Our government has three main priorities on public safety: First, we will work to hold offenders accountable for their actions. Second, we will put victims first, and third, we will reform the justice system to work fairly and efficiently.

We have already passed important legislation to deliver on our commitments to Canadians to keep our streets and communities safe. Our job is not finished. More action is planned on several fronts — and one is the way our justice system handles serious violent crimes committed by people found Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) for an offence.

You’ve all heard the news stories — someone found Not Criminally Responsible by the courts for a crime committed is released back into the streets after a few short years — only to traumatize victims or re-offend. Unfortunately, Canada’s current law allows that.

After release, people found NCR are legally free to live anywhere, even in the same communities as their victims or victims’ families. There is no warning or protection to keep victims and other law-abiding Canadians safe. This gap in the justice system must be addressed.

That’s why I’m pleased that the Government of Canada is reinstating the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act. The proposed legislation is part of our plan for safe streets and communities. It contains several common-sense measures to better protect Canadians in situations where offenders are found NCR.

Our bill will consider public safety as paramount in the decision-making process relating to offenders found NCR. This is a vital change for the protection of society. It also follows the spirit of putting the rights of victims and law-abiding Canadians first.

Under current legislation, review boards can release an NCR offender. Our proposed legislation would create a new designation, enabling a court to designate such a person as high-risk.  This new designation would protect the public by preventing the release of high-risk individuals without review by a court. It would also prohibit the practice of unescorted day passes.

Victims too, would be protected under our proposed legislation. We would require that victims be notified when an NCR offender is released. We would allow non-communication orders to be imposed, to prevent an offender from contacting his or her victims. We would alsoprovide victims with information regarding the intended place of residence of the accused.

Nothing in this bill would deny access to treatment.  Detained individuals will be held in secure mental health facilities, not prisons, and as now, given proper medical treatment.

Better addressing situations where offenders are found NCR is an important part of our government’s process of building on past measures to keep our streets and communities safe. We are already targeting organized crime, sexual offences against youth and serious white collar crime.  We passed those measures despite obstruction by the opposition. Stronger, more meaningful sentences will help keep offenders out of our communities and better protect law-abiding Canadians. 

Canadians deserve to know that the justice system is there to protect them.  Our government is committed to making this happen.

-30-

The audio version of Garry's December 16, 2013 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here