First off all of us at the National Pardon Centre would like to congratulate Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada. An astounding victory was had last night. It went well beyond the expectations of, well, just about everyone.
But the dust hasn’t even settled this Tuesday morning after the astonishing Liberal victory that swept Stephen Harper away from Ottawa and we are already getting emails asking what we think it will mean for pardons.
So here it is in a nutshell; our intentions and what– if anything – it will mean for the pardon program.
- Yes, we plan to engage the Liberal government on the pardons issue.
- We hope the elements of Bill C 23-B will be repealed along with the user fee increase at the Parole Board of Canada.
- We do not expect any movement on charges relating to sexual offences involving a minor.
- It’s going to take some time.
The truth is we really don’t know what Trudeau’s position will be on crime. He has a lot to deal with after ten years of Conservative rule under Stephen Harper (possibly the least socially progressive politician in Canada) but the Liberal party has a long standing record on being at least sensible on crime. And since Trudeau has won such an overwhelming majority, it gives the party a lot of room to make changes the Conservatives would disapprove of.
If you want to provide a testimony of your experience under the new pardon laws and how they negatively affected your life please email me at mashby@nationalpardon.org
Be sure to check this blog from time to time. Any news on the matter will be posted.
Michael Ashby
514.842.2411 x 227