Getting a criminal record check by using your name and birth date alone is not possible depending on how you look at it. What you can sometimes do by name and birth date is verify that no criminal record information is associated with your name. But since it’s possible to have false matches (after all […]
One of the major obstacles of a criminal record is the restriction it places on travel. If you don’t already know it is illegal in most cases for someone to cross the Canada / USA border if they have ever been convicted of a crime. It can also be a problem if you have simply […]
One of the more problematic changes to the pardon system brought about by Stephen Harper’s omnibus crime bill was granting the Parole Board the power to refuse a pardon for any reason whatsoever. Specifically – or vaguely depending on how you look at it – the Board can refuse to order a record suspension if […]
The process for a Canadian pardon and a US entry waiver both begin with the same procedure – fingerprinting. The purpose of fingerprinting is to retrieve your criminal record from the RCMP. Since it is possible to falsely identify someone based on name and date of birth alone, the RCMP requires you to submit fingerprints, […]
The email below is from Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould in response to the email I sent her concerning changes to the pardon program. It is kindly worded and thoughtful and it strikes me as being the polar opposite of what Vic Toews would have written on the same subject. For the record I hope to work […]
It’s hard to imagine a Canadian government more incompetent on social issues than the Federal Conservatives were on criminal justice. Take the pardon program for example. Under the leadership of Stephen Harper changes were made to the pardon system that cut the number of applicants by more than half. From 2012 to 2015 requests dropped […]
More than 10,000 people are deported from Canada every year. There are many reasons why a visitor, asylum seeker, permanent resident, etc might be deported. but any non citizen convicted of a criminal offence in Canada will be prevented from re-entering the country until they have received a pardon (also known as a record suspension). […]
Great news! Today Ralph Goodale, Public Safety Minister, announced a plan to overhaul Canada’s pardon system which was made, in Goodale’s words, more punitive under the Conservative government. I couldn’t agree more. The changes to the pardon system were done purely for political reasons and I believe the Conservative government should be ashamed of its […]
Congratulations to Nicole Levesque Director of the National Pardon Centre for receiving the Allison Roach Alumna Award from Branksome Hall. To give you a little bit more background the National Pardon Centre was founded in September 2002 by Nicole and I after about a full year of business preparation to get all the details sorted […]
Since the Liberal Victory I have been receiving emails from people willing to tell their story about how the Conservative government’s changes to the pardon program unfairly held them back. The story always seems to be the same. These people made mistakes but they changed and wanted to turn their lives around. But instead of […]
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