The Safe Streets and Communities Act is an omnibus bill that consists of nine smaller bills that the conservatives failed to pass, which have now been put together to create Bill C-10. Bill C-10 includes the Increasing penalties for organized crime act, Protecting society from violent offenders act, Ending house arrest for property and other serious crimes act, Eliminating pardons for serious crimes act, Protecting children from sexual predators act, Increasing offender accountability act, International transfer of prisoners back to Canada act, Supporting victims of terrorism act, and the Protecting vulnerable foreign nationals against trafficking, abuse and exploitation act (Safe Streets and Community Act, 2012). The Safe Streets and Communities
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In 2013 2.1 million criminal code and federal statute offenses, were reported by the police which is the lowest recorded crime rate in Canada since 1969. (Statistics Canada, 2013) Wouldn 't these decreasing crime rates suggest that Safe Streets and Communities Act has done more good than harm? Theoretically yes, but many such as the students for Sensible Drug Policy believe that Bill C-10 is harming our society, especially the youth.
“For young people whose substance use does not constitute a full addiction, incarceration will be the only option under this bill,” the Students for Sensible Drug Policy told MPs in a brief. “This proposed legislation does not recognize the wide spectrum of reasons why people use drugs. Those young people now branded with the stigma and criminal record as a ‘drug dealer’ will have their future employment opportunities further reduced — the opposite of a successful rehabilitation effort.” Richard Elliott, The executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. (Federal Conservative Government Criminal Justice Policies, …show more content…
There was a time where twenty percent of the prison population consisted of Aboriginals, yet only four percent of Canada’s population was Aboriginal. Which causes great concern within Aboriginal communities due to the high rate of Aboriginal youth population, these new penalties are bound to have serious consequences on Aboriginal communities. The number of Aboriginal offenders is expected to go up. Not only are the changes within the youth sentencing of great concern, but thecriminalization of tobacco. Because of the low tax rates on Tabaco, it has led to major business opportunities on reserves. Many Aboriginals and Natives are concerned that these new laws regarding Tabaco and Trafficking in contraband will affect their lives and economy as well as take way thousands of jobs. This leads to a domino effect because by taking away their job opportunities and bringing down their economy, many will fall back on crime to earn money, such as selling drugs or human
In 2013 2.1 million criminal code and federal statute offenses, were reported by the police which is the lowest recorded crime rate in Canada since 1969. (Statistics Canada, 2013) Wouldn 't these decreasing crime rates suggest that Safe Streets and Communities Act has done more good than harm? Theoretically yes, but many such as the students for Sensible Drug Policy believe that Bill C-10 is harming our society, especially the youth.
“For young people whose substance use does not constitute a full addiction, incarceration will be the only option under this bill,” the Students for Sensible Drug Policy told MPs in a brief. “This proposed legislation does not recognize the wide spectrum of reasons why people use drugs. Those young people now branded with the stigma and criminal record as a ‘drug dealer’ will have their future employment opportunities further reduced — the opposite of a successful rehabilitation effort.” Richard Elliott, The executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. (Federal Conservative Government Criminal Justice Policies, …show more content…
There was a time where twenty percent of the prison population consisted of Aboriginals, yet only four percent of Canada’s population was Aboriginal. Which causes great concern within Aboriginal communities due to the high rate of Aboriginal youth population, these new penalties are bound to have serious consequences on Aboriginal communities. The number of Aboriginal offenders is expected to go up. Not only are the changes within the youth sentencing of great concern, but thecriminalization of tobacco. Because of the low tax rates on Tabaco, it has led to major business opportunities on reserves. Many Aboriginals and Natives are concerned that these new laws regarding Tabaco and Trafficking in contraband will affect their lives and economy as well as take way thousands of jobs. This leads to a domino effect because by taking away their job opportunities and bringing down their economy, many will fall back on crime to earn money, such as selling drugs or human