag-bill-c10","tag-conservative-government","tag-how-to-apply-for-a-pardon"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Pardons Backlog Continues - staging.nationalpardon.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recent news from the parole board of Canada indicates that the pardons backlog will continue even longer than originally anticipated.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pardons Backlog Continues - 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