Brief to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs: Bill C-5 An Act to amend

Leonard’s Society of Canada supports the use of judicial discretion in sentencing and calls on Canadian legislators at all levels of government to use alternate sentencing mechanisms and to remove mandatory minimum sentencing provisions from our laws, as stated in its policy on MMS.10 Current Status of Mandatory Minimums and Bill C-5 In addition to seeking to restore the availability of Conditiona. [...] When elected in 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau directed “a review of the changes in our criminal justice system and sentencing reforms over the past decade with a mandate to assess the changes, ensure that we are increasing the safety of our communities, getting value for money, addressing gaps and ensuring that current provisions are aligned with the objectives of the criminal justice system”.12 To. [...] The effects of mandatory minimum sentences are numerous, including: the increase of the prison population; the removal of judicial discretion; failure to provide the deterrence intended; and a number of unexpected consequences upon the administration of justice and marginal populations.3 Prisons in Canada are already overcrowded causing concerns regarding the results that ‘tough on crime’ legislat. [...] Moreover, the CBA (2010) believes judges have effective guidance from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Criminal Code to determine a fit sentence for the individual offender given the circumstances of the offence. [...] For example, drug policies implemented in the Netherlands advocate fines, education, and the control of drugs through state intervention.9 Detention is only used in the production, sale and possession of hard drugs—cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines.10 As a result, drug use and drug-related crime have decreased in the Netherlands since the 1970’s.