e-4384 (Justice)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• In a backgrounder released on December 7, 2021, the day Bill C-5 : An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act was tabled, the Department of Justice stated that the intention of the bill was to remove mandatory minimum sentences that led to the disproportionate representation of Black and Indigenous Canadians in our prisons;
• Subsection 14(2) of Bill C-5 repealed sections 742.1(e) and 742.1(e) and 742.1(f) of the Criminal Code to remove two limitations on the availability of conditional sentencing, the second of which removed the prohibition on conditional sentencing for a series of offenses, including: Kidnapping; Sexual assault; and Human trafficking.
• Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu tabled an amendment that would have removed these offenses from the list, however his amendment was ultimately rejected;
• In 2021, 34,242 sexual assaults were reported to police in Canada, representing 1 report for every 1000 Canadians, and this amendment to the Criminal Code improves the lives of offenders while corroding the life of those impacted by the sexual offender as well as everyday Canadians; and
• Victims of sexual assault, kidnapping and human trafficking deserve justice as they must live with the trauma for the rest of their lives.