Parole Board Now Working on Pardons

Since the announcement by the Parole Board of Canada that record suspensions (specifically the ones priced at $631) would be treated before older pardon applications we have understandably had some unhappy clients.

We thought that applications submitted to the Parole Board would be dealt with on a first come first serve basis. But when the conservatives got involved in pardons they renamed pardons to record suspensions and increased the PBC application fee from $50 then to $150 and then up to $631. Let’s hope the final number sticks.

The problem was the Conservative government felt that if you paid more you should get special treatment at the expense of all the older applicants that had paid less. So while we thought we were working in our clients’ best interest by submitting so many applications prior to the fee increase, it turned out to be a mixed blessing. A lot of our clients paid less. But then we found out they would have to wait longer.

Finally the Parole Board has decided to do something about the backlog. It has hired an additional team to deal with the older pardon applications that were submitted with the $50 and $150 fee structure (keep in mind these amounts are in addition to the costs involved with preparing the application in the first place).

So while I still cannot provide any specific timeframes there is now reason for optimism. Let’s hope the new team gets trained well and hits the ground running. With luck some of you with older applications stuck in limbo will have good news coming your way.

Keep your fingers crossed. We have been for ages now.