|
OTTAWA
- It started out as an Opposition supply day motion back
in early 2001, and after years of pressure from police
agencies, victims groups, provincial justice ministers
and the Conservative party, Canada finally has a national
sex offender registry. The bill, C-16, which recently
received Royal Assent in the Senate, will create a registry
that will include all sex offenders who are currently
in prison or on parole.
Langley-Abbotsford
MP Randy White, who drafted the initial legislation for
a national sex offender registry three years ago, said
praise for the completion of this bill should be extended
to a number of people. “Thanks to police across the
country; Jim and Anna Stevenson - whose son Christopher
was murdered by a sex offender, and whose hard work and
pressure led to an Ontario registry; the provincial and
territorial solicitors general; and victims groups who
have been asking for this legislation for many years.
Due in large part to your efforts, the government was
convinced that there had to be a registry and it is finally
here today.”
White
adds the final version of the bill is far from perfect
because the Liberal government made changes to protect
the offender. White outlined the following major flaws
that still need to be addressed:
·
Young offenders who commit sex crimes and are sentenced
in youth court are not included on the registry;
· Entry on the registry must be made by application
through Crown Counsel;
· The offender has the right to appeal his/her
registration order;
· The judge can decide to remove the offender from
the registry if the judge believes being on the registry
is doing the offender more harm than good;
·
Canadian offenders who are convicted of sex crimes in
other countries and are transferred back to Canada are
not included on the registry;
·
The maximum sentence for non-registration of a sex offender
is two years, compared to a ten-year sentence for a law-abiding
citizen who doesn’t register their gun on the firearms
registry.
“We
will see how effective the sex offender registry is, with
the number of loopholes the government has placed on it
in order to protect the rights of the offenders. There
is a strong chance, since the Crown must apply to have
the sex offender placed on the registry, that those registration
orders would not be consistent across the country. This
is supposed to be, first and foremost, a tool that will
assist police in doing their job. But I am afraid we have
not given them the best tool possible when it come to
protecting our citizens from sexual predators,” concluded
White.
-
30 -
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION: Randy White MP - (604) 557-7888
|
