Canada's Sentences Failing to Reduce Crime

A report by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) shows that Canada's mandatory minimum sentencing is failing to reduce crime and is instead raising costs.

The federal government's Bill C-10 in 2012 increased the amount of offences with mandatory minimum sentences. The bill has been criticized, however, because studies have not yet shown that minimum sentences actually deter crime.

The BCCLA report by Raji Mangat shows that offenders often do not know which crimes have mandatory minimum sentences and, more importantly, they do not believe they will get caught and receive any penalty. Instead, Mangat suggests that this policy only distracts from more effective approaches to reducing to crime, including rehabilitation and treatment for offenders.

Instead, it may just increase costs. According to the report, the Parliamentary Budget Office estimated that only one of the aspects of Bill C-10, changing eligibility criteria for conditional sentences of imprisonment, would cost over $156 million in parole, trial, and corrections costs.

Additionally, Mangat shows that Canada's minimum sentences disproportionally affect some groups, increasing social costs. While some may believe that mandatory sentences promote equality because all offenders are sentenced the same, the report shows that Aboriginal and mentally ill offenders are particularly affected, as they are already already more likely to be charged with multiple offences.

The amount of federal inmates who were Aboriginal was 23.2 per cent in February 2013, though they make up only 4 per cent of Canada's population. Mangat's reports shows that these offenders are treated more harshly and that the circumstances of their offences are more often related to issues such as inter-generational abuse from residential schools and low levels of education, employment, and income.

Mangat calls the policy “a short-sighted approach” and calls for reform to decrease both financial and social costs while better serving the justice system.