✔︎ C-266 (Respecting Families of Murdered and Brutalized Persons Act)
Voted yea. Bill adopted.
Bill
C-266: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (increasing parole ineligibility).
Second Reading.
Vote
Yea.
Rationale
A life sentence is the most severe punishment that can be imposed for some of the most heinous and horrific crimes that can be committed. While life sentences never expire, inmates with life sentences are eligible for parole hearings after 25 years. When an inmate who has virtually no chance of ever being granted parole attends those hearings it can often lead to re-victimization for family members of the deceased. While the government cannot retroactively change parole eligibility for convicts currently in the criminal justice system, changes can be made on a go-forward basis.
The Bill proposes to amend the Criminal Code to direct that a period of parole ineligibility between 25 and 40 years be imposed on individuals who have been convicted, in respect of the same victim and the same series of events.
Result
Passed.