CBC: Tories wanted to reform pardons in 2006

[tuvor]

Altering the way criminal pardons are doled out in Canada so that sex offenders can't readily get them would be relatively easy, a legal expert said Thursday.

"It could be a simple sentence in the Criminal Records Act that says the minister of public safety will have the authority to list certain criteria that the National Parole Board has to follow," Toronto lawyer and author Michael Carabash told CBC News.

Indeed, the Tory government sought to amend the pardon process in 2006, after revelations remarkably similar to those that emerged this week about sex offender Graham James.

...

A shocked Prime Minister's Office called it "deeply troubling" and asked Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to propose reforms to the National Parole Board's pardon process. Toews responded that the government will look for ways to stop "rubber-stamped" pardons.

...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/04/09/pardons-reform-tories.html

[JBoy]

1. They wanted to reform it in 2006, but Harper didn't need his tantrum until now.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

2. They DID change it, Harper is grandstanding.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Pardons+lenient+Blame+this+government/2780581/story.html