SECOND EDITION

EXPLORING CRIMINAL JUSTICE

IN CANADA

RICK RUDDELL
 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by
publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK
and in certain other countries.

Published in Canada by
Oxford University Press
8 Sampson Mews, Suite 204,
Don Mills, Ontario M3C 0H5 Canada

www.oupcanada.com

Copyright © Oxford University Press Canada 2020

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

Database right Oxford University Press (maker)

First Edition published in 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford
University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence, or under terms agreed with the
appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the
scope of the above should be sent to the Permissions Department at the address above or through
the following url: www.oupcanada.com/permission/permission_request.php

Every effort has been made to determine and contact copyright holders.
In the case of any omissions, the publisher will be pleased to make suitable acknowledgement in
future editions.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Exploring criminal justice in Canada / Rick Ruddell.

Names: Ruddell, Rick, 1961- author.
Description: Second edition.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190165367 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190165596 | ISBN
9780199033751 (softcover) | ISBN 9780199039173 (loose leaf) | ISBN 9780199033768 (EPUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Criminal justice, Administration of—Canada—Textbooks. | LCSH: Criminology
—Canada—Textbooks. | LCGFT: Textbooks.
Classification: LCC HV9960.C2 R84 2020 | DDC 364.971—dc23

Cover image: © iStock/ChristopheLedent

Cover design: Sherill Chapman
Interior design: Laurie McGregor
Brief Contents
From the Publisher
Preface and Acknowledgements

PART I | Foundations
An Introduction to Crime and Justice
Crime in Canada

PART II | Controlling and Policing Crime

Controlling Crime
Police Organization and Structure
Police Activities, Operations, and Challenges

PART III | The Law and The Courts

Criminal Law
Criminal Courts and Court Personnel
Sentencing

PART IV | Corrections
Provincial Corrections: Probation and Short-
term Incarceration
Federal Corrections
 PART V Youth Justice
Youth Justice in Canada

PART VI Looking Forward

Looking Forward: Criminal Justice in the
Twenty-First Century
Glossary
References
Index

ONLINE CHAPTER Victimization

Contents
From the Publisher
Preface and Acknowledgements

PART I | Foundations
An Introduction to Crime and Justice

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
Crime and Law
Public (Criminal) and Private Law
The Criminal Code of Canada
Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Legislation
Classifying Crime
The Structure of the Criminal Justice System
Police
Courts
Corrections
Common Elements in the Criminal Justice System
Discretion
Filtering
Goals of the Criminal Justice System
Preventing Crime
Protecting the Public
Supporting the Victims of Crime, Their Families, and Witnesses
Holding Offenders Responsible
Helping Prisoners Return to the Community
Crime Control and Due Process Models
Crime Control Model
Due Process Model
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Site
Cases Cited

Crime in Canada

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
Five Types of Crime
Crimes against the Person
Property Crimes
Crimes of the Powerful
 Organized Crime and Gangs
Antisocial Behaviour
Measuring Crime
Crime Rates from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey
Canada’s Crime Severity Index
Victimization Surveys
Limitations of Victimization Data
Limitations of Police-Reported Crime Statistics
Self-Reported Crime
Regulating Traffic: Should Bad Driving Be a Crime?
Understanding Crime Distribution
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Site
Cases Cited

PART II | Controlling and Policing Crime

Controlling Crime

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
Crime Control Philosophies
“Tough on Crime” Practices: Retribution, Deterrence, and
Incapacitation
Reforming Offenders: Restitution, Rehabilitation, and Restorative
Justice
Conflict Perspective
Public Opinion, the Media, and Punishment
Criminal Justice and the Indigenous Peoples of Canada
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Site
Case Cited

Police Organization and Structure

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
The Evolution of Canadian Policing
Pre-Modern Era (Prior to 1820)
Political Era (1820 to 1940)
Professional Era (1940 to 1980)
Community Policing Era (1980 to the Present)
Police Structure in Canada
Police Consolidation
Policing: An Expensive Proposition
Police Strength
Rural Policing
Role of the Police in Canada
Crime Prevention
Law Enforcement
Maintaining the Public Peace
Emergency Response
Assistance to Victims of Crime
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Sites
Case Cited

Police Activities, Operations, and Challenges

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
Police Allocation
Police Chain of Command and Police Officer Ranks
Operational Activities
Patrol
Traffic
Criminal Investigation
Drug Suppression
Organized Crime and Gangs
Specialized Operations
Crime Prevention
Youth Services
Community Policing
Policing Styles: Legalistic, Watchman, and Service
Current Challenges in Policing: The Context for Policing
Police Use of Force
Police Oversight and Accountability
Police Independence
Contemporary Challenges in Police Operations
Increasing Legal Complexity
Technology Is Changing the Nature of Crime
Technology is Changing the Way Police Carry Out Investigations
Civilianization
Representative Workforce
The Expansion of Private Policing
Police Officer Subculture
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Site
Case Cited

PART III | The Law and The Courts

Criminal Law
Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
Evolution of Canadian Criminal Law
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Elements of a Crime
The Criminal Act (Actus Reus)
The Guilty Mind (Mens Rea)
Defences
Alibi Defences
Justification Defences
Excuse Defences
The Criminal Justice Wedding Cake Model
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Site
Cases Cited

Criminal Courts and Court Personnel

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
Court Organization
The Four Levels of Criminal Court
Other Canadian Courts
Steps in a Criminal Investigation and Trial
Assembly-Line Justice
Courtroom Work Group
Judges
Crown Prosecutors
Defence Counsel
Support Personnel
Specialized Courts
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Site
Cases Cited

Sentencing
Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
Sentencing Options
Probation
Conditional Sentences
Custodial Sentences
Other Options
Interprovincial Sentencing Differences
The Principles of Sentencing
Proportionality
Aggravating and Mitigating Factors
Totality
Getting Tough on Offenders
Mandatory Minimum Penalties
Truth in Sentencing
Increasing the Severity of Life and Indeterminate Sentencing
Individualized Justice: Pre-sentence Reports
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Site
Cases Cited
 PART IV | Corrections
Provincial Corrections: Probation and Short-term
Incarceration

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
An Overview of Probation in Canada
Probation Caseloads
Focusing on High-Risk Probationers
Violations of Probation
Increasing Probationer Success
Officer Skills Matter in Reducing Recidivism
Provincial and Territorial Corrections
The Evolution of Provincial and Territorial Corrections
Provincial and Territorial Corrections Today
Characteristics of Provincial Correctional Centre Inmates
Institutional Safety and Security
Facility Design and Safety
Dynamic Security
Assessment and Classification
Violence, Escapes, and Major Incidents
 Inmate Advocacy
Correctional Officers
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions

Federal Corrections

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
The Establishment of Canadian Penitentiaries
CSC Prisoner Characteristics
Special Needs Prison Populations
Challenges of Managing Long-Term Prisoners
Delivering Meaningful Correctional Interventions
Violence Reduction in Federal Prisons
Prisoner Advocacy
An Overview of Federal Parole
A Short History of Parole in Canada
Conditional and Community Releases
Goals of Parole
Community Supervision of Parolees
Parole Success
 Reforming High-Risk Sexual Offenders: Circles of Support and
Accountability (COSAs)
Barriers to Community Re-entry
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Sites

PART V Youth Justice

Youth Justice in Canada

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
Youth Crime in Canada
The Evolution of Youth Justice in Canada
The Juvenile Delinquents Act, 1908 to 1984
The Young Offenders Act, 1984 to 2003
The Youth Criminal Justice Act, 2003 to Present
Case Flow of a Young Offender through the Justice System
Youth Criminal Justice Act Sanctions
Extrajudicial Sanctions
Community-Based Sanctions
 Open Custody
Secure Custody
Youth Interventions
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Sites

PART VI Looking Forward

Looking Forward: Criminal Justice in the Twenty-First
Century

Learning Outline
Case Study
Introduction
The Canadian Justice System: Where Are We Today?
Positive Changes
Developing a More Effective Justice System
External Forces Shaping Canadian Criminal Justice in the Twenty-First
Century
Political Changes
Economic Factors
Social Changes
 Technology
Environmental Factors
Legal Changes
Summary
Review Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Site
Cases Cited

Glossary
References
Index

ONLINE CHAPTER Victimization

From the Publisher
GUIDE TO THE NEW EDITION OF
EXPLORING CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN
CANADA
A new table of contents better reflects how criminal
justice is taught
• To make this edition easier to use in your course, the Criminal Law chapter now appears later
in the table of contents, the Youth Justice chapter has moved from online into the book, and
part divisions have been added.
Chapters 9 and 10 revised to increase student understanding
The new organization of chapters 9 and 10 helps students better
differentiate between provincial and federal corrections, and between
probation and parole.
New online chapter on victimization
A new online chapter on victimization provides more extensive coverage
and insights on this important topic in criminal justice. The chapter
explains victimology as a discipline, describes risks of victimization, and
outlines services available to victims of crime in Canada.

Revised supplementary materials for each of Canada’s ten provinces

In addition to the online chapter, the website for Exploring Criminal
Justice (www.oup.com/he/Ruddell2e) includes invaluable supplemental
packets of information for the ten provinces and provides details on key
topics—such as police departments, courts, offenders, crimes, and
miscarriages of justice—offering useful insights and facts for each.
Thoroughly updated throughout
Rick Ruddell continues his contemporary, solutions-based approach in this
new edition, encouraging students to see where and how evidence-based
practice is shaping criminal justice in Canada today. Cases, examples,
laws, and statistics have been updated throughout the entire book with up-
to-the-minute details, including results from the 2016 census released in
2018, Statistics Canada Adult Criminal Court data from 2019, 2019
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report, and more.

A critical, diverse, and practical box program maintained and updated

for this new edition
Six different types of boxes in each chapter highlight influential cases,
important concepts and events, issues related to diversity, differences in
criminal justice practices, myths and commonly held beliefs about the
justice system, and various careers in the field.

CASE STUDY
“Case Study” boxes start each chapter with a vignette that outlines a famous or
controversial real-world case related to the chapter content and accompanied by
critical thinking questions.
Donald Marshall Jr 2
Do White-Collar Criminals Deserve Harsher Sentences? 30
Vigilante Justice, Drunk Driving, and the Long Road to the Supreme Court of Canada 60
Investigating Crimes 88
A Family’s 10-Year Struggle to Understand their Daughter’s Murder 115
Representing Oneself in Court: The Case of Dellen Millard 144
Open Courts, Publication Bans, and Privacy: The Rehtaeh Parsons Case 173
What is the Correct Punishment for Bad Driving Causing Serious Injuries or Death? 201
A High-Risk Probationer Murders Three Ontario Women 229
A Federal Prisoner Commits Suicide After Falling Through the Cracks in the System 258
Youth Involved in Homicide 288
Self-Driving Vehicles and the Justice System 318

A Closer Look
“A Closer Look” boxes provide an in-depth look at important topics,
including rural crime, policing, and victimization.
Politics and Crime Control: A 2015 Election Promise and Legalizing Marijuana
in 2018 8
Auto Theft 37
How to Calculate a Crime Rate per 100,000 Residents 45
Rural Crime 54
Does the Punishment Fit the Crime? 67
The CSI Effect 76
Robert Peel’s Nine Principles of Policing 95
Police Responses to the Lac-Mégantic Train Disaster 109
Becoming a Police Officer in Canada 124
Understanding Legal Citation 146
Landmark Supreme Court Cases: Top 10 Criminal Law Cases in Canada 152
Rural Courts and Access to Justice 188
Bail: The Decision to Detain or Release 190
Battered Woman Syndrome in Homicide Cases: Unanticipated Outcomes 210
Sentence Calculation in Provincial and Territorial Correctional Centres 218
Correctional Training 253
Assessing Risks and Needs 266
Record Suspensions 282
Adolescent Brain Development and Crime 294
Using PESTEL to Scan the Environment 322

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
“A Comparative View” boxes explore interprovincial and global variation
in criminal justice practices and outcomes.

Wrongful Convictions 24
Interprovincial Variation in the Crime Severity Index 46
Rates of Imprisonment 73
Police Strength: Canada’s Place in the World 101
Use of Lethal Force in Canada and the United States 128
Canadian and US Court Operations 164
Cross-National Differences in the Rule of Law 192
Prison Waiting Lists 207
Offender Rehabilitation versus Surveillance in Canada and the United States
237
Prison Murders 271
Minimum Ages of Criminal Responsibility 298
The Future of Urban and Rural Justice Systems 338

Race, Class, and Gender

“Race, Class, and Gender” boxes discuss how the concepts of race, class,
and gender can influence the treatment of individuals in the justice system.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) 21

Infanticide: Do Laws Established in 1948 Reflect Justice Today? 33
Treatment of Girls and Women: What Are the Effects of Chivalry and
Paternalism in the Criminal Justice System? 80
Policing Indigenous Communities: Were First Nations Police Services Set Up to
Fail? 102
Women Police Leaders 136
Hate Crimes 160
Representative Juries, Justice, and the Colten Boushie Case 194
The Challenges of Indigenous Sentencing 221
Fines and Fairness: Should the Rich Pay More? 233
Do White-Collar Criminals Receive Privileged Prison Treatment? 272
Pathways to Female Youth Crime 310
Canada’s Changing Demographic Profile 330

MYTH OR REALITY
“Myth or Reality” boxes address commonly held beliefs about the justice
system and explore the evidence to support or refute those beliefs.

Crime, Justice, and Offenders: Myths and the Media 26

Stranger Danger 34
Do Tough Punishments Deter Crime? 83
Most Police Duties Are Related to Fighting Crime 110
Dangers of Police Work 139
Equality before the Law 168
The Independence of Prosecutorial Discretion and the Robert Latimer Case 195
Is Plea Bargaining Really a Pact with the Devil? 224
You Don’t Need Theory to Understand How the Justice System Operates 239
Parole Is “Soft” on Prisoners 273
Indigenous Youth: Factors in Criminality 309
Will Future Justice Policies Be Driven by Revolutionary Change? 341

Career SNAPSHOT

“Career Snapshot” boxes—written by professionals working in the Canadian

criminal justice system—offer students insight into the types of jobs available,
different pathways to starting a career, and potential career challenges and
opportunities.

Victim Advocacy—Heidi Illingworth, Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime 27

Crime Analysis—Amy Balfour, Manager, Strategic Services, Regina Police Service 56
Regional Communications Officer—Kerry Gatien, Regional Communications Officer,
Parole Board of Canada 85
Search and Rescue Preparedness Officer—Marina Carbonell, Inshore Rescue Boat
Coordinator, Canadian Coast Guard 112
Police Officer—Rick Abbott, Sergeant, Edmonton Police Service 140
Criminal Defence Lawyer—Jordana H. Goldlist, Owner, JHG Criminal Law 170
Crown Prosecutor—Omar Siddiqui, Crown Counsel, Manitoba Justice 197
Probation Officer—Elizabeth Engel, Probation Officer, Regina Adult Community
Corrections 225
Correctional Officer—Jennifer Wolfreys, Correctional Officer II and Acting Parole
Officer, Bath Institution, Ontario 254
Community Parole Officer—Tara Tomasi, Community Parole Officer, Correctional
Service of Canada 284
Facility Youth Worker—Catherine Wimmer, Correctional Service Worker II, Calgary
Young Offender Centre 314
Conservation Officers—David Bakica, District Conservation Officer, Environment
Yukon 343
EXTENSIVE ONLINE RESOURCES
Exploring Criminal Justice in Canada is part of a comprehensive package of learning and
teaching tools that includes resources for both students and instructors. These resources are
available at www.oup.com/he/Ruddell2e.

For Everyone
In addition to the chapter on Victimization and the provincial briefs listed above, the following
online materials are available to further enhance the learning and teaching experiences:
• a list of celebrated cases of crime in Canada that covers the most high-profile and dramatic
cases in Canadian history;
• a timeline of milestones in Canadian policing traces moments of historical importance in
policing in Canada; and
• a short narrative titled “Surviving a Life Sentence of Imprisonment One Day at a Time,”
which is based on an interview the author conducted with an individual sentenced to life
imprisonment, provides a more personal look at what life is like in the prison system.

For Instructors
The following instructor’s resources are available to qualifying adopters. Please contact your
OUP sales representative for more information.
• A comprehensive instructor’s manual provides an extensive set of pedagogical tools and
suggestions for every chapter, including overviews, suggested class activities and debates,
and links to relevant videos and online teaching aids with discussion questions for each
resource.
• Classroom-ready PowerPoint slides summarize key points from each chapter and incorporate
graphics and tables drawn straight from the textbook.
• An extensive test generator enables instructors to sort, edit, import, and distribute hundreds
of questions in multiple-choice, true or false, and short-answer formats.
• Invaluable supplemental packets of information are available for each province and provide
details on key topics—such as police departments, courts, offenders, crimes, and miscarriages
of justice—offering useful insights and facts for use in preparing class lectures and
assignments.

For Students
• The student study guide includes chapter overviews, learning objectives, key terms, self-
grading quizzes, as well as annotated lists of recommended readings and websites to help
students enhance their knowledge of the concepts presented in each chapter.
Preface
Introductory classes can be difficult for students and instructors because
there is so much content that needs to be covered in a relatively short
period of time. This challenge is further complicated in criminal justice
courses because Canada’s justice system is becoming increasingly
complex, and the provinces and territories often have somewhat different
priorities and approaches to each of their responses to crime presented in
the chapters that follow. After teaching many introductory criminal justice
courses over the years I found that students often expressed frustration
about their textbooks as many of them have become so lengthy that it is
almost impossible to cover the content in one semester. There are
sometimes so many examples of police, court, and correctional operations
that readers can become overwhelmed with details instead of focusing on
the key issues. In order to focus on these key issues this book provides a
streamlined overview of Canada’s justice system using a “back to basics”
approach. While some have said that “the devil is in the details,” that
content can be explored in your upper level courses.
One of the goals in writing this book was to present only the basic
information that students need in order to have a working knowledge of
Canada’s justice system. As a result, a number of factors differentiate this
overview of Canada’s justice system from other textbooks, including a
focus on issues related to Race, Class, and Gender in each chapter and how
those factors influence both crime and the search for justice. In addition,
each chapter contains a boxed feature titled Myth or Reality, where our
ideas about the justice system are challenged and presented in a Canadian
context. This is important as many of our ideas about the police, courts,
and correctional systems come from our exposure to the US news and
entertainment media. This is an ongoing challenge for instructors as
Canada’s justice system is very different from the US system, and our
responses to crime are also distinctively different. As a result, this book
focuses on providing a wide variety of Canadian examples, although there
are comparative sections in each chapter that contrast Canadian criminal
justice practices against those in other nations. Last, each chapter contains
a contribution from a criminal justice practitioner who shares information
about his or her work experiences, career pathways, and providing
practical advice to students considering careers in the justice system.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Although the author’s name is the only name that appears on the cover, it
takes dozens of people to transform an idea to the finished book you are
reading. The first edition took three years from the time when the book
was first proposed until the first copy was printed; the second edition was
in development for over a year. During that time, I had the opportunity to
work with a great team of professionals starting with Amy Gordon,
development editor, who helped me through the process of responding to
the reviewer’s comments, and making thoughtful revisions to the content
so the book was easier to read. I also thank the editorial team at Oxford,
including Jess Shulman and Steven Hall. Their hard work made the book
more visually appealing, structured, and easier to read, and their attention
to detail is very much appreciated.
Six reviewers critiqued the first edition of the book and made a number
of recommendations to strengthen the work, including Lorree Bogden
(Douglas College), Stephen Dumas (University of Calgary), Tamari
Kitossa (Brock University), Lisa Monchalin (Kwantlen Polytechnic
University), Kim Polowek (University of the Fraser Valley), and John
Winterdyk (Mount Royal University). Several lawyers helped me with the
law and courts chapters in both editions, including Heather Nord
(University of Regina), Heather Donkers (Robichaud’s Criminal Defence
Litigation), and Sarah Burningham (University of Saskatchewan). I also
thank the scholars who provided reviews for the second edition, including
Annmarie Barnes (Nipissing University), Sheri Fabian (Simon Fraser
University), Greg Flynn (McMaster University), Carolyn Gordon
(University of Ottawa), Hannele Jantti (Douglas College), Darrell Kean
(Langara College), Leslie Anne Keown (Carleton University), Kristen
Kramar (University of Calgary), Keiron McConnell (Kwantlen
Polytechnic University), Lisa Monchalin (Kwantlen Polytechnic
University), Jane Lothian Murray (University of Winnipeg), Ritesh
Narayan (Mount Royal Univeristy), William Russell (Seneca College),
and Kendra Waugh (Vancouver Island University), as well as those who
chose to remain anonymous. One of the challenges in writing the second
edition was accepting as many of their suggestions as possible without
adding to the page count.
I thank the contributors who graciously commented about their career
experiences and provided insight about obtaining jobs in the justice
system. My hope is that their comments give readers ideas about potential
careers they had not considered.
I offer special thanks to wife Renu who has the patience of a saint, a
trait that was frequently tested during the last months of the revisions.
Thanks also to my colleagues at the University of Regina, including Sarah
Britto, Gloria DeSantis, Hirsch Greenberg, Nick Jones, James Gacek,
Muhammad Asadullah, and Heather Nord for their ongoing support and
encouragement. I am also grateful for the ongoing support of my friends
and family: although the time spent with them is often too short, they are
always in my thoughts.
Last, all Canadians owe a special thanks to the workers who respond to
antisocial behaviour, crime, and victimization throughout Canada. We do
not always appreciate the efforts of these individuals, and they quietly go
about their jobs in safeguarding us—often at great personal risk and with
little formal acknowledgement.
PART I
Foundations
 1 An Introduction to Crime
and Justice

The interior of the Supreme Court of Canada is adorned by the Canadian

coat of arms, which includes symbols of England and France. How does the
Canadian criminal justice system reflect the influence of both of these
countries? (Photo credit: peterspiro/istockphoto)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe the different ways of defining and classifying crime
• Describe the three components of the justice system
• Describe the reasons why the number of people in the “criminal justice funnel” decreases
before the harshest punishments are imposed
• Describe five main goals of the criminal justice system
• Explain the differences between the crime control model and the due process model
• Explain why wrongful convictions damage the public’s confidence in the criminal justice
system

CASE STUDY
Donald Marshall Jr
Donald Marshall Jr., a 17-year-old Indigenous youth from Nova Scotia, was convicted in
the 1971 murder of Sandy Seale, a 17-year-old African-Canadian. Marshall served 11
years of a life sentence in prison before his conviction was overturned and he was
acquitted by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. The Royal Commission on the Donald
Marshall, Jr., Prosecution (1989) found that one of the factors that led to Marshall’s
wrongful conviction was that he was of Indigenous ancestry. Other factors that resulted in
his conviction included a shoddy investigation completed by the police, witnesses who lied
in court, poor representation by his lawyers, and errors made by the judge.
Like many others who served lengthy prison terms after being wrongfully convicted of
an offence, Donald Marshall had to overcome the stigma of his conviction and the impact
of living 11 years behind bars knowing he was innocent. Given these experiences, his
return to the community was difficult. Marshall was unable to hold a permanent job and he
was involved in some violent altercations resulting in further court appearances
(Armstrong, 2018). Despite those troubles, Marshall was well-regarded for his efforts in
educating youth about wrongful convictions and he was also involved in a Supreme Court
case that upheld hunting rights for Indigenous people. Donald Marshall suffered from
chronic health problems and he died at only 55 years of age.

Critical Questions
 Marshall received $225,000 in compensation plus interest ($158,000) for the 11 years
1. he served in prison (Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, 2015) and a lifetime
monthly pension from the Nova Scotia government, and all together this compensation
totalled more than $1 million. Why should taxpayers be held accountable for
compensating the wrongfully convicted?
2. Why would the race or ethnicity of Seale and Marshall influence the outcome of this
case?
3. How do our own biases and stereotypes influence the way we interact with others in
our personal and professional lives?

INTRODUCTION
There is no shortage of ideas about the causes of crime or how we should
respond to criminal acts. Most of our solutions to the problem of crime are
pretty simplistic, such as “locking up offenders and throwing away the
key.” But as we dig deeper into the issues of crime, justice, and
punishment, our straightforward solutions often become less certain. For
example, should the justice system be used to respond to all crimes
defined in the Criminal Code of Canada (hereafter referred to as the
Criminal Code), even when there is not always agreement on whether
some acts, such as being married to more than one person, are really
crimes? Furthermore, how can we ensure that individuals accused of
crimes are treated in a just and fair manner so that we punish the right
people and do not wrongly convict innocent individuals? And, if an
accused person is found guilty, we must determine how the justice system
ought to punish wrongdoers: For example, should youth under 18 years of
age be treated differently than young adults or people with mental health
problems? If we imprison criminals, who is going to pay for their
incarceration, and who decides when prisoners will be returned to the
community? These are not new questions and these topics have been asked
and debated for centuries by politicians, religious leaders, philosophers,
workers in justice systems, and ordinary people. A simple answer to all of
those issues is that if easy solutions to controlling crime existed, we would
have found them by now.

Criminal Code of Canada A federal statute that lists the criminal offences and punishments
defined by Parliament, as well as justice system procedures.

When considering issues related to crime and justice, many people

automatically think of serious offences such as assaults causing bodily
harm, robberies, and homicides. Although these acts are relatively rare,
they are reported as the lead stories on internet home pages, on television,
and on the front pages of newspapers. When asked about serious crime,
many Canadians believe that crime rates are increasing, despite the fact
that government statistics have repeatedly shown that there are fewer
victims of violence today than there were two decades ago. Most of our
knowledge about crime and justice has been shaped by the media—and
most crime stories reported by the media are about serious offences. In
many cases, media reports come from the United States; however, there
are considerable differences between the crime rates and the responses to
crime in America and in Canada. As a result, we are sometimes confused
about the volume and seriousness of crime that occurs in Canada and
about how our justice system responds to criminal acts.
With respect to types of crime, Canadians are more likely to encounter
antisocial behaviour, which is objectionable conduct such as noisy people
loitering in groups or individuals who are drunk, rude, or rowdy in public,
and these acts can reduce the quality of our lives. For the most part, these
behaviours are infractions of local bylaws or are minor Criminal Code
offences such as causing a disturbance, and while individuals can be
arrested for this conduct, the police often respond to these behaviours with
warnings. In terms of Criminal Code offences, at some point in our lives
most of us have been victims of crime—although most of our experiences
have been with relatively minor offences such as property crimes.
Although workers in justice systems do not usually consider a minor theft
to be a very serious offence, these acts can have a big impact on an
individual’s life; for example, if someone stole your backpack containing
your university textbooks and course notes, it would be costly and time-
consuming to replace those items. Even what we consider to be minor
violent offences can have a significant impact on a victim, and acts of
bullying can have lifelong effects on an individual’s loss of confidence. As
a result, we have to look beyond the harm of a physical injury and consider
the range of emotional and behavioural impacts on an individual. For
instance, survivors of assaults may live in fear, and their ability to form
positive relationships with others may be affected. In recognition of the
impact of crime on individuals, the number of victim services programs—
often operated by police services—has greatly increased in the past few
decades (Allen, 2014; Department of Justice Canada, 2019).

antisocial behaviour Conduct that can be disruptive and reduce our quality of life, but might
not be considered a criminal act.

In the chapters that follow, readers will develop a much broader

understanding of the criminal justice system in Canada. In doing so, we
will be forced to confront our own ideas about crime, the experiences of
victims and offenders, and the roles of justice system workers. In some
cases, our ideas about responding to crime might challenge our notions of
“common sense”—for instance, we might consider the decision to not
place low-risk inmates in correctional treatments or the fact that more
lives can be saved through traffic enforcement than through traditional
policing. Another goal of this book is to move beyond the task of simply
identifying problems (which is relatively easy to do) and examine a
number of promising strategies that have been shown to prevent crime,
streamline the operations of the justice system, or reduce the likelihood of
criminals reoffending.
In order to put these issues into context, this chapter provides a brief
description of crime, describes the different components of Canada’s
criminal justice system, explains how people accused of crimes flow
through the justice system, highlights the goals of the justice system, and
examines two ways of looking at our responses to crime using the crime
control and due process models. Throughout the following sections,
attention will be paid to the role of the media in shaping our ideas about
crime and justice, and how our beliefs influence the operations of the
justice system.

CRIME AND LAW

Acts that are considered to be crimes in Canada are defined by the
Criminal Code. Decisions about what acts are defined as crimes are the
result of political and legal decisions, and there is not always agreement
on what acts should be labelled as crimes. There has been debate for
centuries over what are the best responses to control acts defined as
crimes. According to the Department of Justice (2015b), laws are rules
that forbid some behaviours and are enforced by the courts in order to
reduce fear, chaos, and disorder, as well as provide a way to resolve
conflicts. Hundreds of years ago when people lived in small communities
there was less need for formal ways of regulating behaviour. Most people
conformed through informal social control, which refers to the actions
and opinions of one’s parents, peers, neighbours, and community members
—such as their disapproval—that influence our behaviour (e.g., a friend
tells you not to drive after drinking). These informal methods, however,
broke down when people settled into larger communities and no longer
knew their neighbours. Balko (2013, p. xi) points out that “once neighbors
stopped speaking the same language and worshipping in the same
buildings, shunning and social stigmatization lost their effectiveness.”

informal social control When people conform to the law and other social norms because of
the actions and opinions of other individuals, such as praise or disapproval.

As the strength of informal social control decreased, more formal

approaches to responding to antisocial behaviour and crime evolved. The
methods of preventing and responding to crime that emerged were
dependent on a nation’s history, religious influences, culture, political
structures (including the influence of royalty), and legal systems. These
arrangements involved the military, clergy, monarchy, organizations that
policed for profit, and different levels of government. Every society has
developed its own methods of ensuring that individuals conform to an
accepted way of doing things that most people agree with: these standards
of acceptable behaviour are called norms. In Canada, the laws that
evolved were based on patterns of settlement from different immigrant
groups, and the colonists brought with them the laws they were familiar
with from their homelands. As a result, there were some differences
between Indigenous laws, which differed by Nation and across the
continent; early legal systems in what would become Quebec, which was
settled by the French; and early legal systems adopted in what would
become Atlantic Canada and Ontario, by settlers who were primarily from
England.

norms Standards of acceptable behaviour that are based on tradition, customs, and values.

Prostitution, for example, has been called the world’s oldest

profession. Although most societies have tried to control whether an
individual can sell sex, these efforts have failed because of the number of
willing customers and the number of people who will sell sexual services.
In December 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that existing
prostitution laws were not constitutional, because they placed sex workers
at risk of victimization. In the Canada (Attorney General) v Bedford
(2013) decision, the chief justice stated that “Parliament has the power to
regulate against nuisances, but not at the cost of the health, safety and
lives of prostitutes,” and “it is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for
money.”
In striking down Canada’s existing prostitution law in 2013, the
Supreme Court gave Parliament one year to enact new laws. Although the
existing law was considered unconstitutional, it remained “on the books”
for one year, meaning that individuals purchasing sex could still be
arrested. Most police services did not enforce these laws, because they
believed that prosecutors would not bring those cases to court. This
example shows how changes in one part of the justice system (the courts)
can influence practices in other components (police and corrections). In
December 2014, new legislation came into effect that made it illegal for
individuals (“johns”) to purchase sex, expanded police powers to
investigate those advertising the sale of sexual services, and enhanced
sanctions for pimps and sex traffickers. Selling sex, however, is not
illegal.
Smith (2014) reports that any prostitution legislation will be opposed
by groups who want the illicit sex trade to continue. Cuciz (2018) says that
traffickers “can earn, on average, $300,000 each year, per victim, and
often more money the younger the victim.” Although the 2014 laws were
intended to reduce demand for sexual services, some advocates argue that
they have driven prostitution underground and reduced the safety of sex
workers (Ivison, 2018). As a result, the constitutionality of the 2014 law
was challenged by Hamad Anwar and Tiffany Harvey, operators of Fantasy
World Escorts in London, Ontario. In 2015, they were charged with
benefiting from someone else’s sexual services. Their case was heard in a
Kitchener court in June 2019 (Dubinski, 2019), and many legal scholars
believe this case will ultimately be heard before the Supreme Court of
Canada. Regardless of the eventual outcomes of this case, the balance
between the public good and the safety of sex-trade workers will remain
controversial.

Public (Criminal) and Private Law

According to the Department of Justice (2015b), there are two types of
law: public law and private law.

Public law sets the rules for the relationship between the
individual and society. If someone breaks a criminal law, it is seen
as a wrong against society. It includes criminal law, which deals
with crimes and their punishments; constitutional law, which
defines the relationship between various branches of government
… [and] also limits the exercise of governmental power over
individuals through the protection of human rights and
fundamental freedoms; [and] administrative law, which deals with
the actions and operations of government. (Department of Justice,
2015b, p. 2)
public law A type of law addressing matters that affect society, such as responding to a person
who commits a criminal act.

By contrast, private law—which includes the civil law—refers to the

relationships between individuals that often involve contracts, and the
courts can become involved when disputes over these arrangements occur;
it can also include family law, wills and estates, and real estate
transactions. While it is important to understand the distinction between
private and public law, most of the descriptions in this book involve
criminal, or public law, matters.

private law Legal matters that relate to the relationships between individuals or businesses that
involve contracts.

The Criminal Code of Canada

Canadian law is dynamic, meaning that it evolves along with changes in
society, legal decisions (such as the example of prostitution discussed
earlier), technology, and notions about the best ways to respond to crime.
The Criminal Code is a federal statute (an Act of the Parliament of
Canada) that was first enacted in 1892. According to Coughlan, Yogis, and
Cotter (2013, p. 84), the Criminal Code “is amended, usually more than
once in each session of Parliament, to take account of necessary changes
and innovations in the criminal law.” Technology, for instance, has
changed the ways that offenders commit crimes, and our responses to
those offences (Police Executive Research Forum, 2018). Laws have been
rewritten to account for the use of the internet in crimes such as
cyberbullying that involve criminal harassment, uttering threats, or
intimidation.
The Criminal Code is an act that is currently over 1,100 pages (the
document is written in both official languages). It is not surprising that the
Criminal Code addresses all serious offences such as homicide, provides
definitions of key terms related to these offences, and outlines the
consequences for violating these acts. Yet the Criminal Code also includes
hundreds of other sections that can result in arrest, prosecution, and
sentencing, although many people might not be aware that these laws
exist. Canadians who practice witchcraft (section 365), water ski after dark
(section 250), or attend an immoral theatrical performance (section 167)
are committing crimes and could be arrested, prosecuted, and punished for
engaging in those acts. While individuals charged for those offences are
rare, in October 2018 the Halton police charged a 32-year-old woman for
“extortion, fraud over $5,000 and witchcraft-fortune telling” (Petrovsky,
2018).

The Government of Canada has had to rewrite laws to account for the use of the internet and
other technologies in crimes such as cyberbullying. This screenshot is from a commercial
informing the public that actions such as harassment, threat, or intimidation online may be
illegal.

Our ideas about justice can change over time and sometimes result in
amendments to the Criminal Code. The federal government enacted
legislation in 2012 called the Safe Streets and Communities Act that was
intended to get “tough on crime” by imposing lengthy sentences on people
convicted of trafficking drugs or accessing child pornography. Many of
these changes in law reflect our ideas about crime and justice. If we
believe that people carefully consider the consequences of their actions
before engaging in crimes, then tough sentences make sense. But we know
from our own experiences that we may have engaged in antisocial or
illegal acts without much prior thought, perhaps because we were
immature or because we simply did not fully consider the consequences of
our actions.

Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Legislation

The federal government, provinces and territories, and municipalities also
have the authority to regulate our behaviours through legislation. The
powers that different levels of government have to enact laws and manage
the criminal justice system were originally laid out in the Constitution Act,
1867, where section 91 defines the federal powers and section 92 gives
powers to the provincial governments. “The federal government has the
exclusive authority to enact legislation regarding criminal law and
procedure” and includes the responsibility “for providing a federal police
service to enforce federal statutes and to protect national security”
(Government of British Columbia, 2017, p. 2). The federal government
also has the authority to imprison adult offenders aged 18 years and older
serving more than a two-year sentence. Under the Constitution Act, the
provinces have the jurisdiction over the administration of criminal
justice, including the operations of the local courts, provincial policing,
and the operations of correctional centres.
Federal, provincial, and municipal governments can also enact
regulations, although their authority to do so is limited and these
regulations cannot infringe on the Criminal Code. Although violating
these regulations is not a crime, they do regulate many aspects of our
lives, can be enforced by the police or other officials working for the
government, and can result in fines and sometimes incarceration. The
federal government, for example, has established thousands of laws
regulating issues ranging from air travel to wastewater treatment. In order
to enforce these regulations, the federal government employs thousands of
officials, such as the uniformed and armed officials working for the
Canada Border Services Agency or federal park wardens, and thousands of
them have the power to arrest suspects.
 Provinces, territories, and municipalities can also pass laws that relate
to their jurisdiction. Provincial issues are often related to health care,
education, or transportation. The provinces and territories also have
jurisdiction over property rights, which is a broad area that includes the
regulation of things that can be owned such as vehicles, real estate, liquor,
or animals. As a result, a provincial government can regulate the
registration of vehicles and how they are driven on the roadways.
Municipalities can also enact bylaws, such as requiring homeowners to
clear snow from their sidewalks or giving police the authority to respond
to a noisy party, and in Toronto if a homeowner has more than two garage
sales a year they can be fined up to $5,000.

jurisdiction The range of a government’s or court’s authority (e.g., provinces have jurisdiction
over non-criminal traffic matters).

One of the challenges for individuals is that there are thousands of

federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal laws, regulations, and
bylaws, and it is likely that each of us may have broken some of these laws
or regulations—often without knowing they exist. The consequences of
violating some of these regulations can be severe, including fines that
might total tens of thousands of dollars. In order to better understand the
severity of different types of offences, legal scholars have developed a
number of classifications for crime, and the following discussion provides
some examples.

Classifying Crime
Philosophers and legal scholars have used two categories to classify
crimes by their seriousness: malum in se (plural mala in se) and malum
prohibitum (plural mala prohibita). Malum in se refers to an offence that
is universally thought of as evil or wrong, such as kidnapping or homicide.
Malum prohibitum, by contrast, refers to an act that is deemed to be wrong
because the government has defined it as unlawful—for example,
dangerous driving, a Criminal Code offence, is considered malum
prohibitum “because it has been so designated by statute as a result of a
legislative determination that it is dangerous to the community”
(Coughlan, Yogis, & Cotter, 2013, p. 202). In most cases, we agree that an
act that is malum in se is wrong, but sometimes we are confronted by
circumstances that are difficult to agree on. For example, should a
business owner who fails to fix a delivery truck’s brakes be held
criminally responsible for a death caused by those faulty brakes? There is
even less agreement when it comes to mala prohibita offences, such as
whether the recreational use of marijuana, prior to October 17, 2018,
should have been a criminal act. Only about half of the respondents in
national polls conducted before marijuana was legalized believed this was
a positive change.

malum in se An act that is universally considered by the public as being evil or harmful to
society, such as homicide.
malum prohibitum An act that is defined as illegal or wrong by a government, but is not
considered wrong in itself, such as speeding on a highway.

The Criminal Code defines acts according to their seriousness:

summary offences (also known as summary conviction offences) are
considered less serious and carry a lesser penalty than more serious crimes
called indictable offences. As Allen (2017, p. 5) observes: “Some
offences in the Criminal Code can be processed as either summary or
indictable offences; these are hybrid offences, and include child
pornography, sexual violations against children and some firearms
offences,” and that decision is made by a Crown prosecutor. These
offences are called dual offences or hybrid offences. Whether a person
accused of a crime is charged with a summary offence or an indictable
offence has a number of consequences for the individual, including the
type of court where the hearing will be held and whether the individual has
the right to a jury trial. The maximum sentence that can be imposed on
someone found guilty of a summary offence is also limited to a maximum
fine of $5,000 and/or six months in jail (although there are exceptions for
some sexual offences). These issues are described in more depth in
Chapter 7.

summary offences Crimes that carry a less serious punishment in which judges can impose a
jail sentence of up to six months and/or a maximum fine of $5,000.
indictable offences Serious offences, such as homicide, where the defendants must appear in
court and cases are heard before federally appointed judges.
dual offences Offences that can be prosecuted as either summary offences or indictable
offences.

A Closer Look
Politics and Crime Control: A 2015 Election Promise
and Legalizing Marijuana in 2018
Defining the acts that become criminal offences and the ways we control crime are
political issues. The legalization of marijuana in 2018 shows how politicians can
change laws to adapt to a society’s changing beliefs about what is right and wrong.
Until the 1960s few were concerned about marijuana use and only two per cent of drug
arrests between 1946 and 1961 involved marijuana (Carstairs, 2000, p. 112). As its use
became more popular, so did the number of people arrested for various marijuana-
related offences, and between 1998 and 2016 there were almost 930,000 arrests for
possession (Statistics Canada, 2018a). Despite being illegal its use was widespread. A
2017 poll revealed that over one-third of Canadians (38 per cent) had used marijuana
recreationally (Ispos, 2017, pp. 1–2).
Legalizing marijuana was a key promise of the Liberals in the 2015 election. While
they promised to quickly introduce new legislation, amending the Controlled Drugs
and Substances Act (the legislation that made marijuana use illegal) was complicated as
changes also had to be made to the Criminal Code and 12 other acts, ranging from the
Criminal Records Act to the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. Changes in criminal
justice legislation also impact the operations of provincial and municipal governments,
as they are often forced to change their crime prevention and enforcement activities to
reflect legislative changes, and sometimes those changes are costly. Prior to
introducing the bill to legalize marijuana, the Liberal government formed a task force
that received submissions from more than 30,000 individuals and organizations to
capture the public’s mood on this issue (Government of Canada, 2018). After
considering that feedback the legislation was introduced and the bill passed after
readings in Parliament and the Senate, with amendments and review at each point.
Figure 1.1 provides a timeline of the legislative steps taken to legalize marijuana.
Although the recreational use of marijuana became legal on October 17, 2018, new
laws restricting access to youth, possession, production, and sales were also
introduced, and some of those crimes could result in five- to 14-year prison sentences.
For example, under the new legislation giving or selling marijuana to a person under
18 years of age could result in a 14-year-prison term. Kirkey (2018) says these
sanctions are harsher than current laws regarding intoxicants, such as providing liquor
to a minor, which can result in a maximum sanction of only one year’s incarceration in
Ontario. As a result, people will still be arrested and punished for marijuana-related
offences. It will take several years before we have a better understanding of the impact
of these new laws and it is likely some marijuana users and sellers may be punished
more severely than we imagine.
While recreational marijuana use was legalized there are differences in how the
provinces regulate the drug. These provincial regulations define where marijuana can
be sold, the minimum age limit for use (18 years old in Alberta and Quebec, 19 years
of age in the other provinces), the legality of growing marijuana at home (which
Manitoba and Quebec have banned), whether marijuana can be smoked in public or in
a vehicle, and whether landlords and homeowner associations can ban smoking (CTV
News, 2018). In addition, many workplaces are also grappling with whether employees
will be able to use marijuana on the job or whether marijuana can be smoked on their
properties, including on university campuses. Even before the law came into effect
there was disagreement about the constitutionality of the new laws and the fairness of
the regulations. As a result, some of the long-term outcomes of the federal law,
provincial regulations, and workplace decisions will be heard before Supreme Courts
well into the future.

FIGURE 1.1 Timeline of the Progress of Bill C-45 Through Parliament

THE STRUCTURE OF THE CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM
There are three components of the justice system: police, courts, and
corrections. The three parts are interrelated but also somewhat
independent of each other. For the most part, our knowledge of the
Canadian justice system is based on what we see on television, and some
of that information is incorrect—for example, it is often based on US
examples—or has been simplified, such as a complicated law explained in
a 60-second news segment. This section provides a basic foundation of the
structure of the criminal justice system that will be expanded on in the
chapters that follow.

Police
The police are the most visible component of the justice system, and they
are the officials we are most likely to encounter. Information from the
2014 General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization, which is a survey of
Canadians conducted every five years, shows that about one-third of
respondents came into contact with the police in the previous year,
whereas only one-fifth came into contact with the courts (Cotter, 2015).
The results of the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey reveal that
about one in 10 of these interactions are for traffic violations, while other
contacts are as victims (3.9 per cent) or as witnesses (3.4 per cent); the
rest of these encounters are for non-criminal matters (Boyce, Rotenberg,
& Karam, 2015, p. 23).

General Social Survey (gss) An annual survey of Canadians that is conducted by Statistics
Canada about a range of social trends, with each annual survey addressing one theme in depth.

On May 15, 2018, there were about 69,000 police officers employed in
Canada, which works out to about two officers for every 1,000 residents;
this includes over 39,000 officers employed by municipal police agencies
and 11,411 employed by the three provincial police services of Ontario,
Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador (Conor, Robson, & Marcellus,
2019) (see Figure 1.2). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
employed over 18,000 officers in different roles—most were contracted by
the municipalities or provinces to provide police services, and the
remainder were engaged in federal policing. When it comes to federal
policing, the RCMP are responsible for enforcing over 200 statutes such as
drug offences, customs regulations, economic crimes, and immigration
offences.
Policing is a provincial responsibility, and eight provinces and about
150 towns or cities contract with the RCMP to provide policing services.
Prior to the 1930s, all of the provinces had their own provincial police
services, but most were disbanded in favour of RCMP contract policing.
Today, most Canadian cities are policed by municipal police services,
whereas most rural communities and small towns are served by provincial
police services or the RCMP. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) provides
provincial and rural policing in Ontario, while the Sûreté du Québec (SQ)
provides policing services in Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador are
policed by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC), which provides
municipal services and also polices the countryside surrounding North
East Avalon, Corner Brook, and Labrador West; the RCMP, covers the
remaining areas of the province. With the exception of Ontario and
Quebec, the remaining provinces have entered into renewable 20-year
policing agreements with the RCMP, and these agreements will be the
provincial policing model for the foreseeable future. All of the policing in
the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon is carried out by the RCMP.
In addition to the federal or provincial police, there are a number of
regional services such as the Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario.
As of January 1, 2019, there were also 36 self-administered Indigenous
police services. Those self-administered police agencies are much like
municipal departments, although they are operated by First Nations rather
than local governments.

contract policing A form of policing where a police service, such as the RCMP or OPP , provides
policing to a municipality under a contract.
FIGURE 1.2 Number of Canadian Officers Employed by Police Services
Adapted from Conor, Robson, and Marcellus (2019)

Since policing is a provincial responsibility, each province spells out

the roles and responsibilities for the police services. Section 4 of the
Province of Ontario’s Police Services Act describes the five core roles for
police agencies in that province: (a) crime prevention, (b) law
enforcement, (c) maintaining the public peace, (d) emergency response,
and (e) assistance to victims of crime (along with one additional role
called “any other prescribed policing functions”). Although the Ontario
example of these core services is relatively consistent across the country,
there will be some differences in the way that the police are deployed from
province to province. Priorities for policing are based on political
decisions and negotiations between political leaders and police officials.
There are a limited number of officers, so their activities have to be
prioritized in part based on input from the public. For instance, parents
may be concerned about impaired drivers in their neighbourhoods and they
may raise this issue with their municipal government leaders. These civic
leaders, in turn, will request that the police increase enforcement efforts in
these locations.
 One of the things that most people find surprising about police work is
that officers spend a relatively small portion of their time in law
enforcement or “crime fighting” and that most of their activities are
related to maintaining order. Most calls to the police are not about
criminal matters and are instead related to barking or loose dogs, noisy
neighbours, vehicles speeding through neighbourhoods, or drunken
behaviour. Other calls have little to do with policing at all—they are
related to civil matters, such as two neighbours squabbling over who
should fix a broken fence shared between their two yards. Robertson
(2012, p. 351) describes the police as a social service agency that
“responds to a variety of emergencies and all manner of personal crises,
including crimes in progress, domestic disputes, disturbances, motor
vehicle collisions, injuries from accidents, sudden deaths (including
suicides), psychotic episodes of mental illness, and locating lost children
and vulnerable adults.”

The police are the most visible component of the criminal justice system, and they are the
officials we are most likely to encounter in our day-to-day lives. The Royal Newfoundland
Constabulary is one of Canada’s oldest police services and dates back to 1729. Although
mounted police can play an important role in crowd control, they are also very popular with
the public.

Courts
Canadian courts are based on English common-law systems and are
adversarial, meaning that there are two parties who have opposing
positions and their cases are heard before an impartial judge. In criminal
matters, people accused of crimes are represented by lawyers who are
called defence counsel. The state or Crown, by contrast, is represented by
lawyers who are called Crown attorneys, counsel, or prosecutors. The
judge hears evidence about the case and reserves judgment until all the
evidence is heard, and in the process determines whether the Crown has
proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
There are hundreds of local courts in Canada, and they employ
thousands of court staff who process hundreds of thousands of criminal
matters. In 2016–2017, almost 360,000 cases were heard in adult courts
across the nation (involving about 1.2 million Criminal Code offences),
and there were an additional 29,000 youth cases that accounted for almost
115,000 offences (Miladinovic, 2019, p. 3).
There are four levels of courts in Canada, and they are shown in Figure
1.3.

First there are provincial/territorial courts, which handle the great

majority of cases that come into the system. Second are the
provincial/territorial superior courts. These courts deal with more
serious crimes and also take appeals from provincial/territorial
court judgments…. At the next level are the provincial/territorial
courts of appeal … while the highest level is occupied by the
Supreme Court of Canada. (Department of Justice, 2005, p. 2)

Most cases related to criminal justice—as well as violations of

provincial traffic regulations, municipal legislation, or provincial and
federal regulations—are heard in provincial or territorial courts. These
courts—known as inferior courts—also hear matters relating to youth
aged 12 to 17 years charged with Criminal Code offences. Larger cities
sometimes have specialized courts such as drug, mental health, or
domestic violence courts to manage specific types of offenders.
Specialized courts enable the judges, prosecutors, and defence counsel to
develop an expertise in dealing with these cases. These courts have a
treatment orientation, and research has shown that they are usually
effective in responding to these special-needs offenders (Mays & Ruddell,
2019). Inferior courts also process minor disputes between individuals,
such as small claims, and may also hear family law cases and traffic
matters.

inferior courts Provincial and territorial courts that have limited jurisdiction and deal with less
serious adult and youth criminal matters, as well as civil, family, traffic, and municipal bylaw
cases.

FIGURE 1.3 Criminal Courts of Canada

Department of Justice (2015b).
 More serious criminal matters, such as criminal prosecutions for
indictable offences, are heard in superior courts operated by provincial or
territorial governments. These courts are known by different names
throughout the country (Court of Queen’s Bench in Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, and New Brunswick; Supreme Court in British Columbia,
Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Prince
Edward Island, and Yukon; and Superior Court in Ontario and Quebec).
Practices are somewhat different in Nunavut as that territory has one
unified court, the Court of Justice. The Department of Justice (2015)
observes that although the provinces are responsible for these superior
courts, the judges working within them are appointed by and have their
salaries paid by the federal government.
Every province has courts that hear appeals of decisions made by the
lower courts. These appellate courts review decisions and can overturn or
uphold decisions and sentences. For example, both the individual who was
sentenced and the prosecutors can appeal the severity of a sentence
imposed by a provincial or superior court judge. Appellate courts are
usually composed of a panel of three judges who rule on the appeals
brought before them. The military courts also have the Court Martial
Appeal Court of Canada. The ability to review lower court decisions is
important in order to correct errors and ensure that accused people or
those convicted of an offence have case outcomes that are just and fair.
Parties who do not agree with the decisions of the appellate courts take
these matters to the Supreme Court of Canada, which is the final court of
appeal. According to the Department of Justice (2015a, p. 10), the
Supreme Court “has jurisdiction over disputes in all areas of the law.
These include constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law, and
civil law.” The Supreme Court is distinctive in that it can choose to hear a
case or let the decisions of the provincial or territorial courts of appeal
stand. As noted in the case of prostitution discussed earlier, the Supreme
Court has the ability to overturn laws that are unconstitutional. In addition,
the Supreme Court can make changes in the law that place increased
demands on the justice system. One of the most significant examples of
this was a 1991 decision that required prosecutors to disclose information
about their investigations to defence lawyers, even if that information
might lead to a not-guilty verdict (R v Stinchcombe, 1991). This one
decision has been costly for police and prosecutors because of the
increased administrative burdens on these agencies to collect and report
this information, but this requirement was important to ensure the fair
treatment of people accused of committing crimes (Bowal & Brierton,
2018)

Supreme Court of Canada The highest court in Canada; it only hears cases that are being
appealed out of a lower court.

Corrections
On any given day, there are about 40,000 adults and about 800 youths
(people under 18 years of age, although that total does not include youth in
Quebec facilities) incarcerated in federal and provincial/territorial
correctional facilities (Malakieh, 2019). Malakieh (2019) also reports
there are about another 104,000 adults and 7,000 youth supervised in the
community (that total does not include youth from Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, or Quebec).
There are two adult correctional systems in Canada. Adults who are
arrested, awaiting a court date, sentenced to under two years of
incarceration, or awaiting a transfer to federal corrections are held in
facilities operated by provincial governments. These facilities go by
different names and in most provinces they are known as provincial
correctional centres. In Ontario, by contrast, they are known by different
labels. Nine are called jails, which are older facilities that were originally
built and run by city governments but are now operated by the province
(Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, 2018).
These facilities tend to be small, of antiquated design, and primarily hold
local residents awaiting a court date. Detention centres also hold people
arrested and awaiting court dates, and these larger facilities often serve
several counties. Detention centres can also hold inmates sentenced to
short terms (under 60 days) of incarceration. Last, correctional centres in
Ontario hold inmates sentenced to terms of incarceration of two years or
less. Arrangements for adult corrections vary somewhat throughout the
nation, and the names of these facilities also differ, but they fulfill two key
functions: to hold individuals awaiting their court dates and to hold
inmates serving sentences of less than two years.

jails Facilities where individuals are held awaiting their court appearances (called provincial
correctional centres in most provinces, but jails in Ontario).
detention centres Facilities where individuals are held awaiting their court dates or serving
short periods of incarceration (called provincial correctional centres in some provinces).
correctional centres Facilities that hold inmates sentenced to terms of incarceration of two
years or less.

Many provincial governments also operate treatment centres to help

individuals who have specialized needs. In Saskatchewan, for example,
impaired drivers convicted of a second drinking and driving offence are
placed in short-term treatment as part of their sentence. Various other
treatment facilities exist throughout the nation, including those designated
for people with mental illnesses, as they are overrepresented in Canada’s
criminal justice system (Department of Justice, 2018b).
Detention centres in Ontario hold people arrested and awaiting court dates, and these larger
facilities are intended to serve several counties. Detention centres can also hold individuals
sentenced to short terms (under 60 days) of incarceration.

Those convicted of the most serious offences in Canada, and sentenced

to two years or longer, are held in facilities operated by the Correctional
Service of Canada (CSC). In 2016/2017, the federal prison system held over
14,000 prisoners in penitentiaries across Canada. These institutions vary in
size and include small treatment centres such as the Shepody Healing
Centre in Dorchester, New Brunswick, with a capacity of 50 inmates—
although most federal penitentiaries are much larger. Security in these
facilities ranges from minimum (some may have only a fence around the
perimeter) to maximum, where movement of the prisoners is strictly
controlled. Several facilities also have special handling units that hold
the most difficult-to-manage or dangerous prisoners in very strict
conditions (e.g., inmates are locked in their cells for 23 hours a day and
have little or no interaction with other prisoners). Other specialized
facilities include eight Aboriginal healing lodges that are operated or
funded by the CSC and “use Aboriginal values, traditions and beliefs to
design services and programs for offenders,” including “Aboriginal
concepts of justice and reconciliation” (Correctional Service of Canada,
2016).

special handling units High-security units within a maximum-security penitentiary where the
movement of prisoners is very controlled.

In order to reintegrate ex-prisoners to the community, the CSC also has

15 community correctional centres that allow inmates to enter the
community in a structured and gradual manner. In communities that are
not served by these centres, the CSC contracts with non-government
organizations, such as the Salvation Army, to house these individuals.
Parolees living in these placements, which are sometimes called halfway
houses, are on day parole, which enables them to attend school, treatment,
or work during the day and return to the community correctional centre in
the evening.
day parole A type of release for federal prisoners who live in a community-based facility and
usually work, attend school, or participate in treatment during the day.

There are about three adult probationers or parolees serving a sentence

in the community for every inmate in custody, and most of them are
serving a probationary sentence. As shown in Figure 1.4, most
probationers live in the community and they are expected to abide by a
number of conditions on their probation orders that were imposed by a
judge. Every probation order will have the following conditions: (a) keep
the peace and be of good behaviour; (b) appear in court when ordered by
the court; and (c) advise the court or probation officer about any change of
name, address, or employment. Individuals with specific treatment needs,
such as being convicted of family violence, are often required to attend
specialized treatment. Probation officers, who are provincial employees,
monitor the progress of these individuals and often require low-risk
probationers (e.g., those with no history of involvement in violent crimes)
to report monthly and advise them of any major life changes. Higher-risk
probationers are often required to report to their probation officers more
frequently and attend specialized treatment programs such as anger
management for people convicted of violent offences.

probation officers Provincial officials who prepare reports for the courts about sentencing
options for individuals convicted of crimes and monitor their activities if serving community-
based sentences.

Prisoners released from a federal penitentiary prior to the end of their

sentence are on either parole or statutory release, and their stay in the
community is monitored by parole officers. Over 9,000 federal parolees
were supervised in the community in 2017/2018 and the time they will
serve on parole varies greatly. Some will serve a period of months until
their prison sentences expire while those convicted of homicide offences
will be under correctional supervision for the remainder of their lives. As
the sentence has already been imposed by a judge, any release on parole
must first be approved by the Parole Board of Canada, which reviews each
case and bases the decision to release the individual back to the
community on comprehensive reports and assessments conducted by CSC
staff members. Some prisoners receive a statutory release, which is a
release granted after an inmate serves two-thirds of their sentence that is
mandated by law, rather than a reward for their good behaviour.

parole A form of conditional release from a federal correctional facility to the community,
where the ex-prisoner is supervised by a parole officer.
statutory release A form of supervised release that is automatically granted after federal
prisoners with determinate sentences of three years or longer have served two-thirds of their
sentences (does not apply to dangerous offenders or lifers serving indeterminate sentences).

FIGURE 1.4 Individuals Under Correctional Supervision

Malakieh (2019)

In terms of youth offenders, there were about 800 youths held in

facilities operated by the provincial or territorial governments in
2017/2018 (that total does not include youth in Quebec). Much like adult
prisons, secure custody facilities (also known as closed custody facilities)
for youth have a high-security environment, although rehabilitative
programs such as education, mental health treatment, or job training are
tailored to the individual needs of the youth. Most youth remanded in
custody prior to their court appearances are placed in these higher-security
facilities to ensure that they will not escape. Open custody facilities, by
contrast, are community-based operations that tend to be fairly small and
often have fewer than 20 residents. Like day parole programs for adults,
most of the youth in these facilities attend school or work during the day
and return to the facility in the evenings.

secure custody facilities High-security youth custody facilities that are usually large and often
look similar to adult correctional centres. Also known as closed custody facilities.
open custody facilities Low-security youth custody facilities that are generally small and are
sometimes located in residential neighbourhoods.

COMMON ELEMENTS IN THE CRIMINAL

JUSTICE SYSTEM
Cole, Smith, and DeJong (2018) identify a number of common elements in
the criminal justice system, including discretion and filtering. Employees
of a justice system can exercise a lot of discretion when they come across
someone engaged in criminal behaviour. This discretion is present in all
components of the criminal justice system. A police officer who confronts
a shoplifter has a number of options: the officer can choose to caution or
warn the individual and then release him or her, or the officer can arrest
the suspect and take him or her into custody. A prosecutor then decides
whether to proceed with the charge and take the matter to court or whether
to drop the matter. Correctional officials—whether they work in
community corrections such as probation or parole or in a correctional
centre or prison—also wield a considerable amount of power over the
individuals they supervise. Probationers who have violated the conditions
of their probation order (conditions imposed by the judge at sentencing)
can have their probation revoked after a probation officer notifies the
prosecutor they have breached their probation and the case is reviewed by
a judge.

Discretion
The ability to use discretion enables workers in the criminal justice system
to operate in a more effective and efficient manner. There is no shortage of
crimes, and the police could not possibly arrest every wrongdoer. So,
officers establish some priorities—typically, they will act more formally
in cases of serious incidents, and they will ignore or deal with less serious
offences in an informal manner such as by giving the individual a warning.
Like many other issues presented in this chapter, there is not always
agreement on what offences should be handled informally. Many of us do
not believe that arresting a young person for doing something that many of
us did as youngsters—such as stealing a chocolate bar from a store—is a
smart practice. In addition to the seriousness of the crime, discretion could
also relate to an officer’s priorities and beliefs. An individual’s demeanour
might also influence an officer’s decision to make an arrest, and the
outcome for a cooperative and respectful individual may be different than
for a rude and confrontational suspect. Last, each police service in
consultation with community leaders establishes priorities for enforcing
the laws, so in some jurisdictions, apprehending street racers, for example,
might be a more important priority than arresting homeless people
engaging in minor theft.

Filtering
The concept of a funnel has been used to describe the movement of people
through the criminal justice system. Figure 1.5 shows that only a small
percentage of people charged with committing a crime are ever sentenced
to prison. According to Public Safety Canada (2018, p. 13) there were
about 2.1 million incidents reported to police in 2016. Of that total, almost
a quarter million adults were found guilty and about 70,000 of these
offenders were sentenced to provincial or federal corrections. At every
point in the system, individuals are filtered out. In some cases, the police
are aware of an offence, but they use their discretion to deal with the
situation in an informal manner (e.g., by warning the individual).
Prosecutors might not pursue a case if there is insufficient evidence to
secure a conviction. Of all the people charged in 2016, 228,328 resulted in
a guilty plea or the individual being found guilty. Only about a third of
individuals found guilty were incarcerated, and most of them served their
sentences in provincial correctional facilities.
FIGURE 1.5 Criminal Justice Funnel, 2016
Public Safety Canada (2018)
Individuals in alternative measures programs are often required to make restitution for their
offences, such as by making a payment to a crime victim to cover the losses from an offence,
apologizing to the victim(s), participating in victim–offender mediation, completing
community service work, or participating in some form of treatment such as a substance
abuse program.

One aspect of filtering is sequencing, which means that the handling

of people suspected of wrongdoing follows a set pattern. Canada’s system
of justice is based on the principle that an accused person is innocent until
found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. As a result, the justice system
does not punish individuals before they are convicted. Instead, the police
investigate a possible offence and may arrest a suspect. Unless the
individual is accused of a serious offence or is considered to pose a risk to
the community or to the witnesses, most of them are released with a
promise to appear in court. The information about the case is then sent to a
prosecutor who reviews the case and determines whether prosecution is in
the interests of justice and whether prosecution will be successful—as a
result, some cases do not proceed to court.

sequencing The treatment of people involved in the justice system follows a set pattern that is
dictated by law and policy.

Some first-time and minor offenders (both youth and adults) avoid the
justice system by participating in alternative measures programs, which
are called extrajudicial sanctions for youth. Individuals in these
programs are often required to make restitution for their offences such as
making a payment to a crime victim to cover the losses from an offence,
apologizing to the victim(s), participating in victim–offender mediation,
completing community service work, or participating in some form of
treatment such as a substance abuse program. These alternative measures
programs are funded by provincial or territorial governments.

alternative measures programs Programs that divert individuals involved in minor crimes,
such as property offences, from the formal justice system and usually require the individual to
participate in community service work, make restitution to victims, attend counselling, or make
an apology to victims.
extrajudicial sanctions Alternative measures programs for youth.
restitution When an individual makes a payment to the victim for the losses that were
experienced by the victim, such as property damage or loss.

Individuals accused of crimes who do not participate in alternative

measures will appear in court, and again our perceptions about these
processes are often shaped by television and films. While most of us
believe that trials are common, a review of court statistics from British
Columbia shows that only about six per cent of cases proceeded to a full
trial (British Columbia Courts, 2018a, 2018b). Instead, most individuals
plead guilty to sentences that have been arranged—in plea agreements—
by the accused’s defence counsel and the prosecutor. These agreements
usually involve the accused making a plea of guilty in return for a lesser
punishment (e.g., charges are dropped or the punishments recommended
by the prosecutor are reduced). Plea agreements benefit both parties
because the accused receives a lesser punishment and the prosecutor does
not have to prepare a case or go to court. Crime victims, however, are
sometimes angry when offenders are not harshly punished; this issue is
addressed in Chapter 7.

plea agreement An agreement arranged by a defendant’s counsel and a prosecutor that usually
involves the accused pleading guilty in return for a less serious punishment.

Most criminal matters end in a community sentence, and as described

earlier, about 150,000 people are placed on some form of community
supervision every year (Malakieh, 2019, p. 19). In 2017/2018, almost
250,000 adults were admitted to provincial or territorial correctional
centres, although most of them were released within a few days after their
court appearances (Malakieh, 2019). About 5,000 adults are admitted each
year to federal corrections and they are all sentenced to at least two years.
This shows that only a very small percentage of all individuals charged
with a crime are harshly punished.

GOALS OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE

SYSTEM
Ensuring public safety is a cornerstone of a civil society, as peace and
order provide a foundation from which we can carry out our daily
activities without fear. According to the Government of British Columbia
(2018), there are five main goals of the criminal justice system:

• preventing crime;
• protecting the public;
• supporting victims of crime, their families, and witnesses;
• holding people responsible for crimes they have committed; and
• helping offenders return to the community and become law-abiding
members of the community.

Like so many other issues presented in this book, many of these goals
can be looked at from a number of perspectives. Although most of us
would agree that these five broad goals are important, there is less
consensus when it comes to how we will achieve those goals or which of
them should be the first priority.

Preventing Crime
Everybody agrees that it is better to prevent a crime than to respond to
offences that have already occurred. There is less agreement, however, on
the best way to prevent crime. Traditional crime prevention programs are
intended to deter potential wrongdoers by detecting crimes and then
arresting and punishing wrongdoers. Many scholars believe that if the
justice system is perceived as efficient, fair, and legitimate, the public will
be less likely to commit crimes (Tyler & Trinkner, 2017). There is,
however, growing interest in crime prevention activities that come from
outside the traditional criminal and youth justice systems, as many
scholars contend that crime is a predictable outcome of poverty,
addictions, and breakdowns in the health, educational, and social service
programs. In an influential statement, Irvin Waller (2014), a prominent
Canadian criminologist, for instance, argues that we need to act smarter by
lowering the costs of the justice system and using those savings in
developing interventions that focus on preventing crime.

Protecting the Public

One of the most important roles of the justice system is to protect the
public. Some of the efforts of the police, courts, and correctional systems
are intended to identify offenders who pose the most risk to society and to
respond to their crimes. Of the three components of the justice system, the
police have the most visible role. Yet, prosecutors also protect the public
by focusing their efforts on individuals who represent the biggest threat to
public safety: organized crime offenders, gang members, violent
criminals, and those with lengthy criminal histories. Once received by the
federal correctional system, they undergo risk and needs assessments in
order to identify those who pose the biggest risk, and correctional
programs are tailored to respond to their risks and unmet needs.
Individuals sentenced to provincial custody, by contrast, are likely to
receive fewer opportunities for rehabilitation.
It is important to acknowledge that a growing number of interventions
intended to protect the public and prevent crime are also conducted by
individuals who are not employed in justice systems. For example, there
has been an increase in the number of security personnel who supplement
the activities of the police. A review of Statistics Canada (2018b) labour
data shows there were over 120,000 security officers in 2017, or almost
two of these officials for every police officer. As policing costs increase,
there may be more interest in expanding these alternatives to the police
(Kiedrowski, Ruddell, & Petrunik, 2019). This may result in some crime
prevention, enforcement, investigative, and service-related activities
shifting from public policing to private security (Montgomery & Griffiths,
2015). In addition to having implications for the justice system, these
changes may also impact employment prospects for those studying
criminal justice.

Supporting the Victims of Crime, Their Families, and

Witnesses
An Angus Reid Institute (2018, p. 1) survey reports that “roughly one-in-
eight Canadians (13 per cent) say they have personally been the victim of
a crime that involved the police in the last two years.” In the past, victims
of crime often received shoddy treatment by justice system officials, and
after a police officer took their statements, the victims were often
dismissed or forgotten. Since the 1980s, there has been an increased
awareness of the short- and long-term losses that victims of crimes
experience, including harms inflicted by the operations of the justice
system. The rights of crime victims were formally recognized after the
introduction of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights that came into effect
on July 23, 2015. The legislation is intended to give victims a greater
voice and provide them with more access to information about
investigations and offenders, as well as compensation. Wemmers (2017)
says that victims have the right to report crimes, protect themselves or
their property (in certain circumstances), request restitution, submit
victim impact statements, and request a publication ban that limits the
information the media can report about a case. While victims are able to
make these requests, there is no guarantee they will be granted, a topic
addressed in the online chapter on victimization.
Many women on college and university campuses are psychologically, physically, and
sexually victimized and few of those acts are ever reported to the police. Survivors of abuse
from Canadian universities were interviewed for a Maclean’s report on violence on campus;
the reporters found that university personnel often acted with little compassion toward
victims, and programs for victims failed to live up to their expectations (Schwartz, 2018).
This photo shows a sign created by students at the University of Victoria that contained
messages of support and information following an assault of a student on campus in 2015.

Holding Offenders Responsible

Canadians often express mixed feelings when it comes to holding
individuals accountable. We are often willing to give a break to young
people and first-timers or those involved in non-violent offences, but we
also want violent criminals punished harshly. As indicated on pages 17 and
18, there were 228,328 people convicted of offences in 2016 but just over
5,000 were sentenced to terms of imprisonment longer than two years.
This raises the question of whether our justice system is holding
wrongdoers fully accountable. In a 2018 survey on Canadians’ perceptions
of the court systems, only 41 per cent of Canadians reported they had
complete or a lot of confidence in their provincial courts, although this
was up from 19 per cent in 2012 (Angus Reid Global, 2014; Angus Reid
Institute, 2018). Results from the 2014 GSS show that only about 20 per
cent of Canadians have a great deal of confidence in the justice system and
courts, while another 37 per cent have some confidence (Cotter, 2015).
These findings suggest that most Canadians are not satisfied with the way
that justice is administered—although only a very small proportion of us
have much knowledge about what actually happens in courts or the actual
sentences offenders receive (Roberts, 2016).
A review of custody sentences conducted by Public Safety Canada
(2018, p. 11) shows that “over half (58 per cent) of all custodial sentences
imposed by adult criminal courts are one month or less.” Even for those
who were sentenced to a federal penitentiary in 2016/2017, “almost half
(49.7 per cent) of the total offender population was serving a sentence of
less than five years with 23.4 per cent serving a sentence of between two
years and less than three years” (Public Safety Canada, 2018, p. 41). Few
prisoners will serve their entire sentence behind bars and most will receive
some sort of early release; the exceptions are federal prisoners who are
designated as dangerous offenders or those sentenced to life
imprisonment.

dangerous offenders Individuals who the court has deemed to be a threat to the life, safety, or
physical or mental well-being of the public.

Despite those relatively short sentences, rates of some forms of

reported crime, such as homicide, are at their lowest levels since the 1960s
(Beattie et al., 2018), suggesting that some things must be on the right
track when it comes to crime control. Although policy-makers generally
want to use sanctions such as imprisonment sparingly, the public thinks
otherwise. Although the fact that the murder rate today is lower than it was
when the death penalty was last used in 1962, an Abacus poll conducted in
2016 found that almost 58 per cent of Canadians said the death penalty
was morally right (Anderson & Coletto, 2016), and Angus Reid Global
(2013) reports that 63 per cent of their survey participants wanted capital
punishment reinstated. Supporters felt that capital punishment deterred
potential offenders, that the death penalty was more cost effective than
imprisoning a murderer for life, and that the punishment fit the crime
(Angus Reid, 2013).

Helping Prisoners Return to the Community

As shown in Figure 1.5, almost 65,000 offenders were admitted to
provincial custody in 2016 to serve a sentence (Public Safety Canada,
2018), and none will serve a sentence of two years; over one-half will
serve one month or less (Miladinovic, 2019). In 2016/2017, almost one-
half of federal prisoners were imprisoned for less than five years (Public
Safety Canada, 2018, p. 41), and most non-violent federal prisoners are
returned to the community on day parole within a year or two. One of the
challenges in attempting to reduce reoffending is that many ex-prisoners
return to the same conditions from which they came: impoverished
neighbourhoods with high rates of substance abuse, a lack of positive role
models, few job opportunities, or high numbers of gang members. A
second barrier to their re-entry is that short incarceration sentences make
it difficult to provide meaningful rehabilitative opportunities for these
people. For example, if one-half of provincial sentences are less than a
month in length, how do we rehabilitate an individual during that time?
Last, rehabilitative programs add to the expense of corrections, and
taxpayers are not always willing to pay those increased costs. As a result,
the return to the community for these ex-inmates is often less successful
than we hope.

Race, Class, and Gender

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
(MMIWG)
A May 2014 editorial in the Globe and Mail notes the following:

If a society has the duty to protect its most vulnerable citizens, then Canadians
and their governments are completely derelict with regards to Aboriginal
women. They represent four per cent of Canada’s female population, but
 nearly a third of the female prison population. They are twice as likely to live
in poverty. (“Deadly statistics”, 2014, para. 1)

Indigenous women in Canada are at the highest risk of violent victimization of any
racial or ethnic group. Boyce (2016, p. 3) reports that Indigenous women are about
three times as likely to be victims of violence compared to non-Indigenous women.
Research produced by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics shows that Indigenous
women were almost six times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women
in 2017 (Beattie, David, & Roy, 2018, pp. 13–14).
According to the RCMP (2014), between 1980 and 2012, a total of 1,017
Indigenous women were murdered and another 169 were missing (of those missing
women, 108 cases were classified as “suspicious” and 61 were thought to be
accidental). The RCMP, however, undercounts the true number of these victims, as
some of those who were murdered were living in cities not policed by the RCMP.
In June 2019, the National Inquiry into MMIWG (2019) released its report based on
the testimony of almost 1,500 people including the family members of victims and
people with expertise in the justice system. The report was controversial, as it called the
murder of these women genocide, which is the deliberate killing of a large group of
people (and usually of an ethnic or racial group). The report calls for 231 steps that
federal, provincial, and Indigenous governments must take to reduce this violence.
Many of these steps are intended to improve the living conditions for all Indigenous
women. In addition, there are a number of recommendations specific to the justice
system, including toughening punishments for people victimizing Indigenous women,
improving the quality of Indigenous policing, increasing the number of Indigenous
people working in the justice system, and providing supports to the victims of crime
and their families. In addition, the report calls for improving the access of Indigenous
women to the justice system through legal aid, reforming the punishments meted out to
Indigenous women, developing better responses to human trafficking (and the sexual
exploitation of women), and basing the justice system on traditional Indigenous
practices.
The federal government has promised to toughen punishments for victimizing
Indigenous women and is looking into the possibilities of reforming the justice system.
The stakes for Indigenous women are high, and the Globe and Mail editors (“Deadly
statistics”, 2014) observed that “for an Aboriginal woman living on the margins of
society, a caring law enforcement system could mean the difference between life and
death.”
 Individuals can be also victimized by the justice system. In 2015, a 28 year-old
Indigenous woman from Alberta—who was the victim of a kidnapping and sexual
assault—was incarcerated in Edmonton Remand Centre (pictured here) for five
days to ensure she appeared in court as a witness against her attacker (she was
experiencing homelessness at the time of the trial). This woman, who was not
accused of committing any offence, was transported in the same van as the man
who was ultimately convicted of assaulting her. Cryderman (2018, para. 1) notes
that while an investigation of this woman’s treatment could find no evidence of
misconduct on the part of any individual worker, the case is an example of systemic
bias.

CRIME CONTROL AND DUE PROCESS

MODELS
Crime Control Model
There are a number of different ways of understanding our responses to
the operations of the justice system. One of the most straightforward
explanations was first described by Herbert Packer (1968), who believed
that two models could be used to make sense of our formal responses to
crime. The first approach he identified is the crime control model, which
is based on the notion that protecting society is more important than
protecting the rights of any individual. In order to ensure public safety,
this model says that the police and prosecution should aggressively
pursue, investigate, arrest, and prosecute wrongdoers—and once they are
found guilty, they should be punished swiftly and severely. Supporters of
the crime control model believe that the people working within the justice
system will act in a professional and lawful manner to carry out those
goals.

crime control model An approach to justice that is based on the philosophy that it is more
important to protect society than the rights of any individual.

Supporters of the crime control model believe that it is important that

the justice system be seen as acting in an efficient manner to deter
potential offenders. In order to achieve this goal, the justice system is
thought to work best if it is informal and if it treats everybody in a
uniform manner. As a result, cases that are alike will have similar
outcomes. Packer introduced the idea of assembly-line justice, which is
the rapid and routine processing of cases with the lowest use of resources,
much like the assembly line in a factory. While Canada’s justice system is
based on the notion of innocence until proven guilty, the supporters of the
crime control model presume that most defendants are in fact guilty. Cases
would be dropped from the assembly line if the accused was found to be
innocent or if there were problems with the case against the accused.

assembly-line justice An approach to justice where a priority is placed on quickly processing

minor matters in criminal courts with the assumption that most defendants are guilty.

Due Process Model

While advocates of the crime control model visualize an ideal system,
other scholars and practitioners recognize that some people accused of
crimes are innocent and that police and prosecutors make mistakes that
result in injustices such as wrongful convictions. As a result, they believe
that acting swiftly to determine guilt is not as important as finding the
truth and eliminating errors. Supporters of this position are advocates for
the due process model; they believe that the innocent need to be protected
and that even wrongdoers need protection to ensure their rights are not
violated. In contrast to the view of the justice system as an assembly line,
supporters of the due process model favour a system similar to an obstacle
course where the obstacles are safeguards for those accused of crimes.
Whereas supporters of the crime control model believe the police and
prosecutors carry out the most important work, most of the protections
advocated by supporters of the due process model take place in courts.

due process model An approach to justice that is based on the philosophy that the justice
system needs to protect the rights of a defendant.

In describing the due process model’s emphasis on the presumption of

innocence approaches, Mays and Ruddell (2019) observe the following:

Saying defendants are presumed innocent does not mean that they
likely are innocent or that it is possible they will be found
innocent. It means that guilt is not to be assumed. Therefore, guilt
can exist only when the state has proven the defendant guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt and the jury has returned a verdict of
guilty. (p. 22)

Supporters of the due process model will sometimes make statements

such as, “it is better to let ten guilty people go free than convict an
innocent person,” a sentiment first expressed by Sir William Blackstone,
an English jurist in the 1760s (Volokh, 1997). Although those ideas might
not be popular today, they have existed for hundreds of years because
many people believe that a legal system based on due process protects
individuals against the power of the state.
Many believe that it is important to achieve a balance between the due
process and crime control approaches to justice. Roberts (2016, p. 5)
observes that “the ultimate arbiter of conflicts between the two models of
criminal justice is the Supreme Court of Canada.” Justice systems that
place too much emphasis on the crime control approach could end up
wrongfully convicting innocent people, whereas a system that prioritizes
the due process protections of the accused could result in guilty people
evading punishment. These are significant problems for justice systems, as
the “Comparative View” box on wrongful convictions describes.
After reading the descriptions of Packer’s two models, most of us will
recognize that we fall into one category or the other. Most supporters of
the crime control approach are politically conservative, whereas advocates
of the due process model often consider themselves liberals or civil
libertarians. Yet, it is important to recognize that these two models do not
exist in a pure form, and they are not intended to represent the right or
wrong way of looking at justice. Instead, they provide us with two
viewpoints to interpret the ways that justice systems respond to crime and
the way criminal cases are processed.
In the chapters that follow, there will be numerous examples of justice
policies that are based on these two approaches. For example, after the
Harper government’s win in the 2006 federal election, there was a
movement to get tough on crime and criminals—policies that are related
to the crime control model. One example of tough on crime legislation is
the 2012 Safe Streets and Communities Act, which toughened punishments
and made prison mandatory for some drug production and trafficking
offences. However, after the 2015 election of the Liberal government,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repealed some of those laws and, in
addition to legalizing marijuana, the Liberal government introduced
legislation in 2018 to reform the justice system, including cracking down
on intimate-partner violence and reforming the jury system (Canadian
Press, 2018).
It is important to achieve a balance between the due process and crime control models.
Roberts (2016, p. 5) says that “the ultimate arbiter of conflicts between the two models of
criminal justice is the Supreme Court of Canada.”

An example of a due process protection is that Canadians without the

money to pay for a lawyer can apply for legal aid services. It was long ago
recognized that poor defendants were at a significant disadvantage in court
given that the state has almost limitless resources to prosecute them. In
2017/2018, almost half a million applicants received services from legal
aid, and half (50 per cent) of these services were for criminal matters
while the remainder were for civil matters such as immigration and
refugee claims or family law cases (Department of Justice, 2019).

SUMMARY
One point that emerges in any discussion of the Canadian justice system is
that there is a lack of agreement on the best way to respond to offences,
and this debate is complicated by the fact that we do not always agree on
what acts should be crimes. These disagreements about the best way of
responding to crime and achieving justice have been debated for centuries
and will not be resolved in the near future. Fortunately, there are a number
of things that we can agree on: the main goals of the criminal justice
system, the three components that make up the justice system, and
Packer’s (1968) classification of justice systems. These will serve as a
foundation for the remainder of our exploration of criminal justice.

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Wrongful Convictions
When it comes to wrongful convictions, we do not know the full extent of these
miscarriages of justice, although the work of Innocence Canada led to the release of 21
wrongfully convicted Canadians between 1993 and 2018 (and they also assisted in
other cases). In 2019, Innocence Canada was reviewing 81 cases where prisoners
claimed innocence, and most of those convictions were for murder or manslaughter
offences. Figure 1.6 shows that there is some interprovincial variation, as there are
more claims of wrongful convictions in Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia
(there was only one case for Nunavut and none for the Northwest Territories, Yukon, or
Prince Edward Island). Based on this variation, supporters of the due process approach
might suggest there is a rush to judgment in some provinces.
FIGURE 1.6 Cases Under Wrongful Conviction Review per Million Provincial
Residents, 2018
Adapted from Innocence Canada (2019)

There are three remedies for people maintaining they have been wrongfully
convicted: (a) conviction review, (b) commissions of inquiry, and (c) compensation.
According to Campbell and Denov (2016, p. 235), conviction reviews are authorized
in the Criminal Code and enable people claiming their innocence to “ask the federal
Minister of Justice to review the circumstances of their case in order to ascertain
whether a miscarriage of justice ‘likely’ occurred.” These reviews are carried out by
the Department of Justice, although requests for reviews are rare. In the five years
between 2013 and 2017 only 12 applications per year were made to the Minister, but
that number increased to 18 completed applications in 2018 (Department of Justice,
2018a). If a claim of innocence is supported, it is reviewed by the Minister of Justice,
who can order a new trial or appeal, or refer the matter to the provincial court of appeal
—although the process often takes years. Commissions of inquiry, by contrast,
investigate the factors that led to wrongful convictions and are intended to prevent
further wrongful convictions. Most people proven to have been wrongfully convicted
receive some sort of monetary compensation, and a review of Canadian cases reveals
that these amounts have varied between $105,000 and $10 million (Campbell &
Denov, 2016, p. 238).
 Roméo Phillion of Ontario served almost 32 years in prison before his murder
conviction was overturned.

Although we may all agree on the five goals of the justice system, each
one of us will place a different value on issues such as crime prevention,
holding individuals who have committed crimes accountable, and the best
way to protect the public. Policy-makers, politicians, other stakeholders
with an interest in the system, and the general public often disagree on
these issues, and they also often disagree on which level of government
should pay for these initiatives. For example, many Canadians support
putting more police officers on the streets but are reluctant to pay higher
taxes to achieve that goal.
A basic description of the three components of the justice system was
presented in this chapter, and this discussion serves as a foundation for
more in-depth analyses in the chapters that follow. An important point to
consider is that formal justice systems are a relatively new development in
history, and even a century ago the police, courts, and corrections played a
much smaller role in our lives. It is also likely that conformity was higher
a century ago, when most people abided by the expectations of the
community because they did not want to disappoint their friends and
family. Even today in some remote Canadian settlements the police might
pass through town only once or twice a month—suggesting that informal
social control can regulate most wrongdoing in these places. One of the
limitations in our knowledge, however, is that we simply do not know how
these communities “self-regulate” and whether it is because of consensus,
fear of letting down one’s friends and family in a close-knit community, or
some individuals in these communities ruling through fear and
intimidation. These informal approaches, however, do not work very well
in cities, where citizens tend to be anonymous and might not be very
concerned about what others think of them.
Last, two methods of understanding the operations of justice systems
were introduced: the due process and crime control approaches. After
reviewing that section, most readers will find that they identify with one
of these models. Understanding these competing perspectives gives us a
framework to make sense of criminal justice. Throughout the chapters that
follow, readers will be exposed to a number of ideas that might challenge
their viewpoints about justice, being tough on crime (“lock criminals up
and throw away the key”), and the limits to due process protections (“it is
better to let ten guilty individuals walk free than to imprison an innocent
person”).

MYTH OR REALITY
Crime, Justice, and Offenders: Myths and the Media
Most of our ideas about crime, criminals, and the operations of the criminal justice
system come from watching television or films, or from the websites we browse. The
news accounts we see on television are often based on violent crimes such as murder,
which rarely occur. Few of us are interested in the types of crimes that occur most
often such as shoplifting and other minor thefts or when somebody fails to show up for
their court date, which comprises about one-fifth of all criminal charges. In analyzing
the television news industry, Kerbel (2018) observes that “if it bleeds, it leads” because
the public is fascinated by murder, bloodshed, and mayhem. The trouble with the
overrepresentation of violent crime is that watching news reports makes the public
believe that violent crime is widespread and that we have a high risk of being
victimized.
There are some other shortcomings about the content of the news accounts we
receive. One that often frustrates criminologists is that these reports are often very short
and seldom tell the audience the entire account of what occurred, which can mislead
viewers. Crime is a complex social problem with multiple causes, and responses to
crime are often complex and difficult to understand, especially when most news
accounts are only a minute or so long. Thus, the messages we receive can over-
simplify these complex problems. This problem can be compounded on internet blog
sites when only one position is presented.
After 2017, Donald Trump and other US politicians raised the issue of “fake news,”
by which they mean news accounts that are biased or inaccurate. In Canada,
publishing false news that results in harm is against the law; section 181 of the
Criminal Code states that “Every one who willfully publishes a statement, tale or news
that he knows is false and that causes or is likely to cause injury or mischief to a public
interest is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two years.”
 The entertainment media is also guilty of misleading the public about crime and
justice to make their programs more interesting. Britto, Ruddell, and Jones (2019)
analyzed the content of two popular Canadian television police dramas, 19-2, a series
set in Montreal that ran from 2014 to 2017, and Rookie Blue, a series depicting the
duties and lives of Toronto police officers, which ran from 2010 to 2015. As in most
crime dramas, violent crimes such as murder, sexual assault, robbery, and assault were
highly overrepresented compared to their actual rates in these cities. Officers in these
programs seldom responded to the social service challenges that represent most of
police work. These shows also reinforced the dangers of police work, and in a single
season the actors would draw their firearms more than a typical Montreal or Toronto
officer would in their entire career. A more serious issue is that police officers in these
programs regularly committed violations of suspects’ Charter rights, which could lead
viewers to think that these violations are acceptable and normal police conduct (Britto
et al., 2019).
The public is also fascinated by true crime stories. An entire television network—
Investigation Discovery, which has been called “the murder network”—was founded
in 2008 and produces about 500 new true crime programs every year. Fallon (2018,
para. 7), who studies the media, reports that “Investigation Discovery has consistently
been the most-watched cable network among women aged 25 to 54. Not Lifetime, not
the Hallmark Channel, not HGTV.”

Actress Missy Peregrym starred in the Canadian police drama Rookie Blue, which
ran 2010–2015. Surette (2015, p. 59) observes that “in every subject category—
crimes, criminals, crime fighters, attorneys, correctional officers, and inmates; the
investigation of crimes and making of arrests; the processing and disposition of
cases; and the experience of incarceration—the media construct and present a
crime-and-justice world that is opposite the real world.”

Career SNAPSHOT
Victim Advocacy
When we think about working in the justice system, our first thoughts are often about
careers as police or correctional officers. There are, however, a diverse number of
career opportunities that support the activities of the criminal and youth justice
systems. These jobs often operate in the background and few of us will interact with
these officials. Crime victims in the past often received poor or dismissive treatment by
the police, courts, and corrections. The treatment of victims has improved, thanks in
part to support from individuals working within victim services agencies. Although
these careers can be fulfilling, they can also be emotionally taxing. These jobs
typically require a bachelor’s degree in the social sciences or in social work.

Profile
Name: Heidi Illingworth
Job title: Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime
Employed in current job since: October 2018
Present location: Ottawa, Ontario
Education: BA (Honours) Law with a concentration in criminology and criminal
justice, Carleton University

Background
I have extensive experience in community-based victim services, advocacy, and
academia. Prior to my appointment as Ombudsman, I spent 20 years in front-line
service delivery for victims of serious crime and interpersonal violence. I served as the
executive director of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for more than
11 years, where I developed a number of resources to support victim-service
providers, as well as individual victims of crime and their families. I was also very
fortunate to develop curriculum and serve as a part-time professor in the Victimology
graduate certificate program at Algonquin College for seven years.

Work Experience
Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime
I was honoured to be appointed to serve as Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime
in October of 2018. Together with my team, we provide direct service to victims, such
as information and referrals to services offered by other levels of government, we
investigate complaints against federal agencies, and we make recommendations to the
federal government that bring positive change for victims in the criminal justice
system. Our vision is to see every victim across Canada treated with compassion and
respect and provided with the information, support, and services they need to help
restore their health and well-being.
In 2007, the Government of Canada created the Office of the Federal Ombudsman
for Victims of Crime to serve as an independent resource for victims in Canada. The
ombudsman’s role is to ensure the federal government meets its commitments to
promote access to existing government programs and services, and to identify and
explore systemic and emerging victim issues. The office operates at arm’s length from
the federal departments responsible for victim issues, namely the Department of Justice
and the Department of Public Safety.

Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime (CRCVC)

I started working at CRCVC after my third year in university, and became its executive
director in 2007. Each day working for a tiny, charitable organization dedicated to
survivors of violence was very meaningful and profound. I was able to support
survivors in the aftermath of traumatic experiences like intimate-partner violence,
sexual violence, and homicide. As a result, I learned that too many women in Canada
live in fear of current or ex-partners, and escaping violence is not easy, especially
where children are involved.
For me, the best part about working in victim services as an advocate was being
able to effect positive change. I worked to support people who faced incredible
personal hardship, but I also advocated for systemic changes to services, policy, and
programs that operated too bureaucratically or without sensitivity to the lived
experiences of victims. Finding gaps in various systems and proposing solutions is
work that requires patience but is also very fulfilling.
One of my powerful career experiences at CRCVC was accompanying the mother
of a murdered child to meet the killer face-to-face in prison. It was an incredible
honour to be present as a support person and to witness the dialogue between these
parties. The victim’s mother was able to express how deeply the crime affected her
family, as well as her determination to hold him personally accountable, to ensure that
he will never harm anyone else. She did not forgive the offender, but this restorative
justice encounter allowed her to let go of some of the anger she held on to for many
years. Such emotional experiences take a toll and, as a young person starting out in the
field, I did not anticipate this level of impact, nor did my schooling properly prepare
me for it. I have learned how to cope with the trauma my work exposes me to through
 training and professional development opportunities, and I remain healthy enough to
continue in this field.

Advice to Students
I recommend that students interested in working with people affected by crime and
violence, whether in policy work or direct victim services, seek out one of the
academic programs offering specialized graduate studies in victimology. Many of
these programs require an undergraduate degree in social work and/or criminology as
a prerequisite for admission.
In addition to academic preparation to work in this field, you should also consider
ensuring that you are adequately prepared mentally and emotionally to withstand the
demands such work entails. This means developing coping mechanisms and a support
network to help deal with stress.
It is also very important to have volunteer experience. Try volunteering with a local
victim services program, as they offer intensive training to volunteers that will prepare
you for what to expect and how to assist victims of crime. As with other jobs in the
criminal justice system, many victim-service agencies are police-based and require
applicants to have clean background checks in order to be involved.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are the differences between summary offences and indictable offences? How do
these classifications differ from malum in se and malum prohibitum?
2. Describe the main goals of the justice system.
3. What are the three components of the criminal justice system? How are they related to
each other?
4. How do the concepts of discretion, filtering, and sequencing help us to explain how the
number of people in the “criminal justice funnel” decreases?
5. What is the main difference between informal and formal social control?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Compare and contrast the due process and crime control models. Which model do you
think has the most public support?
2. What factors might explain the provincial differences in cases of alleged wrongful
convictions?
3. Of the goals of the justice system, which one do you feel is the most important? Why?
4. Why is it important that the government regulate mala prohibita acts?
5. Of the three components of the justice system, which is the most important in ensuring
that everybody is treated in a just and fair manner?

INTERNET SITE
Juristat publications are produced by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, a division of
Statistics Canada. The articles provide the most up-to-date information on crime in Canada
and on the operations of Canada’s adult and youth justice systems.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/85-002-X

CASES CITED
Canada (Attorney General) v Bedford, 2013 SCC 72, [2013] 3 SCR 1101
R v Stinchcombe, [1991] 3 SCR 326
 2 Crime in Canada

RCMPSgt. François-Olivier Myette explains the dismantling of an

international money laundering network during a 2019 news conference in
Montreal. How do you think Canada’s levels of crime compare to the rest of
the world? What might account for the differences between countries? (Photo
credit: the canadian press/Ryan Remiorz)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe the five major types of crime
• Explain the differences between “crimes in the streets” and “crimes in the suites”
• Describe the three measures of crime commonly used in Canada
• Describe why traffic enforcement is important for saving lives
• Explain how urban crime and rural crime differ

CASE STUDY
Do White-Collar Criminals
Deserve Harsher Sentences?
Our ideas about crime and victimization often focus on “crimes in the streets,” including
criminal activities where victims have lost property or experienced violence in public
places. These street crimes are often carried out by individuals who have addictions or
mental health problems and come from marginalized populations. By contrast, there has
generally been less interest in crimes such as fraud and theft committed by people who are
widely trusted, such as the managers of retirement funds, and who tend to be well-off and
educated. We call these white-collar offenders: individuals who are self-employed or work
for governments or corporations and engage in financially motivated crimes. Once
convicted, they are seldom treated very harshly by the justice system.

white-collar offenders People who engage in financially motivated, non-violent crimes.

In some cases the justice system or government departments that regulate investments
do not seem very serious about collecting the fines or restitution imposed on white-collar
offenders. One example is the case of Michael Lathigee and Earle Pasquill, who defrauded
700 investors for $21.7 million, and were expected to return the stolen money to investors
and each pay a $15 million fine. Although the crimes occurred in 2008, it took until 2015
for the fines to be levied by the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), and by
January 2018, they had not made any payments to the Commission. This lack of payment
was not unusual: A review of BCSC files showed they collected only two per cent of $510
million in fines between 2008 and 2017 (Hoekstra, 2018). Are things any different in the
rest of the country? Robertson and Cardoso (2018) carried out an investigation for the
Globe and Mail newspaper on the Canadian securities industry and found that over $1.1
 billion in fines had not been collected. They also found that one of every nine people
convicted of white-collar crime went on to commit additional frauds.
Most white-collar criminals are highly educated first-time offenders with no criminal
histories who represent little risk of violence. As a result, their crimes are often punished
with fines, which are routinely ignored by these offenders. Writing for The Lawyer’s Daily,
Burns (2018) says that the low fine-collection rate is not due to a lack of enforcement, but
rather is because most of them lack the money to pay their debts. We might ask what
happens when someone on probation for vehicle theft (as one example) is unable or
unwilling to pay their fine, and whether white-collar criminals and those found guilty of
vehicle theft should receive the same treatment.

Critical Questions
1. What message is sent to the public when the theft of $21.7 million can be settled by
imposing a fine that is never collected?
2. Does imposing a relatively minor punishment for white-collar criminals deter others
from committing similar crimes?
3. It has been said that “the rich get richer and the poor get prison.” Based on the results
of the investigations reported above, do you agree with that statement?

INTRODUCTION
Before we explore how justice systems respond to crime, we first have to
understand the different types of crime and examine the amount of crime
that actually occurs. This can be accomplished by reviewing current crime
statistics that provide a snapshot of what is happening today as well as by
looking at long-term trends to see whether crime rates are increasing or
decreasing. Understanding the nature of crime is important for developing
effective crime-reduction strategies. It is also useful to look at the issue of
crime severity and how the volume and seriousness of crimes differ across
the country. One of the challenges of describing crime in a nation as large
as Canada is that there are places with very high levels of crime as well as
communities where serious offences rarely occur. The workload and
activities of the police, courts, and corrections will be shaped by the
number and severity of offences that occur.
There are various sources of information on crime rates, public
perceptions of crime, and the operations of the justice system. The most
up-to-date and comprehensive source on Canadian crime topics is the
series of profiles published each year by the Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics (CCJS), which is renowned for its data quality, relevance, and
accuracy (Statistics Canada, 2018b). CCJS researchers report on the
number of offences and the total severity of all crimes reported to the
police in Canada. In a report for the CCJS, Perreault (2015, p. 40) examined
the 2014 General Social Survey (GSS) results and found that only about
one-third of crimes are ever reported to the police. Few minor offences,
such as the theft of inexpensive items, are reported because of the modest
loss and the belief that the police cannot solve those crimes, but even
some victims of serious offences do not involve the police.

Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (ccjs) An organization operated by Statistics Canada
that produces reports on crime, offenders, victims, and the operations of the justice system.

In addition to describing the nature of crime, this chapter also provides

a brief overview of how crime impacts our lives. Not only are victims
harmed by crimes, but the fear of encountering crime influences our
activities, such as whether we decide to walk alone after dark or stop at a
convenience store if there is a group of noisy people loitering outside. In
addition to reducing our quality of life, the threat of crime can lower
property values and also the decisions of businesses. The Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (2011), for example, reported that Air Canada
would no longer place its employees in downtown Winnipeg hotels
because of concerns over its employees’ safety and risk of being
victimized. Altogether, the total cost of all crime in Canada, including
pain and suffering, is estimated to be over $80 billion annually (Easton,
Furness, & Brantingham, 2014, p. 96).
FIGURE 2.1 Offences Reported to the Police, Number per Hour, Canada, 2016
Source: Adapted from Statistics Canada (2018). Evaluation of the Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics Program (2011-2012 to 2015/2016). Ottawa, ON.

Although serious crimes capture most of the attention of the media and
politicians, they are relatively rare: In 2017, for example, there were 660
homicides in Canada, or slightly less than two per day (Beattie, David, &
Roy, 2018). Less serious offences occur more frequently, and Figure 2.1
shows the total number of offences reported to the police per hour in
Canada in 2016. Theft is the most common offence reported to the police,
followed by acts of mischief (such as vandalism), minor assaults, and
break and enters. Serious offences such as robbery and sex crimes occur
less often.

FIVE TYPES OF CRIME

Although hundreds of offences are defined in the Criminal Code, most
researchers focus on a limited number of crimes that pose the highest risks
to public safety or that reduce our quality of life the most. Crimes can be
categorized into five broad groups: (a) crimes against the person, (b)
property crimes, (c) crimes of the powerful, (d) organized crime and
gangs, and (e) antisocial behaviour.

Crimes Against the Person

Crimes against the person, also referred to as violent crimes, contribute to
fear and reduce our quality of life, as the possibility of being victimized
sometimes prevents us from engaging in activities that we would
otherwise do, such as taking a walk after dark. In this section, we define
the four main types of violent crime: homicide, sexual assault, robbery,
and assault.

Homicide
According to section 222 of the Criminal Code, “A person commits
homicide when, directly or indirectly, by any means, he causes the death of
a human being.” Although this definition seems fairly straightforward, the
act of homicide can be considered not culpable or culpable. Non-culpable
homicides are not considered offences, such as when a doctor or nurse
medically assists a terminally ill patient in ending their life, the guidelines
for which are defined in section 241 of the Criminal Code. Culpable
homicide, by contrast, is considered an offence and includes murder,
manslaughter, and infanticide. Murder refers to acts meant to cause death
or bodily harm likely to cause death, and the Criminal Code further
distinguishes between first-degree murder—a planned and deliberate act
—and second-degree murder, which is a deliberate act that was
unplanned.

homicide When someone causes the death of another person.

first-degree murder A planned and deliberate act that results in death.
second-degree murder A deliberate but unplanned act that results in death.

Section 234 of the Criminal Code defines manslaughter as culpable

homicide that is not murder or infanticide. Manslaughter is considered to
be either an unlawful act (an illegal act) that was not intended to cause
death, such as a driver involved in a street race that results in a fatal crash,
or criminal negligence, which is an act that “shows wanton or reckless
disregard for the lives or safety of other persons” (section 219). One
example of manslaughter is a case where a contractor operating a poorly
maintained backhoe with nonfunctional brakes collided with an employee,
resulting in a fatality (R v Scrocca, 2010).

unlawful act An act that is not authorized or justified by law.

criminal negligence An act that shows reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other
people.

Sexual Assault
Although homicide is one of the most accurately reported offences, sexual
assault is among the least reported given the reluctance of many victims,
both female and male, to report their victimization to the police.
Additionally, police are more likely to label sexual assault cases as
‘unfounded’ than other violent crimes, which, until the changes to
reporting unfounded cases in 2016, meant fewer reported cases were
recorded in police statistics. Allen and McCarthy (2018, p. 6) define
sexual assault acts as:

sexual assault An assault of a sexual nature, including assaults committed by individuals of the
same sex or assaults committed against one’s spouse.

• Sexual assault level 1: involves minor physical injuries or no

injuries to the victim.
• Sexual assault level 2: includes sexual assault with a weapon,
threats, or causing bodily harm.
• Aggravated sexual assault level 3: this results in wounding,
maiming, disfiguring, or endangering the life of the victim.

Some people are at higher risk of victimization. While the total

number of police-recorded level 1 through 3 sexual offences decreased
somewhat between 2012 and 2016, the number of sexual assaults against
children increased by 74 per cent during the same time, and increased
another 8 per cent in 2017 (Allen, 2018). Keighley (2017) notes that some
of this increase may be due to changes in the way that these offences are
defined and counted (which is a common problem when comparing any
type of information over a number of years). Keighley notes, however, that
crimes against children, like other sexual offences, are undercounted and
some are reported years after they occur. Most often it is the people we
trust who victimize children; for example, the Canadian Centre for Child
Protection (2018, p. 9) found that school personnel committed sexual
offences against almost 1,300 students between 1997 and 2017. Moreover,
the CBC reports that at least 222 coaches involved in amateur sports had
been convicted of sexual offences in the last 20 years (Campigotto, 2019,
para. 1).

Race, Class, and Gender

Infanticide: Do Laws Established in 1948 Reflect
Justice Today?
Although it rarely occurs, the crime of infanticide—the murder, by a female person, of
her newly born infant—can challenge our ideas of justice. On the one hand, we realize
that the women involved in these crimes throughout history have often been socially
isolated and struggled with mental illness. On the other hand, the sentences imposed on
them can often seem minimal, such as the probationary sentence imposed on a
Montreal woman convicted of a 2017 infanticide (Feith & Quan, 2018). The Criminal
Code mitigates punishments for women convicted of infanticide “if at the time of the
act or omission she is not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child”
(section 233), and “every female person who commits infanticide is guilty of an
indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years”
(section 237). Some have questioned whether the punishments reflect the seriousness
of these crimes, especially when there is more than one victim, and Kay (2014) said
the minor punishments imposed in these cases amounted to “an open season on
unwanted infants.” Advocacy organizations, on the other hand, say that removing the
infanticide offence from the Criminal Code would subject women to harsh
punishments that are inappropriate given the challenges they face (Women’s Legal
Education and Action Fund, 2014).
So what are the facts today? These crimes rarely occur; only 26 such offences were
recorded by Statistics Canada (2018c) between 1998 and 2017, and there was only one
between 2010 and 2016, although most publicized cases involved more than one
victim.
Prior to 1948, these acts were classified as murder and women convicted of this
crime could face the death penalty. Back then, women had fewer options and supports
than they do today, as birth control was less reliable, abortion was illegal, and the
stigma of out-of-wedlock births was greater (many women committing these crimes
were young and unmarried). As a result, juries were often unwilling to convict women
for this offence, as the punishment generally didn’t fit the circumstances surrounding
these crimes. So the infanticide offence was introduced with the mitigated sentence.
Things have changed in the past 70 years, and some argue that a mitigated
punishment no longer makes sense, as women today have many more services as
supports available to them. Still, Kramer (2006, p. 2) observes that “sometimes the
women kill their newly born babies because they have been raped or otherwise
coerced into sex by male employers, relatives, co-workers, or boyfriends. The women
usually conceal and/or deny their pregnancies, give birth alone, and then dispose of the
body of the baby.” The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (2014) points out
that “young, socially isolated and otherwise marginalized women, who commit the
offence often in desperate and tragic circumstances, should have access to the reduced
culpability offence.”
So, how can we manage these rare cases and see that justice is served? It might
depend on how you define justice. Appellate courts in Ontario (R v LB, 2011) and
Alberta (R v Borowiec, 2015) ruled that women who killed their infants were not guilty
of first- or second-degree murder. The Supreme Court, in the R v Borowiec (2016)
case, upheld the existing 1948 infanticide law, and this decision will stand for the
foreseeable future.

MYTH OR REALITY
Stranger Danger
Most of the public’s knowledge about the justice system comes from watching
television and films, and many of the messages that we receive from the media are
misguided or wrong. One commonly held view is that most violent crimes are carried
out by strangers. But is that view correct? Homicide is considered the most serious
crime, so it is well-reported to police, and the CCJS produces an annual report of
homicides in Canada.
Figure 2.2 shows the accused–victim relationship for the 443 homicides in Canada
in 2017 where the relationship was known. The figure shows the likelihood of being
murdered by an acquaintance (32.4 per cent), a family member (31.1 per cent), a
partner from a criminal relationship (13.4 per cent), or an intimate partner (5.7 per
cent), compared to the risk of being harmed by a stranger (17.5 per cent). Do these
findings change your perception of “stranger danger”?
These findings about victim–offender relationships vary somewhat by age.
Burczycka and Conroy (2018, p. 70) report that 59 per cent of child and youth victims
of family violence were victimized by a parent, but that as children age, they are more
likely to be victimized by acquaintances, peers, and strangers. Some of our fears about
victimization do not match reality. Older Canadians, for example, are often fearful of
crime, but their age group is least likely to be victimized (Hayman, 2011; Perrault,
2015; also see Figure 2.3), and of those who are, one-third are victimized by a family
member such as a child, spouse, or sibling (Burczycka & Conroy, 2018, p. 82).

FIGURE 2.2 Homicides by Accused–Victim Relationship, Canada, 2017

Source: Adapted from Beattie, David, and Roy (2018)
 FIGURE 2.3 Violent Victimization Rate per 1,000 Residents by Age Group, 2014
Source: Adapted from Perreault (2015)

Robbery
Robbery is considered a crime against the person because it involves a
threat or the use of violence to carry out a theft—even if the victim is not
physically harmed. Sentences for robbery can be severe, including life
imprisonment. Robbery is primarily an urban crime and is eight times
more likely to occur in an urban area than in the countryside (Francisco &
Chenier, 2007). Justice system personnel are generally very concerned
about robberies because neighbourhoods and cities with high robbery rates
tend to have higher murder rates (United Nations, 2014)

robbery An act of theft that also involves violence or the threat of violence.

Assault
Assault is the most commonly reported violent crime, and over 230,000 of
these offences were reported to the police in 2017. Similar to the
classification of sexual offences, assaults are classified into three types,
with level 3 (aggravated assaults) being the most serious. Statistics
Canada (2018c) reports that about 70 per cent of these reported assaults
were level 1 offences, followed by level 2 (22 per cent) and level 3 (1.5
per cent) crimes. About five per cent of all assaults were committed on
peace officers, and there were about 2,000 “other” assaults, such as
criminal negligence causing bodily harm, in 2017 (Statistics Canada,
2018c).

assault A crime of violence that can range from a relatively minor act (level 1, also called
common assaults) to a serious crime resulting in severe bodily harm (level 3).

Property Crimes
While violent crimes receive most of the public’s attention, it is far more
likely for us to be victims of property offences. The three types of
property offences commonly reported to the police are break and enter,
theft of a motor vehicle, and theft not involving a motor vehicle
(commonly reported as being either over or under $5,000). The crime
clock in Figure 2.1 shows there is about one break and enter every three
minutes and a vehicle theft every seven minutes. Although minor thefts
are common, few are reported due to the modest losses, whereas break-
and-enter offences and vehicle theft are more likely to be reported since
the damages involved are often much greater. In addition, offences
involving a greater loss must be reported to the police in order for the
victims to receive insurance payouts. The following discussion provides
working definitions of the three major types of property crimes.
Robbery is considered a crime against the person because it involves a threat or the use of
violence to carry out a theft—even if the victim is not physically harmed. There were almost
23,000 robberies in 2017 (Allen, 2018).

Break and Enter

Although a common public perception is that most break-and-enter
offences involve breaking into homes, Coughlan, Yogis, and Cotter (2013)
observe that these offences can involve other structures such as
businesses. Even though these acts are considered to be a property crime,
they can have a devastating psychological effect on some victims, who
may experience feelings of violation after someone intrudes in their home
and goes through their belongings.

break and enter When an individual breaks into a residence or business, usually with the
intent to steal items.

Motor Vehicle Theft

Motor vehicle theft refers to the theft or attempted theft of a land-based
motorized vehicle and does not include boats or aircraft. In 2017 there
were about 85,000 motor vehicle thefts in Canada (Allen, 2018).
Altogether, automobile theft accounted for about $1 billion in property
losses, which increases the cost of insurance for all motorists.

motor vehicle theft The theft or attempted theft of a land-based motorized vehicle.

Theft
Theft is taking another person’s possessions without his or her consent,
and thefts under $5,000 are the most commonly reported crimes.
Technology has changed the impacts of theft—particularly when it comes
to identity theft, which involves “acquiring another person’s signature,
bank account number, Social Insurance Number, passport number, or other
personal information for the purpose of committing one or more offences,
such as fraud or forgery” (Coughlan, Yogis, & Cotter, 2013, p. 158).
Identity theft has become commonplace as offenders realize that it can be
profitable and that they are at little risk of being arrested (Goodman, 2015;
Police Executive Research Forum, 2018). The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
(2018) reports that there were almost 5,000 complaints about fraud per
month between 2016 and 2018. Many of these offences were internet-
based, and Statistics Canada (2018c) reports the number of cybercrimes
reported to police increased by more than half (58 per cent) between 2014
and 2016. While there is a direct financial loss to identity theft, it can take
years for some victims to restore their credit and when asked about the
impact of identity theft on their credit, three-quarters said it was severely
distressing (Identity Theft Resource Center, 2017).

theft Taking another person’s possessions without his or her consent.

identity theft When an individual obtains another person’s information in order to commit
offences such as fraud or forgery.

Crimes of the Powerful

Much of the public’s attention is focused on street crimes such as violent
and property offences. Less consideration has been paid to the crimes of
the powerful, which Kauzlarich and Rothe (2014) define as occupational
and organizational crimes; Reiman and Leighton (2017) call these
offences “crimes in the suites.” Occupational crimes are committed by
workers for their own benefit in the course of their employment. These
offences are called white-collar crimes because these individuals tend to
be well-educated or hold professional positions. Most occupational crimes
involve offenders defrauding their own company or customers, such as
accountants who steal from their employers, or employees who lie on their
expense accounts. Individuals in professions may also engage in unethical
conduct or crimes, such as doctors who carry out unnecessary surgeries or
accountants who mismanage their clients’ funds for their own gain. Most
governments, at some point in their histories, have also engaged in state or
political crimes, especially during the settlement of new colonies, and
particularly related to the treatment of Indigenous peoples in those lands.

street crimes Violent, property, and public order offences that are contrasted against crimes of
the powerful (such as white-collar crimes).
occupational crimes Offences that are committed by individuals for their own benefit in the
course of their employment.
white-collar crimes Non-violent crimes that are committed for monetary gain and include acts
of corruption.

A Closer Look
Auto Theft
There are some differences in the types of vehicles stolen across Canada. The
Insurance Bureau of Canada (2019) reports that of the top five vehicles stolen in
Alberta, all were trucks, whereas there were only two trucks on Ontario’s top-five list
in 2018 (see Table 2.1). These comparisons remind us that even though the number of
offences might be similar, there can be significant differences across the country within
specific types of crime. The motives for property crimes such as auto theft also vary.
Tremblay and Sauvetre (2013, p. 169) studied young car thieves in Montreal and
classified them into two groups: jockeys (who stole vehicles to sell them for profit) and
joyriders, who took cars for fun. While joyriding sometimes results in collisions or
police chases, the jockeys who steal vehicles for profit have a greater impact on the
total number of thefts in a city as they treat their efforts as a business rather than a
thrill-seeking act.
 Hodgkinson, Andresen, and Farrell (2016, p. 50) researched vehicle thefts in
Vancouver and found that while the number of stolen autos decreased by 84 per cent
between 2003 and 2013 for the entire city, there were several hot spots where these
offences were more likely to happen. In 2003 the highest number of thefts occurred in
the richest neighbourhoods, but by 2013, the hot spots had moved to the Downtown
Eastside, an area with high rates of poverty and crime. These researchers speculated
that one reason for this change was that the downtown area had a higher proportion of
older vehicles that lacked the chips in keys that make newer cars more difficult to steal.
Linning, Andresen, Ghaseminejad, and Brantingham (2017) also found there was an
element of seasonality in British Columbia’s vehicle thefts—they tended to increase
when temperatures were very low or high. This finding is no surprise to police in
prairie cities where thefts increase in very cold weather when drivers leave their cars
unattended to warm up. The problem was so bad in Calgary that police initiated
Operation Cold Start, a public education campaign to reduce the number of stolen
vehicles (Schmidt, 2018).

hot spots Areas where a high volume of crimes occur (e.g., near rowdy bars).

TABLE 2.1 Top Five Vehicle Thefts, Alberta and Ontario, 2018

Alberta Vehicle Ontario Vehicle Thefts

Thefts

1. 2006 Ford F250 2004 Chevrolet/GMC Tahoe/Yukon (SUV)

(Truck)

2. 2006 Ford F350 2006 Chevrolet/GMC Silverado/Sierra (Truck)

(Truck)

3. 2007 Ford F350 2003 Chevrolet/GMC Tahoe/Yukon (SUV)

(Truck)

4. 2004 Ford F350 2007 Ford F350 (Truck)

(Truck)

5. 2005 Ford F250 2003 Chevrolet/GMC Suburban/Yukon XL (SUV)

(Truck)

Source: Adapted from Insurance Bureau of Canada (2019)

Occupational crimes result in high financial losses for organizations.

Price Waterhouse Coopers (2018) surveyed Canadian businesses and found
that 55 per cent of them reported losses due to theft, fraud (a form of
deception that causes injury to another person), and cybercrimes in the
previous two years. The number of businesses reporting these losses is
increasing and these crimes can have significant costs. Why does this
matter? These crimes affect everybody, because higher costs are passed
along to customers. These offences also have a direct impact on these
firms by reducing employee morale, harming business relations, and
negatively affecting the companies’ reputation.
Organizational crimes are offences committed by businesses or
employees to increase profits to benefit their organization. Examples of
organizational crimes include bribery (e.g., paying government officials
who award a contract to a business), corporate fraud, price-fixing, the sale
of faulty or unsafe products, tax evasion, and environmental crimes. SNC-
Lavalin, one of Canada’s largest engineering firms, has been accused of
fraud and corruption in contracts with Libya in 2015, although the case
was still before the courts in 2019, which shows how slowly these cases
move through the justice system (Connolly, 2019).

organizational crimes Offences committed by employees of legitimate businesses that are

intended to increase profits or otherwise benefit the organization.
Occupational crimes are committed by workers for their own benefit in the course of their
employment. These offences are called white-collar crimes because most of these offenders
are well-educated or hold professional positions.

With respect to environmental crimes, Volkswagen issued cash

settlements to about 20,000 owners of Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche
vehicles and paid a $2.5 million civil penalty for cheating on emissions
tests on diesel vehicles sold in Canada (Layson, 2018). The American
justice system, by contrast, treated company officials more harshly for
their roles in the emissions scandal, and imprisoned one Volkswagen
executive for seven years (CBC, 2017). These offences are widespread;
Price Waterhouse Coopers (2018, p. 12) found that one-quarter of the
companies surveyed had been asked to pay a bribe and that some Canadian
firms lost opportunities because their competitors paid bribes to officials.
Because of these crimes, consumers and taxpayers pay higher costs while
unethical corporations increase their profits.
Corporate crimes have direct and indirect costs. Most of these offences
have a direct cost to consumers, such as overcharging the public for goods
or services. Some business leaders have engaged in conspiracies to avoid
competition, which is called price-fixing and occurs when prices are kept
artificially high. In these cases, consumers are unaware that a crime has
been committed because the losses to any one customer are usually fairly
small, though these losses can add up over a period of years or over
numerous organizations. For corporations, price-fixing is very profitable
when millions of consumers pay higher prices over a long period of time.

price-fixing When business owners engage in a conspiracy to reduce competition or to keep

prices of a product or service artificially high.

Price-fixing offences are difficult to investigate and prosecutions are

rare. One extreme price-fixing scandal occurred when several Canadian
supermarket chains colluded with bread producers to keep the cost of
bread high between 2001 and 2015. Markusoff (2018) calculated that a
family buying one loaf of bread per week paid $400 more than they should
have over that period of time. One supermarket chain has offered
consumers a $25 gift card to compensate them for their losses, although
that’s a small cost of doing business, especially when few victims will
ever apply for the gift card. Several law firms have launched class action
lawsuits to obtain settlements on behalf of all Canadian residents,
although this case is unlikely to be heard by any court for years.
The public also experiences indirect losses from corporate crimes.
When corporations evade taxes, for example, all taxpayers pay more to
fund government services. Corporations can also engage in environmental
crimes such as illegally dumping toxic materials in the countryside. Once
these sites are discovered, taxpayers are also responsible for the cleanup
costs. Pierson and Bucy (2018) observe that trade fraud, where importers
inaccurately label shipments of goods coming into the country, results in
the loss of billions of tax monies. They observe that “Realistically, there is
little chance these modern-day smugglers will be caught. Countries’
borders are too vast, the volume of imports too great, global customs
inspections too porous, and law enforcement resources too few for
effective monitoring or deterrence of trade fraud” (Pierson & Bucy, 2018,
p. 4). Reducing the number of these crimes is important because every
dollar lost to this fraud is added to the taxes each of us pays.

Marie Henein (right, shown here with her client Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, who was
accused of breach of trust, but was later cleared) is one of Canada’s most prominent criminal
defence lawyers. When asked about the need for defending white-collar criminals, she said, “I
don’t think [white-collar crime enforcement is] a growing market for criminal lawyers at all.
And that is because white-collar crime requires resources to investigate and prosecute and,
though there have been attempts to improve that, it’s not done with really the same force
that you have in the United States. So, our large white-collar crime prosecutions are few and
far between.” (Cited by Macnab, 2018, para. 3). Henein’s comments raise the question of
why officials in Canada’s justice system fail to investigate and prosecute white-collar
criminals.

Unsafe worksites can also result in employee injuries and deaths, and
again the costs are borne by taxpayers as the cost of health care and
compensating injured workers increases. Bittle (2016, p. 333) observes
that workplace injuries and deaths due to unsafe working conditions have
historically been considered “accidents,” but he argues that these acts
should instead be considered “serious matters deserving of criminal
justice attention.” How serious is the problem? In 2017, 920 workers were
killed on the job, which is about 40 per cent more than the number of
homicides (Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada,
2018, p. 240).
Other indirect costs to society include harms from the sale of
counterfeit, defective, or unsafe products. General Motors, for example,
continued to sell certain models of cars it knew had faulty ignition
switches, and it is estimated that the defective vehicles resulted in 124
deaths and hundreds of injuries (Gardner, 2018).
Counterfeit items also threaten public safety, one example being when
a British Columbia woman died after taking counterfeit medications (CTV
News, 2017). Even food is routinely misrepresented, by diluting it with
cheaper alternatives (such as putting corn syrup in honey, or mixing
vegetable oil into olive oil). Dangerfield (2018) reports that the six most
commonly faked foods in Canada are things we commonly consume: olive
oil, parmesan cheese, seafood, honey, coffee, and saffron (a spice). A study
led by a University of British Columbia researcher found that about one-
quarter of seafood products sold in Vancouver stores and restaurants were
mislabelled and were actually products of lesser value or quality, with 91
per cent of the fish labelled as snapper (the fish most likely to be
mislabelled) actually being something else (Hu, Huang, Hanner, Levin, &
Lu, 2018). While few of these acts result in serious harm they do cheat the
public and over time many of us are victimized by these offences.
The issue of enforcing corporate crime became a political crisis for the federal government
in 2019 after Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of
Canada, alleged that she was unsuccessfully pressured to overturn the public prosecutor’s
decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin, a large engineering firm, and instead pay a fine in a
deferred prosecution agreement. The political independence of prosecutors in making
decisions about prosecuting crimes is an important issue underlying the rule of law, which is a
cornerstone of Canada’s legal system (see Chapter 6).

While very few Canadian corporate criminals are ever prosecuted or

imprisoned, in September 2018 the federal government introduced
legislation so that corporations could enter into deferred prosecution
agreements with prosecutors that “require the accused to cooperate with
law enforcement, acknowledge their wrongdoing, give up any profits
gained from the wrongful act, and pay a monetary fee; in exchange, the
accused no longer faces the prospect of conviction” (Dentons Canada LLP,
2018). Phrased another way, by entering into these agreements,
corporations can pay a fine to avoid prosecution. While the government
believes that this approach will increase compliance with the law, it
further reduces the risk of incarceration for white-collar criminals. In
February 2019, Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former Minister of Justice and
Attorney General, revealed that she had been pressured by officials in the
Prime Minister’s Office to change the decision of federal prosecutors to
prosecute SNC-Lavalin rather than entering into one of these agreements.
Some of the most destructive crimes of the powerful are state or
political crimes such as genocide, which is the systematic killing of a
population, such as a racial, ethnic, religious, or national group. Genocide
includes the Second World War holocaust where millions of Jews, Roma,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, members of the LGBTQ community, and people with
disabilities were killed as part of the Nazi government’s attempt to reduce
the number of people they considered racially or genetically undesirable.
Crimes against humanity include genocide, and Coughlan, Yogis, and
Cotter (2013, p. 84) define these crimes as “any of a number of acts
(including murder, enslavement, torture, rape, apartheid, or persecution of
an identifiable group) when committed as part of a widespread or
systematic attack directed against any civilian population.” One of the
controversial interpretations of the findings from the National Inquiry into
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019) report was
that the deaths of Indigenous women amounts to genocide. Given the
definition presented by Coughlan, Yogis, and Cotter (2013), do you agree
these murders were a genocide?

genocide The systematic killing of a population, such as an ethnic, racial, religious, or national
group.
crimes against humanity Violent acts and persecution of a civilian population that are
committed as part of a systematic attack.

Critical criminologists argue that crimes are defined by the rich and
powerful and that the police are used to control the poor and the middle
class in order to protect the interests of the upper class. Critical
criminologists contend that not enough attention has been placed on the
crimes of the powerful and that these offences are not taken seriously
(Reiman & Leighton, 2017). Mays and Ruddell (2019) observe that the
2008 financial crisis led to hardships experienced by hundreds of millions
of people throughout the globe—including job losses, bankruptcies, the
taxpayers’ bailout of banks, and the loss of individuals’ homes—and that
no high-profile officials were ever punished for their involvement in the
financial meltdown. As Will, Handelman, and Brotherton (2013, p. xiii)
ask, “How did the movers and shakers of a world financial and economic
system make the decisions they did, creating untold social harm to
millions, and yet fail to be held accountable by our various governments?”
Pontell, Black, and Geis (2014, p. 1) summed up the situation when they
observed that the financial institutions were too big to fail, and their
employees were too powerful to jail. Enforcement agencies, they contend,
have often turned a blind eye to fraud.

critical criminologists Scholars who argue that justice systems are designed to maintain class
relationships.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra testified before a Senate subcommittee on the failure of
General Motors to recall vehicles that were known to have defective ignition switches that
resulted in accidents and fatalities. In order to avoid criminal charges, General Motors was
ordered to pay a fine of $900 million to the US government, and has paid out about $2.5
billion in personal-injury and wrongful-death claims to more than 400 individuals and
families (Gardner, 2018). If corporate executives are not held criminally responsible for
actions that result in deaths and injuries, would this deter them or other executives from
criminal behaviour in the future?

Organized Crime and Gangs

The general public typically does not spend much time thinking about the
harms caused by members of organized crime. Few of us realize that a
relatively small number of the individuals involved in criminal enterprises
engage in a significant amount of crime. The Criminal Intelligence
Service Canada (2014) estimates that there were 672 of these criminal
organizations in Canada in 2013. Not only are organized crime groups
commonplace, but they are also enduring: Schneider (2018) notes that
organized crime in Canada dates back at least 400 years. Many traditional
criminal organizations such as the mafia were established generations ago
and have defied law enforcement interventions since their founding.
Organized crime offenders tend to be generalists, meaning that they
engage in a broad range of criminal activities, including selling weapons,
counterfeit items, antiquities or cultural artifacts, drugs (both illicit drugs
and counterfeit prescription medications), endangered species, gemstones,
alcohol, cigarettes, firearms, illegally harvested timber, or even people
who are forced to work in the sex trade. They may also participate in
illegal sports wagering, environmental crimes (including the illegal
disposal of electronic and radioactive waste), and financial crimes. Munch
and Silver (2017, p. 14) found that over one-third of first-degree murders
and over half of drug-related violations in Canada were related to
organized crimes.
Many outlaw motorcycle gangs and street gangs fit the Criminal Code
definition of a criminal organization, which is a group of three or more
people who come together to commit one or more serious offences that are
intended to result in a material benefit. In February 2014, the Hells Angels
Motorcycle Club was designated as a criminal organization in Manitoba,
and Bolan (2018) reports that judges in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec have
made similar rulings. This label makes it easier for police to conduct
investigations on these groups, and prosecutors are no longer required to
prove they are members of an organized crime group each time they
prosecute them. Although it is well-known that organized crime offenders
and gang members are responsible for a considerable amount of crime, the
“RCMP has sidelined more than 300 investigations, mostly into organized
crime, as it redirected more than $100 million to its national security
squads” after the murder of two soldiers in Ontario and Quebec in 2014
(Freeze, 2017, para. 1). This example again shows how political priorities
can influence the operations of justice systems.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs, such as the Hells Angels, have engaged in a considerable amount
of crime. The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (2014) reports that “organized crime
poses a serious long-term threat to Canada’s institutions, society, economy, and to individual
quality of life.”

Antisocial Behaviour
For the most part, the four types of crime that have been described present
the greatest risk to personal safety or result in the most direct or indirect
personal loss. While most antisocial behaviours—which we defined in
Chapter 1 as objectionable conduct, such as being rude, rowdy, or drunk in
public—do not pose much of a risk to the public, they make many people
feel uncomfortable and reduce our quality of life: think about the last time
you had an early morning class and you were kept awake by your
neighbours having a loud party. Responding to these problems often takes
a considerable amount of police time and resources, and the individuals
engaging in these acts are usually well-known to the police.
The South Kesteven District Council (2018) in the United Kingdom
identifies three categories of antisocial behaviour, and they are as
applicable to Canada as they are to England. The first category is defined
as personal and relates to a specific individual or group behaviour
including aggressive, rowdy, and vulgar actions; intimidating groups
taking over public spaces; public drinking or drug use; prostitution;
panhandling; and street racing or aggressive driving. The second category
is nuisance neighbours, including those who are noisy, intimidating,
harassing, rowdy, engaged in vandalism, or not caring for their pets (e.g.,
letting dogs run loose). The third type of antisocial behaviour is related to
environmental conditions, such as graffiti, littering or illegal dumping
(e.g., garbage on the street), vandalism, and arson. Although some of these
acts are defined as offences in the Criminal Code or are violations of
municipal bylaws, they are often handled informally by the police using
warnings. The police in some cities, such as New York, have aggressively
responded to this antisocial behaviour in the belief that if minor
incivilities are addressed, serious crimes are reduced, but this strategy has
fallen out of favour in most places.

MEASURING CRIME
Crime is difficult to measure accurately because most offences do not
come to the attention of the police (e.g., an individual who drives a vehicle
while intoxicated but arrives safely home). Even when there is an obvious
victim—such as a student whose textbooks are stolen—few people report
minor offences, because they know it is unlikely the thief will be caught.
In order to determine the most precise indicator of crime in Canada, the
CCJS uses three different measures: (a) the rates of reported crime per
100,000 residents, (b) the Crime Severity Index, and (c) surveys of
Canadians to determine how many people have been victimized. Knowing
how crime is measured and reported is important in our exploration of
criminal justice, as we first have to know the nature and seriousness of the
problem before we can develop crime-reduction strategies. The most
important factor to consider is that the rates of crime and the Crime
Severity Index are based on offences reported to the police and published
in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey. The third measure, an
indicator of victimization, is collected through the General Social Survey
on Victimization, which is conducted every five years. The last survey was
conducted in 2019, but there is a two-year lag before the results are
published. The strengths and limitations of these measures are briefly
described in this section.

Crime Rates from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey

The traditional method of measuring crime is based on the rate of crime
per 100,000 residents in the population. We use rates every day, such as
when determining how many kilometres your vehicle can travel per litre
of fuel or how many calories you can burn from walking on a treadmill for
an hour. Rates enable us to make comparisons, and without that
information, it would be very difficult to know the seriousness of a crime
problem or how it differs between places or changes over time.
When we make comparisons of crimes, we often start with homicide
because of the seriousness of the crime and because it is the most
accurately reported offence. But, if we just report on the number of
offences, we still don’t know the extent of the crime problem. For
example, in 2017 there were 46 homicides in Montreal and eight
homicides in Halifax, but unless we take each city’s population into
account, we do not know which city is a more dangerous place. Figure 2.4
shows the homicide rates in selected Canadian cities and reveals that even
though there were fewer murders in Halifax, it was a more dangerous
place to live than Montreal based on the reported crimes per 100,000
residents. So, how do these cities compare to the rest of the nation? In
2017 Canada’s national homicide rate was 1.80 per 100,000 residents,
which was similar to rates in the 1960s (Allen, 2018; David, 2017).
Because we are using rates to describe the volume of murders, we can also
compare with other cities across the globe, and the 2017 rates for London
and New York were 1.2 and 3.4, respectively, which are both far below the
rate in the city of Los Cabos, Mexico, which had a homicide rate of 113.3
people per 100,000 residents (Stow & Akbar, 2018).
There are some limitations to using crime rates, especially when the
rates of similar offences are added together to make a single measure,
such as the violent crime rate (which includes homicides, sexual assaults,
robberies, and assaults). According to Wallace, Turner, Matarazzo, and
Babyak (2009, p. 8), “The traditional crime rate is heavily influenced by
fluctuations in high-volume, less serious offences. This is because each
offence reported by police, regardless of its seriousness, carries exactly
the same weight in calculating the crime rate.” In other words, a common
assault that results in minor injury counts the same as a murder if we’re
including them both in the violent crime rate.
Crime rates also fail to give us a very accurate picture of crimes
occurring in small jurisdictions. In a town of 500 residents, for example, if
there was one murder in a year, the homicide rate would be 200 murders
per 100,000 residents, or over 100 times the national average. Despite
those limitations, crime rates are still used, especially for serious crimes
such as robbery and homicide, enabling us to make comparisons between
cities, provinces, and nations. The search for a method to more accurately
depict the volume and seriousness of crime led to the introduction of the
Crime Severity Index, which is a measure unique to Canada.
FIGURE 2.4 Homicide Rates per 100,000 Residents, Selected Cities in Canada, 2017
Source: Allen (2018)

A Closer Look
How to Calculate a Crime Rate per 100,000 Residents
Crime rates are calculated by multiplying the total number of crimes by 100,000 and
then dividing that total by the population. Rates can be calculated for a city, a
province, or an entire country. For example, the following formula and calculations
were used to determine the homicide rates in Halifax and Montreal in 2017:
Canada’s Crime Severity Index
In 2009, the CCJS introduced the Crime Severity Index (CSI), which
measures the volume of crime reported to the police and applies a weight
to different types of crime so that the impact of more serious offences is
better reflected. The weight assigned to each type of crime is calculated
based on the average sentence imposed for the crime. Keighley (2017, p.
7) reports, “The more severe the average sentence, the higher the weight
assigned to the offence, meaning that the more serious offences have a
greater impact on the index. Unlike the traditional crime rate, all offences,
including Criminal Code traffic violations and other federal statutes such
as drug offences, are included in the CSI.” Figure 2.5 shows the CSI for the
same set of cities as reported in Figure 2.4, and Figure 2.6 shows the CSI by
Canadian province. When it comes to the CSI, cities with the highest CSI
also tend to have high homicide rates.

Crime Severity Index (csi) A measure of the volume and seriousness of crime based on all
Criminal Code and federal statute offences reported to the police.

FIGURE 2.5 Crime Severity Index, Selected Cities in Canada, 2017

Source: Allen (2018)

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Interprovincial Variation in the Crime Severity Index
In 2017, the CSI for Canada was 72.9, and as shown in Figure 2.6, the western
provinces were all above the national average. Allen (2018) reports how the CSI in the
territories was also higher than the national average: Yukon = 189.3; Northwest
Territories = 303.8, and Nunavut = 297.6. In addition to the overall CSI, the CCJS also
reports a violent Crime Severity Index and a non-violent Crime Severity Index.
These indices allow us to better understand the nature of crime in different
jurisdictions. While Saskatchewan had the highest overall CSI, Manitoba led the nation
in terms of violent CSI. A youth Crime Severity Index is also calculated to account
for crimes committed by people between 12 and 17 years of age (see Chapter 11 on
youth justice).

violent Crime Severity Index A measure of the volume and seriousness of all
violent offences that includes homicide, all three levels of assault, robbery, sexual
assault, uttering threats, forcible confinement/kidnapping, attempted murder, and
criminal harassment.
non-violent Crime Severity Index A measure that considers all crimes that are not
included in the violent CSI category.
youth Crime Severity Index A measure of the volume and seriousness of all crimes
committed by youth between 12 and 17 years of age.

Both the crime rate and the CSI show a decrease in the number of
offences reported to the police since the rates of crime peaked in the early
1990s—a pattern similar to what has occurred in the United States. Figure
2.7 shows that from 2002 to 2017, the total CSI decreased by almost one-
third and the violent CSI dropped by 16 per cent. According to these
statistics, Canadians are now safer than they were years ago, at least when
it comes to crimes reported to the police. There has been, however, an
uptick in crime since 2014; some of the violent crime increase has been
linked to gang activities (Beattie et al., 2018). When it comes to national
statistics, most annual changes tend to be minor, although slight decreases
or increases in the crime rate can add up over several years.
 About 6 per cent of the Canadian population lives in the northern areas
of the provinces or in one of the three territories (Allen & Perreault,
2015). Despite the relatively sparse population in northern Canada, the
crime rates in these regions can be high. Allen and Perreault (2015, p. 8)
state that “among the 50 police services that reported the highest Crime
Severity Indexes (CSIs) in 2013, 32 were located in the Provincial North, 8
in the Territories, and 10 in the South.” Although most of the crimes in the
northern provincial regions and the territories are relatively minor
(mischief, disturbing the peace, and theft account for almost 43 per cent of
all offences in those locations), the homicide rate in 2013 was 1.3 per
100,000 residents in southern Canada, but 3.1 per 100,000 residents in the
northern provincial regions, and 5.2 per 100,000 residents in the territories
(Allen & Perreault, 2015).

FIGURE 2.6 Crime Severity Index, Canada and the Provinces, 2017
Source: Allen (2018)
FIGURE 2.7 Total and Violent Crime Severity Index, Canada, 2002–2017
Source: Allen (2018)

In closing our description of crime severity, it is important to

recognize that the activities of the police, courts, and corrections are
driven primarily by minor offences that occur frequently. Figure 2.8 shows
the percentages of the top 10 types of offences—in terms of volume—that
were processed by adult courts in 2015/2016. The most common offences
include theft (which includes motor vehicle theft), impaired driving,
assaults, and crimes related to the administration of justice such as not
complying with a court order or breaching the terms of one’s probation.
Altogether these 10 offences accounted for almost 70 per cent of all
criminal matters. The most serious crimes are rare; robberies account for
less than 1 per cent of all offences, and homicide offences account for
about 0.1 per cent of all cases before the courts. These offences tend to be
fairly stable over time and Miladinovic (2019) found that the top 5 crimes
in 2017 were identical to the 2015/2016 offences.
FIGURE 2.8 Top 10 Adult Court Offences, Canada, 2015–2016
Source: Maxwell (2017)

Researchers report that minor offences, such as personal property thefts, rarely come to the
attention of the police.
Victimization Surveys
Only a fraction of offences ever come to the attention of the police, so
researchers developed a third way of estimating the number of offences
that occur: by asking people whether they have been victimized in the
previous year and if those crimes were ever reported to the police.
Whether these studies were conducted in Canada or in other nations, levels
of unreported crime are always higher than the levels of crime reported to
the police. In Canada, this information on victimization is collected in the
GSS every five years (the GSS on victimization was last conducted in 2019).
Some researchers refer to the difference between the amount of
unreported and reported offences as the dark figure of crime. Perreault
(2015) found that in 2014 about one-fifth of Canadians were estimated to
have been victims of crime in the previous 12 months, which had
decreased by about a quarter since 2004. Figure 2.9 shows that even
serious offences, such as robberies and assaults, are reported less than half
the time. Sexual assaults are the least reported offence, and Conroy and
Cotter (2017, p.17) estimate that as few as 5 per cent of sexual assaults
ever come to the attention of the police.

dark figure of crime The difference between the amount of crime that occurs and the amount
of crime that is reported to the police.

Scott (2015, p. 97) observes that “it is critical for anyone studying
victims of crime to recognize that without the victim’s courage to report a
criminal act, very few criminals would ever be apprehended.” Some
victims are reluctant to contact the police because they fear retaliation or
because the perpetrator is a family member or loved one whom the victims
do not want arrested. Other victims believe their behaviours might have
contributed to the offence, or they are embarrassed to go to the police,
such as when a customer is robbed by a sex worker. Figure 2.10 shows the
top seven reasons why people did not report their victimization. The
reasons vary somewhat depending on the type of offence; a greater
percentage of victims of a violent offence reported that fear of revenge
prevented them from reporting a crime (18 per cent of violent crime
victims compared to 5 per cent of property crime victims).

Limitations of Victimization Data

One of the strengths of the GSS victimization data is that it is based on a
survey of 33,000 individuals (Perreault, 2015, p. 7). Although
victimization data is a valuable source of information about crime, it also
suffers from some limitations. For example, the survey is conducted every
five years, which limits our knowledge, although patterns of victimization
do not tend to change much over the short term at the provincial,
territorial, or national levels.
Another limitation of Canadian victimization surveys is that only
people aged 15 years and older are asked whether they were crime victims,
while a review of CCJS data shows that children and youth are at high risk
of violence. Ogrodnik (2010, p. 8) reports that the police-reported
victimization rate for 12- to 14-year-olds was much higher than the adult
victimization rate. Cotter and Beaupre (2014, p. 10) also found that people
under the age of 15 have the highest rates of police-reported sexual
victimization. In their analysis of victimization data Burczycka and
Conroy (2017, p. 27) reported that one-third of Canadian adults had
experienced physical or sexual abuse or had witnessed family violence as
children. Those researchers also found that respondents of Indigenous
ancestry and those who were gay, lesbian, and bisexual had higher overall
rates of victimization.
FIGURE 2.9 Percentage of Offences Reported to the Police, 2014
Source: Perreault (2015)

One crime that overwhelmingly affects young people and seldom

comes to the attention of the police is cyberbullying. Holfeld and
Leadbeater (2015) found that about one-fifth of grade 5 and 6 students
across Canada had received text messages that were upsetting, and 12.1
per cent felt uncomfortable about content someone had posted on their
online page or wall in the previous year. Riddell, Pepler, and Craig (2018)
summarized the Canadian research on cyberbullying, and the most recent
studies show that girls were more likely to be victimized than boys, youth
aged 14 to 16 years were more vulnerable to victimization, and between 25
and 33 per cent of young Canadians have been victims of these acts.

Limitations of Police-Reported Crime Statistics

All of the measures of crime suffer from limitations that reduce their
accuracy. The previous sections highlighted the fact that only a fraction of
crimes are actually reported to the police. Yet, even when the police are
notified of a crime, the offence might not be officially counted. Newark
(2013, p. i) observes of the CSI that “in a case involving drug dealing,
weapons, assault and flight from police by an offender on bail and
probation, only what was deemed to be the ‘most serious’ offence would
be reported.” In addition, some police service policies make it difficult to
report minor crimes (Moulton, 2013). For example, requiring a victim to
come to police headquarters to file a theft report on an item with little
value discourages many victims from reporting the offence.

Self-Reported Crime
Although records of police-reported crime and surveys of victims provide
us with a picture of the crime problem, our knowledge is incomplete. An
individual might, for example, carry a concealed handgun every day for a
year and never come to the attention of the police. In order to gain a more
complete understanding of crime, social scientists since the 1930s have
asked members of the public whether they have engaged in crimes or other
antisocial behaviours. The results of these self-report surveys increase
our understanding about how much crime actually occurs. The information
collected from these surveys also enables us to determine when
individuals start committing offences, what types of offences they
commit, and whether crime differs based on gender, race, and age. The
most comprehensive Canadian self-report studies have been conducted
with surveys of students, including the National Longitudinal Survey of
Children and Youth (NLSCY); the International Self-Report Delinquency
Study (ISRD); and the Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs
Survey (CSTADS). The CSTADS asks respondents about substance use
(including illegal drug use), while the other surveys ask respondents about
their involvement in crime.

self-report surveys A type of survey where respondents answer questions about their attitudes,
beliefs, or experiences, including being an offender or crime victim.
FIGURE 2.10 Reasons for Not Reporting Crimes to the Police, 2014
Source: Perreault (2015)

The results of self-report studies generally find that many young

people engage in crime: Fitzgerald and Carrington’s (2011) analysis of the
NLSCY found that about one-fifth of the 12- to 17-year-old respondents had
committed a violent crime, about twice as many (37.8 per cent) had
committed a property crime, and about one-fifth had used illegal drugs in
the year prior to the survey. The CSTADS, by contrast, reports that in
2016/2017 over one-third (34.5 per cent) of grade 12 students across
Canada had used marijuana in the previous 12 months and that older youth
were more likely to have used amphetamines, cocaine, or prescription
medications to “get high” in the previous year (Government of Canada,
2018). In one unusual self-report study Statistics Canada (2018a) used an
online survey to ask Canadians what they paid for marijuana prior to its
legalization; the provincial and territorial differences are reported in
Figure 2.11.
 Self-report surveys increase our understanding of the hidden world of
crime, delinquency, and drug use. Most of these surveys ask participants
about their province of residency so that interprovincial comparisons can
be made. One important factor to remember when looking at national or
provincial results is that there is often a lot of variation within the
provinces and territories and that averages always mask trouble spots
(places with very high rates of crime, delinquency, or drug use) and more
peaceful places.

REGULATING TRAFFIC: SHOULD BAD

DRIVING BE A CRIME?
Most of us believe we are pretty good drivers and that other motorists are
the real problem. While certain driving-related acts, such as impaired and
dangerous driving, are considered Criminal Code offences, most people
breaking traffic regulations, such as speeders, are violating a provincial
statute, which is not a crime, and, if caught, they are given a citation that
can be paid without a court appearance. How serious is the problem of
traffic safety? According to Transport Canada (2019) 1,841 people died in
traffic crashes in Canada in 2017, which was 2.7 times the number of
homicide victims. Not only are traffic crashes responsible for needless
deaths, but for every fatal crash in 2017, there were about five collisions
resulting in injuries requiring hospitalization and over 80 crashes where
the driver or passenger was injured (Transport Canada, 2019). Traffic
fatality rates are higher in Canada compared to other developed nations. A
review of World Health Organization (2015) data shows that traffic
fatalities in Canada are almost twice as high as in the United Kingdom and
higher than in many European nations. Like many national averages,
traffic fatality rates vary across the country, and the rate in Saskatchewan
was more than two times higher than it was in Ontario in 2016. Figure 2.12
shows the differences in traffic fatalities across Canada.
FIGURE 2.11 Self-Reported Price per Gram of Cannabis in the Provinces and Territories
in February 2018.
Prior to the legalization of marijuana, Statistics Canada (2018a) asked Canadians what they paid
for the illegal drug and over 17,000 people responded to the online survey: these individuals
reported the average price for the nation was $6.83 per gram, although that price decreased
somewhat to $6.51 (from a non-legal seller) after the drug was legalized (Statistics Canada,
2019). The legal price of marijuana is set at about $10 per gram in most provinces and taxes push
that amount over $11. Do you think Canadians will buy the more expensive legal marijuana from
a store or continue to buy it illegally from dealers at lower prices?
Source: Statistics Canada (2018a)

So how can we reduce traffic fatalities? The main causes of traffic

fatalities are impaired driving, speeding, not wearing seat belts, violating
traffic rules at high-risk intersections (e.g., not coming to a complete stop
before entering a highway), and distracted driving, such as talking on a
cell phone or texting while driving. One question asked throughout this
book is whether the justice system is the best avenue for reducing these
risky behaviours. With respect to prevention, public education campaigns,
safer roads, driver training, and graduated driver licensing programs for
new drivers have been successful in reducing traffic fatalities by 30 per
cent between 2007 and 2016 in Australia (Department of Infrastructure
and Regional Development, 2017, p. 54; Road Safety Education, 2015). A
speed bump might be more likely to deter a driver from speeding than a
police car parked on the side of the road.
 Research shows that traffic enforcement saves lives. DeAngelo and
Hansen (2014) analyzed what happened when 35 per cent of Oregon’s
highway troopers were laid off in 2003 due to a budget cut. In the years
that followed, highway fatalities increased by 17 per cent and injury-
causing collisions increased by 12 per cent. When these researchers
compared collisions and fatalities in the surrounding states, there was no
similar increase. DeAngelo (2018) also studied the impact of adding
traffic enforcement units in Saskatchewan, and he found these efforts
reduced fatalities and collisions.
Drinking and driving also contributes to fatalities, and over 36,000
criminal cases related to impaired driving were heard in adult courts in
2016/2017, making it one of the most common offences (Miladinovic,
2019). While the number of these offences has been decreasing, this might
be due to the introduction of new enforcement strategies. In British
Columbia, for example, most suspected impaired drivers are managed
through provincial traffic sanctions rather than Criminal Code violations.
BC drivers failing a roadside breath test can have their driving privileges
immediately revoked by the police, their vehicles impounded, and severe
fines imposed. As these sanctions fall under a provincial regulation the
standard of proof is lower than for a violation of the Criminal Code, and
anybody punished using these provincial regulations does not receive a
criminal record.
Figure 2.12 Traffic Fatalities per 100,000 Residents, 2017
Source: Adapted from Statistics Canada (2018)
Research shows that traffic enforcement saves lives. Although nobody is happy getting a
ticket, traffic enforcement seems to be one of the best ways to get drivers to abide by traffic
regulations. Some drivers, however, don’t pay their fines. As one example, in November 2017
the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary caught a suspended driver who owed $158,000 in
unpaid fines, although only a portion of those fines were related to driving (Canadian Press,
2017).

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (2018) estimate that alcohol or drugs

were involved in over half of the people (55.4 per cent) killed in crashes in
2014. If their estimate is correct, more than twice as many people are
killed each year due to the impaired operation of motor vehicles than from
homicides. Again, there is some variation across the country. Perreault
(2017) found that the average rates of impaired driving were higher in the
countryside than in urban areas. One explanation for this is a lack of
public transportation and taxi options, as well as the fact that drivers in
rural areas are on the road for greater distances, which might increase their
likelihood of getting into a collision.
There may also be a link between personality traits such as aggression
and involvement in dangerous driving. In other words, people who are
aggressive and violent toward others might also drive aggressively and
their road rage can contribute to collisions (Waller, 2014). Willett
(1964/2001) found a relationship between drivers who had been convicted
of property and violent crimes and their later involvement in dangerous
driving offences. A study carried out in Europe found that traffic fatalities
are higher in nations where the residents are more aggressive and that an
individual’s criminal history may be a good predictor of involvement in
fatal collisions (Castillo-Manzano, Castro-Nuno, & Fageda, 2015). A
review of crash statistics from Australia conducted by Fleiter, Watson,
Watson, and Siskind (2015) also showed that drivers with criminal records
were more likely to get into crashes compared with those with no criminal
history. Altogether, these findings suggest that people with criminal
histories may be more dangerous on the roads than drivers without
criminal records.
Figure 2.13 Distribution of Assault Hot Spots in Halifax, January to June, 2018
This map shows 859 assault offences reported to the Halifax Regional Police in the first six
months of 2018. Places on a map with a high concentration of offences are called hot spots.
Crime maps like this one show that crimes are not distributed randomly throughout a city, and are
often concentrated in specific locations; not surprisingly, for example, many assaults occur near
bars and taverns.
Source: David Hamp-Gonsalves; used with permission

A Closer Look
Rural Crime
Over 80 per cent of Canadians live in cities, and city dwellers today have fewer
connections to the six million people living in rural areas than they did decades ago.
Although a common perception is that rural life is quiet and peaceful, rates of crime in
some rural places are higher than in the largest cities. The issue of rural crime was
widely reported in the media in the Prairie provinces starting in 2016 after a series of
high-profile violent offences. In response to the fear of crime both the Alberta and
Saskatchewan governments announced funding to deploy more officers in rural areas.
An Alberta politician said that “crime in rural Alberta is at epidemic proportions” (as
cited by Corbella, 2018). According to the CBC, rural Saskatchewan residents were
feeling frustrated and helpless given their isolation, a growing crime problem, and the
lengthy time it takes before a police officer can respond to calls for help (Hamilton,
2018). A lack of recent information about crime and victimization, however, makes it
almost impossible to say whether rural crime has actually increased.
Crime is overrepresented in rural Canada. Allen (2018, p.11) reports that although
accounting for only 17 per cent of the national population, “police in rural areas
reported 25 per cent of violent crime, 18 per cent of property crime and 24 per cent of
other Criminal Code offences,” and the “crime rate in rural areas was 30 per cent
higher than in urban areas.” With respect to the Prairie provinces, crime is 42 per cent
higher in rural Manitoba than in the province’s urban areas, 38 per cent higher in rural
Alberta, and 36 per cent higher in rural Saskatchewan (Allen, 2018, p. 11). These
interprovincial differences are reported in Table 2.2. This data raises the question of
why rural crime rates are higher, and is it being committed by local residents, or are
outsiders committing crimes in rural areas because they think their risks of being
caught are lower?
Some types of crime rarely occur in urban areas. Agricultural crimes such as
rustling (stealing cattle), wildlife-related offences, crimes against the environment (such
as illegally dumping toxic waste), large-scale marijuana grow operations, and crimes
committed in the name of the environment (e.g., environmentalists attacking oil
pipelines) rarely occur in the city. Some rural crimes are identical to those taking place
in cities, except the items targeted may differ, such as the theft of agricultural
chemicals, machinery, fuel, or livestock in rural areas. In addition to lacking
information about the extent of rural crime, we have little knowledge about who
commits these offences. While some property and violent rural crimes are committed
by local residents, individuals from the cities also commit crimes in the countryside
(Alberta MP Rural Crime Task Force, 2018).

TABLE 2.2 Urban and Rural Crime Rates, 2017

 Total Crime Rate per Total Violent Crime
100,000 Residents Rate per 100,000
Residents
Province Urban Rural Urban Rural

Newfoundland 5,185 5,765 1,386 1,228

Prince Edward Island 4,348 3,549 904 869

Nova Scotia 5,211 4,696 1,281 1,194

New Brunswick 5,618 4,373 1,299 1,203

Quebec 3,357 3,377 979 1,314

Ontario 3,810 3,703 824 987

Manitoba 7,964 11,309 1,521 2,933

Saskatchewan 10,138 13,829 1,445 3,118

Alberta 7,920 10,964 1,158 1,870

British Columbia 7,546 6,418 1,070 1,367

All provinces 5,051 6,210 990 1,532

Source: Statistics Canada (2018)

UNDERSTANDING CRIME DISTRIBUTION

The previous sections show that the CSI differs across the country: there
are provinces, territories, and cities in Canada with high levels of crime.
But there are also differences within provinces, and some cities within a
province are safer than others. For instance, in 2017 the Ontario homicide
rate was 1.38 per 100,000 residents; but there was only one homicide for
Guelph and Sudbury although the homicide rate of 5.8 per 100,000
residents in Thunder Bay was over four times the provincial rate. One key
question to ask is, why do these differences exist? Answering this and
other important questions helps to direct the activities of justice system
personnel in order to increase their effectiveness.
 To further complicate our understanding of crime, there are differences
in the volume and severity of crime even within cities. By taking a closer
look at how crime is distributed, we realize that most crime does not occur
randomly: there are distinct patterns in where and when many offences
occur. To illustrate how crime can differ within a city, Figure 2.13 shows
the distribution of assaults in Halifax from January to June 2018 (Hamp-
Gonsalves, 2019). The red and yellow areas on the map show the highest
concentrations of crime. A review of this map shows that even though
there were places with high rates of crime, safe neighbourhoods are the
norm.

SUMMARY
After reading this chapter, you will likely have gained a greater
appreciation for the complexity of understanding crime. Although it is
relatively easy to describe how crime differs across the country, explaining
why this variation occurs is a more complicated matter. Generally, we
know that crime is associated with a number of social problems, including
unemployment, poverty, and substance abuse, and that it involves a high
proportion of young males in the population. Often the highest levels of
crime occur in places with the highest levels of concentrated poverty and
marginalized populations. Knowing why crime varies by location is an
important first step in developing crime prevention interventions. If, for
instance, we find that crime is a result of poverty and marginalization,
then tackling those conditions might be the best method of crime
prevention. Most of the crime control strategies described in this book,
however, are based on the efforts of the police, courts, and correctional
personnel, who respond to crime after the act occurs.
Although there are limitations in our attempts to describe the true
amount of crime, violent crime rates have generally dropped over the past
two decades. Perhaps the best indicator of this is the homicide rate, which
in 2014 was at its lowest level since the 1960s, although it has increased
somewhat after 2015 (see Allen, 2018). In fact, Canadians are almost
twice as likely to be killed in an impaired driving crash than become a
murder victim, and far more likely to die from a work-related injury than
from an assault. Some forms of crime, such as identity thefts and other
cybercrimes, however, are increasing (Identity Theft Resource Center,
2017).
While most of this book focuses on Canadian responses to antisocial
behaviour and street crime, many critical criminologists argue that we are
overlooking the crimes of the powerful, such as officials who commit
crimes on behalf of corporations—the “crimes in the suites.” We have all
been victimized by paying higher prices for our goods and services, and if
your family ate two loaves of bread a week from 2002 to 2014, they were
swindled out of over $800 due to price-fixing (Markusoff, 2018). In
addition, we all pay higher taxes due to the indirect costs of corporate
crime, such as paying to clean up toxic dump sites or to cover the health
care costs for those injured in workplace accidents or injured from unsafe
products. While these crimes affect all of us, seldom are white-collar
criminals prosecuted or imprisoned. When it comes to corporate criminals
like the ones described in the case study that introduced this chapter,
Reiman and Leighton (2017) observe that “the rich get richer and the poor
get prison.” After reading the chapter, do you agree with them?

Career SNAPSHOT
Crime Analysis
Many students are fascinated by issues of crime and justice, although they have less
interest in working directly with the public or with offenders. Careers in crime analysis,
research, education, and program evaluation may be good alternatives for those
students. Often the individuals working in these careers are employed by police
services, as well as by provincial or territorial governments or the federal government.
Their duties are often related to the collection and analysis of crime data and mapping
these results. Some duties of crime analysts may be related to examining law
enforcement practices and evaluating their effectiveness. These jobs typically require
at least a bachelor’s degree and additional graduate training in crime analysis,
geographic information systems (for crime mapping), and statistics.

Profile
Name: Amy Balfour
Job title: Manager, Strategic Services, Regina Police Service
Employed in current job since: 2009
Present location: Regina, Saskatchewan
Education: MA, Justice Studies, University of Regina; Graduate Certificate, Tactical
Criminal Analysis, Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC)

Background
As a child and young adult, I was always asking “why?” Although most children grow
out of this stage, I did not. Asking questions about human behaviour propelled me to
also ask tough and sometimes uncomfortable questions. As a student, I was intrigued
by what drives people to do certain things and even more fascinated about why some
people make bad decisions. In my personal life, I was always drawn to helping people
and lending an ear. I began working with youth in a correctional facility and became
overwhelmed by the callousness that some of the youth expressed. After learning
about their life histories, I became even more dedicated to helping children. I spent
several years working with children and youth with abusive, traumatic, and violent
histories.
I learned from working with youth that hope is always possible and extraordinary
things can happen when people commit to change. So, I did just that. While working
as a server and bartender at a local restaurant, I focused on bettering my education and
people skills. I learned that I could keep asking the question “why?” to find solutions
to problems. My niche in analytical work came as I built upon relationships I gained
through practicum placements in my field of study. Relationships with police officers,
parole officers, and youth workers landed me some of my first jobs, and I am forever
in debt to many of them who are leaders and innovative thinkers today.

Work Experience
Born and raised in Regina, I have dedicated my time working to reducing
victimization and harm to people at risk. I graduated from the University of Regina in
2005 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Justice and a Master of Arts degree in
2008; my graduate work focused on youth involved in the sex trade. More recently, I
have completed a graduate certificate in Tactical Criminal Analysis from JIBC to
further understand the role intelligence plays in my daily work.
I have been employed at the Regina Police Service since 2009. As a certified law
enforcement planner and as a member of the International Association of Law
Enforcement Planners, the International Association of Crime Analysts, the Canadian
Criminal Justice Association, and the International Association of Law Enforcement
 Intelligence Analysts, I continue to be dedicated to improving police practice through
evidence-based research and analysis.
As the supervisor of administrative, strategic, and tactical crime analysis, as well as
policy development, I have learned the challenges associated with effective and
actionable crime analysis. Social media, technology, and increases in access to data
have become so much a part of our daily lives that it is easy to get caught up in an
overload of information. Technological advances emerge every year, but our training
on how to navigate those tools can quickly fall behind. The best part about being an
analyst is being able to turn vast amounts of information into intelligence to help
investigators in deployment and conviction. One of the benefits of being an analyst is
the ability to work with front-line members like patrol as well as investigative units like
Major Crimes on critical and sensitive cases, while making a difference by applying
sound analytical skills to operational initiatives.

Advice to Students
Obtaining work as a crime analyst can be challenging. Some people tell me that they
are interested in the work but cannot pass the background checks or a polygraph (“lie
detector”). Avoiding negative peers and criminal activity will improve your ability to
pass background checks and progress through the hiring processes. Education in
criminal justice, police studies, psychology, and sociology will provide you with the
basics to understanding the role of law enforcement and justice in society. Also, taking
some specialized courses on statistics, crime mapping, and critical thinking will make
you a more competitive job candidate.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are three different ways of reporting crime in Canada?
2. Describe how organizational crimes differ from street crimes.
3. What are the five different forms or classifications of crime?
4. What are some key differences between urban and rural crime?
5. What are some of the limitations of the three different measures of crime?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. The Criminal Code section on infanticide was introduced in 1948 when conditions for
women were much different than they are today: Should the mitigated sentence (a five-
year maximum) apply to women who kill their children today, or can these rare events
 be better managed outside the criminal justice system, such as mental health treatment?
Why or why not?
2. Despite the substantial costs to society, why has there been so little priority placed on
investigating, prosecuting, and punishing those involved in occupational or
organizational crimes?
3. Should impaired driving, which results in about twice as many deaths as murders in
Canada, be prosecuted more harshly, or are there other ways to reduce these crimes?
4. What are the strengths of using reports of victimization rather than offences reported to
the police to understand the full extent of crime?
5. What are some possible explanations for the differences in levels of crime between cities
and provinces highlighted in this chapter?

INTERNET SITE
Those who are interested in learning more about corporate crime and who question whether
the poor are at a disadvantage in the justice systems of developed nations will enjoy reading
Reiman and Leighton’s (2017) work, which is summarized on the following website.
http://www.paulsjusticepage.com/reiman.htm

CASES CITED
R v Borowiec, 2015 ABCA 232
R v Borowiec, 2016 SCC 11, [2016] 1 SCR 80
R v LB, 2011 ONCA 153
R v Scrocca, 2010 QCCQ 8218
PART II
Controlling and Policing Crime
 3 Controlling Crime

A surveillance camera provides a bird’s-eye view of a street in downtown

Vancouver, BC. Surveillance cameras are a modern implementation of an older
theory of crime control. Do you think the threat of surveillance helps to prevent
crime? (Photo credit: © Photopal604 | Dreamstime.com)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe the six main crime control philosophies
• Identify the social and political reasons for the differential use of incarceration
• Describe various factors that shape our ideas about crime and justice
• Explain how crime control philosophies shape our notions of justice and the operations of
justice systems

CASE STUDY
Vigilante Justice, Drunk Driving,
and the Long Road to the
Supreme Court of Canada
Richard Suter was charged with impaired driving causing death after a May 2013 incident
in which he crashed his sport utility vehicle into an Edmonton restaurant’s patio, killing
two-year-old Geo Mounsef, who was eating with his family. Suter refused to give a breath
sample based on the instructions of his legal aid lawyer, although it turns out this was poor
advice. Suter was granted bail and pled guilty in June 2015 to refusing to provide a breath
sample, a crime that is punishable by life imprisonment when a crash leads to a death.
While awaiting sentencing Suter was abducted from his home by three men
impersonating police officers and he was blindfolded, driven across town, beaten, and had
his thumb cut off. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2015), Geo
Mounsef’s mother, Sage Morin, “pleaded with supporters to let the courts deal with Suter,”
and said, “justice for Geo will not come in the form of violence.”
In June 2015, Edmonton Police charged Steven Vollrath with kidnapping, aggravated
assault, possession of a weapon, and impersonating a police officer for his role in the
vigilante attack on Suter. In November 2016 Vollrath received a 12-year prison term for
what the judge described as “kidnapping for a heinous reason—to extract vengeance by
inflicting serious harm” (Johnson, 2016, para. 10). Suter maintains that he had no prior
relationship with Vollrath, and the two co-accused kidnappers have never been identified
or charged.
What became of Richard Suter? He was sentenced in December 2015 to four months in
jail, and given a five-year driving prohibition for refusing to provide a breath sample to
police after the crash. One week after the sentencing, the Crown appealed the sentence,
 saying that it was “demonstrably unfit” and “not proportional to the gravity of the offence”
(Blais, 2015). Suter served his four-month custody sentence, but the Alberta Court of
Appeal agreed with the prosecutors and extended Suter’s sentence to 26 months, and he
was returned to custody.
Suter’s lawyer appealed his sentence extension to the Supreme Court of Canada, saying
that the Alberta Court of Appeal made errors interpreting the law. The Supreme Court
heard Suter’s case in October 2017, and in June 2018 they reduced his sentence to time
served (about 10 months) and upheld the 30-month driving prohibition. The Supreme
Court said that getting bad advice from a lawyer and being the victim of vigilante justice
should mitigate an individual’s punishment. The man convicted of kidnapping and
assaulting Suter will serve a much longer prison sentence (12 years) than the 10 months
Suter served behind bars. The Supreme Court hearing on the R v Suter case can be viewed
at: http://www.cpac.ca/en/programs/supreme-court-hearings/episodes/53464557.

Critical Questions
1. What are some of the reasons why acts of vigilantism—or vigilante justice—may
occur?
2. Should a person’s sentence be adjusted because they acted on bad legal advice? Why
or why not?
3. Why should victims of vigilante justice be given shorter sentences?

vigilante justice The unlawful practice of a person or group of people who take the law
into their own hands without legal authority to do so.

INTRODUCTION
The responses of the police, courts, and correctional systems are not
uniform throughout Canada. Instead, there are differences in the ways that
suspects, wrongdoers, victims, and members of the public are treated.
These differences are expected given that Canada is a very diverse country
in terms of its multicultural population, its two official languages, the
prosperity of different regions, and the varied histories of justice systems.
Even factors such as whether a victim or person accused of committing a
crime lives in a rural or urban area can influence how they are treated by
the personnel working in the justice system.
In Chapter 1, crime control strategies were described as being the
result of political decisions, and there is not always agreement on the best
way to approach the crime problem. Few of our ideas for addressing crime
are new, and the debate over the best ways to control crime and punish
wrongdoers has gone on for centuries. As these debates change, so do our
definitions of crimes, priorities for crime control, and methods for
investigating and punishing wrongdoers. There are six main crime control
philosophies, and being able to describe them is important because they
shape the operations of the police, courts, correctional systems, and
ultimately how the public and offenders are treated by justice systems. For
example, a police service that believes in deterring impaired drivers may
invest heavily in late-night roadside checks and develop call-in programs
where citizens can report impaired drivers. Provinces that have a more
rehabilitative orientation, by contrast, may place more convicted impaired
drivers in treatment-oriented programs rather than in correctional centres
and may invest in public education campaigns. All jurisdictions blend a
number of these approaches in response to the crime problem, and most
political leaders consider the public’s opinions about priorities for
reducing crime.
In the following sections, we’ll look at six crime control philosophies,
and identify a number of factors that influence our ideas about crime.
Although most of these philosophies of crime can be traced back hundreds
or even thousands of years, they are still fiercely debated and each is
important to understand, because they all shape the way that we treat
individuals involved in the justice system today.

CRIME CONTROL PHILOSOPHIES

Packer’s (1968) crime control and due process models provide us with a
framework to organize the six philosophies that have influenced our
responses to crime. The first three philosophies described in this section—
retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation—are related to the crime
control model and focus on the offence. By contrast, the concepts of
restitution, rehabilitation, and restorative justice are more closely aligned
with the due process model and a focus on the individual who committed
the crime. These six crime control philosophies can be identified in
section 718 of the Criminal Code, which describes the following goals of
sentencing:

(a) to denounce unlawful conduct;

(b) to deter the offender and other people from committing offences;
(c) to separate offenders from society, where necessary;
(d) to assist in rehabilitating offenders;
(e) to provide reparations for harm done to victims or to the
community; and
(f) to promote a sense of responsibility in offenders, and
acknowledgement of the harm done to victims or to the
community.

It is important to acknowledge that none of these six approaches exists

in a pure form and that they are blended to reflect the characteristics of the
community and the circumstances of the case, including proportionality,
which is identified in the Criminal Code as a fundamental principle of
sentencing. The issue of sentencing is addressed in depth in Chapter 8.

“Tough on Crime” Practices: Retribution, Deterrence, and

Incapacitation
Getting tough on crime is not a new approach to justice. In the early
colonial settlements of pre-Confederation Canada, corporal punishments
were common, and the Correctional Service of Canada (2014a) reports the
following:

People who broke the law suffered harsh consequences, often in

public. They could be whipped (called “flogging”) or branded
 (marked on the skin with burning hot metal); they could be put in
pillories (wooden frames with holes for a person’s head and arms)
or stocks (wooden frames with holes for the individual’s arms and
legs) and made to stand for hours or days on display out in the
open. Other times, convicts were simply sent away, transported or
banished to other countries and left to fend for themselves.

Wrongdoers were also put to death. The first executions in the colony
that would eventually become Canada occurred more than four centuries
ago, and prior to contact with the English and European explorers,
Indigenous peoples also used a range of punishments including the
execution of wrongdoers or their banishment, which would, in effect, be a
death sentence given the importance of community in the members’
mutual survival. From the 1500s to 1800s there were few due process
protections for people suspected of crimes, and punishments were swift
and severe. This reliance on physical punishment was consistent with
European practices imported by colonists. The use of incarceration is a
relatively new way of responding to crime: It was not until 1835 that the
first Canadian penitentiary opened in Kingston, Ontario.

Retribution
Retribution is one of the most straightforward crime control philosophies
and is based on the notion of taking revenge on wrongdoers. Also referred
to as retributive justice, it has been a leading crime control philosophy
throughout history, and it can be traced back almost four thousand years to
the Code of Hammurabi. These early laws stressed vengeance, and the
principle of retribution is often expressed by the notion of lex talionis, or
the biblical principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Lengthy
prison terms or corporal and capital punishment are often associated with
retribution.

retribution A crime control philosophy that involves taking revenge on the offender often
through harsh punishments, as expressed by the biblical principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth.”
 The expression just deserts is also used to describe retribution by
suggesting that wrongdoers will get “what’s coming to them” and that the
punishment should reflect the seriousness of the crime. The retributive
approach leads to questions about how much punishment an individual
deserves, and this is the issue of proportionality, which suggests “that
penalties be proportionate in their severity to the gravity of the defendant’s
criminal conduct” (von Hirsch, 1994). The question of whether the
punishment fits the crime is posed in the Moussa Sidime case highlighted
in the “A Closer Look” box later in this chapter. Retribution may underlie
some of our punishments, but today it is seldom used to justify a sentence.

just deserts An expression used to suggest that a punishment reflects the seriousness of an
offender’s crimes (“they got what they deserved”).

Deterrence
Many of the activities of the police, courts, and correctional systems are
based on the principle of deterrence, which is the belief that criminal
behaviours can be discouraged and prevented by punishing offenders.
Deterrence can be broken into specific deterrence (also known as
individual deterrence) and general deterrence. Specific deterrence is based
on the notion that the pain or consequences of being punished will deter an
offender from committing further crimes. General deterrence, by contrast,
is the belief that after witnessing or learning about another person’s
punishment, the general population will be less likely to violate the law.
Both of these ideas are popular, but most research has not found a clear
relationship between deterrence efforts and crime reduction.

deterrence The use of punishment to discourage wrongful behaviour.

Although the idea of deterring crimes through the activities of the

police, courts, and corrections is attractive in theory, it is difficult to apply
this approach in today’s complex world. Some scholars propose that
deterrence is more likely to work when punishments are applied with
swiftness (also called celerity), certainty, and severity (Nagin, 2013).
There are a number of barriers to those three requirements. First, potential
offenders must know that their behaviours are actually crimes. However,
because so many laws and regulations exist, we do not always know
whether our actions are crimes, especially when it comes to mala
prohibita acts (see Chapter 1). Second, few individuals think they will be
caught as they believe they are better at avoiding detection than others
(Collins & Loughran, 2017). Third, the structure of the Canadian justice
system works against swift punishments because the system is founded on
the principle of providing due process protections to people accused of
committing crimes. As a result, it may be years before a criminal case is
resolved and the individual is sentenced, and appeals can add years to that
process. One way to examine this issue is to look at the case processing
time (also called the charge-processing time), which is the time between
the arrest and the resolution of the case. Miladinovic (2019) found that the
median case processing time was about four months, and Maxwell (2017)
notes that the length increased substantially for multiple and serious
offences, and only half of homicide offences were resolved within 471
days (p. 37). The Richard Suter case that started this chapter took over five
years from the day the offence happened until the Supreme Court decision
was published, which shows that our justice system can move very slowly.

case processing time The time between an individual’s arrest and when the case is resolved,
such as when a sentence is imposed or the case is stayed. Also called charge-processing time.
This drawing is from a public hanging in Montreal in 1837, when the death penalty was
commonly used. There were few due process protections for people suspected of crimes, and
punishments were swift and severe.

Another limitation of the deterrence approach is that punishments for

most crimes are not very severe, especially for first-time and non-violent
offenders. Miladinovic (2019, p. 8) found that 44 per cent of Canadian
adults found guilty of a crime were sentenced to probation, and whereas
over one-third were incarcerated, the median sentence for these
individuals was only 30 days (that total does not count time served on
remand). Only about 3 per cent of people found guilty are sentenced to
prison for two years or longer, and the sentences of many provincial or
federal inmates are reduced if they earn an early release or are granted
parole.
Altogether, these examples show that the criminal justice system is not
set up to do a very good job of deterring the public from becoming
involved in crime. There is not much certainty of being punished, as only a
portion of crimes reported to the police result in an arrest, and less than
two-thirds of the accused are found guilty (see Miladinovic, 2019). In
addition, the system’s ability to process a case does not lead to swiftness,
and few offenders receive severe sentences. Given these facts, deterrence
is unlikely to work very effectively, although some provinces still rely on
this approach to confront specific crimes. In order to deter drunk driving,
for example, Prince Edward Island courts sentence over 90 per cent of
persons convicted of their first drunk driving offence to short custody
sentences. Writing about PEI’s deterrence-based approach, Anthony Doob,
a highly regarded University of Toronto criminologist, notes that “people
—whether they are considering stealing something, hitting someone, or
drinking and driving—are not generally put off by potential penalties.
They are more concerned with getting caught” (as cited in Yarr, 2018).

Incapacitation
This approach to crime control is based on the notion that if offenders are
held apart from society (incapacitated), they are not able to commit any
further crimes in the community. On the face of it, incapacitation seems
to make sense, but there are some limitations to this approach. We have
long known that a relatively small number of prolific or high-volume
criminals are responsible for a large number of offences (Greenwood &
Abrahamse, 1982; Wolfgang & Tracy, 1982). Commenting on the arrest of
a Kelowna suspect, Leslie Smith (2018), an RCMP spokesperson, says that
“In any given community prolific offenders account for 80 per cent of all
crime committed.” A cross-national study found that active or “high-
frequency” adolescent offenders were present in all 30 developed nations
they examined (Rocque, Posick, Haen Marshall, & Piquero, 2015). These
cases are common to Canada as well, and Revell (2018) described how the
Alberta RCMP laid 25 Criminal Code and two Highway Traffic Act charges
against a 34-year-old man who already had six outstanding arrest warrants
for 72 criminal charges. These cases are not uncommon, yet even when we
apprehend individuals with multiple convictions, the punishments they
receive are not very harsh: for example, a Regina offender with nearly 100
convictions for break-and-enter offences was sentenced to three years in
custody on a break-and-enter charge (Polischuk, 2015).
incapacitation A crime-reduction strategy based on the idea that removing offenders from
society reduces reoffending.

Supporters of the crime control model argue that by imprisoning these

very active criminals—called serial or chronic offenders, career criminals,
or habitual offenders—our crime rates would plummet. This is the idea
behind selective incapacitation, which refers to locking up the individuals
who pose the highest risks. Selective incapacitation was the basis for
introducing “three strikes” laws in the United States in the 1990s that
imposed lengthy prison sentences for people with multiple convictions
(based on baseball’s “three strikes and you’re out!”). Many states today,
however, are slowly dismantling their three-strikes programs because they
found that holding non-violent prisoners for decades was costly and did
not have the crime control results they had hoped for (Mays & Ruddell,
2019).

selective incapacitation A concept based on the notion that incapacitating the highest-risk
offenders will reduce crime (e.g., “three strikes” policies in the United States are based on this
idea).

In order to get tough on repeat homicide offenders, the Protecting

Canadians by Ending Sentence Discounts for Multiple Murders Act was
enacted in 2011. This change to the Criminal Code enabled judges to
sentence individuals who were involved in multiple murders to serve their
life sentences consecutively, where the second sentence would start after
the first 25-year sentence ended. Prior to that change, offenders would
serve their life sentences concurrently, which means they could apply for
parole after serving 25 years no matter how many people they killed. For
example, Alexandre Bissonnette, the shooter who killed six men in a
Quebec City mosque in 2017, was sentenced in February 2019 to life
imprisonment, without the possibility of parole for 40 years, although
prosecutors appealed that sentence, as they had sought a 150-year sentence
(Montreal Gazette, 2019).
Judges have always had the ability to harshly punish repeat offenders,
who were previously called “habitual offenders” and violent repeat
offenders; some are known today as dangerous offenders. Section 753 of
the Criminal Code enables judges to designate individuals as dangerous if
they are considered to be a threat to public safety. Prisoners with this
designation are imprisoned based on an indeterminate sentence, which
means that they can only be released after they demonstrate to the Parole
Board of Canada that they can be safely reintegrated into the community.
Public Safety Canada (2018, p. 59) reports that the Correctional Service of
Canada was supervising almost 620 of them in 2017, and about another 20
are added to that total each year. Of those dangerous offenders, almost all
are behind bars and less than 5 per cent are being supervised in the
community (Public Safety Canada, 2018, p. 60).
In order to ensure that serious offenders do not “fall through the
cracks” of the justice system, individuals convicted of serious crimes can
be flagged for enhanced prosecution if they reoffend. This information is
recorded in the National Flagging System, which is reported in the
Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database. CPIC is operated by
the RCMP and can be accessed by the police and other law enforcement
personnel, such as officials from the Canada Border Services Agency, to
obtain information about the criminal histories of Canadians. According to
Public Safety Canada (2017, p. 1), a flagging system is important, as high-
risk individuals are a mobile population and some relocate across the
country because they are well-known to the personnel in the justice system
in their hometowns. An evaluation carried out by Public Safety Canada
(2017, p. 11) suggests about 10,000 high-risk offenders are tracked
throughout the country. According to the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution
Service (2013, p. 2), the criteria for being flagged include convictions for
sexual offences against children, having committed particularly violent
sexual offences or acts of brutal violence, involvement in arson,
psychiatric assessments that show the individual is dangerous, escalating
involvement in violence, or having committed violent offences while on
probation or parole.

National Flagging System A system that tracks people who have been convicted of serious
violent crimes to ensure that their prior criminal histories are considered by prosecutors if they
reoffend.
Canadian Police Information Centre (cpic) A database that can be accessed by law
enforcement personnel that reports the criminal histories of Canadians.

In July 2017 a Newfoundland and Labrador judge ordered Gordie Bishop, a man with a 27-
page criminal record, to leave the province for at least one year. Both the Crown prosecutor
and Bishop’s lawyer put forward this unusual sentence in a joint submission, and the judge
agreed with their plan (Bradbury, 2017). Bishop told the court that he planned on moving to
Fort McMurray, where his mother lives. How would you classify this modern use of
banishment: as a method of deterrence, incapacitation, or retribution?

Reforming Offenders: Restitution, Rehabilitation, and

Restorative Justice
Crime control philosophies that support retribution, deterrence, or
incapacitation focus on the offence. Another set of philosophies shifts the
focus to offenders and their capacity to make changes in their lives to
reduce their future involvement in crime. The three approaches to this
philosophy are restitution, rehabilitation, and restorative justice.
Restitution involves the offender repaying the victims or the community
for the damages experienced from the crime. By contrast, rehabilitation
is when an offender makes positive changes in their attitudes or
behaviours so they can live crime-free. Restoration or restorative justice
extends the concept of restitution to include structured and supervised
contact between the offender and the victim, and it provides an
opportunity for the victim to safely confront the person who has caused
them harm. The ultimate goal of these approaches is to protect society by
reducing recidivism (reoffending).

rehabilitation The process of helping offenders develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes
they require in order to reduce their likelihood of recidivism.
recidivism Occurs when a person who has been previously convicted of an offence reoffends
by committing another crime.
Dangerous offenders can be imprisoned indefinitely. Lisa Neve was classified as a dangerous
offender, but that classification was overturned prior to her release in 1999 (when this photo
was taken). She testified to the Senate Committee on Human Rights in 2018 about the effect
the designation has on the prisoner. Do you think dangerous offenders should be released into
community supervision?

Restitution
One of the oldest approaches focused on reforming offenders is restitution,
which involves compensating victims, their families, or the community
for the losses they experienced due to a crime. Restitution dates back
centuries—for example, community leaders in northern Europe forced
wrongdoers to make reparations (called wergild) to the families of murder
victims. The Canadian Council of Academies (2019) observes that
restitution made to victims or their survivors was also used by Indigenous
peoples prior to contact with the European and English explorers. Making
restitution was important for the survival of a victim’s family because
there were no social services to support survivors. These payments were
also important in reducing the prospect of retaliation from a victim’s
family. Restitution is used today primarily for property offences, and it is
often a condition of an individual’s probation. If probationers do not pay
their court-ordered restitution, they are in violation of their probation
order and may be returned to court and punished more harshly for
breaching the conditions of their probation.
Compensating crime victims was authorized in the 1892 amendments
to the Criminal Code. Despite the fact that restitution has a common-sense
appeal, a review of the 2014–2015 adult court statistics shows that there
were less than 5,000 cases where restitution was the only sentence,
although restitution is often combined with other probationary sentences
(Maxwell, 2017). So, is restitution an effective crime control strategy?
McDonald (2010) studied Saskatchewan crime victims who were owed
restitution and found that most restitution orders were for mischief, theft,
and fraud offences. Restitution payments were often made to the courts,
who in turn issued the funds to the victims. In cases where restitution has
not been made, victims can take steps to ensure that it is provided, but
McDonald (2010) notes that this often requires victims to have knowledge
of the justice system and requires efforts on their own part.
In July 2015 the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights came into effect and
this federal legislation gave crime victims the right to seek restitution.
According to section 16, “every victim has the right to have the court
consider making a restitution order against the offender” (p. 5), and
section 17 says that “every victim in whose favour a restitution order is
made has the right, if they are not paid, to have the order entered as a civil
court judgment that is enforceable against the offender” (p. 5).
A Closer Look
Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?
Moussa Sidime, a 74-year-old retired architect from Quebec who killed his 13-year-old
daughter with two slaps to the face, was sentenced to 60 days in a provincial
correctional centre on May 21, 2014. Noutene Sidime was struck by her father because
she did not complete her chores and had been disrespectful toward him. The Canadian
Press (2014) notes that the pathologist who examined the young woman did not find
bruising from the slaps but determined that “the slaps caused her head to move in such
a violent motion an artery in her head ruptured and oxygen was cut off to her brain.
She died in hospital two days later.” Family members testifying in support of Moussa
Sidime said the death was a freak accident and that he was a gentle man who was
remorseful for causing his daughter’s death.
Sidime pled guilty to the manslaughter offence. Although the Crown prosecutor
recommended that a prison term be imposed, the judge sentenced Sidime to a 60-day
sentence to be served intermittently (he served two days a week for 30 weeks),
followed by a two-year probationary sentence that was served in the community.
Perreault (2014) explains that “an intermittent sentence allows an offender to serve a
sentence in segments, generally on weekends, while having to adhere to conditions
when not in custody.” Among other things, intermittent sentences allow people to
serve sentences of 90 days or less without having to be away from their work or
studies. Under Canadian law, manslaughter does not specify a minimum sentence
unless it involves a firearm, so the sentence imposed was within the guidelines
available for the judge.

intermittent sentence Sentences of 90 days or less that are served in segments of

time rather than all at once; can be imposed on inmates who would be unduly harmed
by full-time incarceration, such as losing their job or interrupting their studies.

Short sentences for manslaughter offences are controversial because many people
feel that justice has not been served and that the punishment does not fit the
seriousness of the crime. On the other hand, the evidence in this case suggests that the
elderly parent did not intend on causing such harm, and the assault was out of
character for him. Given that Moussa Sidime, who had no previous criminal
convictions, represents a low risk to the community, we have to ask whether a lengthy
prison term—at a cost of $120,571 per year in 2017/2018 (Malakieh, 2019)—is an
appropriate punishment. Yet, many would argue that the lenient sentence imposed on
Sidime would not deter others from committing similar violent crimes. Regardless of
 whether we think that justice has been done, Noutene Sidime lost her life, and that is
the real tragedy.

Like other approaches that address the offender, there are positive and
negative aspects of making restitution. For example, repaying a
homeowner for the damages and losses that occur in a residential break
and enter will cover the victim’s economic losses. But it is hard to put a
price tag on the psychological effects of victimization, and homeowners
may experience feelings of violation and fear in their own home for years
after the break-in. How does one place a monetary value on feelings of
fear and violation? Even when the individual pays restitution, the victims
might not receive their funds. McDonald (2010) found that sometimes the
payments were mishandled and victims were not informed that restitution
orders had been made. Moreover, researchers have found that in some
provinces only a small proportion of payments are actually made to
victims (Rhodes, 2013).

Rehabilitation
The history of rehabilitation is much shorter than that of compensating
crime victims, as most rehabilitative efforts take place in the community
when the individuals are serving probationary sentences or fulfilling
parole requirements, although rehabilitation also occurs in correctional
facilities. Prior to the Kingston Penitentiary opening in 1835, there were
no facilities in Canada where long-term prisoners could be held, and
formal probation operated by provincial authorities was only introduced in
the early 1900s. Even after the first penitentiaries were constructed, there
were few rehabilitative interventions other than making prisoners work
within the facility and participate in religious programs. Even though
inmates participated in work programs, they were forbidden to speak to
each other, and these early prisons were described by the Correctional
Service of Canada (2014b) as “cruel and unhealthy places.”
Although reformation or rehabilitation of inmates was a stated goal of
penitentiaries in the early 1900s, more sophisticated programs that
addressed prisoners’ unmet needs—such as addressing their limited
educational histories or problems with substance abuse—did not become
widely implemented until the 1950s. Even though well-intentioned, many
of these programs were operated by staff with little training, and
knowledge of a prisoner’s risks and needs was undeveloped. As a result,
most of the interventions that were introduced were ineffective. There was
also growing recognition that special-needs populations required a
different approach to correctional rehabilitation, including people with
mental illnesses, young offenders (until the introduction of the Young
Offenders Act in 1984, 16- and 17-year-olds were regularly placed in
penitentiaries), and Indigenous and women offenders. As a result,
correctional systems today rely on a more individualized approach to
treatment than in the past.
There is also recognition that preparing prisoners for community re-
entry is of key importance given that most prisoners will return to the
community following their release. In fact, the iron law of imprisonment
maintains that with the exception of a small number of prisoners who die
behind bars, they all come back to society. As a result, it is in the public’s
best interest that these ex-prisoners are released to the community with
fewer psychological, physical, and health-related problems than when they
were admitted.

iron law of imprisonment The concept that most prisoners will return to the community, so it
is in the public’s best interest to help those individuals succeed in their re-entry.

In order to make a gradual transition from prison to the community,

halfway houses were established throughout the nation and the practice of
day parole was introduced. Day parole allowed prisoners to reside in a
community placement while remaining under correctional supervision.
Despite these approaches, many ex-prisoners have difficult adjustments
and some will reoffend within the first few years of their release. These
failures are not surprising, as making a significant change in one’s life is
not an easy undertaking: think about your attempts to lose weight, quit
smoking, or stick with a budget. Prisoners returning to the community
wanting to make changes must also overcome problems such as
addictions, limited work histories, and a lack of support systems.
Moreover, many of them do not have things that many of us take for
granted, such as a safe place to live, a bank account, transportation, or the
support of their families. Despite the obstacles to re-entering the
community, Public Safety Canada (2018, p. 94) reports that 93 per cent of
federal day parolees successfully complete their sentences, and almost 90
per cent of individuals on full parole are successful.

Kingston Penitentiary was the first penitentiary in Canada. This ledger from 1913 shows one
of its inmates at the time. The prisoner was 15 years old, and he was sentenced to prison for
three years for “shopbreaking.”

Restorative Justice
Restorative justice (RJ) approaches challenge the traditional operations of
Canada’s justice system. Supporters of RJ argue that the focus of an
adversarial justice system on the offence and assigning blame has been
unsuccessful in reforming individuals involved in crime (Zehr, 2014). The
Canadian Council of Academies (2019, p. 21) described RJ approaches of
Indigenous peoples prior to contact with the European and English
explorers and they observed that addressing wrongdoing was based on
“teasing, shaming, ostracism, reparation and requiring compensation,” and
that “periods of shaming or ostracism could be followed up by ceremonies
to reintegrate an offending individual into the community” with the goal
of restoring balance. Some of these RJ concepts have been integrated into
today’s justice systems. One of the main goals of restorative justice is to
repair the harm experienced by the victim and the community as a result
of the crime. Although victim impact statements (reports from victims
about the losses they experienced) are considered prior to sentencing,
traditional justice systems have an impersonal approach to dispensing
justice that often leaves victims and their families dissatisfied. Western
approaches to justice are often abstract (e.g., offences are prosecuted in
the name of the Queen), and offenders do not always appreciate the harms
caused by their actions. As a result, RJ is intended to move away from our
traditional and abstract notions of law and justice and toward concepts that
are more easily understood by offenders and victims alike, such as
“making things right.” Table 3.1 shows the differences between the
traditional retributive and restorative justice approaches.

restorative justice An alternative approach to conventional practices of justice that focuses on

interventions intended to repair the harm that was experienced by the victim and the community
when the offence occurred.

Restorative justice interventions often focus on the harms that

occurred when a crime was committed and the steps offenders must take
to repair the damage to the victim and the community. The nature of these
interventions differs somewhat across the country and most RJ
interventions today are based on victim–offender mediation, where the
victim and the offender voluntarily meet with a facilitator and the group
discusses the offence and its impact on the victim. The facilitator or
mediator uses that information to develop a solution to repair the harm,
and most of these interventions result in the offender making restitution.
In some cases the individual might agree to carry out some form of
community service—especially if the victim is a public agency—and
some people agree to do some personal service for the victim, such as
shovelling their sidewalks during the winter. Other examples of restorative
justice include youth justice conferences and circle sentencing.
TABLE 3.1 Comparison of Retributive and Restorative Justice Approaches

Retributive Justice (Current System) Restorative Justice

Retributive Justice (Current System) Restorative Justice

Focus on establishing blame and guilt Focus on problem solving, liabilities and
obligations, and the future

Stigma of crime permanent Stigma of crime removable

No encouragement for repentance and Possibilities for repentance and forgiveness

forgiveness

Process depends on professionals Direct involvement by participants

Victim ignored—offender passive Victim and offenders involved, victim’s needs

and rights recognized, offender encouraged to
accept responsibility for their actions

Offender is held accountable by the Offender accountability based on learning

punishments they receive about the impact of their actions and helping
decide how to make things right

“Debt” owed to state and society Debts/liability to victim recognized

Response focused on the offender’s past Response focused on harmful consequences

behaviour of the criminal act

Imposition of pain to punish and deter/prevent Restitution as a means of restoring both

parties, reconciliation/restoration as a goal

Adapted from Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime (2011)

According to the Department of Justice (2015, p. 1), “a youth justice

conference is a group of people who are asked by a decision-maker, such
as a judge, to come together to give advice on the case of a young person
who is involved in the youth criminal justice system.” These groups are
brought together in a structured setting to provide the decision maker with
advice about appropriate sentences and the “ways in which the young
person can repair the harm done to the victim” (Department of Justice,
2015, p.1). In addition to victims, their supporters (such as family
members), the offender, and representatives from the community
(including the police) have also participated in these interventions.

youth justice conference A group of community members, sometimes including a judge, who
come together to develop a sanction for a young person who has committed an offence.
 While judges could facilitate a youth justice conference, most are run
by trained mediators. Circle sentencing, by contrast, was developed for
Indigenous offenders in the early 1990s, and the consequences or sanctions
for the offender are developed by a judge after consultation with members
of the circle. This approach was based on healing circles in Indigenous
traditions. As Lightstone (2018, para. 14) observes, “sentencing circles can
be a valuable way of getting input and advice from the community to help
the judge set an appropriate and effective sentence”; and “often the circle
will suggest a restorative community sentence involving some form of
restitution to the victim and other measures the judge may decide to
accept, or not.”

circle sentencing A justice practice intended for Indigenous offenders, where sanctions for
criminal conduct are developed by members of a circle, including a judge, the offender, victims
(and their supporters), the police, and other community members. In some jurisdictions these
practices are called healing or peacemaking circles.

So how many sentencing circles are occurring? Adam (2014, p. A1)

reports that they have fallen out of favour, and in Saskatchewan the
number of circles decreased from a high of 39 in 1997 to only 6 in 2012,
and an estimated 3 in 2017 (Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice, 2018).
Adam could not pinpoint a specific reason for the decreased number but
suggested that reasons may include challenges with initiating and
organizing the circles, as the process can be very labour intensive and
time-consuming. These low numbers do not seem distinctive to
Saskatchewan and a search of the annual reports of the English-speaking
provincial courts in 2018 did not reveal any mention of sentencing circles,
although anecdotal accounts suggest they are occurring in some provinces,
such as Nova Scotia. There is a similar lack of information about youth
justice conferences and anecdotal information suggests they are being
replaced by victim–offender mediation. Fagan (2017), however, notes that
an increasing number of provinces have introduced specialized courts
(also known as Gladue courts) to work with Indigenous people accused of
crimes, and some sentencing circles are carried out in these courts (see
Chapter 7).
 Restorative justice interventions have traditionally targeted young
people who have committed non-violent first-time offences, although this
approach has also shown success with Canadians who committed serious
crimes (Rugge & Cormier, 2013). Kennedy, Tuliao, Flower, Tibbs, and
McChargue (2018) also found that RJ interventions reduced recidivism.
The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (2018) reports that the
community receives a two-dollar crime-reduction benefit for every dollar
spent on restorative justice conferencing.
Restorative justice practices underlie many current justice practices
and the approach is well integrated into Nova Scotia’s justice system.
Furthermore, Manitoba introduced the Restorative Justice Act in 2014 to
promote restorative justice in their justice system, though its long-term
effects have to be determined (Courtemanche, 2015). Braithwaite (2018), a
long-term advocate for restorative justice, believes that restorative justice
interventions such as cautions (warnings) should be a first response to
lawbreakers with a gradual increase in the use of more formal methods,
including using incapacitation as a last resort. Despite the fact that
restorative justice has a popular appeal and research shows that it is an
effective crime-reduction strategy, formal interventions based on these
approaches, such as circle sentencing, are used less frequently today,
although most jurisdictions do use alternative measures or victim–
offender mediation, which are based on a restorative justice philosophy.

Conflict Perspective
A popular perspective among critical criminologists is that the police,
courts, and correctional systems are used by powerful social groups to
maintain their privileged status. It is no secret that a very small percentage
of the population controls a large amount of the wealth, and they are
reluctant to give up their economic or political power. Huey (2015, p. 196)
defines the conflict approach as having a “focus on the unequal
distribution of power in society—for example, due to class, race, or
gender. Conflicts between classes or groups are driven to a large extent by
this unequal power and unequal access to resources.” Some critical
criminologists argue that as workers, the poor, students, women, or visible
minorities challenge the status quo for more political and economic clout,
powerful social groups feel threatened and have used the justice system to
reduce these threats or silence social protests (see Beare & Des Rosiers,
2015).
Reiman and Leighton (2017) argue that the real purpose of the
criminal justice system is to maintain economic and political inequality.
During times of economic and political insecurity, such as periods of high
unemployment and economic downturns, marginalized groups may be
policed more aggressively. Even during periods of economic stability,
some groups can be singled out for harsh treatment. People experiencing
homelessness, for example, are a visible population who may be targeted
by the justice system. Although not having a home is not a crime, many of
the aspects of living outside are subject to municipal bylaws. The Alberta
Civil Liberties Research Centre (2015) observes the following:

Bans on sitting or sleeping on sidewalks, erecting nighttime

shelters, public urination, spitting, swearing, or panhandling may
appear neutral on their face, but they are often directly targeted at
criminalizing the homeless. When we criminalize behaviors that
homeless persons cannot reasonably avoid (for example, sleeping
outside) we are effectively denying their ability to legally exist in
any space.

Violating these bylaws often results in court appearances and fines,

which are unlikely to be paid by people living on the street and have
limited resources. Bellemare (2018, para. 8) reports that many residents of
a Montreal homeless shelter owe thousands of dollars in fines for “minor
offences from jaywalking, to smoking too close to bus shelters, to carrying
open liquor.” These fines can add up; for example, one 50-year-old
Montreal man who had been living in the subway racked up $110,000 in
fines (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2016). As a result of not paying
these fines, these individuals might then be in violation of a court order
and subject to stricter punishments such as incarceration. One question
that emerges from these cases is why the police would issue so many
tickets to people they know can never pay their fines.
Wealthy people also engage in crime, although Reiman and Leighton
(2017) argue that many crimes of the powerful are not defined as crimes
even though they may result in injury or death. In Chapter 2, we gave the
example of the failure of executives working for General Motors to fix
faulty ignition switches that led to over a hundred deaths. The company
executives knew that the switches were faulty, and they chose to keep
producing unsafe cars rather than fix the problem. Given those facts, were
these deaths really accidents? A similar question is posed regarding the
Westray Mine disaster, discussed below: Was this an accident or a mass
murder?

An Example of Critical Criminology: The Westray Mine Disaster

On May 9, 1992, an explosion in a coal mine near the town of Plymouth,
Nova Scotia, killed all 26 miners who were working underground. A week
after the disaster, an inquiry was ordered. A final report was delivered five
years later. Justice K. Peter Richard, who carried out the investigation,
reported that the disaster “is a story of incompetence, of mismanagement,
of bureaucratic bungling, of deceit, of ruthlessness, of cover-up, of apathy,
of expediency, and of cynical indifference” (Province of Nova Scotia,
1997).
Critical criminologists point out that the legal system does a poor job
of deterring corporate leaders from engaging in practices that could harm
their employees, the public, or customers. The Westray Mine disaster is an
example of corporate misconduct that some consider an accident, while
Desjarlais (2001) called this act “the worst case of corporate mass murder
in Canada.” As we learned in Chapters 1 and 2, individuals and
corporations can be held accountable for negligence that results in harm,
but in this case nobody ever went to jail despite the fact that shortcuts in
safety measures taken by the owners and operators of the mine led to this
tragedy.
The five-year inquiry into the disaster found that the explosion
resulted from the failure of the company’s management and government
inspectors to act on safety concerns. The Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation (2012) reports that the company operating the mine “was
charged with 52 non-criminal counts of operating an unsafe mine,” and
that “charges of criminal negligence and manslaughter had been laid
against mine managers …, but these came to nothing when the Crown
stayed proceeding, saying there was not enough evidence to ensure a
conviction.” Twenty-five years after the disaster the families of the
victims are still angry. One union official said: “Not enough CEOs go to jail
yet, and we don’t want a whole bunch of them in jail—just one or two
would be good. That would send a message to companies that it’s not OK to
take lives or injure people for the cost of doing business,” (MacDonald,
2017, para. 26).
In response to the failure of the justice system to hold corporate
owners or managers accountable for negligence that results in injury or
death, the so-called “Westray Bill” (Bill C-45) was enacted in 2004 to
make officials responsible for worker and public safety more criminally
accountable by amending section 217.1 of the Criminal Code. So what has
changed? The Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada
(2018) reports that in 2016 there were almost a quarter million workplace
injuries that resulted in lost time, and 904 workers lost their lives in job-
related accidents; by contrast, 611 Canadians were murdered that year
(Beattie, David, & Roy, 2018). Given these findings, we might question
the effectiveness of the legislation intended to make workers safer.
Bittle (2012, p. 2) observes that since the Westray Bill was enacted,
“only a handful of charges have been laid,” and instead of holding
corporate criminals accountable, the legislation created an industry where
“lawyers and consultants offer for-fee courses that potential offenders can
take to learn about the new law and the steps they must follow to avoid
criminal responsibility.” Miedema (2015) reports that ten years after the
legislation was introduced, only ten cases had been prosecuted under
section 217.1 of the Criminal Code. All but one of those cases involved
fatalities, and of those prosecutions, only five individuals were convicted
and only two of them were incarcerated. As a result, while it is now easier
to prosecute corporate executives for endangering lives, these offences
seldom result in criminal convictions. Given that these prosecutions are
very rare—about one a year—and unlikely to result in a custodial
sentence, will our current enforcement practices deter potential corporate
criminals?

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Rates of Imprisonment
Rates of violent and property crime are generally quite similar in most wealthy nations,
although punishments for these offences can vary greatly. Figure 3.1 shows the rates of
imprisonment per 100,000 residents in the G7 nations for males and females. The
United States is a world leader in the use of imprisonment, with a rate that is over six
times greater than Canada’s. In addition to custodial punishments, of the G7 nations
only Japan and the United States impose the death penalty. Executions, however, are
rare and in 2017 there were four executions in Japan and 23 in the United States. The
number of executions in the United States has dropped from a high of 98 in 1999, and
this punishment seems to be falling out of favour (Death Penalty Information Center,
2019). As noted earlier, despite the fact that the murder rate in Canada in 2017 was
about the same as when the last executions were carried out in 1962, surveys
consistently find that about two-thirds of Canadians support the death penalty.
One important question that arises after looking at the incarceration rates in Figure
3.1 is: why do nations with similar rates of crime have such different punishments?
Differing cultural, religious, historical, legal, and political traditions influence the types
of sanctions that nations use. In a study of imprisonment in 81 developed nations,
Jones, Ruddell and Winterdyk (2017) found that countries with higher homicide rates,
common-law systems (found in nations colonized by the English), the death penalty,
and less economic stability had higher imprisonment rates. These findings suggest that
factors other than crime influence the way that countries punish their wrongdoers.
 FIGURE 3.1 Imprisonment Rates per 100,000 Residents, G7 Nations
Adapted from Walmsley (2016)

PUBLIC OPINION, THE MEDIA, AND

PUNISHMENT
The general public has expressed mixed feelings about punishing people
who have committed crimes. On one hand, we want to hold repeat and
violent offenders accountable for their crimes and acknowledge the harms
done to victims and the community. On the other hand, we are reluctant to
punish youth or first-time and minor offenders too severely, as many
people have engaged in minor crimes at some point in their lives, and we
realize that a criminal conviction can have lifelong consequences in terms
of reduced opportunities for work and travel. But how do we form our
ideas about crime, and why do some people support harsh punishments
while others support offender rehabilitation? Roberts (2016) observes the
following:

There is a relationship between public opinion and the political

willingness to punish offenders although it is difficult to
 determine which comes first—much like the chicken and the egg.
When crime rates are high, we tend to have more negative feelings
toward offenders and are supportive of severe punishments for
offenders. Politicians, in turn, get their cues about issues from the
public and may be more supportive of tough punishments for
criminals in response to public opinion. Although some might
argue that the opposite is true and that the public actually gets its
ideas about crime and justice from politicians. (p. 13)

Public interest groups, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, have played an important
role in changing justice policies in Canada, including the introduction of new impaired driving
laws in 2018, which, among other changes, allow officers to administer a breathalyzer test on
any driver pulled over.

The criminal justice system is linked to the political system, and that
relationship has both positive and negative effects. Most of us would agree
that public policies should be shaped by the will of the people. To some
extent the public is able to influence the operations of Canadian justice
policies if they participate in the political process by emailing their
member of parliament and voting, join public interest groups (such as
Mothers Against Drunk Driving or other victim advocacy groups), and
engage in advocacy efforts through their unions, which is common for
employees of justice systems. In democracies, crime control strategies
should be introduced after being debated, and all stakeholders should have
the opportunity to present their positions. It is also important that
decisions about the best strategies to reduce crime be based on what the
research demonstrates are effective methods of crime control—which is
the basis of evidence-based practices (Savignac & Dunbar, 2015).

evidence-based practices Strategies that research has demonstrated to be effective and have
positive impacts.

One important observation is that some Canadian political parties

support “tough on crime” policies, as offenders are generally an
unsympathetic group with voters and there is little political risk in this
position. This tough on crime and criminals approach is called penal
populism, and is rooted in developing policies based on “common sense”
rather than scientific evidence. Penal populism focuses on victims, and
supporters of this approach are often reluctant to involve academic or
government experts on crime in decision-making. Kelly and Puddister
(2017, p. 395) say that “penal populism can be largely about appearing to
be tough on crime through the introduction of a steady stream of criminal
justice policy bills by a party to satisfy its core supporters, with little
concern about effect or implementation.” The hazard of basing policies on
penal populism is that ineffective or harmful laws or practices can be
introduced, and once laws are enacted there is often resistance to changing
them. One important difference between Canada and the United States is
that issues related to crime control are less political in Canada largely
because prosecutors and judges in most US jurisdictions are elected, most
run their political campaigns based on being tough on crime, and many
prosecutors use their positions to seek higher political offices.
Many scholars have argued that the news and entertainment media
shape our ideas about crime and justice (Douai & Perry, 2018). In terms of
the influence of the media, Gamson, Croteau, Hoynes, and Sasson (1992,
p. 373) point out that “we walk around with media-generated images of the
world, using them to construct meaning about political and social issues.”
As noted in Chapter 1, most news accounts focus on relatively rare events
such as homicide. But we know from our review of serious crime in the
previous chapter that homicide is a relatively rare offence and murder
rates are lower today than they were 40 years ago. The entertainment
industry also provides us with a constant stream of films and television
programs that feature serious and violent crimes, and these images also
shape our ideas about crime and justice.
People who watch more hours of television news and crime dramas
may also be more fearful of crime. Serani (2008, p. 249) observes that
individuals “exposed to the media are more likely than others to:

• feel that their neighbourhoods and communities are unsafe;

• believe that crime rates are rising;
• overestimate their odds of becoming a victim; and
• consider the world to be a dangerous place.”

The priorities of television news reporters may also contribute to

stereotypes about who is committing crimes. Kappeler and Potter (2018)
summarized the media research and report that visible minorities are
overrepresented in US television news accounts of crime as offenders
while White people are overrepresented as victims. They argue that
inaccurate portrayals of race and crime contribute to our stereotypes about
different racial groups and might increase the public’s fears of minority
groups.
Britto (2015) summarized the findings of various media scholars on
the attitudes of frequent viewers of crime-related programs and noted that
frequent viewers generally have less accurate knowledge of the justice
system but have greater fear of crime, support for the police, and punitive
attitudes, as well as unrealistic expectations of the criminal justice system
(this is called the CSI effect; see Figure 3.2 and “A Closer Look” box).
 The likelihood of victimization is also inaccurately portrayed on
television. Parrott and Titcomb Parrott (2015) observe the following in
their analysis of gender and racial stereotypes in fictional crime dramas:

White female television characters stood [a] greater chance of

being victims of crime than White male, Black female, and Black
male television characters. White female television characters
stood the greatest chance of being victims who suffer serious harm
or death. White women stood a greater chance of being rape or
sexual assault victims, being victims of serious harm at the hands
of an assailant, and being attacked by a stranger. (p. 70)

FIGURE 3.2 The Effect of Frequent Viewing of Crime-Related Programs on Various

Attitudes
Adapted from Britto (2015)

A Closer Look
The CSI Effect
Television programs that highlight forensic investigation are popular with viewers, but
these programs can create unrealistic expectations of the justice system—this is known
as the CSI effect. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was introduced in 2000 and ran for
15 seasons; other series highlighting the use of science to fight crime remain popular.
While the settings and characters in these television series differ, they often feature the
use of cutting-edge scientific methods to quickly solve cases. Like other fictional
programming, what is portrayed on television does not always reflect reality. Huey
(2010) interviewed Canadian police officers, who said that these programs have
changed the public’s expectations about scientific evidence, the speed at which
investigations are completed, and how often biological evidence—such as DNA—is
actually collected and used.

csi effect Unrealistic expectations about the use of scientific evidence in criminal
investigations that are based on inaccurate information portrayed on television.

Inconsistent with what we see on television or films, usable biological evidence is

not present at most crime scenes. It is more likely to be collected at the scene of violent
crimes such as sexual assaults or homicides and is rarely collected in property crimes
or robberies (Peterson, Sommers, Baskin, & Johnson, 2010). Even when such evidence
is collected, the technology and techniques we see on television do not always exist,
and it sometimes takes months to obtain test results. The average wait times reported
by the RCMP (2017a), for example, from the day a sample is received at their crime
labs to the completion of the results, are shown in Figure 3.3. The average time to
analyze ranges from a low of 44 days to a high of 234 days, although these are based
on routine requests, and police services can make an urgent request if needed. Urgent
requests typically take about one-third the time, although less than 2 per cent of all
requests are priorities. (Firearm evidence refers to examining bullets, spent cartridge
cases, or the actual gun. Trace evidence, on the other hand, refers to non-biological
evidence such as fibres located at a crime scene or paint recovered after a motor
vehicle hit and run. Toxicology refers to testing for the presence of drugs, poisons, or
alcohol and most often is requested in cases of violent crimes. Crime labs also examine
documents such as passports, banknotes, and payment cards such as credit cards to
determine whether they are genuine.)
There is also a dark side to the popularity of forensic investigation programs, as
offenders are now using the information presented in these programs to avoid detection
(Cole & Dioso-Villa, 2011). Police investigators call this forensic awareness, which
Simon Fraser University researchers Reale, Beauregard, and Martineau (2017, p. 6)
define as “the taking of additional steps and adapting the modus operandi used in a
crime to hide evidence to ultimately avoid apprehension.” Even if forensic evidence is
collected, it might not be linked to an individual and it may take years before a sample
can be matched to an offender whose information is entered into Canada’s National
DNA Data Bank after their involvement in a crime. In addition, in the United States,
human errors and misconduct have resulted in scandals and wrongful convictions due
to shoddy investigations. Mays and Ruddell (2019) contend these miscarriages of
justice are more likely to happen when crime labs are operated by municipal police
 departments rather than independent crime labs that have no stake in the outcomes of
the analyses.

FIGURE 3.3 Average Wait Times (Days) to Analyze Forensic Evidence, 2016–
2017
RCMP (2017)

In Canada, forensic services such as crime labs are independent of local police
services and are run by the RCMP (for provinces receiving contract policing) and by
the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The RCMP (2017b, p. 15) produces an annual
report of its activities; the following describes an average day in the operations of the
National DNA Data Bank:

• 100 crime-scene DNA samples are submitted

• 100 DNA profiles of convicted offenders are submitted
• Staff make 32 matches (where evidence is linked to a suspect or a person whose
DNA was previously submitted to the data bank)

In addition to identifying people responsible for committing crimes, the DNA

evidence that is analyzed also excludes or eliminates suspects.

In reality, however, males are more likely to be crime victims, and in 2017
African-Americans in the United States, who make up about 15 per cent of
the population, accounted for 60 per cent of murder victims (where race of
the victim was known; see Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2018 –
Expanded homicide data Table 1). In Canada, Indigenous people are
overrepresented as victims of crime. Beattie, David, and Roy (2018, p. 13)
report that the murder rate for Indigenous peoples was six times higher
than the non-Indigenous population.
Since many of our crime-related programs are from the United States,
some Canadian viewers may not distinguish between events in the two
nations. As a result, watching a media report about an act of police
brutality occurring in Florida may influence a New Brunswick resident’s
perceptions about Canadian policing as they might believe that the use of
force in the two nations, such as police shootings of suspects, is identical,
but there are sharp contrasts in the two countries (see Chapter 6).
Furthermore, some viewers may confuse the operations of Canadian and
American justice systems, which have significant differences especially in
terms of crime rates (the United States has a higher homicide rate),
policing arrangements, court systems (the US system is more adversarial
and politically charged), and often harsher punishments. So, while there
are similarities between the two systems, watching US programs can
distort our understanding of the way Canadian justice systems operate.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND THE INDIGENOUS

PEOPLES OF CANADA
One of the key goals of Canada’s criminal justice system is to ensure that
victims, suspects, and people accused of crimes are treated in a just and
fair manner. Every chapter in this book highlights examples of race, class,
and gender in relation to criminal justice and describes how members of
different ethnocultural groups are sometimes disadvantaged when they
interact with justice system personnel. While we can clearly see that
certain ethnocultural groups are overrepresented in the criminal justice
system, it is a more complicated task to explain why these disparities
occur. In this section, we take a closer look at the overrepresentation of
Indigenous people in the Canadian criminal justice system, and describe
how officials have worked to reduce this overrepresentation.
Canada is a diverse nation. Statistics Canada (2018) reports that about
one in four Canadians were born in another country and that visible
minorities account for over 20 per cent of the national population.
Although Indigenous people (a term that includes Métis, Inuit, and First
Nations people) represent about 5 per cent of the national population
(Statistics Canada, 2018), they are overrepresented at each point in the
criminal justice system. With respect to corrections, in 2017/2018
Indigenous adults comprised 30 per cent of admissions to provincial
sentenced custody, 29 per cent of admissions to federal custody, and
almost half of youths admitted to custody (43 per cent) were Indigenous
(Malakieh, 2019). A review of correctional statistics shows the problem is
getting worse. Between 2007/2008 and 2017/2018 the proportion of the
Indigenous population admitted to both adult and youth corrections
increased, while the number of non-Indigenous inmates decreased
(Malakieh, 2019).
There are a number of reasons for the overrepresentation of Indigenous
people in the Canadian justice system, including their marginalization,
history of discrimination and forced assimilation, involvement in street
crime, police practices, and the possibility of biased treatment within the
justice system. In terms of involvement in crime, Brzozowski, Taylor-
Butts, and Johnson (2006, p. 1) report that crime rates on reserves were
about three times greater than crime rates in the rest of Canada.
Lithopoulos (2013) also found that in 2012, incidents of crime on reserves
were 3.7 times higher than the Canadian average. With respect to
homicide, Indigenous people were 11 times more likely than non-
Indigenous people to be accused of these crimes.
Rates of victimization are also high for Indigenous people. Boyce
(2016) notes that Indigenous women were almost three times more likely
than non-Indigenous women to report being victims of violence. Rates of
sexual victimization are also high, and Perreault (2015, p. 17) reports that
Indigenous women “recorded a sexual assault rate of 115 incidents per
1,000 population, much higher than the rate of 35 per 1,000 recorded by
their non-Indigenous counterparts.” Indigenous women are at much higher
risk than non-Indigenous women of being murdered. In 2017, for example,
Beattie et al. (2018, p. 14) report the homicide rate for Indigenous women
was 4.4 per 100,000 residents—which is more than twice the national
murder rate—but this represents a decrease from a high of 7.6 per 100,000
residents in 1996 (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2015, p. 10).
The overrepresentation of Indigenous people within the justice system
as suspects, offenders, and victims has negative outcomes for all
Canadians. High rates of victimization reduce the participation of
Indigenous people in society. In addition, high crime rates have harmful
psychological effects on victims and on community residents that may
contribute to higher levels of substance abuse, feelings of hopelessness,
low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorders, and negative attitudes
toward authority figures (Lithopoulos & Ruddell, 2016). Perreault (2015,
p. 20) identifies a number of reactions linked to being victimized,
including anger, frustration, fear, shock, annoyance, depression, and
sleeping problems.
The overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the justice system has
been the subject of various government reports since the 1960s and 1970s.
According to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996), the
overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system can
be attributed to the effects of the discriminatory government policies that
were intended to assimilate Indigenous people into the general population.
Most of these practices were a result of the colonization of Canada by
European and English settlers. Colonization had long-term harmful effects
on Indigenous peoples, which in turn affected their traditional way of life
and resulted in changes to their social, economic, religious, and political
structures. The effects of these experiences contributed to the poverty,
unemployment, substance abuse, and crime found in many Indigenous
communities today. The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (2015) described the Government of Canada’s attempts to
assimilate Indigenous people into broader Canadian society as cultural
genocide. The placement of Indigenous children in residential schools was
the foundation for the government’s strategy of assimilation. Although the
public’s perception is that these events took place long ago, the last
residential school in Canada closed in 1996, and there are about 41,000
survivors of residential schools still living on First Nations (First Nations
Information Governance Centre, 2018, p. 140), while an unknown number
are living off-reserve.

Indigenous women are almost three times more likely than non-Indigenous women to report
being victims of violence. Indigenous women are also at higher risk of being victimized and
sexually assaulted, and six times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women. A
Strawberry Ceremony to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls has
been held annually on February 14 since 2005 (pictured here).

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, over a dozen provincial and federal
commissions and inquiries identified strategies to reduce the risks of
victimization and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the
justice system. In response to those endeavours, a series of federal and
provincial initiatives were created to respond to the needs of Indigenous
people. In 1991, the federal government introduced the Aboriginal Justice
Strategy, and the key goals were to develop alternatives to the mainstream
justice system for Indigenous peoples and to make justice systems more
responsive to their distinct needs and values. One important component of
this strategy was the introduction of the First Nations Policing Program,
which enabled Indigenous communities to take more control over how
they were policed (and who would provide those services—see Chapter 5).
In addition, the number of Indigenous people working in the justice
system has increased.

First Nations Policing Program A federal government policing strategy that gives Indigenous
communities the choice between operating their own police services or contracting with other
police organizations to police their communities.

Race, Class, and Gender

Treatment of Women: What Are the Effects of
Chivalry and Paternalism in the Criminal Justice
System?
Our beliefs about the punishment of wrongdoers are shaped by many influences
including our ideas about the roles of women. We know that in 2017 women were
involved in one of every four incidents reported to the police (25 per cent), and most
of these defendants were accused of property crimes (shoplifting is the most common),
followed by administration of justice offences, such as breaching their probation
(Savage, 2019). Males were more likely than women to be found guilty of violent
crimes (52 and 40 per cent, respectively) and property crimes (65 and 49 per cent,
respectively) (Savage, 2019). When it comes to sanctions, Savage (2019) found a
greater percentage of males were sentenced to custody for violent crimes (39 per cent
compared with 22 per cent for women offenders). Public Safety Canada (2018, p. 39)
reports that the number of women being admitted to prison increased by over one-fifth
between 2006/2007 and 2016/2017. In 2016/2017, 402 women were admitted to
federal prisons, although there were less than 700 women prisoners in all federal
facilities.
It has been suggested that women are held to a different standard than men by the
criminal justice system and that police are more reluctant to arrest them. This
differential or more lenient treatment, if it truly exists today, has been called chivalry.
Mays and Ruddell (2019) suggest there may be exceptions to chivalry, and when
females commit distinctly male-like crimes, such as violent offences, the criminal
justice system may respond harshly in what Romain and Freiburger (2016, p. 195) call
the evil woman hypothesis. Members of sexual minorities, such as lesbians or
bisexuals, may also be treated more severely. Some US scholars have also observed
that middle-class and White women are treated less severely, as are those who display
contrition, vulnerability, deference, and sobriety (Gartner, 2011). By contrast, Wane
(2013, p. 119) observes that African-Canadian women may be punished more harshly
because they may be stereotyped with labels such as single mothers, welfare abusers,
drug addicts, or immigrants. Indigenous girls and women, as noted above, are highly
overrepresented in corrections (Malakieh, 2019).

chivalry The lenient treatment of girls and women by employees within justice
systems.
evil woman hypothesis Women who commit violent offences may be treated more
harshly by the justice system.

The past treatment of girls in youth justice systems has been called paternalistic,
and young females were sometimes treated more harshly than males. Prior to the
introduction of the Young Offenders Act in 1984, some young women—most often
those from low-income families—were placed in custody facilities for experimenting
with their sexuality. Bala (1997, p. 6) notes that “female adolescents were often sent to
training school for the vaguely worded status offence of ‘sexual immorality,’ which in
practice was used almost exclusively against girls, typically those from socially
disadvantaged backgrounds.” The Young Offenders Act and the Youth Criminal Justice
Act ended this practice of putting youth not accused or convicted of a Criminal Code
offence in custody.

paternalism The unfair treatment of girls and young women based on the rationale
that their treatment was in their best interests.

Are young women treated more harshly by the justice system today? A review of
youth and adult court statistics shows that slightly more girls appeared in youth courts
than women in adult courts in 2014/2015 (23 per cent compared with 20 per cent of
adult women) (Maxwell, 2017; Miladinovic, 2016). Like their adult counterparts, most
young women appearing in youth courts were accused of relatively minor offences
such as theft, common assault, and administration of justice offences such as failure to
appear in court or breach of probation. When it comes to placement in custody,
Statistics Canada’s (2019c) youth court statistics for 2017/2018 show that girls
represented about a quarter (23 per cent) of youth serving a custodial or community
sentence, and about 52 per cent of all female youth behind bars or on probation were
of Indigenous ancestry.
 A review of correctional statistics shows that the number of youth behind bars has
decreased by over 80 per cent since 1998 (Statistics Canada, 2019b), and youth crime
has not increased. Despite this positive outcome, we sometimes fail to consider the
harmful impacts of incarcerating young people, and Cesaroni and Pelvin (2016)
remind us that:

For many young inmates, incarceration is the first significant period that
they have spent away from their family, friends, and home community.
A custodial sentence increases disengagement from family, pro-social
peers, and familial/social values at a critical stage of the young
offender’s development. In addition custody removes youths from local
schools and therefore may affect young people who already have little
commitment to their school. (p. 279)

These impacts may be more severe for Indigenous youth if they are removed from
supports such as elders, or if youth facility staff do a poor job of connecting them with
traditional activities, cultural practices, or teachings (Cesaroni, Grol, & Fredericks,
2018). Although young people continue to be incarcerated, Bala and Carrington
(2016) note that the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in 2003 (which
replaced the Young Offenders Act) has reduced the overall number of youth entering
custody (see Chapter 11).
It is almost impossible to look at a statistic such as the number of people in custody
and determine if bias toward girls and women exists in the justice system or where it
exists. We have to remember that incarceration statistics reflect the discretion exercised
by officials throughout the system: a police officer’s decision to arrest, a prosecutor’s
decision to bring the matter to court, the ability of the accused to access legal aid, the
decision to grant or refuse bail (and if the accused served pretrial detention), a
probation officer’s sentencing recommendation on a pre-sentencing report, and
ultimately the judge’s sentence. Discriminatory treatment could exist at any one of
these points, and bias can be extremely difficult to identify. Sometimes information
about the race and ethnicity of offenders and victims is not collected. Wane (2013) is
critical that the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics does not report the ethnocultural
characteristics of visible minority populations in the criminal justice system, as we
cannot make any definitive statements about representation in the system (e.g., whether
things are getting better or worse). These are serious challenges for researchers
examining issues related to the overrepresentation of different ethnocultural groups in
justice systems (Meng, 2018).
 There was also a philosophical shift in the treatment of Indigenous
peoples, including a movement away from interventions based on
deterrence and incapacitation, and a greater emphasis on restorative
justice. While initiatives such as family group conferencing and
sentencing circles seem to have fallen out of favour, restorative justice
principles underlie many interventions throughout the justice system. In
addition, Maurutto and Hannah-Moffat (2016) describe how there are a
growing number of specialty courts for Indigenous peoples (see Chapter
7). The personnel working within justice systems also receive training
about Indigenous issues so they have a better appreciation of Indigenous
culture, histories, and traditions, and how these factors influence how
Indigenous peoples perceive the world. Last, the police, courts, and
correctional agencies operated by municipal, provincial, and federal
governments are attempting to deploy a more representative workforce by
hiring a greater number of Indigenous staff members.
In addition to changing the operations of the justice system, legislation
was enacted in 1987 to modify the Corrections and Conditional Release
Act to provide correctional programming to address the unmet needs of
Indigenous federal inmates. Section 718 of the Criminal Code (which
pertains to sentencing) was also amended in 1995 so that sanctions other
than incarceration would be considered at sentencing. Last, the landmark R
v Gladue decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999 directed judges
to recognize the distinctive circumstances of Indigenous people convicted
of an offence at sentencing (see Chapter 8). Despite these initiatives, the
number of Indigenous people involved in the justice system has been
increasing and Macdonald (2018) says that Canada’s justice system is
biased and works against Indigenous people at every point in their
involvement.
Since the 1990s a number of strategies have been introduced to reduce
the high rates of Indigenous offending and victimization. For the most part
these approaches have been well-intentioned and have increased the
employment of Indigenous peoples in the justice system. Corrado, Kuehn,
and Margaritescu (2014) observe that some of these initiatives have been
successful—especially in terms of reducing the incarceration of
Indigenous youth. Despite these efforts, however, levels of crime in some
Indigenous communities remain high and the number of Indigenous
people in provincial and federal corrections has been increasing. As a
result, some stakeholders have stated that making changes to the existing
justice system merely reinforces the status quo and does not adequately
address the root causes of Indigenous crime and victimization. The search
for more effective approaches to crime control will continue. Given the
failure of traditional approaches, the best crime prevention solutions
might lie outside the justice system and may require new ways of looking
at justice.

SUMMARY
The operations of the Canadian justice system are shaped by six different
crime control philosophies that have been the source of debate for
centuries about the proper treatment for wrongdoers. These debates will
not be resolved in the near future. Keeping with Packer’s (1968)
framework, the concepts of retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation are
aligned with the crime control approach, while restitution, rehabilitation,
and restorative justice are more closely related with the due process
perspective. By now, you should have a good understanding of what
perspective best aligns with your beliefs. One question that flows from
that observation is, what attracts us to those beliefs? Moreover, how are
our beliefs about crime and offenders formed? Are they the result of our
upbringing (e.g., the values and beliefs expressed by family members and
people important to us), or do the types of television programs we watch—
and the internet sites we visit—influence our beliefs? Or are our ideas
about crime and justice influenced by messages from political leaders or
advocacy groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving?
It is also important to acknowledge that our ideas about what acts are
defined as crimes and our ideas about how we should treat people we call
offenders are also shaped by our upbringing in a nation that was founded
as a colony of England and France. As noted in Chapter 1, our legal
traditions and ways of carrying out formal social control are rooted in
those traditions, and it is sometimes difficult for us to consider methods of
working toward justice that do not include “fixing” or changing a person
who committed a crime. Canada’s justice system is based on the notion
that people involved in crime need to change in order to live crime-free. In
most respects, it is easier to base a justice system on “fixing” individuals
than on addressing long-term entrenched social problems such as poverty
and economic inequality, inadequate housing, and homelessness. It is also
difficult for some of us to confront our prejudice and stigma toward the
poor and marginalized, and our stereotypes of people who are “different”
from us.
There is no shortage of ideas about the best ways of reducing crime.
Lilly, Cullen, and Ball (2019) observe that “ideas have consequences,”
which means that our ideas about crime and offenders shape the crime
control solutions that we develop, and they observed the following:

If offenders are viewed as genetically deranged and untrainable—

much like wild animals—then caging them would seem to be the
only option available. But if offenders are thought to be mentally
ill, then the solution to the problem would be to treat them with
psychotherapy. Or if one believes that people are moved to crime
by the strains of economic deprivation, then providing job training
and access to employment opportunities would seem to hold the
promise of diminishing their waywardness. (p. 5)

MYTH OR REALITY
Do Tough Punishments Deter Crime?
Deterrence is a popular approach to crime reduction, as “tough on crime” sanctions
should reduce wrongdoing. If a person chooses to commit a crime, then they should
“do the time,” and that notion has a common-sense appeal. Despite the popularity of
this approach, deterring crime has never worked very well. A commonly used example
of the failure of deterrence is Anderson’s (2002) observation of pickpocketing:
 In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, picking pockets was
among 220 capital crimes in England. Thousands were executed before the
attending masses. Undeterred by the fate of their colleagues, pickpockets
routinely worked the crowds at public hangings. (p. 295)

One wonders why thieves continued to pick pockets while others were being hanged
for the same offence. Did they believe they would not be caught, or if caught, did they
believe they would not be punished? Or are there other factors that push a person
toward engaging in crime unrelated to the fear of punishment?

TABLE 3.2 Change in Homicide and Incarceration Rates, Canada and the
United States, 1980–2016

Canada (%) United States (%)

Homicide 30 47
Rate

Incarceration 9 201
Rate

Adapted from Beattie, David, and Roy (2018); Bureau of Justice Statistics (2019);
Federal Bureau of Investigation (2018); Statistics Canada (2019a).

As noted in Chapter 2, rates of violent crime in Canada and the United States
dropped around the same time and have generally been lower over the past two
decades. One popular explanation for the US crime decline is that locking up more
offenders and keeping them in prison longer deters others from committing violent
crimes. In order to take a closer look at this relationship, the use of imprisonment and
homicide in Canada and the United States from 1980 to 2016 is compared. Although
homicide rates in both nations peaked in the early 1990s and then decreased, the US
rate was higher than the Canadian rate. In the United States, the homicide rate dropped
by 47 per cent between 1980 and 2016. By contrast, the Canadian rate dropped by
about one-third during the same years. One question that criminologists and policy-
makers like to ask is whether the use of incarceration had an impact on the homicide
drop in the two nations.
Table 3.2 shows the changes in the imprisonment rates per 100,000 Canadian and
US residents for the same years as the homicide rates (1980–2016). The US
 incarceration rate (that includes both jail and prison populations) grew more than
threefold (from 222 to 669 per 100,000 residents), while in Canada the federal and
provincial incarceration rate increased only slightly (9 per cent). These results suggest
that a slight increase in the use of incarceration in Canada had almost the same impact
as tripling the US jail and prison population. If an increased likelihood of being
imprisoned deterred people from murdering others, we have to question why the
decrease in the homicide rate was about the same in the two countries while there was
almost no change in the Canadian incarceration rate.

One factor that sets Canadian justice systems apart from our American
counterparts is that Canadian approaches tend to be less politicized and
more likely to be run by professional bureaucrats who have expert
knowledge of the crime problem. As a result, Canada has managed to
largely avoid the destructive wars on drugs and the three-strikes policies
that have resulted in mass imprisonment in the United States. Many
states are currently dismantling these programs because they cannot afford
the high costs of imprisoning low-risk offenders.

mass imprisonment The overuse of imprisonment as a crime control strategy.

As you read through the chapters that follow, you are encouraged to
think about Canada’s criminal justice policies and their effects on
offenders, victims, and justice-system stakeholders. Not only are
misguided justice practices costly, but they also result in lost opportunities
as the funds spent on ineffective policies could instead be used for other
crime-reduction strategies. Writing about Canadian justice policies, Tonry
(2013, p. 474) observed that “the best way to fashion a humane and
effective sentencing system is to take small steps cautiously. Doing
nothing may be the best policy.”
Canada has managed to avoid the destructive wars on drugs and the three-strikes policies
that have resulted in mass imprisonment in the United States. Many states are currently
dismantling these programs because they cannot afford the high costs of incarcerating low-
risk prisoners. In this photo, inmates walk around a gymnasium where they are housed due
to overcrowding at the California Institution for Men, a state prison in Chino, California.

Career SNAPSHOT
Regional Communications Officer
There are tens of thousands of jobs within the justice system that support the activities
of the police, courts, and corrections. Most of us are unaware these jobs exist or of the
important role the individuals in these positions have in the smooth operations of the
justice system. Many of them do not have direct contact with offenders. The personnel
working for the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) play a key role in the safe transition of
federal prisoners returning to the community, and their employees work in a number
of diverse roles, including working with victims. One of the challenges for crime
victims is that they are often unaware of the operations of the justice system or their
rights as victims since the introduction of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights in 2015
(see the online chapter on Victimization).
Profile
Name: Kerry Gatien
Job Title: Regional Communications Officer, Parole Board of Canada
Employed in current job since: 2011
Present location: Kingston, Ontario
Education: MSSC (Criminology), University of Ottawa

Background
Growing up, I had a variety of life experiences that influenced me in choosing a career
in the criminal justice system (CJS). In my youth, there were times when my family
lived in less desirable areas, which exposed me to different forms of crime and
violence. As an active student and community member, though, these circumstances
also enabled me to meet police officers, and I took the opportunity to interact with
them and learned about their jobs and the issues facing our community. These
experiences kick-started my interest in the CJS and I began focusing my education and
volunteering initiatives towards law, policing, and victims.
Following high school, I enrolled in the criminology program at the University of
Ottawa. Throughout the program, I ensured that my student placements were within
the CJS, which included working for an organization that helped first-time young
offenders learn to make better choices. After earning an Honours degree in
Criminology, I applied for work as an officer at various police departments. While
waiting for their responses, I completed one semester of a master’s degree in
Criminology at the University of Ottawa before being hired by a municipal police
service.

Work Experience
After my graduation from university I worked as a police officer for 12 years, both on
patrol and as a school resource officer. It was while working in the school system that I
began giving presentations to students, and discovered the importance of information
sharing and dialogue.
I finished my master’s degree while working as a patrol officer, often attending
classes before and after my shifts. I had always aspired to become an investigative
detective; however, my family situation changed, resulting in a need for a more
consistent schedule. I then found work as a policy analyst in the federal government,
which I enjoyed, but my heart remained in the CJS. After working as an analyst for 2
years, I applied to the Parole Board of Canada as a Regional Communications Officer
(RCO) in Kingston, Ontario, and was successful in getting the job!
 My role as an RCO is to help victims of federal offenders navigate and participate
in the parole process, ensuring that their rights under the Canadian Victims Bill of
Rights are respected. My primary responsibilities include providing victims with
information about the offender that harmed them, advising them of their rights and
responsibilities, and facilitating and attending hearings with them.
The biggest challenges I face as an RCO relate to the misconceptions people have
about the CJS. Despite our best efforts, there is a knowledge disconnect regarding the
Board’s jurisdiction and role in the CJS, particularly as it relates to the Board’s
decision-making process and the services we provide. I have come to realize that my
approach in working with victims must balance compassion and empathy along with
education and understanding around the purpose of parole, which focuses on
rehabilitation and community reintegration—and this can be very challenging.
It is very rewarding for me to know that I have helped make a positive and
proactive difference in the lives of others. When a victim thanks me for helping them
participate in an offender’s conditional release process, I know that I have helped
make an undeniably difficult process just a little bit easier.

Advice to Students
Choose work that is meaningful to you. Decide what your values, passions, and goals
are, and do what moves you closer to them. Reflect on your personal interests and
strengths, assess how they could translate into professional skill-sets, and consider
what and where the relevant work opportunities may be. When you find work you like
—own the role—as good work is easy to spot and tends to be rewarded in kind.
For students interested in pursuing work in the CJS, I recommend researching the
various roles, attending career fairs and conferences, and seeking volunteer and/or
part-time job opportunities in the CJS field. Talk to as many people as you can about
their work, absorb as much information as possible and maintain professional
connections. If considering working in victim services, a sense of compassion,
perspective, and empathy are essential traits, along with facilitation skills and the
ability to multi-task and prioritize.
Perhaps most important, though, are interpersonal and communications skills. This
includes knowing and being able to adapt to the needs of your audience, conveying
difficult information with clarity, and keeping calm in the face of challenging, often
emotional, situations. Lastly, making life choices that keep you out of conflict with the
law is also necessary, as this kind of work requires being able to obtain a security
clearance.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is the difference between chivalry and paternalism in relation to the treatment of
girls and women in the justice system?
2. How do the crime control philosophies of retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation
differ from restitution, rehabilitation, and restorative justice?
3. How do politicians, the news, and other entertainment industries shape public opinion
about crime and punishment?
4. What does the statement “ideas have consequences” mean when it comes to influencing
crime control strategies?
5. Why do “tough on crime” punishments fail to deter offenders?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is there a reluctance to collect data on the racial and ethnocultural characteristics of
individuals in Canada’s criminal justice system?
2. Does paying $1,000 in restitution have the same punitive impact on a middle-class
offender as it does on a low-income individual? Would making offenders complete
community service work have a better deterrent effect than paying financial restitution?
3. Restorative justice approaches have been criticized for being “soft on crime.” Does it
matter if an intervention is soft on crime if it works?
4. Why is it so difficult to reform offenders?
5. What factors formed your opinions about the ways that offenders should be treated?

INTERNET SITE
Although the last Canadian executions occurred in 1962 and capital punishment was
abolished in 1976, the majority of Canadians support the reintroduction of the death penalty.
The Death Penalty Information Center (a US group that opposes the death penalty) provides
information about the use of the death penalty in the United States and in other countries,
and the site may be helpful to those interested in studying this issue.
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

CASE CITED
R v Gladue, [1999] 1 SCR 688
 4 Police Organization and
Structure

“Troopers” in North West Mounted Police (NWMP) dress costume perform

at Fort MacLeod Museum in Alberta (on the grounds of Fort MacLeod, which
was built in 1874. The NWMP became the RCMP in 1904. Why do you think
Canadians (and the RCMP) hold on to these reminders of the RCMP’s history?
(Photo credit: wwing/iStockphoto)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe how Canadian policing evolved from the 1800s to today
• Describe the different urban and rural policing arrangements, and the agencies delivering
these services
• Identify some possible reasons for differences in police strength
• Describe the five roles of the police in Canada

CASE STUDY
Investigating Crimes
The murder of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine drew international attention to the issue of
missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women. On August 17, 2014, Tina’s body—
which had been wrapped in a duvet weighed down with rocks—was found in the Red
River near Winnipeg. Barghout (2018, para. 3) says that Tina, originally from Northern
Manitoba, had travelled to Winnipeg to visit her birth mother, and in her six weeks in the
city she had come to the attention of “police officers and security officers, hospital staff
and Child and Family Services.” She was declared a missing person by her hometown
RCMP on July 10, 2014. Child and Family Services (CFS) placed her in a hotel, but she
left shortly thereafter (the staff were not allowed to physically stop her from leaving), and
she was reported missing four more times in the next few weeks. Tina was hospitalized
after being found unconscious on the street on August 8, 2014, and returned to the CFS
placement. On August 9 she again left the hotel and was not seen afterward. Family
members contend that the vulnerable teenager fell through the cracks in the systems that
were supposed to protect her. A report from the Manitoba Advocate for Children and
Youth (2019) highlighted how the police, health officials, and care workers failed to act in
the days before her murder despite her involvement in risky behaviours and the fact that
she was being sexually exploited; the report also found that she required better care and
support prior to her 2014 trip to Winnipeg.
On December 8, 2015, Winnipeg police charged 53-year-old Raymond Cormier, a man
with 92 previous criminal convictions, with Fontaine’s murder. Cormier had allegedly been
giving the teenager drugs (Barghout, 2018), and police recordings played in court suggest
he had sex with her (Nicholson, 2018). Despite having circumstantial evidence suggesting
his guilt, Cormier was found not guilty of Fontaine’s murder in February 2018. Indigenous
groups were outraged that this young woman’s murder had gone unpunished. Critical
scholars such as de Finney (2017, p. 11) observe that Tina Fontaine’s murder shows how
Indigenous girls are “dehumanized, exploited, and portrayed as dispensable damaged
goods.”
So why couldn’t the criminal justice system produce justice for Tina Fontaine? Unlike
what we see depicted in television and films, there was almost no evidence linking the
suspect to the murder, and a pathologist could not even conclusively say she had been
murdered even after an autopsy that lasted two days (Canadian Press, 2018; May, 2018).
Broadbeck (2018, para. 4) says the prosecution had a weak case and “there was no
confirmed cause of death, no crime scene and very little to glean forensically from Tina’s
body. There were no witnesses who saw Tina’s killer. And there was no forensic evidence
linking Cormier to her.” With respect to the investigation, Broadbeck (2018) reports that
the police engaged in a six-month undercover operation they hoped would produce a
confession. Prosecutors also used the testimony of Cormier’s associates about comments
he made about Fontaine, but he calls their testimony in court highly suspect.
In order for a person to be found guilty of a crime in Canada the jury must find they are
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, a topic addressed in Chapter 7. As Broadbeck (2018,
para. 10, 11) says: “Tina Fontaine did not get justice, but it wasn’t through lack of effort or
diligence by police. They threw a ton of resources at this case but they simply couldn’t
gather the evidence required to get a guilty verdict. The jury had no choice but to acquit.
They did their job. And the justice system, including Justice Glenn Joyal who presided
over the case, did its job.”
The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (2019) prepared a comprehensive
report that provides an overview of Fontaine’s case, which can be accessed at
https://manitobaadvocate.ca/wp-content/uploads/MACY-Special-Report-March-2019-Tina-
Fontaine-FINAL1.pdf.

Critical Questions
1. The police officers involved in this case spent thousands of hours in the investigation,
but were unable to obtain enough evidence to secure a conviction. How does this
match with our understanding of crime and police work from television?
2. Macdonald (2017) says that “criminal trials may change the world—but it is never
their goal…. The only issue is proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Should juries
in criminal trials consider the political outcomes of their decisions? Why or why not?
3. What has the greater harm to society: a wrongful conviction of an innocent person or
an injustice because a guilty person is not found guilty? Would your answer change if
the victim was a member of your family?
INTRODUCTION
There are about two police officers for every thousand Canadians, and as
noted in Chapter 1, about two-thirds of them are employed by
municipalities. Most of us automatically think of the police in their role of
controlling and responding to crime, although crime-fighting accounts for
only about one-quarter of their duties. The remainder of their time is spent
in social service tasks: looking for lost children, investigating sudden
deaths (and notifying family members), responding to complaints such as
noisy parties or barking dogs, and engaging in community policing
activities such as providing crime-prevention information to citizens or
consulting with police advisory boards on local policing priorities
(Robertson, 2012). Traffic enforcement also accounts for a significant
proportion of officer time, including issuing tickets and responding to
collisions. We seldom consider that officers are also required to appear in
court to testify and to attend training, and that these activities take them
“off the streets.”
With respect to their crime-fighting role, the police in a democratic
society must achieve a balance between enforcing the law and respecting
the rights of the individuals they encounter, whether they are suspects,
victims, witnesses, or members of the public. In particular, dealing with
suspects is not always an easy undertaking as the public generally supports
a “tough on crime” agenda but can become hostile to police officers who
overstep legal or ethical boundaries. In complex and difficult-to-manage
scenarios, such as responding to people with mental illness, officers may
feel they are in a “lose–lose” situation, as no matter what they do, their
actions are criticized. Many of the situations the police encounter are due
to shortcomings in the health, education, or social service sectors—what
people call the social safety net. In some places the police have become
the “lead agency that deals with homeless, mental illness, school
discipline, youth unemployment, immigration, youth violence, sex work
and drugs” (Heyer, 2018). This is an example of mission creep, where
organizations assume additional duties that were never envisioned by the
founders of these agencies. As you read through this chapter ask yourself
whether the police are the right agency to tackle these social problems.
Meares (2017, p. 1365) says that “it is unfair to expect police to solve
what is fundamentally a social safety net problem with the crude tools of
crime-fighting simply because they are available twenty-four hours a day,
seven days a week, and 365 days a year.”

mission creep Occurs when organizations take on more duties than were originally envisioned
by the founders of those agencies.

Police recognize the importance of being involved in communities. Above, two police officers
pose with children during Canada Day celebrations in Vancouver, BC.

Provinces have jurisdiction over policing, and they all have established
sets of legal guidelines that police services must follow. In Ontario, for
example, a declaration of principles is outlined in the Police Services Act.
The guiding principle is that the police are responsible for ensuring the
safety and security of all people and property in the province while
abiding by the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Charter. The need for
cooperation between police services and the communities they serve is
also highlighted. Other principles include the importance of being
attentive to the needs of crime victims. Respecting the multiracial and
multicultural nature of Ontario’s populations is also recognized, including
First Nation, Inuit, and Métis populations. The declaration ends with an
acknowledgement that police services need to be representative of the
populations they serve, and that all peoples must receive equitable levels
of policing. Underlying all of these principles is the goal of a healthy and
mutually beneficial relationship between the public and the police—
something that is easy to describe, but difficult to achieve.
Police provide an important service to the public in terms of law
enforcement, but as noted earlier, this aspect represents only a fraction of
their work, and we often tend to overlook their other duties. Moreover, in
recent years there has been growing agreement that the police “cannot go
it alone,” and they rely on the public’s support in order to carry out their
duties. In dozens of Saskatchewan and Ontario jurisdictions, for example,
the police have introduced proactive crime control strategies that are
intended to respond to the unmet needs of at-risk individuals and families,
such as young people who are experimenting with alcohol and drugs,
before they get into more serious trouble (Nilson, 2018). Altogether, we
find that policing is slowly moving from reactive to proactive crime-
reduction strategies that are more likely to involve the community and
focus on crime prevention.
In order to illustrate what is happening with police organizations today,
this chapter first presents a brief description of the evolution of policing,
followed by a review of the structure of Canadian policing. There is a
diverse range of police services in Canada—from small agencies
employing fewer than 10 officers to large provincial police services and
the RCMP. The size of the agency, the professionalism of organizational
leaders, and the training that officers receive shapes their interactions with
the public and contributes to the success of front-line officers (also called
rank-and-file officers) in crime prevention and control.
front-line officers Officers who occupy front-line policing positions (e.g., up to the rank of
sergeant) and do not have executive authority.

THE EVOLUTION OF CANADIAN POLICING

Policing has greatly transformed over the years as Canada has developed
from a rural country that depended on agriculture to an industrialized
urban nation with a diverse multicultural population. Cities have increased
in population size largely due to rural residents moving from the
countryside to cities and immigration from other nations. These
demographic shifts led to changes in the way that policing was carried out.
For most of Canadian history, policing was undertaken by officers working
in small-town agencies with fewer than 10 officers. These small agencies
evolved into larger, well-funded police services, and the officers working
within them are now more representative of the communities they serve as
well as better trained and more professional. The big city police
department or large regional, provincial, and federal service is now the
norm, and there are fewer than 50 police services with less than 50 officers
and the number of these small departments is dropping every year.
Policing has passed through a number of evolutionary stages, and this
chapter briefly highlights how these early influences set the stage for
modern policing in Canada. This approach is useful for understanding the
transition of policing from relatively small stand-alone police services
(agencies that are not part of a larger organization) to today’s larger
services.

stand-alone police services Police services that are typically small and are not part of a larger
police organization.

The four stages discussed in this chapter are the pre-modern era (prior
to 1820), the political era (1820 to 1940), the professional era (1940 to
1980), and the community policing era (1980 to the present). By taking a
closer look at how policing arrangements evolved in Canada, we will be
better able to understand today’s policing arrangements. The following
sections provide a brief overview of these four stages and explore how
they led to modern policing.

Pre-Modern Era (Prior to 1820)

Prior to their contact with the first English and European settlers,
Indigenous people had developed customary justice systems to resolve
disputes and respond to wrongdoing. These justice systems were similar to
the practices of Indigenous people across the globe, where most disputes
were resolved informally by tribal leaders, although some First Nations
also had individuals who played a role in order maintenance. It is
important to note that there was no one way that Indigenous peoples
confronted wrongdoers, as concepts of reconciliation, healing, and
harmony differed across the nation (Canadian Council of Academies,
2019, p. 20). Jones, Ruddell, Nestor, Quinn, and Phillips (2014, p. 22)
report that these justice systems often had a restorative approach, and
behaviours were “controlled and regulated through shaming, ostracism and
compensation for a victim’s loss.” Some wrongdoers, however, were
physically punished or executed, while others were banished from the
community, which may have been an actual death sentence. These systems
were in place before the lands that would become Canada were colonized
by the English and European settlers.

First Nations A term used to describe the Indigenous people of Canada, not including the Inuit
or Métis; the term can also refer to the lands set aside for Indigenous peoples.

The military was responsible for maintaining order in the first

settlements prior to Confederation in 1867. The British navy, for instance,
policed the Newfoundland coastal outports, and British troops responded
to crimes occurring on the island. As immigration increased throughout
the 1700s and 1800s, people brought with them ideas of controlling crime
that they had experienced in their homelands. Several Canadian
municipalities claim to have had the first formal police service. The Royal
Newfoundland Constabulary, founded in 1729, claims to be the oldest
police service in Canada, although the town of York (which later became
Toronto) is also credited as being one of the first Canadian police
departments that deployed uniformed officers who were paid a salary
(rather than receiving fees for arrests).

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Established in 1729, this police force claims to be

Canada’s oldest police service and still provides services throughout Newfoundland and
Labrador.

Railway police officers have the same powers of arrest as municipal police officers and
receive the same training, but they work for corporations. Most of their duties are related to
crime and accident prevention, although they also investigate crimes that occur on railway
property. The railway police are one example of how policing arrangements established in
the 1800s have persisted over time.

Political Era (1820 to 1940)

By the early 1800s, local politicians were instrumental in establishing
police services and many of them used the police to further their interests,
whether they were legal or not. One characteristic that was consistent
across these small-town and city police services is that they were often
controlled by local political leaders composed of mayors and council
members (or aldermen). In some places, the crimes of the rich and
politically powerful were overlooked, and the poor and members of
minority groups were over-policed (Thomson & Clairmont, 2013).

over-policed Refers to when members of a social group or neighbourhood are treated

suspiciously, watched, stopped, searched, questioned, or otherwise paid attention to by the
police by virtue of being members of that group.

In this era, police chiefs served at the will of mayors and council
members, and they were sometimes directed by these political leaders to
ignore certain types of offences or suspects (e.g., being asked to overlook
the impaired driving of the mayor’s supporters). If chiefs enforced the law
against the wishes of their employers, they could be replaced by new
chiefs who would carry out the wishes of their political masters (Thomson,
2003). Police officers were also treated unfairly and some were fired for
enforcing the law, even when their actions were fair, lawful, and
appropriate. As a result of this political interference, many officers
working in small-town police departments suffered from low morale and
rapid turnover (that is, officers would not stay in these jobs for a long
period of time).
Although political leaders play a role in identifying crime problems
and in prioritizing issues for the police based on public concerns, the
police have to be independent of inappropriate political interference in
order to have the trust and confidence of the public. How have the police
done at avoiding inappropriate political interference? In the following
paragraphs, the evolution of Canadian policing from a political to a
professional model is briefly described. Although the first settlers
imported ideas about policing from their homelands, the policing
arrangements that eventually developed in this country were distinctively
Canadian.

political interference The inappropriate use of political authority to influence police

operations.
In 1855, the city of Charlottetown hired six police officers to serve a population of about
6,500 residents. This picture depicts a group of officers in the early 1900s. Few of these
officers received any formal training prior to being hired, and many police services expected
their officers to provide all of their own equipment, including uniforms and sidearms.
© Derek Audette|Dreamstime.com

North American police services were modelled after large municipal

services that were first established in England and France in the 1820s and
1830s. The French deployed uniformed officers (the Sûreté) in Paris by
1829 (Gillis, 1989). At about the same time, Sir Robert Peel founded
London’s Metropolitan Police Service with 1,000 full-time uniformed
officers. The evolution of the London police from an initial idea to a
functioning agency took almost a decade due to public opposition to the
police, as they were thought to be a threat to liberty. In order to convince
the public that the police were not an occupying army, constables
patrolling the streets were unarmed—a tradition that still exists (although
there are armed response teams today). Peel is considered to be the father
of the modern police service, and he introduced “centralized command,
the beat system, crime prevention and the uniform” (Marquis, 2016, p.
12). Peel’s principles are widely cited today (see the boxed feature “A
Closer Look: Robert Peel’s Nine Principles of Policing” in this chapter).
 Policing was also occurring in the countryside. A rural police force,
modelled on the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), patrolled the Quebec
countryside from 1839 to 1842, and a frontier police force was established
in Ontario by 1864—although there is little information about that service.
The RIC influenced police organizations throughout Canada, as many
former RIC officers held leadership positions in municipal and provincial
police services as well as with the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP).
The need for formal social control on the Prairies became apparent after
the 1869–1870 Red River Rebellion (where Métis people in Manitoba
engaged in an uprising against the government; some call this the Red
River Resistance), and following the Cypress Hills Massacre in 1873 when
American hunters and whisky traders participated in the massacre of 20 or
more Indigenous people in southern Saskatchewan. Although the NWMP
was initially intended to be a temporary police force, it eventually became
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 1920.

Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC ) A police force that emphasized mounted patrols and was a
model for early rural Canadian police services.
North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) A police force established in 1873 in response to
lawlessness in the North-West Territories (in what is now Alberta and Saskatchewan) and to
reinforce Canadian sovereignty in that region. The organization became the Royal North-West
Mounted Police in 1904 and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920.

Because Canada was a rural nation, most policing prior to the 1940s
occurred in small towns and the countryside. Rural and small-town
policing emerged in a patchwork fashion, meaning that there was very
little consistency across the nation. The Police Association of Ontario
(2014) notes that “the quality of policing depended very much on the
political and financial priorities of the local municipal council.” Few
small municipalities could afford professional police services, and they
experimented with different types of policing—such as hiring a town
constable for a year or two, or relying on part-time officers—but few
written records exist to tell us the complete story of these early police
organizations, in Canada or elsewhere (see Anderson, 2011). We do know,
however, that for the most part, officers working for municipal police
services were recruited locally and were poorly trained; they were
overworked (six-day work weeks were common); and they lacked job
security, workers’ compensation, or pensions. While these officers worked
long hours with few benefits, arrests were rare and most of their work was
in response to relatively minor offences such as public drunkenness,
disorderly behaviour, and vagrancy (Marquis, 2016, p. 41).

The Canadian North was policed by the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), which became
the Royal North-West Mounted Police in 1904 and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in
1920. Writing about the NWMP, Fanning (2012, p. 519) observes that it “was a consciously
rural institution. As much as possible, the force sought to avoid intruding in urban affairs, as
both its mandate and duties were concerned primarily with rural, isolated, and vulnerable
settlements.”

During the political era, provincial police services were also

established throughout the country to serve the rural areas and small
towns, and the lifespan of these agencies is shown in Table 4.1. While each
of the provinces has had one provincial police service, the Canadian North
was policed by the NWMP, which became the Royal North-West Mounted
Police (rnwmp) in 1904 and the RCMP in 1920. Even when the mounted
police were posted in the Arctic in the early 1900s, their primary role was
to ensure sovereignty (which is a nation’s claim on its territory) rather
than maintaining order or fighting crime.

Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) The policing authority of the Canadian North
from 1904 to 1919; it became the RCMP in 1920.
sovereignty A nation’s claim on its territory.

While most of this discussion about the political era has centred
around the inappropriate influences of local politicians on the police,
provincial and federal politicians were also responsible for deploying the
police in response to various threats. One example that ended in injuries
and death is worthy of mention: the 1935 On-to-Ottawa Trek that started
in Vancouver and ended in Regina.
The On-to-Ottawa Trek occurred during the Great Depression that
started in 1929. In 1935, a group of unemployed men, many from federal
relief camps, decided to travel by freight train from British Columbia to
Ottawa to protest joblessness and poor working conditions with the hope
that the federal government would find them work. The movement
increased in size as they travelled east, until Prime Minister Bennett
ordered that the trains be stopped in Regina, and the protesters set up camp
there. Although a small group of individuals were permitted to meet with
Bennett in Ottawa, talks quickly broke down and the men returned to
Regina. On July 1, 1935, the strikers and protesters had congregated in
downtown Regina when they were confronted by armed RCMP and Regina
police officers. When the dust from the riot cleared, one Regina police
officer and a protester had been killed, 45 protesters and bystanders were
injured, and 130 rioters were arrested. In his analysis of the Regina
confrontation, Anastakis (2015, p. 148) observes that “despite claiming to
fight the Great Depression on behalf of ordinary Canadians, the state
remained squarely on the side of the employers, often with deadly
consequences.”
TABLE 4.1 Provincial Police Services
 Provincial Police Service
Province Established Disbanded

Newfoundland and Labrador* 1729 Active

Prince Edward Island 1930 1932

Nova Scotia 1928 1932

New Brunswick 1927 1932

Quebec 1870 Active

Ontario 1909 Active

Manitoba 1870 1932

Saskatchewan 1917 1928

Alberta 1917 1932

British Columbia 1871 1950

*The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary provides provincial policing services to the rural areas
surrounding North East Avalon, Corner Brook, and Labrador West, and the RCMP serves the rest
of the province.

A Closer Look
Robert Peel’s Nine Principles of Policing
There are references to Robert Peel’s nine principles in almost every policing book. In
a review of these principles, Loader (2016, pp. 429–430) speculates that the principles
were written at least a century after Peel died and that they were taken from newspaper
accounts and Peel’s speeches or writing. Peel’s nine principles of policing are as
follows:
1. To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military
force and severity of legal punishment.
2. To recognize always that the power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties
is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions, and behaviour, and on
their ability to secure and maintain public respect.
3. To recognize always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the
public means also securing the willing cooperation of the public in the task of
securing observance of the law.
 4. To recognize always that the extent to which the cooperation of the public can be
secured diminishes, proportionately, the necessity of the use of physical force and
compulsion for achieving police objectives.
5. To seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion, but by
constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to law, in complete
independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the
substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and
friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social
standing; by ready exercise of courtesy and good humour; and by ready offering
of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.
6. To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice, and warning is
found to be insufficient to obtain public cooperation to an extent necessary to
secure observance of law or restore order; and to use only the minimum degree of
physical force that is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police
objective.
7. To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the
historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police; the
police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to
duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare
and existence.
8. To recognize always the need for strict adherence to police executive functions,
and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the power of the judiciary of avenging
individuals or the state, and authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty.
9. To recognize always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and
disorder and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them
(Loader, 2016, pp. 429–430).

Despite the fact that these principles originated almost 200 years ago, they are still used
to define today’s ideal police–community relationships.

Professional Era (1940 to 1980)

The professional model of policing—also called the traditional model of
policing—gradually replaced the political model that was seen as
ineffective, corrupt, and brutal (Dobrin, 2006, p. 19). Advocates of the
professional model praised its objectivity, reliance on science, and
freedom from political interference. In his analysis of Canadian policing,
Robertson (2012) notes the following:
professional model of policing A model that emphasizes a “top down” style of police
management with an emphasis on random patrols and rapid response, where citizens play a
passive role in crime control.

The professional model sought to apply the benefits of new

technology, especially in communications, to police a more mobile
society. The professional model incorporated a centralized
approach, applying command and control techniques. This allowed
for the introduction of random patrols with rapid response to calls
for service. Standardization and training were emphasised to
produce consistent service and results, limited individual initiative
and local variation. (p. 352)

Civil service rules were also introduced by political and police leaders to
reduce cronyism and nepotism (i.e., when friends and family members of
police leaders were hired instead of the most qualified people for the job).
This step increased the quality of officers, as did the introduction of
formalized training at police academies. These ideas were revolutionary,
as police officers were historically recruited from local towns and
received little (or no) training prior to starting their jobs.

cronyism Occurs when friends of people in authority are appointed to jobs without regard to
their qualifications.
nepotism Preferential hiring carried out by people in powerful positions of their family
members.

Prior to the establishment of provincial policing standards, officers

were often poorly equipped because uniforms or sidearms were not always
supplied—even up until the 1970s in Nova Scotia (Thomson, 2003). In
some small towns, the only uniform that officers received was an armband
designating them as police officers, and they were also expected to use
their personal vehicles as their departments did not own any. Most of the
crimes confronted by small-town officers were relatively minor, and
antisocial behaviour and public order offences such as public drunkenness,
disorderly conduct (“rowdyism”), and property crimes were the norm
(McGahan & Thomson, 2003). Most of these offences were handled
informally and few arrests were made. Police were typically hired on the
basis of their physical size, and some suspects were beaten rather than
arrested. According to a former officer, “The physical part of the job was
more important than the brains…. You had to beat heads first, then they
[the public] respected you” (McGahan & Thomson, 2003, p. 28). Street
justice, where suspected wrongdoers were beaten by the police and then
released, was commonly applied, and while the individuals never received
a criminal record for breaking the law, they never received any due process
protections either.

street justice Occurs when a suspected offender is forced to submit to an unauthorized

punishment by a police officer, such as doing push-ups in return for not getting a speeding
ticket.

Throughout the 1970s, political leaders increased the quality of

policing by introducing provincial police standards, such as Manitoba’s
Police Services Act. These standards specified the hours of training
required for new officers, the requirements for ongoing annual training for
all officers (e.g., first aid and firearms re-qualification), the types of
equipment officers required, and the practices for detaining prisoners.
Many small towns found it costly to comply with these requirements, and
so they contracted with the OPP, RCMP, or SQ to provide policing services. A
growing number of officers were also being represented by professional
associations and police unions. The Police Association of Ontario, for
instance, was established in 1933 to represent the interests of Ontario’s
officers. Similar organizations advocated on behalf of police officers
throughout the country, and these efforts resulted in better working
conditions and enabled collective bargaining. Although most Canadian
officers are now represented by unions, officers and civilian members of
the RCMP were not permitted to bargain collectively until January 2015,
when the Supreme Court found the federal government’s ban on their
unionization was unconstitutional (see Mounted Police Association of
Ontario v Canada, 2015).
Community Policing Era (1980 to the Present)
By the 1980s, there was a growing awareness that the police needed to
establish more productive relationships with communities and their
stakeholders if they wanted to reduce crime. Police services started
involving the public in their decision-making, and those consultations
revealed that issues of concern were sometimes unrelated to crime, such as
reducing visible signs of disorder (e.g., removing abandoned vehicles and
graffiti) or confronting antisocial behaviour. In addition, the public wanted
to play a larger role in the oversight of the police by providing formal
guidance to police services, and police advisory boards were being
established throughout Canada. Today, most provinces require that police
activities be overseen by these advisory boards (also called police-
management boards).
Civilian involvement in police activities is a key part of community-
oriented policing, although this is a catch-all term that refers to a number
of strategies intended to bring the police and the public together, which
was one of Peel’s principles. The methods that police services have used to
involve communities varies greatly, although most services have
incorporated what van Steden, Miltenburg, and Boutellier (2014, p. 144)
call the three pillars of community policing:

community-oriented policing An approach to policing that relies on community involvement

to take a proactive approach to reducing antisocial behaviour and crime.

• citizen involvement: The police consult the public about identifying

and prioritizing community problems (including crime and
disorder).
• problem-solving/problem-oriented approach: The police analyze
crime information and draw on the insight of community members
to develop strategies to prevent crime- and disorder-related
problems.
• decentralization: Decision-making moves closer to the front lines,
such as to patrol officers rather than police administrators.
 Community centres are sometimes established in troubled
neighbourhoods. Officers are removed from motorized patrols and
instead patrol on foot or bicycles.

All together, these three steps are intended to create better working
relationships between the police and the people they police—ideas that
were first proposed by Peel nearly two centuries ago.
The idea of community-oriented policing may be more popular with
politicians, police leaders, and researchers than with front-line officers
who typically still favour the traditional model of policing with its
reliance on motorized patrol and rapid response. Moreover, despite the
fact that their role in enforcing the laws accounts for less than a third of
their activities, most police officers identify with their crime-fighting role.
Robertson (2012, p. 352) questions “whether a community policing model
truly reaches out to all members of the community or is simply paid lip
service”—suggesting that we spend more time talking about community
policing than actually implementing the approach. Writing about the
community policing movement, Marquis (2016, p. 195) observes that
“within the police studies literature there is little agreement as to what this
movement actually was, why it appeared or what it has accomplished, yet
after almost four decades most police forces continue to insist that they
are following its principles, and many academics report on it as a genuine
innovation.”

lip service When more time is spent talking about something than actually implementing the
approach.

Acceptance of community-oriented policing has varied, and some

police services have been reluctant to surrender much control to the
public. In addition, one of the challenges of community policing is that
these initiatives sometimes work best in healthy communities that are well
organized and have low levels of crime. Troubled neighbourhoods, by
contrast, often have to overcome their mistrust of the police before
wanting to participate in community policing. According to the
International Association of Chiefs of Police (2014, n.p.), “In order for
communities and law enforcement to build solid relationships, there must
be an element of trust, fairness, and even respect. However, all of those
coveted attributes must be earned through actions, not just words; and that
takes time.” There is some debate about the success of community
policing and whether it will play a very important role in the future of
policing. Leighton (2016, pp. 137–139) says that interest in community
policing in Canada peaked in the 1980s, and the future of policing will
have to be responsive to vulnerable people (such as the elderly), the
increasingly multicultural nature of Canadian society, the changing nature
of crime due to technology, and confronting an ongoing fiscal crisis where
policing costs are continuously increasing. James Sheptycki (2017) a
prominent police scholar from York University, observes that debates
about the nature of policing should start with asking what matters in
policing, or in other words, what is good policing? All of us will have
different definitions about what constitutes good policing, but good
police–community relationships are a foundation for any successful crime
control strategy.

POLICE STRUCTURE IN CANADA

As of May 15, 2018, there were about 69,000 officers in Canada working
in four basic types of police organizations (Conor, Robson, & Marcellus,
2019). The RCMP, with over 18,000 officers (who are also called members),
is the largest police service in Canada. The RCMP is responsible for federal
policing and also contracts with eight provinces and hundreds of
municipalities to provide police services across the country. The Ontario
Provincial Police and Sûreté du Québec patrol the highways and the
countryside as well as serve small towns in those provinces. There are also
a number of regional services, such as the Durham Regional Police in
Ontario, that provide police services both in cities and in the surrounding
countryside. Most Canadian officers, however, work for local
municipalities—these range in size from agencies with fewer than 10
officers to large police forces such as the Montreal Police Service, which
employed over 4,500 officers in 2018 (Conor et al., 2019).
One of the cornerstones of community-oriented policing is that the
police should reflect the characteristics of the community. Historically, the
police could best be described as “pale and male,” but this is changing.
Corsianos (2009) reports that police matrons (who worked with female
arrestees and juveniles who were detained) were employed by the Toronto
Police Service in 1887. The first policewomen in Canada, Lurancy Harris
and Minnie Miller, were hired by the Vancouver Police in 1912, and a
number of municipal services hired women officers over the next decade
(Corsianos, 2009). However, it was not until 1974 when the largest
Canadian police services, the OPP and the RCMP, trained their first women
officers, and the proportion of women officers has been increasing ever
since then. Table 4.2 shows the increase in women officers from 1986 to
2017. Over one-fifth (22 per cent) of officers were women in 2018 and a
growing number of them hold leadership positions (Conor et al., 2019).
So, does having more women officers make a difference in a police
service? Carmichael and Kent (2015a) found that Canadian police services
with a greater number of women officers killed fewer suspects. These
researchers speculated that having a greater proportion of women officers
changed the department culture and their influence reduced the use of
force.
With respect to the reporting number of Indigenous and visible
minority officers, it is difficult to show changes over time in the number
of these officers as much of the data about race and ethnicity is based on
self-reported information, which is not consistently collected and is
incomplete. Conor et al. (2019) however, report that while about one-fifth
(22.3 per cent) of Canadians are visible minorities, they only accounted
for 8 per cent of all police officers in 2018. In terms of officers of
Indigenous ancestry, they accounted for 4 per cent of all police officers,
which was slightly above their representation in the national population (5
per cent of Canadians reported being of Indigenous ancestry). When
looking at the national averages, we should remember that there are some
police services with much higher proportions of Indigenous officers,
including many First Nations police services, and 30 per cent of the Prince
Albert Police Service officers are of Indigenous ancestry. The growth in
the proportion of visible minority and Indigenous officers is also shown in
Table 4.2 (note that the changes in women’s policing are shown for over 30
years, while the statistics for the visible minority and Indigenous officers
only represent five years).

Police Consolidation
In addition to an increased focus on community involvement, there was a
move to consolidate police services during the 1980s. This shift was
sometimes the result of regionalization, and it involved joining together
several smaller police agencies to form a single organization that served a
number of cities or an urban–rural region. An example is the Halton
Regional Police Service, which was founded in 1974 when the municipal
police services from five Ontario cities (Burlington, Oakville, Milton,
Georgetown, and Acton) and several townships merged into a single
agency. Some municipalities replaced their local police departments after
contracting with the OPP, RCMP, or SQ. Lithopoulos (2014) reports that in
1988 there were 406 Canadian municipal police services, but this had
decreased to 142 by 2012, a decrease of almost two-thirds. Table 4.3 shows
the decrease in municipal police services in Canada from 1988 to 2012.
While all provinces experienced a reduction in the number of municipal
police services, the drop was greatest in Quebec, as the province lost 82
per cent of its municipal police departments.
TABLE 4.2 Percentage change in Women, Indigenous, and Visible Minority Police Officers
in Canada

Change in Women Officers, 1987 to 2017

Increase 386%

Change in Visible Minority Officers, 2011 to

Increase 2.4%
2016

Change in Indigenous Officers, 2011 to 2016

Increase 15%
Conor (2018)

Policing: An Expensive Proposition

Taxpayers across Canada are concerned about the rising costs of policing
(Berman, 2018). Conor (2018, p. 25) reports that the per capita cost of
policing in 2016/2017 was $405, which was an increase of about half since
2004/2005. Because municipalities use property taxes to fund police
services, wealthier communities typically have more money for policing.
Large cities have some advantages when it comes to paying for police
services. The cost of policing in small cities such as Saskatoon or Regina
accounts for 20–25 per cent of municipal budgets, while larger cities pay a
smaller proportion. In Toronto, for instance, the total budget for 2018 was
$11.2 billion and policing costs accounted for over $1.1 billion, which
accounts for 10.5 per cent of the city’s total budget (City of Toronto,
2018). Police services in larger cities are often able to their contain costs
because they can operate more efficiently.
Many smaller communities, on the other hand, are struggling to pay
for police services. For example, the average per capita cost of policing in
Canada was $405 in 2016/2017, but for the 22,000 residents of
Amherstburg, Ontario, the cost was $658 a year (Baxter, 2018). In order to
save costs, smaller towns and cities have laid off officers and disbanded
their local police services, and many are now contracting with larger
policing forces. There is a long history of contract policing in Canada, as
small towns find it very expensive to operate a police department with
only a few officers. In April 2018 the town council of Espanola, Ontario,
voted to disband its 20-officer police service and contract with the OPP
(White, 2018). While towns disbanding their police services can reduce
policing spending, the larger police service might not provide the same
level of service, especially if no officers from the larger agency actually
live in the community—thus reducing positive police–community
relationships.

contract policing A form of policing where a police service, such as the RCMP or OPP , provides
policing to a municipality under a contract.
TABLE 4.3 Decrease in Municipal Police Services in Canada, 1988–2012

Number of Municipal Police Services

Province 1988 2012 Reduction (%)

Prince Edward Island 4 3 25

Nova Scotia 25 11 56

New Brunswick 26 9 65

Quebec 164 30 82

Ontario 138 54 61

Manitoba 10 7 30

Saskatchewan 17 10 41

Alberta 10 7 30

British Columbia 12 11 8

Total 406 142 65

Adapted from Lithopoulos (2014). Statistics Canada, CANSIM tables 254-004 and 254-006;

Police Strength
Like any other human service agency, police services spend the greatest
proportion of expenditures on staff salaries. The number of officers per
1,000 residents is called police strength, and this rate varies throughout
the nation. Figure 4.1 shows the number of police officers in various
Canadian cities in 2017. Montreal and Halifax had the highest number of
officers per 1,000 residents (2.3 and 2.2 officers, respectively), while
Kingston, Ontario, and Abbotsford, British Columbia, had fewer officers
(1.5 and 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents). Ruddell and Thomas (2015)
found that crime explains some of the differences in how many police are
deployed in Canada’s largest cities but that other factors also influence
how many officers are “on the streets.” Wealthier cities tend to have
greater police strength, and communities that have their own municipal
police service employ more officers than cities contracting with the RCMP.
As a result, economic factors seem to play an important role in how the
police are deployed. One possible reason for this finding is that politicians
in wealthier communities may win votes by expanding the size of their
police service, as hiring more officers is usually considered good politics.

police strength The ratio of police to civilians; the Canadian average is about two officers for
every 1,000 residents.

Rural Policing
Most police research is conducted on large municipal police services,
which is understandable given that only one-fifth of Canadians live in
rural areas. Given the vast spaces that must be policed, there are over
10,000 officers working in provincial policing, rural areas, small towns,
and Indigenous communities (Ruddell, 2017). Although we often think of
the countryside as having a slow pace of life, homicide rates are higher in
rural areas than in cities, and as noted in Chapter 2, overall rates of crime
severity also tend to be higher in rural Canada (Allen, 2018). A number of
high-profile rural crimes in 2016 and 2017 have led to an increased
frustration of rural residents who feel unsafe as police response times are
often very lengthy. For example, the Ottawa Police Service (2018, p. 46)
reports that in 95 per cent of the priority-one calls (where there was an
imminent danger to life) an officer was on-scene within 15 minutes. In a
rural area, by contrast, the response time might be an hour or more,
depending on where a crime occurs, the road and weather conditions, and
the number of officers on patrol; it might also be difficult for officers to
find a farmhouse or other rural location if it is located off the main roads.
FIGURE 4.1 Officers per 1,000 Residents, Select Canadian Cities, 2017
Conor (2018)

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Police Strength: Canada’s Place in the World
Most developed nations have about two officers per 1,000 residents in the population,
although many southern European nations have several times that number. Figure 4.2
shows that Greece, Belgium, Spain, and Cyprus have over 3.4 officers per 1,000
residents. When confronted with that statistic, scholars are curious about the reasons
for this difference. In order to better understand this issue, Ruddell and Thomas (2009)
conducted a cross-national study of police strength and found that countries that have
more violent crime had more officers on the payroll. In the first several chapters of this
book, a number of cross-national comparisons were made, and these comparisons can
be tricky to evaluate due to the use of different definitions of crime and justice system
personnel. The European statistics, for example, count border security guards as police
officers, although Canada Border Services Agency officers are not classified as police
in Canada. The total number of police in Canada would be somewhat higher if these
officials were counted.
 Given the findings from comparative studies, an interesting research question
would be to look just at the differences in police strength in Canada. Carmichael and
Kent (2015b) examined police strength in 40 Canadian cities between 1996 and 2006,
and they report that police strength increased with the size of a city’s minority
population, income, and poverty rate. These findings support a conflict perspective
where scholars argue that the police are used to reinforce existing social relationships
based on inequality by controlling the poor and minority populations. Carmichael and
Kent (2015b, p. 275) observe that “conflict theorists assume that the legal code not
only reflects the interests of the powerful but that the entire criminal justice system is a
vehicle through which the dominant members of society enforce their views and
regulate minority populations.”

FIGURE 4.2 Police Officers per 1,000 Residents, 2015

Adapted from Eurostat (2019)

Rural policing is carried out by the provincial police in Ontario and

Quebec, and some municipal or regional police agencies such as the Peel
Regional Police in Ontario patrol both urban and rural areas. With those
exceptions, the remainder of the nation’s rural areas are served by the
RCMP, which has contracted with eight provinces to provide policing until
the 2030s—although the parties can opt out of these agreements with two
years’ notice.

Race, Class, and Gender

Policing Indigenous Communities: Were First Nations
Police Services Set Up to Fail?
In 1992, Canada became the only country that had developed a comprehensive
national policing strategy for Indigenous people, known as the First Nations Policing
Program (FNPP). The FNPP involves three levels of government (federal,
provincial/territorial, and the First Nations), and police services operating under the
umbrella of the FNPP served over 450 Indigenous communities. About one-third (154)
of those communities were policed by 36 self-administered Indigenous police services,
while the remaining communities received police services from larger police forces,
such as the RCMP, OPP, and SQ (Mugford, 2018). Self-administered Indigenous police
services are very much like municipal police services, although the management and
oversight of these agencies is undertaken by the chief and band council rather than a
mayor and city councillors.
Whether Indigenous communities are policed by a self-administered or contract
police organization, Clairmont (2013) notes that policing Indigenous communities is
challenging given the lasting effects of colonialism and the lack of economic
opportunities in many First Nations. Police officers also report that social problems in
some of these communities are severe, ranging from substance abuse to family
violence (Ruddell & Jones, 2018). Most Indigenous communities are located in rural
areas, and policing costs increase while community well-being (such as employment
and health) decreases with the distance from urban areas (Ruddell, Lithopoulos, &
Jones, 2015). In addition, rates of crime and victimization on First Nations are several
times higher than the national average (Lithopoulos, 2013). With respect to homicide,
for example, Indigenous people represented almost a quarter of homicide victims in
2017, although they account for about 5 per cent of the national population. In
addition, “the rate of Aboriginal persons accused of homicide in 2017 was 12 times
higher compared to non-Aboriginal accused persons” (Beattie, David, & Roy, 2018, p.
14). Given those challenges, one might assume that First Nations police services would
require more funding than municipal police services.
Many self-administered police agencies have struggled. The Auditor General of
Canada (2014) reports that these agencies are chronically underfunded and expected to
do their work under adverse conditions, such as not having enough officers to provide
proper backup or provide timely responses to calls for service. These are not new
challenges, and Wes Luloff, former president of the First Nations Chiefs of Police
Association, reported that these agencies were “set up to fail” due to a lack of support
and funding (cited in Barnsley, 2002). Kiedrowski, Jones, and Ruddell (2017, p. 595)
examined this issue and found these police services had been neglected by federal and
provincial governments. These governments believed “that by doing nothing or
 ignoring the problem, the challenges confronting Indigenous policing would somehow
manage or resolve themselves,” [and this practice] “is in keeping with a long history of
promising much, but delivering little to Indigenous people.”
Given those challenges, one might ask why an Indigenous community would want
to establish its own police service instead of leaving it to the RCMP, OPP, or SQ. One
important concept underlying the FNPP is that it allows a community to take a step
toward self-determination, which means that they can take control over some aspects
of the justice system that had previously been denied to them due to the paternalism of
government policies going back over a century.

self-determination Occurs when Indigenous communities are able to exert more

control over their economic, social, and cultural development, including taking
ownership over policing.

ROLE OF THE POLICE IN CANADA

So far, this review of Canadian policing has focused on the four different
policing arrangements—federal, provincial, regional, and municipal—and
we’ve learned that most police officers are employed by municipal
governments. Although officers may have different employers, there are a
number of common elements in terms of the duties that officers carry out.
A starting point in understanding the priorities of a police service is to
review the agency’s mission statement, which is a statement summarizing
the agency’s goals. For example, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
(2018, p. 11) provides the following mission statement:

We are committed to providing a fully integrated police service

that fosters community partnerships to build safe and healthy
communities.

Most Canadian police services express a similar set of values in their

mission statements, including the protection of the public and an emphasis
on forming partnerships with communities. Although the content of
mission statements may differ, the values outlined in these statements are
important for the staff working in police agencies. Maguire and Dyke
(2012) analyzed responses from over 10,000 Canadian police officers in a
survey about professionalism, and they found that over 80 per cent of
officers reported being very familiar with the values of their employers.
Furthermore, about two-thirds of these officers identified with the values
of their organizations, and most officers believed that the mission
statements were consistent with their beliefs about policing.
Mission statements also clarify the broad priorities of police agencies,
although more specific roles or guidelines for police services are defined
in provincial legislation. For example, section 11(1) of Ontario’s Police
Services Act spells out the six main functions for police agencies in that
province:

1. crime prevention
2. law enforcement
3. maintaining the public peace
4. emergency response
5. assistance to victims of crime
6. any other prescribed policing functions

While these roles are similar for police services across the nation, there is
probably less agreement on which roles should be prioritized. For
example, politicians and members of the public might disagree on whether
crime prevention or law enforcement ought to be the most important
priority.
If law enforcement, or what some call fighting crime, occupies only a
fraction of an officer’s time, what other activities make up an officer’s
day? The key functions of the police, as highlighted in Ontario’s Police
Services Act, are described in the following pages. The final category—
any other prescribed policing functions—is a “catch-all” statement to
account for future changes, as policing acts are rarely changed: Ontario’s
Police Services Act was in place from 1990 until a new act was introduced
in 2018, and it only came into effect in 2019.
Crime Prevention
All of us would agree that it is more desirable to prevent a crime than to
respond to an offence that has occurred. While increased attention has
been paid to crime prevention, deterring potential offenders is difficult
given the limited number of officers we can put on the streets. The
National Academies of Sciences (2018, p. 1) describe preventative or
proactive policing as placing a priority on “prevention, mobilizing
resources based on police initiative, and targeting the broader underlying
forces at work that may be driving crime and disorder” instead of waiting
to respond to crimes that have actually occurred. The National Academies
of Sciences (2018, p. 2) identified four proactive approaches: (a) focusing
officer attention on high-crime areas (hot spots); (b) identifying crime-
related problems, and developing solutions to those problems (which is a
problem-oriented approach); (c) targeting the small number of individuals
who are responsible for committing a large number of offences (such as
some gang members); and (d) using the strengths of a community to
identify and control crime.
Ever since police vehicles were introduced, random preventative
patrol (where officers patrol areas randomly throughout a community)
was thought to deter potential wrongdoing and prevent crime. But with the
exception of urban neighbourhoods with the highest levels of crime, police
patrols are rare. In the suburbs, a patrol car might pass through a
neighbourhood only once a day, and this minimal police presence would
not deter anybody motivated to commit an offence. Rural communities
might receive even fewer patrols, and officers have reported that some
remote villages in northern Canada might receive only one or two visits
from the police each month.

random preventative patrol A patrol method thought to reduce crime by providing a visible
police presence in the community.

As police patrols are unlikely to have much of a deterrent effect on

motivated offenders, other crime prevention approaches have been used.
The police have been involving citizens in neighbourhood watch
programs for decades. Similar programs also exist throughout rural
Canada and are known as “farm watch” in rural areas or as “cottage
watch” in lakeside communities. These programs encourage community
members to report suspicious activities, behaviours, and people—the
community members become the “eyes and ears” of the police. Although
these programs have been around for a long time, we do not know how
many of these groups are actually active nor how many volunteers are
involved in them. Kang (2015) found that few people actually participated
in these organizations. Studies of neighbourhood watch programs
generally find that participation is highest “with wealthier, long-term
residents who own their own homes” (Brunton-Smith & Bullock, 2018, p.
15).

neighbourhood watch Programs that encourage community members to work together to

report suspicious people or unusual activities to the police.

So, are these programs effective? Finegan (2013, p. 105) examined US

neighbourhood watch associations and observed that some of these
programs suffer from “a lack of training, poor organization, tendencies to
target certain demographic groups, and overzealous interactions with
suspects.” Even if neighbourhood watch programs are effective in
deterring potential offenders, those individuals might just commit an
offence in a place that has fewer people actively monitoring the
neighbourhood (i.e., the issue of displacement, which was addressed in
Chapter 2). As a result, these programs might not reduce overall levels of
crime, but instead they might push offenders into less organized
communities. Despite these limitations, neighbourhood watch programs
are low cost and enable the police and public to engage in partnerships, so
it is likely that they will be around for a long time, and especially as they
evolve using social media. There are a growing number of online groups
where members post photos of unusual activities occurring or people
acting suspiciously in their neighbourhoods, but there are also dangers
associated with these efforts. Writing about online groups based in
Winnipeg, Marchand (2017) describes how some posts misinform readers
or suggest that innocent people are wrongdoers, and some contributors
have posted pictures or made comments that could violate somebody’s
privacy. Despite those challenges it is likely the number of people
participating in these forums will increase.

Law Enforcement
Although the crime prevention activities of civilians can deter some
offences, responding to crimes and conducting investigations are the two
key roles carried out by the police. Their training and the manner in which
the police are deployed and equipped enables them to respond to serious
incidents or to investigate violent crimes.
There is no shortage of laws to enforce, and because the police are
spread relatively thin—with fewer than two officers for every 1,000
residents in all of Canada—political and police leaders establish
enforcement priorities for their police services. Preventing and responding
to crimes of violence are key priorities, but when it comes to property,
traffic, and public order offences, there is less agreement on what should
be prioritized. With respect to preventing harm and saving lives, for
example, some researchers have found that increasing traffic enforcement
in Canada can provide a good return on policing dollars in terms of fewer
deaths and collisions (DeAngelo, 2018). Yet, aggressive traffic
enforcement can also lead to tension between the police and the public.
When it comes to policing, one controversial practice is when people
on the street are stopped and questioned. These activities go by a number
of different names including stop, question, and frisk in the United States;
carding and street checks in Canada; and stop and search in the United
Kingdom. All of these practices involve collecting information from the
individuals who are stopped—but who are not under arrest—and the
information about the individual is recorded in police databases. With
respect to Canada, Tulloch (2018) says there is a difference between
carding and street checks:

carding A controversial police practice where information is collected about people who are
stopped at random and questioned.
street checks A practice where individuals engaged in suspicious activities are questioned by
the police.
 • Carding happens when an officer “randomly asks an individual to
provide identifying information when the individual is not
suspected of any crime, nor is there any reason to believe that the
individual has information about any crime” (p. 4).
• Street checks occur when “information is obtained by a police
officer concerning an individual, outside of a police station, that is
not part of an investigation. This is a very broad category of police
information gathering, and much of it is legitimate intelligence
gathering of potentially useful information.”

Very few of us would say that stopping people randomly walking down
the street is a good practice, but there are two views on street checks.
Some believe it is good police work that enables officers to collect
information on individuals in suspicious situations, such as officers
stopping a person with a backpack at a time and place when many property
crimes occur (Griffiths, Montgomery, & Murphy, 2018, p. 7). The
information obtained in these interactions can be used “in investigating
crimes, locating missing persons, solving crimes, and crime analysis”
(Griffiths et al., 2018, p. 8). Others believe these practices are
discriminatory and that individuals are subject to these interactions based
on their race, ethnicity, or sexual preferences.
Canadian studies have generally found that members of visible
minority groups and Indigenous peoples are disproportionately likely to be
carded. Warnica (2015) reports that some young men in Ontario have been
stopped dozens of times by the police (see also Meng, 2017). Similar
studies in western Canada found a similar overrepresentation of
Indigenous peoples in street checks (Dhillon, 2018; Mohamed & Waters,
2017). Most criminologists would say that carding and street checks have
increased tensions between the police and minority communities. As a
result, several provincial governments placed restrictions on the way these
checks can be carried out.
While the number of street checks has declined, one problem is that
violence in the largest Canadian cities has increased, and a number of
police spokespeople say the two factors are related (Doucette, 2018). The
police in the United Kingdom also say that decreasing the number of stop
and searches led to significant increases in violent crimes involving
knives, including murders (Shaw, 2019), although research does not show
a clear link between these stops and crime reduction (Bradford & Taratelli,
2019). In New York City, by contrast, the violent crime rate dropped at the
same time as the practice of stop, question, and frisk ended (Smith, 2018).
The problem with these observations is that they are not backed up with
research, so we have no clear understanding of the impact of reduced
street checks: in some places there appears to be no rise in violence, while
in other cities, violent crimes increased. As a result, the increase in violent
crime could be caused by other factors, such as a higher involvement in
gang activities.
Although political and police leaders establish priorities for policing,
individual officers also have their own interests. Some officers will
prioritize arresting impaired drivers, while others are more interested in
intervening in incidents of family violence. Officers are generally free to
use their discretion in their duties, which is a cornerstone of modern
policing. Schulenberg (2014, p. 299) observes that “discretion is the use of
judgment in a given situation to take action or not in the form of a verbal
warning, formal caution, traffic ticket, or an arrest and charges being
laid.” As noted in Chapter 1, one problem with discretion is that Canadians
do not always agree on the types of offences that ought to be enforced.
Most of us agree, however, that violent crimes should be investigated and
the people involved in these crimes be brought before the courts.

discretion Refers to when judgment is used to determine which of several options to pursue; in
the case of policing, this includes whether to take no action, provide a warning, make a formal
caution, issue a ticket, or arrest a suspect.
Police services throughout the country have engaged in practices called carding and street
checks for decades, where individuals are stopped by the police and asked to provide personal
information. In a June 2018 press conference Jennifer Evans, then Chief of the Peel Regional
Police, said that restrictions limiting the use of carding introduced in Ontario in 2017 reduced
police effectiveness and may have contributed to an increase in violent crime (Hayes & Gray,
2018).

In addition to the seriousness of a crime, there are a number of other

factors that an officer must consider before arresting a suspect. Some of
these factors include the age of the suspect, whether the suspect was a
leader or a follower in the offence, and the relationship between the
offender and the victim. Dawson and Hotton (2014, p. 671) examined the
likelihood of arrest in incidents of intimate-partner violence in Canada and
found that recommendations that charges be laid increased when there
were injuries, multiple victims, and incidents involving more serious
offences, such as serious assaults (level 2 or 3) or kidnapping. These
researchers also found that charges were recommended more often in
incidents with female rather than male victims and those in intimate
relationships rather than couples who were separated. A police officer’s
discretion also determines how sexual offences are investigated and how
these cases are managed. In a study carried out by the Globe and Mail,
Doolittle (2017) found that police determined that about one-fifth of
sexual assault claims across the country were unfounded, or in other
words, no crime had occurred. One striking statistic in Doolittle’s report
was that the percentage of unfounded claims ranged from 2 per cent in
Winnipeg to 51 per cent in St. John. That finding suggests that some
police services are more likely to believe individuals who say they have
been sexually assaulted.
While we realize that police officers use their discretion in order to
prioritize their activities, they are sometimes criticized because their
decisions may be shaped by bias or stereotypes about offenders and
victims, whether that bias is conscious or not. As a result, officer attitudes
toward race, gender, ethnicity, age, or sexual preference may play a role
when it comes to issuing a traffic ticket, arresting a suspect, or using
force. Ngo, Neote, Cala, Antonio, and Hickey (2018) describe the racial
profiling of minority groups in Calgary by the police, and a number of
Canadian scholars have argued that over-policing of Indigenous and
visible minority groups occurs (Comack, 2012; Tanovich, 2006)

Maintaining the Public Peace

Many calls for service received by the police are related to acts that reduce
our quality of life, even though these acts might not be criminal. Although
definitions differ, order maintenance or maintaining order generally
refers to taking action to ensure a sense of safety and comfort in public
spaces. Order maintenance activities include responding to antisocial
behaviour such as aggressive, rowdy, vulgar, and unruly activity. These
acts range from verbally harassing people on the street, panhandling, noisy
parties, public urination, prostitution, and groups of people taking over
public spaces. Other such acts are directed at property and include littering
and vandalism, posting graffiti, and illegally dumping garbage (see South
Kesteven District Council, 2019). The police often become involved when
informal controls have broken down and people are reluctant to confront
those who are engaging in such behaviours. The police typically attempt to
resolve order maintenance issues in an informal manner, often by warning
individuals rather than issuing citations or making arrests.

order maintenance Involves managing minor offences, antisocial behaviour, and other
conduct that disturbs the public, such as loud parties.

Some aggressive order maintenance strategies have been introduced

and in 2000 the Ontario Safe Streets Act (SSA) came into effect. This
legislation made it easier for police to crack down on acts that reduce the
quality of life in public spaces, such as panhandling, squeegee cleaning, or
the reckless disposal of used needles or condoms. O’Grady, Gaetz, and
Buccieri (2013, p. 545) found that officers from the Toronto Police Service
increased the number of tickets issued for these acts by 1,500 per cent
between 2000 and 2010. These researchers said that increasing the number
of tickets was intended to control disorderly people as well as controlling
the homeless. O’Grady and colleagues (2013) could not attribute the
increased number of tickets to complaints from business owners or
members of the public, changes in crime (which decreased), or the number
of homeless people in Toronto, which also decreased during the same time.
Because this law has been seen as criminalizing the behaviours of the poor
and the homeless, the Fair Change Community Legal Clinic (2018)
launched a Charter challenge to repeal the SSA.
A police officer confronts an unidentified man sitting in the street in Ottawa, Ontario.
Although the police issue thousands of tickets to people experiencing homelessness for crimes
such as loitering, few of them will ever pay their fines. Mathieu (2018) describes how one
Toronto man accumulated $65,000 in fines, mostly from loitering, littering, drinking in
public, panhandling, and trespassing charges.

Order maintenance also involves formal responses to protests and

demonstrations, an issue that has drawn considerable attention in recent
years. De Lint (2004, p. 2) defines public order policing as “the use of
police authority and capacity to establish a legitimate equilibrium between
government and societal, collective and individual rights and interests in a
mass demonstration of grievance.” Public protests are a long-standing
Canadian tradition, and many of us are sympathetic to the issues and
groups involved in these protests. We are, however, less tolerant of
protests that infringe on our movement or our quality of life—such as
when a protest group blocks a highway or railroad, or restricts our access
to a business or a medical, educational, or social service agency. The
police are sometimes reluctant to intervene in these protests; these
situations are seen as “lose–lose” propositions, as no matter what happens
in a confrontation, their actions will be criticized. Molnar, Whelan, and
Boyle (2019, p. 5), for example, contend that the response of the Toronto
police to the G20 meetings in 2010 was “one of the most significant
contraventions of civil liberties in Canadian history.”

public order policing The use of police during mass demonstrations (such as protests) to
maintain the balance between the rights and interests of government, society, and individuals.

Emergency Response
The police are also expected to coordinate responses to emergencies or
natural disasters where public safety or lives are threatened. Emergencies
include transportation-related incidents involving aircraft, boats, or trains.
Many of these incidents are relatively minor and responses are easily
coordinated by a few officers. Some of these emergencies, by contrast,
threaten the health and safety of large numbers of people, including the
release of hazardous chemicals after the crash of a commercial truck or a
train derailment. Natural disasters include ice storms, forest fires, floods,
and tornados. While many of these originate in rural areas, they can have a
significant impact on city dwellers, such as the wildfires that struck Fort
McMurray, Alberta, in 2016, and destroyed about 2,400 homes and
buildings.
The police are often first responders to disasters, and they are tasked
with managing these emergencies until further help arrives, which may
take hours or days depending on the location of the community and the
nature of the disaster. Officials from human or social service agencies also
respond to emergencies and natural disasters. In addition to the police,
responders include local fire departments and provincial and federal
agencies such as the military or coast guard. In addition, private
organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross often respond to disasters.
All provincial and territorial governments have agencies that are tasked
with preparing for disasters (e.g., establishing plans and delivering public
education) and help coordinate responses to major or long-term disasters,
and the recovery afterward. These agencies go by different names; one
example is New Brunswick’s Emergency Measures Organization.

first responders Professionals who respond to emergencies, such as police officers,

paramedics, and firefighters (both paid and volunteer).

Assistance to Victims of Crime

As noted in the online chapter, police services are playing a larger role in
providing assistance to crime victims. Allen (2014, p. 3) reports that over
one-third (36 per cent) of victim services were offered by police agencies
and that the police served almost 460,000 victims in 2011/2012. Although
Canada has made progress in the treatment of victims of crime in terms of
the variety of services delivered to victims, Waller (2014) argues that
there is still a lack of attention paid to victims and especially to female
survivors of sexual and family violence.
When it comes to the actual services that police agencies deliver,
Allen (2014, p. 5) found that the most common types of interventions
were: (a) protection services, including safety training and learning how to
assess the risk of victimization; (b) participation-related services, such as
accompanying victims to court, supporting victims when they are
attending court, and helping with the preparation of victim impact
statements; (c) crisis-related services, which include responding to crises
that victims are undergoing or debriefing these individuals after they have
experienced traumatic incidents; (d) information services, such as what to
expect from the justice system and how to access services; and (e)
medical-related services, such as escorting an assault victim to a hospital.
Altogether, these services are intended to support victims in terms of
psychological and physical healing and to help them make sense of the
justice system.
A Closer Look
Police Responses to the Lac-Mégantic Train Disaster
The police can become involved in all aspects of a disaster—from being the first
responders on the scene to investigating the aftermath. The Lac-Mégantic train
derailment that occurred in the Quebec town of 5,900 residents on July 6, 2013,
provides an example of the roles of the police in a disaster. Forty-seven townspeople
died and 40 buildings in the downtown area were destroyed in the fire and explosions
that followed the train derailment and spillage of six million litres of crude oil.
Immediately after the train crash and the explosions that followed, the police
responded to the emergency and coordinated a response that included local community
residents and volunteer firefighters. Dolski (2013) reports that over 200 firefighters
responded to the disaster, including some from neighbouring US towns.
Once the immediate risks were contained and the fires extinguished, the Sûreté du
Québec (SQ) played a key role in securing the scene, assisting in the evacuation of
over 2,000 residents, and recovering the remains of the people killed in this tragedy.
The police also carried out a year-long investigation into the causes of the disaster.
Ultimately, prosecutors determined that several company managers and executives as
well as the train’s engineer were responsible for the tragedy. Three individuals were
charged with 47 counts of criminal negligence causing death, which could have
resulted in life sentences. Others were charged with lesser offences that placed them in
jeopardy of fines and a maximum six-month custody sentence (Press & Blatchford,
2015). Similar to other serious and complex criminal cases, it took years to resolve the
issue. The trial of the three former railway workers started on October 2, 2017, and a
jury found them not guilty on January 19, 2018, after deliberating the case for nine
days.
Shortly before the fifth anniversary of the disaster in 2018, the Crown decided that
it would not pursue a prosecution of the Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic (MMA) railway
as there was little chance of a conviction. The bankrupt railway was, however, fined $1
million for violating the Fisheries Act (as the waters surrounding the accident scene
were contaminated). Five former MMA workers were ordered to pay $50,000 in fines,
and one worker received a six-month probationary sentence. In addition to the
employees who were punished, Irving Oil was ordered to pay $4 million for violating
safety requirements under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act. Similar to the
Westray Mine disaster discussed in Chapter 2, nobody was ever imprisoned for their
roles in this disaster. Did the inability to hold people accountable in this case affect
future wrongdoing? Page (2018, para. 1) observes that “rail safety advocates say that
five years after the Lac-Megantic train derailment, not enough has been done to
 prevent similar tragedies,” and that the number of runaway trains has actually
increased by 10 per cent.

SUMMARY
While Canadian policing has been evolving into its current state for the
past 200 years, the most sweeping changes occurred over the past five
decades. Provincial standards, experienced leaders, and unionized police
services have helped to increase the professionalism of officers. In
addition, officers have been given more extensive training and better
equipment, including improved technology (such as computers), to
increase their effectiveness. Since the 1980s, the number of small-town
police agencies has decreased, and the smallest police services continue to
disband. There are both positive and negative consequences of that change.
Local politicians can contract with regional, provincial, or federal police
services to provide services more cheaply than maintaining their own
police organizations. Larger agencies can be operated more cost-
effectively, but more importantly, those agencies can often be more
selective when hiring, and they can provide more extensive training,
opportunities for career growth, and more capable supervision. On the
other hand, many small-town residents feel that their relationships with
the police became more formal once they lost officers who lived and
worked in their communities.

MYTH OR REALITY
Most Police Duties Are Related to Fighting Crime
The television programs and films we watch often focus on the investigation of serious
crimes. While detectives or plainclothes officers may focus on these offences they
represent only 10–15 per cent of all officers. We have to remember that law
enforcement accounts for only a fraction of police work. In order to illustrate the non-
enforcement duties of the police, Figure 4.3 shows that RCMP officers in
Saskatchewan responded to over one-quarter million calls in 2017 (RCMP, 2018).
Most of these originated in the countryside or in small municipalities. About two-fifths
(39.2 per cent) were related to traffic, one-quarter were non-criminal matters (such as
missing individuals), and less than one-third (30.7 per cent) were related to Criminal
Code matters, while the remainder of the cases were related to violations of federal
drug laws or provincial statutes. The focus of rural and urban police services differs
somewhat; rural officers may devote more time to highway patrol, while officers in
cities might respond to a greater number of calls related to antisocial behaviours and
other non-criminal matters.

FIGURE 4.3 RCMP Occurrences in Saskatchewan, 2017

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (2018)
 FIGURE 4.4 Calls for Service, Ottawa Police Service, 2017
Although 911 lines are intended for emergencies, only about one in 170 calls require
an urgent response due to the immediate threat to a life (Priority 1); there is a threat to
life, the presence of serious injuries, or weapons (Priority 2) in about one of 20 calls.
Priority 3 calls are ones in which no threat is imminent but a delay in response could
place people or evidence at risk.
Adapted from Ottawa Police Service (2018)

In addition to law enforcement representing less than one-third of all calls to the
police, only a small proportion of all 911 calls are related to life-threatening
emergencies. Many Canadian police services classify calls for service (e.g., to 911) on
the basis of priority. In Ottawa, calls that represent an immediate threat to life are
classified as P1, and the level of priority declines to P7, which are calls related to
picking up property, such as confiscated or stolen items. Figure 4.4 shows the number
of calls for service received by the Ottawa Police Service in 2017. Unlike what we see
on television, the number of emergency calls where there is an immediate threat
accounts for about one in 170.

Although we tend to think of the police in their crime-fighting role,

responding to crimes and carrying out investigations accounts for only
about one-quarter to one-third of their activities. While these activities are
the most important roles for the police, officers are also responsible for
maintaining the peace, engaging in crime prevention, responding to
emergencies, and providing services to victims. Police officers in a
democratic society are given a unique set of powers—to detain or use
force on citizens—so we expect that they be well-trained and will act in a
professional manner. Some scholars have argued that more effective police
services can be provided if the demographic characteristics of those being
policed are similar to the police. In Canada, the proportion of women
officers has increased and the number of women in higher ranking
positions doubled between 2005 and 2017 (Conor, 2018). Conor (2018)
finds that the proportion of Indigenous and visible minority officers is also
increasing, although at a slower rate than for women. There are about two
officers for every 1,000 Canadians, which is less than many southern
European nations. Yet there is also some variation in the number of
officers deployed throughout Canada, and some cities have higher levels
of police strength. Researchers examining this issue generally find that
wealthier communities tend to deploy more officers, even if they have less
crime than their poorer counterparts (Ruddell & Thomas, 2015). Other
jurisdictions want to keep their property taxes low and deploy fewer
officers. McClearn, Freeze, and Dhillon (2018, para. 2) point out that
Vancouver residents pay $420 per capita for their municipal police, but the
North Vancouver city government contracts with the RCMP and pays only
$230 per capita. The main difference between the two cities is that in
North Vancouver the officers have much higher caseloads and response
times may be longer.
Having described the roles and responsibilities of the police, and the
different arrangements across the nation, the next chapter offers a closer
look at the more controversial aspects of policing, including the
recruitment of new officers, the existence of a police subculture, and
police mistakes and misconduct. The structures that we have developed to
make the police more accountable are also described. The one common
factor is that all of these issues can be controversial, as most of us have
strong views about the police, how they should carry out their duties, and
how to hold them accountable.

Career SNAPSHOT
Search and Rescue Preparedness Officer
It is not unusual for police officers to switch careers as their interests and family
responsibilities change. In the first edition of Exploring Criminal Justice in Canada,
Marina Carbonell’s role as a police officer with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
was featured, but she has since moved on to the Canadian Coast Guard, where she
serves as a Search and Rescue Preparedness Officer off the coast of Newfoundland
and Labrador. She attributes her ability to switch careers on her continuing education
throughout her career and her willingness to learn new duties as a police officer.

Profile
Name: Marina Carbonell
Job title: Search and Rescue Preparedness Officer, Inshore Rescue Boat Coordinator,
Atlantic North (Canadian Coast Guard)
Employed in current job since: 2018
Present location: St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
Education: BSc, Biology (Dalhousie, 2012), BA, Police Studies (Memorial, 2013),
MA, Sociology (Memorial, 2018)

Background
My initial career intentions were to work within the sciences, and I had a specific
interest in laboratory work and research. This interest led me to the pursuit of a
bachelor’s degree in biology, but a summer work term in a laboratory helped me
realize that it was not the right fit for me. A conversation with a close friend who had
just become a police officer led me to apply to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary;
I completed their training program in 2007 and served with them until 2018. After
having my first child in 2012, I went back to university and finished the Bachelor of
Science program at Dalhousie University; I completed the Bachelor of Arts in Police
Studies at Memorial University the following year. I finished my Master of Arts degree
in 2018. In 2018, I was offered an amazing opportunity with the Canadian Coast
Guard, working in Search and Rescue. I moved over to the federal public service as a
Search and Rescue Preparedness Officer, Inshore Rescue Boat Coordinator for Atlantic
North.

Work Experience
As with policing, technology is ever-changing in the marine world and with Search
and Rescue. Huge strides have been made in technology in terms of locating people
during critical incidents, but difficulties in using technology or maintaining
communication can be disastrous. When people are in emergency situations,
communications is usually the first thing to fail and that can be difficult to overcome.
Ongoing training to upgrade our skills, training with the community and other
agencies, and ongoing Search and Rescue exercises help us develop those skills and
improve our critical teamwork skills.
The best part of my job is helping people. When someone needs help on the water
and we respond, it can be incredibly rewarding. In addition, as the Inshore Rescue
Boat Coordinator, I screen, hire, train, and supervise summer students who work as
Search and Rescue Officers at multiple stations. Working with the students and seeing
them grow as individuals and employees is also very rewarding. The Inshore Rescue
Boat positions are student positions that offer post-secondary students operational real-
life experience working on the water and helping mariners in distress from May to
 September. For students looking to explore an operational job, it is an amazing
experience!
The most surprising thing about my career, which I hadn’t considered at the onset,
was how much I could change over time and the importance of education. When I
became a police officer, I thought I would spend a full career in that profession. I was
goal-oriented, wanted to work in specific sections, and had planned out my career to
retirement. After having a family, my priorities changed. My education, training, and
experience allowed me more choices and helped me work toward a career that
provides a better work-life balance than policing. I was raised to believe that I could be
anything I wanted to be and have everything I wanted, but it is very difficult to “have
it all” when it comes to working a demanding career and raising a family. What has
made the difference for my career is the freedom of choice, and that freedom has been
a direct result of the education I have worked hard to complete.

Advice to Students
There are many volunteer opportunities and work-related activities that are assets to
any operational-type position. Work experience or volunteer experience working with
children, people with disabilities, and people with mental health needs can make a
huge difference in a person’s abilities on the job. Extracurricular activities helped me
build my resume and make me more marketable. It is difficult to develop a great
resume in the beginning of your career, both academically and professionally, but
extracurricular activities can set you apart and help get your foot in the door. A lot of
front-line employees have worked with youth in care, have volunteered with youth in
activities such as organized sports, Beavers/Scouts/Girl Guides, or have volunteered
with organizations like Big Brothers or Big Sisters. Depending on your location, it can
be rewarding to volunteer with organizations helping new Canadians get situated after
immigrating to Canada, or volunteering with Special Olympics. In addition, the
Canadian Red Cross and many local hospitals are often looking for reliable volunteers.
Whether students are looking to work in policing or with the federal government,
they should avoid any criminal behaviour; but apart from that, students need to be
conscious of their online presence and how they represent themselves. As public
servants, we must demonstrate a non-biased, open-minded outlook, while maintaining
a professional deportment in our community. Fighting with strangers on the internet or
posting inappropriate photos does not present the image of a community leader.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Describe how Canadian policing evolved.
2. Why are Robert Peel’s principles of policing still relevant today?
3. What are some of the challenges associated with Indigenous policing?
4. What were some of the advantages of the consolidation of many small police agencies
into larger police services?
5. What are the five core roles of police services?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. In England, most police officers do not carry firearms. Should Canadian police officers
carry firearms, or might this actually escalate police use of force?
2. After many small-town police services disbanded in Canada, residents benefited from
more professional policing, but they also lost officers who lived in their communities
and might have been able to resolve problems more informally. Do you think this was a
good trade-off, or is this a bad deal for small-town residents, and why?
3. In the introduction we question whether the police are the most appropriate social
agency to deal with failures in the social safety net (such as a shortage of addiction
services or mental health treatment). After reading this chapter, did you change your
mind about the role of the police?
4. How would being stopped and searched by the police five times in one year change
your perceptions about the police or the justice system?
5. Would doubling the number of officers in a community result in double the level of
safety? Why or why not?

INTERNET SITES
The RCMP Gazette magazine has been published four times a year since 1939 and provides
a review of current issues in policing and police research.
www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/gazette/index-eng.htm
The Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research has a database called the Public
Safety Search Database that can be searched to find information on criminal justice and
public safety issues.
http://cjr.ufv.ca/search-widget/

CASE CITED
Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Canada (Attorney General),
2015 SCC 1, [2015] 1 SCR 3
 5 Police Activities, Operations,
and Challenges

The Toronto Police Marine Unit patrols the shores of Toronto Harbour. How
much of a police officer’s time, would you guess, is spent solving crimes, and
how much is spent attempting to prevent future crimes? (Photo credit: Elijah-
Lovkoff/iStockphoto)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe the different operational activities of the police
• Describe the three different policing styles
• Identify some of the key challenges in recruiting new officers
• Identify the major challenges confronting the policing industry
• Outline the methods used to hold the police accountable
• Describe the negative aspects of a police subculture

CASE STUDY
A Family’s 10-Year Struggle to
Understand their Daughter’s
Murder
We expect a lot from the police, but like members of every other occupation, officers make
errors in judgment. Unlike in most careers, however, the consequences of police mistakes
can be permanent. Waby (2016, p. 42) observes that “officers frequently discover that
lessons are learned the hard way, often under harsh public scrutiny.” For instance, in
September 2008 police were called to investigate reports of shots fired at a rural home near
Mission, British Columbia. A constable responded to the 911 call but he didn’t get out of
his vehicle to further investigate the incident, nor did he talk to the neighbour who made
the call. A tape played at the coroner’s inquest over nine years later revealed that the
officer had joked with the dispatcher about the call because he didn’t find it credible (CBC,
2018b, para. 7). Four days later, a neighbour visited the home and found Guthrie McKay
dead, and although Lisa Dudley was alive (she had been shot in the head and neck), she
died on the way to the hospital. After this incident the officer involved was reprimanded
and lost pay (but was later promoted).
Investigations later revealed that the Dudley and McKay murders were related to a
dispute over a drug debt, and involved threats, an extramarital affair, and a hit-man (CTV
News Vancouver, 2017, para. 4). All together, four individuals were involved in the
murders; the gunman, who received $25,000 for the killings, the two associates who aided
him, and the man who hired them. The man who shot Dudley and McKay pled guilty to
 first-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment, while his associates were
convicted of manslaughter and received seven- and eight-year sentences. Tom Holden, the
man who hired the three killers, received a ten-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to
conspiracy to commit murder. After entering his plea, Holden was out on bail until his
sentencing, and the victim’s father said, “I’m mystified how a man who admits to murder
can walk out of a courtroom” (as cited by Woodward, 2016, para. 9).
A coroner’s inquest was held on June 11, 2018, and the jury made nine
recommendations, including making changes in the way that 911 calls were handled by
dispatchers and officers responding to potential cases of serious bodily harm. Dudley’s
family also launched an unsuccessful lawsuit to seek damages from the province. In
February 2019, Dudley’s family was again in the news as they attempted to obtain their
daughter’s personal belongings, which had been seized during the investigation and were
still being stored by the police—those belongings were finally returned in June 2019
(Mills, 2019).

Critical Questions
1. How many mistakes do you make in your job every day? How does your situation
compare with the events faced by the officer in this case? Why do we hold police
officers to a higher standard than other professions?
2. University professors have the luxury of sitting in a comfortable chair while thinking
of better ways that controversial problems, such as the use of force, could have been
solved, whereas workers in justice systems who interact with unpredictable people
may have only a few seconds to come up with solutions in frightening and stressful
situations. What implications does this observation have for your views of policing?
3. It took nine years between the murders and when the last person was sentenced for the
crime, over nine years for a coroner’s jury to hear about the circumstances of Dudley’s
death, and almost 11 years for her belongings to be returned to the family. Do you
agree with the statement that justice delayed is justice denied? Or do you believe that
the justice system should move slowly and deliberately in order to reduce errors and
miscarriages of justice? Why or why not?

INTRODUCTION
In the previous chapter, we explored the evolution of Canadian policing
and the core police roles. There are differences across the country in how
the police are deployed and in the priorities placed on their daily
activities. Regardless of how the police are deployed, however, they are a
controversial force in society, as almost everybody has a strong opinion
about their roles. Our feelings toward the police are often polarizing, and
although some people express a great deal of support for the police, others
feel that their activities should be tightly controlled. For the most part, we
are generally less trusting and forgiving of public employees, including
the police, than we once were. National studies show, however, that about
three-quarters of Canadians have a great deal or some confidence in the
police, which is the highest of all public institutions (Cotter, 2015, p. 4),
and Canadians rank their police services more favourably than people in
most other nations (Clark, Davidson, Hanrahan, & Taylor, 2017)
In this chapter, a number of contemporary issues and challenges of the
police are explored. One significant topic is how the police are deployed in
various roles. In his analysis of Canadian policing, Robertson (2012)
identifies two broad issues about the police that need to be considered: (a)
the context in which the police operate and (b) police activities. Some of
these issues are controversial, such as the use of force and police
militarization (which can occur when the police are given military
training and equipment). This chapter ends with a discussion of police
subculture—the informal rules and expectations that shape officer
attitudes and behaviours. Because of their role as law enforcers, the police
often feel isolated and separate from the public, and this can lead to a
strong occupational culture. Although the police subculture contributes to
high levels of mutual support and promotes positive values such as
honesty and integrity, the culture has also been criticized as it can lead to a
resistance to change and can support different forms of misconduct, such
as covering up the misdeeds of other officers, which is an issue that police
leaders have attempted to change for generations.

police militarization Occurs when police services use military equipment, tactics, and training
as regular methods to police civilians.
police subculture A set of informal rules and expectations that shape police attitudes, values,
and behaviours.
POLICE ALLOCATION
Approximately one-third of Canadian adults report coming into contact
with the police each year, and for the most part, these interactions are with
patrol officers, who account for about two-thirds of all police positions.
Although most officers work in patrol, the police are also deployed in a
number of diverse work roles. According to Cordner (2019), there are
three main operational police roles:

1. Operations: Includes officers involved in patrol, traffic

enforcement, and criminal investigation, as well as specialized
duties such as crime prevention (e.g., crime watch), school resource
officers, and community policing.
2. Administration: Includes officers who manage the day-to-day
operations of the agency and oversee units such as human
resources, budgeting, and professional standards (e.g., investigating
public complaints).
3. Auxiliary services: Include personnel involved in communications
(e.g., taking calls for service from the public and directing officer
activities), preserving evidence, keeping records, and detention
(e.g., receiving arrestees and ensuring that they attend their court
appearances and are transferred to provincial or federal facilities).
Roziere and Walby (2017) argue that the Canadian police are becoming increasingly
militarized and that there is an overuse of military equipment and methods when dealing with
routine situations such as responding to domestic disputes rather than high-risk situations.
While some say the use of military equipment might contribute to a mindset that the police
are at war with citizens, a New Brunswick Provincial Court judge ruled that the RCMP
violated the Labour Code by not issuing officers with high-powered rifles that would increase
their safety (R v The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2017).

How the police are allocated is an important decision, and political

leaders and the community members they represent have a voice in these
arrangements. Some questions concerning police allocation include the
following: What types of offences should receive more attention from the
police? What neighbourhoods require more patrols? Should more civilian
employees be hired so that officers engaged in administrative work can
return to the street? Although all of these operational questions are
political, they are also related to agency funding, and all North American
police services are attempting to cut costs without sacrificing services
(Huey, Cyr, & Ricciardelli, 2016).
POLICE CHAIN OF COMMAND AND POLICE
OFFICER RANKS
Police services are sometimes called paramilitary organizations, as they
are organized along military lines and have a chain of command where
lines of authority are clearly defined by the organization. Police
organizations have a top-down orientation and, similar to the military, the
chain of command is based on rank. Most Canadian front-line officers are
called constables or officers—although the RCMP uses the term members
for sworn officers—who are in turn supervised by corporals, sergeants,
inspectors, superintendents, and chiefs; the job titles can vary somewhat
by police service. The following list shows the titles of various police
ranks (starting at the entry-level position of special constable, which is
typically a uniformed official with limited police powers).

paramilitary organizations Services organized along military lines, which have a chain of
command where lines of authority are clearly defined by the organization.
chain of command The lines of authority in a police organization, which are clearly defined
and range from a constable (on the bottom of the pyramid) to the chief or commissioner (at the
top).
sworn officers Police officers with the legal authority to arrest and use force (as opposed to
peace officers, who have less legal authority).

• Police Chief/Commissioner
• Deputy Chief/Deputy Commissioner
• Superintendent
• Inspector
• Sergeant/Staff Sergeant
• Corporal
• Detective/Investigator
• Constable/Officer
• Special Constable (also called Cadet, Peace Officer, or Community
Service Officer)
 As constables are promoted to higher ranks, they supervise more
subordinates and their responsibilities increase. Officers in some Canadian
police services receive their first promotions relatively early in their
careers: sometimes within the first five years, which is much shorter than
in the past (Hogan, Bennell, & Taylor, 2011). Although this is a positive
step for these new supervisors, some critics argue that these officers have
spent relatively little time on the job and do not have the depth of
experience needed to make the best decisions.

OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Cordner (2019) discusses a number of operational activities carried out by
the police, which are described in this section.

Patrol
Patrol is considered the backbone of policing, and about two-thirds of
officers are engaged in this work. Most patrol activities are the result of
calls for service from the public, such as 911 calls. In some busy cities,
responding to calls can occupy an entire shift, leaving officers with little
time to engage in preventative patrol or to fully investigate incidents. In
addition to responding to calls, patrol officers often provide backup to
other officers or to professionals from other organizations who may be in
dangerous or confrontational situations, such as probation officers or child
protection workers.

Traffic
Research in Canada shows that traffic officers save lives and reduce the
number of serious collisions through their enforcement activities
(DeAngelo, 2018). Traffic officers issue tickets to violators, ensure the
orderly flow of traffic around collisions or construction zones, and arrest
dangerous and impaired drivers. In addition to their enforcement duties,
some traffic officers work in specialized roles, such as accident
reconstruction. Their activities are also supported by non-police officers,
such as Transportation Enforcement Officers in Ontario; these personnel
have fewer enforcement powers and generally focus their efforts on
commercial vehicles such as semi-trailers. Traffic enforcement is
especially important in the countryside, given that over one-half of all
fatalities occur on rural roads (Transport Canada, 2019).

Criminal Investigation
Although patrol officers are responsible for solving a high proportion of
crimes (as they are the first to talk to victims), all large police services
employ detectives—also called plainclothes officers—to investigate
serious crimes, such as sexual assault, child exploitation, and homicide.
Police personnel in these investigative roles account for between 10 and
15 per cent of all officers in many municipal departments. By contrast,
officers working in smaller agencies can call on experts from larger police
services when confronted with complex investigations that are beyond
their ability to investigate properly. The Sûreté du Québec, for example,
will lead the investigation of serious crimes in smaller Quebec
municipalities, even though those towns may have their own stand-alone
police departments.

Drug Suppression
Despite the fact that the recreational use of marijuana was legalized in
October 2018, there are still a number of offences associated with
marijuana sales or trafficking. It is too soon, however, to determine the
impacts of this change in the law and how many people will be prosecuted
for trafficking. One of the hazards of making any substance or act illegal
is that it can attract the attention of organized crime. An example is the
spread of opioids, which has been linked to a massive increase in overdose
deaths. While opioids are widely used, the demand for this drug is fulfilled
by trafficking, and this leads to other crime-related problems, including
the spread of organized crime offenders (Hayes, 2017). As a result of the
potential harm these drugs pose to the public, most large police services
deploy officers in drug-suppression activities. As part of their federal
policing responsibilities, the RCMP has a number of units tasked with it—
and especially crimes involving gangs and organized crime. Some police
officers involved in drug suppression act in undercover roles, where they
infiltrate organizations to gather evidence about drug crimes.

undercover roles Officers carry out investigations in a covert manner that can involve
immersing themselves into criminal worlds.

Drug enforcement can be a controversial issue; some scholars maintain

that Canadians have waged a low-level war on drugs. Khenti (2014) argues
that this war has been waged against the poor and the marginalized, and
that Blacks have been disproportionately affected by these practices.
Khenti contends that the over-policing of Black men has resulted in a
growing number of them receiving criminal records for the possession of
drugs and being placed in custody. A further consequence of over-policing
(or the perception that one’s community is being over-policed) is that it
reduces trust and confidence in the police, and this makes it more difficult
for the police to get a community’s participation in investigations (Tyler,
2006).

Organized Crime and Gangs

The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (2014, para. 8) estimates that
there are over 670 organized crime groups active in the nation and that
they pose a “serious long-term threat to Canada’s institutions, society,
economy, and to individual quality of life.” These organizations have
persisted in Canada for over 300 years (Schneider, 2018). Members of
these organizations become involved in any illicit activity where they can
make a profit, including drug production and distribution, cybercrime,
smuggling cigarettes and firearms from the United States, and human
trafficking.
Police services throughout the nation respond to organized crime by
participating in task forces where officers from federal, provincial, and
municipal agencies share information and carry out combined
investigations. Most large municipal police services also have officers
who respond to gang crimes, investigate gang activities, and share
information with justice system partners such as correctional officials and
prosecutors. One of the challenges of responding to organized crime is that
it is increasingly international. As a result, officers in Canadian police
services are partnering with officials from other nations, and most of these
initiatives rely on the exchange of intelligence with partner organizations
(Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, 2014). So how serious is the
problem? Upon his retirement as Commissioner of the RCMP, Bob Paulson
said that “organized crime is the biggest threat facing Canadians” (Stone,
2017, para. 1).

Specialized Operations
The police in Canada’s largest cities encounter a greater number of
complex and dangerous situations than do officers working in small towns.
As a result, all urban police services have emergency response units
known as special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams or emergency
response teams. Officers in these units have access to military-style
equipment, such as automatic firearms and armoured vehicles. This
equipment was intended to be used in high-risk situations, such as
responding to suspects who are barricaded in homes, as well as during
confrontations with armed suspects, large-scale protests, or hostage
situations. Depending on the size of the jurisdiction, the officers in these
units might be employed on a part- or full-time basis (e.g., a certain
number of SWAT-trained officers might be engaged in patrol duties and then
assemble as a team when needed). Roziere and Walby (2018, p. 1) have
expressed concern that these units are being used in low-risk situations
such as “warrant work, traffic enforcement, community policing, and even
responding to mental health crises and domestic disturbances.” On the
other hand, many believe that the ambush murders of four RCMP officers in
Mayerthorpe, Alberta, in 2005, and three RCMP officers in Moncton, New
Brunswick, in 2014 might have been prevented if the officers had had
access to better body armour and more sophisticated firearms (Dion,
2017). The RCMP was found negligent in the Moncton shootings because
the officers did not have the proper equipment or training (Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, 2017).
special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams or emergency response teams A group of officers
who receive specialized training and have access to military-style weapons to confront armed
and/or dangerous suspects.

Officers are also employed in a variety of other specialized units,

including bomb disposal squads (“bomb squads”), who respond to
incidents of unexploded bombs. Most large municipalities also employ
canine (K9) officers, who are partnered with dogs to search for drugs,
suspects, evidence, and explosives, and are also used to apprehend
suspects. Most mid-sized police services (e.g., Calgary, Edmonton, and
Winnipeg) and all of the largest police services have aviation units, where
fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters are used to enforce traffic regulations,
assist patrol officers in their responses to emergency situations such as
vehicle pursuits, and give officers a “bird’s-eye view” of an incident. Last,
in some waterfront cities, police services such as the Cape Breton
Regional Police Service, Halifax Regional Police, and Vancouver Police
Department have marine units (also called lake patrol or marine squads),
where officers patrol the waterfront to control crime and engage in search
and rescue operations.

canine (K9) officers Officers who are partnered with dogs to engage in patrol activities, detect
drugs or explosives, and track suspects or escaped prisoners.
aviation units Officers who use fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters for traffic enforcement
(including vehicle pursuits), transporting prisoners, and providing information to officers on the
ground.
marine units Officers who are deployed in boats to patrol waterfront areas and harbours,
including conducting search and rescue activities, promoting water safety, and engaging in crime
prevention.

Federal and provincial police services also deploy specialized units.

Public buildings and national historic sites, such as the grounds
surrounding the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, are protected by the
RCMP. Provincial legislatures also receive protection from various
enforcement agencies, such as the Alberta Sheriffs. In addition, the Prime
Minister, dignitaries, and some provincial premiers receive protection
from police officers—this is called executive protection or protective
policing. All large police services also have some personnel engaged in
anti-terrorist activities, measures that have taken on a greater importance
since the October 2014 murder of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who was shot
while guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa, and the
subsequent attack on Parliament (National Post, 2014). The Parliamentary
Protective Service was founded in 2015, and its armed officials work with
the RCMP to enhance security on Parliament Hill.

executive protection Protection provided by police officers to the Prime Minister, the
Governor General of Canada, provincial premiers, mayors of large cities, and visiting dignitaries.

Crime Prevention
Despite a growing interest in crime prevention, a relatively small
percentage of all officers carry out these duties. Some officers work with
neighbourhood watch programs (or farm watch or cottage watch in the
countryside), while others deliver public education campaigns, and
developing strategies with community members to reduce their risk of
victimization.

Youth Services
Young males are overrepresented in their involvement in crime. As a
result, most large municipal police services assign officers to work with
youth who have been convicted of serious offences or are persistent
offenders. Some officers work specifically with youth gang members and
their families. In addition, almost all urban agencies place constables in
schools, and these school resource officers are expected to form positive
relationships with students and deliver anti-crime or anti-drug programs to
students. Although there is a long history of placing officers in schools,
these programs can be controversial. In 2017, for example, the Toronto
District School Board removed officers from their schools as they
believed some students were intimidated by the police (Nasser, 2018). A
study by Carleton University professors Linda Duxbury and Craig Bennell
(2018), however, found that students in five Peel Region high schools felt
safer when officers were present; they reported being less stressed-out,
and missed fewer days of school. While the findings in the Duxbury and
Bennell study have been criticized, using research to take a closer look at
these issues is the only way we will increase our understanding about these
practices.

school resource officers Officers placed on a part- or full-time basis in schools to provide
security, teach classes, act as positive role models, and build positive relationships with students.

Community Policing
As noted in Chapter 4, community policing initiatives take a number of
different approaches, as municipalities often have differing notions of
community policing. In some cities, neighbourhood police stations are
placed in high-crime areas in order to give the police a more visible
presence. Perhaps more importantly, most large police services—
especially those responsible for policing diverse populations—have units
that were formed to reach out to specific ethnocultural groups. The
Toronto Police Service (2016), for instance, established an Aboriginal
Peacekeeping Unit in 1992 in order to build stronger relationships between
the police and an estimated 85,000 Indigenous people living in that city.
Similar community policing programs have been developed
throughout the country to build relationships with different ethnocultural
populations. These initiatives are increasingly important given that almost
three out of 10 Canadians are members of visible minority groups or of
Indigenous ancestry (22.3 and 4.9 per cent respectively) (Statistics
Canada, 2018c, 2018a). In addition, many members of ethnocultural
groups who emigrated from other countries have had negative interactions
with the police in their homelands and have a mistrust of the police.
Community policing initiatives are intended to build bridges between
these groups and the police.

POLICING STYLES: LEGALISTIC,

WATCHMAN, AND SERVICE
So far, this review of policing has described the importance of the
relationships between the public and the police, something Robert Peel felt
was important two centuries ago. As noted in Chapter 4, most police
organizations have a formal mission statement that describes the way in
which the agency’s staff members are expected to interact with the public
(e.g., with professionalism and through partnerships). Every organization
develops its own culture and way of conducting operations, and
researchers have identified a number of distinct policing styles. Much of
this work has been based on Wilson’s (1968) research finding that police
departments balanced three functions: law enforcement (the legalistic
style), order maintenance (the watchman style), and providing needed
services (the service style). According to Wilson (1968), what made police
services different was which of these three activities was most valued, and
especially the priority they placed on an enforcement or crime-fighting
role. These organizational priorities, in turn, shaped the relationships that
officers established with the public.
In their analysis of Wilson’s work, Zhao and Hassell (2005, pp. 413–
415) examined these three policing styles, which are summarized as
follows:

• Legalistic style: This policing model emphasizes professionalism

and formal relationships with the public in bureaucratic (top-down)
agencies where officers are noted for their strict enforcement of the
law. Officers have a high number of contacts with the public, and
their productivity is demonstrated by high arrest rates and/or by
issuing many traffic tickets. Officers working in these agencies
tend to use less discretion when dealing with the public, and even
minor conflicts can end in an arrest.
• Watchman style: Officers in agencies with a watchman approach
focus on order maintenance, such as reducing antisocial behaviour.
Agencies with this orientation tend to be more involved with their
community than their legalistic counterparts and are more
concerned about the effects of wrongdoing—rather than focusing
on the wrongdoer. As a result, their approach is often less formal
 and officers use their discretion to maintain the peace rather than
strictly enforce the law. Because most disputes are handled
informally, there are few arrests for minor offences or antisocial
behaviour.
• Service style: Police services that embrace a service style place a
priority on public satisfaction and being responsive to community
needs. As a result, this model may be closer to the ideal of
community policing as there are frequent contacts between officers
and civilians, and many disputes are handled informally. Although
every complaint about crime or order maintenance is taken
seriously, the investigation of serious crimes is prioritized. This
approach might be more common in small towns or in wealthy city
suburbs.

None of these approaches is likely to exist in a pure form, as police

services establish different priorities that balance these different styles. In
addition, there are also differences within a police service, or even within
different times and locations that officers are working. Officers working in
high-crime patrol zones or working night shifts might have a more
legalistic orientation. Last, some officers may have a different style than
their agency: an officer with a preference for informally handling disputes
might be employed by a police service with a legalistic orientation.

patrol zone A defined area within a community that officers are assigned to patrol.

Although Wilson’s (1968) study has been widely cited, his

observations about the police are from the 1960s and his research was
based on observations of only eight US cities. Since that time, much has
changed in the police industry, including employing a more professional
and diverse workforce, the establishment of standards, an increased
growth in civilian oversight, and a growing transparency in police
operations (Chrismas, 2013). Despite those changes, Wilson’s work is still
widely regarded, and researchers still find that police organizations have
different styles of policing.
Wilson (1968) attributed some of the differences in policing styles to
the local political culture. As noted earlier, politics have always played a
role in how police activities are prioritized. In carrying out his research,
Wilson found that local politicians influenced how the police operated,
including the number of officers employed and their priorities, such as
policing the city centre rather than the suburbs. These priorities are often a
result of citizen input (e.g., complaints about speeders in school zones)
and consultation with police leaders about the most effective ways to
deploy officers. As a result, where, when, and how the police are deployed
will influence the relationships between the public and the police.

CURRENT CHALLENGES IN POLICING: THE

CONTEXT FOR POLICING
Robertson (2012) provides an overview of Canadian policing and
highlights the key issues and challenges confronting police services. In the
sections that follow, Robertson’s (2012) overview is presented—in
somewhat modified form—using two key themes: (a) the context for
policing and (b) police operations. The context for policing can be traced
back to Peel’s principles (see Chapter 4) and the preferred relationships
between the police and the public, as well as factors that strengthen those
relationships: the appropriate use of force, police oversight and
accountability, and the political independence of the police. These issues
are addressed in the following section.

Police Use of Force

Policing is the only occupation in a democratic society whose members
are authorized to use force to protect property and the public. Peel was
concerned that the police used force sparingly to reduce the perception
they were an oppressive force. More recently, questions about the
appropriate use of force were raised after a series of highly publicized
police shootings in the United States in 2015 and 2016. Even though
shootings of Canadian civilians by the police are rare, the use of lethal
force still occurs. Robertson (2012) observes that most officers are
reluctant to use force—and it is used as a last resort.
Guidelines for the police use of force are defined by section 25 of the
Criminal Code, and each police service has a use-of-force guideline (often
called a continuum) that depicts how much force should be used in a given
situation. Officers are expected to use only as much force as necessary to
control a situation, and this can include officers raising their voice,
placing their hands on a suspect, and striking a suspect, as well as using
less-than-lethal weapons such as a conducted energy device (e.g., a
taser) or a baton to strike a suspect. If these non-lethal methods cannot
stop the threat posed by a suspect, lethal methods such as shooting an
individual can be used—depending on the seriousness of the threat.

less-than-lethal weapons Alternatives to firearms that are intended to temporarily incapacitate

or confuse an individual.
conducted energy devices Less-lethal devices, such as tasers, that send an electrical charge
that temporarily incapacitates an individual.

In order to reduce the possibility that Canadian officers will use

excessive force, more Canadian police services are providing their officers
with training focusing on de-escalating volatile situations and using a
range of interventions with non-compliant or threatening suspects. Three
Canadian studies shed light on the use of force and all reveal these
incidents represent a very small proportion of all interactions with the
public:
Hall, Votova, and Wood (2013) examined use of force in seven police
services between 2006 and 2013, and they found that of 3.5 million
interactions between the police and public, there were fewer than 5,000
use-of-force incidents (less than 0.01 per cent), although six suspects died
of gunshot wounds.
Boivin and Obartel (2017) examined the police use of force in a
Quebec city of 1.5 million residents—employing more than 2,000 officers
—and they found that there were 1,451 use-of-force incidents between
2008 and 2011.
Wittmann (2018) reports that the Calgary police had 2.7 million
interactions with the public between 2012 and 2017, and found that force
was used in only 3,254 cases. When it came to using deadly force, the
Calgary police killed eight suspects during those five years, or about one
suspect for every 350,000 interactions with the public. These results are
presented in Figure 5.1.
When it comes to suspects injured by the police, Hall et al. (2013)
found that most were males under 30 years of age who were under the
influence of alcohol (60.8 per cent) or drugs (25.4 per cent) or were
suffering from distress or a mental illness (21.4 per cent). Not
surprisingly, the Quebec study reveals that most use-of-force incidents
happened in places with low levels of informal social controls and high
levels of crime (Boivin & Obartel, 2017).

Police Oversight and Accountability

Writing about Canadian policing, Chrismas (2013, p. 63) observes that
officers are under quadruple jeopardy as they answer to the public, their
direct chain of police command, the courts, and oversight bodies such as
community advisory boards or police commissions. There are also
complaints commissions and watchdog agencies that examine the use of
force in police-civilian interactions. In other words, police activities are
more closely scrutinized today than in the past. Moreover, in recent years,
citizens have proven to be watchdogs of police activities, as anybody with
a smart phone can record police–citizen interactions—effectively placing
the police under public surveillance. Citizens, using their cameras, have
recorded incidents of police misconduct and have posted these videos
online.
Officers are expected to use only as much force as necessary to control a situation, and this
can include using less-than-lethal weapons such as tasers. Tasers can have lethal effects,
however, and Reuters (2019) reports that almost 1,100 Americans were killed by the police
use of these weapons between 1983 and December 31, 2018. The death of Robert Dziekański
during his arrest at the Vancouver Airport in 2007 illustrates the potential danger of these
weapons (Oriola, Rollwagen, Neverson, & Adeyanju, 2016).

A Closer Look
Becoming a Police Officer in Canada
Police services throughout the country are actively looking for qualified candidates for
vacant officer positions. An important first step in thinking about a policing career is
learning what an officer’s job involves. The Police Sector Council (2013, p. 34)
observes that a constable must “protect the public, detect and prevent crime and
perform other activities directed at maintaining law and order. Constables respond to
emergency situations, participate in planned enforcement operations and conduct
investigations.” The Police Sector Council (2018) observes that a constable should be
able to master nine main competencies:
1. Adaptability: Adjusts their behaviours and approaches in light of new information
and changing situations.
2. Ethical Accountability and Responsibility: Takes responsibility for actions and
makes decisions that are consistent with high ethical policing standards.
3. Interactive Communication. Uses communication strategies in an effort to achieve
common goals, influence, and gain others’ support.
4. Organizational Awareness. Understands and uses organizational awareness to
deliver optimal services (can identify issues important to stakeholders).
5. Problem Solving: Identifies problems, implements solutions, and evaluates the
outcomes of their actions.
6. Risk Management: Manages situations and calls to mitigate risk and maintain a safe
environment for self and others.
7. Stress Tolerance: Remains focused on results in the face of ambiguity, change, or
strenuous demands.
8. Teamwork: Works cooperatively with members of the work team and contributes to
an environment that leads to achievement of established goals.
9. Written Skills: Communicates ideas and information in writing to ensure that
information and messages are understood and have the desired impact.

Police recruiters are interested in candidates who can master these tasks. These
competencies are often difficult to demonstrate, and it takes a long time to assess
whether a job applicant has the ability to develop those competencies. As a result,
being hired as an officer is a lengthy process, and it often takes over a year between
the time individuals submit their application and the time they start training.

Prior to Recruitment
Learning the steps of becoming an officer is important for those interested in policing
careers. Students can speak with officers at recruiting seminars or university career
days about policing jobs to increase their understanding of the hiring process. Many
larger municipal police services also offer citizen academies—classes that are usually
offered in the evenings and delivered over several months, through which participants
are exposed to the inner world of police operations. Some participants who were
interested in policing careers choose not to apply after attending those academies, but
those who remain interested proceed with a greater awareness of the job expectations.
Students interested in policing can sometimes participate in a ride-along (when
members of the public accompany an officer on their duties for a shift) or complete a
practicum (internship) with a police agency in order to learn more about police roles
and operations.

ride-along When members of the public accompany a police officer on patrol to

learn about policing.
 Police services are interested in hiring individuals with a high degree of personal
integrity, reliability, psychological stability, honesty, problem-solving and
communication skills. Although the application process will vary somewhat throughout
the country, it will primarily focus on candidates demonstrating their skills and positive
character. Applicants with criminal records and histories of illegal or unethical
behaviours (both detected and self-reported) will often be excluded or deferred (most
police services require a three-year period free of any criminal behaviour). While
applicants cannot do much to change their past wrongdoing, those interested in police
careers must steer clear of trouble, including staying away from friends or associates
involved in criminal activities. In addition, a high level of physical fitness is important
to successfully complete academy training, and potential recruits must pass a number
of physical and medical tests (including hearing and vision tests) during the selection
process.
Potential applicants today have a number of advantages over previous generations
of officers. First, most pre-employment physical testing is described and/or shown on
police service websites or is available on YouTube, enabling a prospective applicant to
prepare for these tests. Second, there are a number of guides that help prepare potential
applicants for written policing exams. Third, online forums (such as www.Blueline.ca)
allow individuals interested in Canadian law enforcement careers (including non-
policing jobs) to interact with recruiters and officers who will answer questions about
police careers and the application process. Fourth, almost all large police services have
websites that clearly show the application requirements and provide hints on preparing
for the selection process.

Police Recruit Training

Once selected for a police officer position, candidates must attend and complete basic
police recruit training, which typically lasts 20 to 24 weeks—although there is no
national standard. The training requirements for officers differ somewhat across the
nation, but most police services provide between 650 and 800 hours of instruction. The
Saskatchewan Police College reports its hours of training, and they are shown in Table
5.1. Although the training takes a total of 695 hours, the Saskatchewan Police
Commission (2018, pp. 7–8) reports that “most police services also provide one to two
weeks of selective training pertinent to their agencies when the recruits graduate from
the College.”
Before training academy graduates are made permanent employees, they must
complete a period of supervised instruction by field training officers; these are
experienced officers who provide instruction and coaching to new officers. The length
of these field training programs varies, but most police services require a six-month
period before constables are considered ready to work independently. All together, the
time between sending the first application in the mail and becoming a permanent police
service employee can be years.

field training officers Experienced police officers who train and mentor new police
officers during their first months on the job.

TABLE 5.1 Saskatchewan Police College Training Areas

Topic Hours

Criminal law 103

Wellness 22

Orientation to recruit training 7.5

Introduction to policing and daily 62

detailing

Criminal law (e.g., Criminal Code, 95.5

federal and provincial statutes)

Wellness 22

Diversity awareness 9.5

Communication skills and de-escalation 23.5

Professionalism, ethics, and integrity 12

Traffic control and enforcement 17.5

Introduction to investigations 38

Mental health 24

Interpersonal violence and abuse 22

High risk investigations 40

Defensive tactics 96.5

Emergency vehicle operation 38

Firearms 77

Conducted Energy Weapons (e.g., tasers) 11

Public and officer safety training 60

Drill (includes graduation) 46.5

 Topic Hours
Total 695

Saskatchewan Police Commission (2018, pp. 7–8)

FIGURE 5.1 Police use of Force in Calgary, Alberta, 2012–2017

Interactions with the public rarely result in the use of force, and in five years the Calgary Police
Service had 2.7 million interactions, of which eight resulted in a suspect being killed or about one
in every 340,000 interactions (five of those fatal shootings happened in 2016).
Adapted from Wittmann (2018)

In terms of formal civilian oversight of the police, guidelines are

usually laid out in the Police Services Act in each province. Ferdik, Rojek,
and Alpert (2013, p. 104) observed that these formal methods of civilian
oversight emerged to “compensate for governmental failures to combat
police deviance and equalize the balance of power between public officials
and citizens.” In Saskatchewan, for example, all communities larger than
5,000 residents must have a board of police commissioners. These boards
are responsible for providing general direction to the police as well as
specific guidance on policies and priorities, developing budgets and long-
term plans, negotiating agreements with police associations, and hiring
and disciplining police chiefs. In Ontario, by contrast, three agencies
provide oversight to the police in addition to civilian boards: the Special
Investigative Unit (SIU), the Office of the Independent Police Review
Director, and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC).
Amendments to Ontario’s Police Services Act in 2018 were intended to
give these oversight agencies more authority in terms of the types of
incidents they can investigate, although in 2019, the Ontario government
announced plans to eliminate the OCPC and introduce a Law Enforcement
Complaints Agency (CBC, 2019).
Any public service will generate complaints from the public when
mistakes or misconduct occur. The process by which a citizen can raise a
complaint about the police varies somewhat across the nation. The RCMP,
for instance, has a Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, which is
an agency created by Parliament to investigate citizen complaints.
Individuals can also make a complaint with any RCMP detachment or with
the province’s or territory’s police commission.
Most large municipal police services have their own investigatory
bodies that respond to public complaints or carry out internal
investigations of police mistakes or misconduct—often these units are
called professional standards sections—although in smaller agencies,
complaints might be investigated by a supervisory officer or the chief. For
the most part, the topics of these investigations range from relatively
minor incidents such as an officer accused of being rude to allegations of
false arrest, excessive use of force, or Charter violations. In 2016/2017,
for instance, the RCMP’s Civilian Review and Complaints Commission
(2018, p. 5) received 2,644 complaints, and the top five allegations (their
definitions are summarized) were:

1. Neglect of duty: When officer(s) failed to carry out a duty, such as

improperly caring for a prisoner or performing their work below
RCMP standards.

2. Improper attitude: Where an officer was rude, disrespectful, or

lacked empathy.
3. Improper use of force: Where the force used was unnecessary,
applied too harshly, or inappropriate to the situation.
 4. Irregularity in procedure: When an officer violated privacy rules or
inappropriately accessed information, such as using a police
database to access information about a friend or family member.
5. Improper arrest: When officer(s) failed to promptly inform a
suspect why they were being arrested, or failed to advise the
individual about their rights, such as access to counsel.

Responding to Police Misconduct

Although every police service in Canada has mechanisms in place so that
civilians can report police misconduct, there are a number of barriers to
making public complaints. For example, many people who feel they were
mistreated by the police may lack confidence that their claims will be
taken seriously. Their confidence in being heard is also decreased when
complaints have to be made directly with the police or with mixed
(police/independent) systems (Prenzler, Mihinjac, & Porter, 2013, p. 155).
Prenzler, Mihinjac, and Porter (2013) also found that complainants
become more skeptical when the matters are more serious, such as with
the inappropriate use of force. It is therefore likely that a “dark figure of
police misconduct” exists: misconduct that occurs but is never reported or
counted (Reiner, 2010, p. 211).
So how much police misconduct actually occurs? Like crime, many
minor incidents of misconduct go unreported. More serious incidents,
however, are likely to be formally reported and investigated by an
independent body. Less serious allegations, by contrast, are normally
investigated by the police service. In Ontario, for example, from April 1,
2017, to March 31, 2018, the Office of the Independent Police Review
Director (2018, p. 33) reported that a total of 3,399 officers (of 23,830
sworn officers in the province) had had complaints made against them for
the entire province. Figure 5.3 shows the complaint process, and like the
criminal justice funnel presented in Chapter 1, the number of officers
actually punished for misconduct is a very small proportion of all cases: in
the end fewer than 100 of the claims were substantiated. For claims of
misconduct that are substantiated, the consequences for officers can be
severe, including losing their jobs. In some cases officers will resign their
positions prior to any hearing.
Professional standards units also investigate complaints made directly
to a police service. As these matters are managed internally there is
seldom a public record of the officers involved, the nature of the incident,
or the punishments imposed on any officer. Davis (2018, para. 6) reports
that the “Toronto Police Service handed out penalties in over 600 internal
discipline cases between 2014 and May 3, 2017,” and these cases involved
both civilian and police personnel. While some may be critical of the
hidden nature of how the police manage these cases, few employers,
whether government or private companies, will disclose personnel
matters, given the employees’ right to privacy.
In cases where the objectivity of a police service might be questioned,
such as after the police shooting of a civilian suspect, investigators from
civilian agencies or other police services typically conduct the
investigations. Procedures, however, vary throughout the country. Over
half of the provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia,
Ontario, and Quebec) have independent civilian agencies that investigate
incidents where individuals are killed or seriously wounded by the police.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team has
investigated cases in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward
Island (Berman, 2018). Tutton (2017) observes that officials in Atlantic
Canada have proposed establishing a single agency to investigate serious
incidents in all four provinces. If that partnership happens, Saskatchewan
will be the only province without an independent police watchdog agency.
Despite the fact that external bodies are responsible for investigating
serious offences, there is still public criticism that when the police are
investigating the police, there is a lack of objectivity.

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Use of Lethal Force in Canada and the United States
The use of firearms by the police is rare and few police officers will fire their weapons
at a suspect in their entire career. An estimate of the number of fatal police shootings in
the United States and Canada in 2017, shown in Figure 5.2, was developed using
information from the Washington Post (2018) and Macroux and Nicholson (2018).
These figures show that Canadian officers are about one-quarter as likely to kill a
suspect using their firearms as are American officers. This comparison only shows
people fatally shot by the police, although other suspects die in police custody from
other causes, such as after being wounded by a conducted energy device or a vehicle
crash. Those incidents are not reported because this information is inconsistently
reported in both nations.
Why do these differences exist? One stark difference between Canada and the
United States is the number of guns on the streets. Gun ownership in Canada is much
less prevalent than in the United States—Karp (2018, p. 4) reports there were 120.5
civilian-owned guns for every 100 Americans compared with 34.7 guns for every 100
Canadians at the end of 2017. Furthermore, Americans often carry those guns in public
places; Lott (2017) reports that over 16 million Americans have permits to carry
concealed firearms. One outcome of having a greater number of guns on the streets is a
homicide rate that is almost three times the Canadian rate. About 70 per cent of US
murders are committed with guns, whereas firearms are used in about one-third of
murders in Canada, although that proportion has been rising (Beattie, David, & Roy,
2018). Last, American police officers are about 45 per cent more likely to die from an
assault than their Canadian counterparts. Thus, not only do US police officers
encounter more guns on the streets, but individuals are more likely to use them on each
other and the police.
When confronted with a suspect armed with a deadly weapon such as a knife or
firearm, the police are taught to shoot until there is no longer a threat. As a result,
Canadian officers are trained to shoot at the centre mass, which is an individual’s upper
midsection (the largest part of the body); they are not trained to wound a suspect, such
as by shooting at their arm. Although hits in the centre mass can result in fatal wounds,
only a fraction of suspects shot by the police are killed. Between 1992 and 2017,
Ontario police officers shot 402 people, and about one in three (37 per cent) died from
their wounds (Special Investigations Unit, 2018). One of the challenges of commenting
on officer-involved shootings in a thoughtful manner is the lack of accurate national
statistics collected by government bodies in either Canada or the United States on fatal
and non-fatal police-involved shootings. Instead, we have to rely on newspaper
investigations about the lethal use of force. A CBC study of suspects killed by police
shootings between 2000 and 2017, for instance, reveals that Indigenous and Black
people were overrepresented compared with their presence in the population, while
Whites were under-represented (Marcoux & Nicholson, 2018).
officer-involved shootings Occur when police officers discharge their firearm,
including accidental and intentional discharges.

FIGURE 5.2 Number of Fatal Police Shootings per Million Residents, Canada and
the United States, 2017
Based on CBC (2018); Washington Post (2018)

One problematic type of officer-involved shooting is when suicidal individuals

deliberately provoke a confrontation with the police in order to be killed, which is
called suicide by cop (SBC) or police-assisted suicide. Often an individual will point an
unloaded or replica gun at the police and then be shot. In some cases, they have a
suicide note in their pocket or have told friends or family members that they intended
to commit suicide. While it is difficult to accurately classify these events (as we do not
always know the individual’s true motivation), some researchers have found that
anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of police shootings in the United States and
Canada were SBC (Lord, 2014; Mohandie, Meloy, & Collins, 2009). Some find it hard
to believe that a person would want to be killed by the police, but an example was
captured on video after the April 2018 van attack on Yonge Street in Toronto, which
killed ten people and injured another 13. After exiting his vehicle, the driver of the van
pointed an object at the lone officer who stopped him; the suspect yelled “kill me” and
“I have a gun in my pocket.” The officer realized the object was not a firearm,
holstered his sidearm, and instead used a baton to restrain the subject (CBC, 2018a).
suicide by cop Occurs when individuals deliberately provoke the police into
shooting them, such as by pointing an unloaded firearm at an officer.

An example of an attempted suicide by cop incident occurred when 25-year-old

Alek Minassian pointed an object at a Toronto Police Constable Ken Lam and
yelled, “Kill me.” The incident was captured on video; a screenshot of this video
appeared on the next day’s cover of the New York Post (left). The full video can be
seen at at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/officer-praised-taking-van-
attack-suspect-custody-peaceful-1.4632661
FIGURE 5.3 Public Complaints of Police, Ontario, 2017–2018
Source: Adapted from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (2018, p. 33)

Litigation
One difference in achieving police accountability in Canada and the
United States is the number of lawsuits launched in both nations. Although
lawsuits for improper police conduct are regularly filed in US courts, there
is less litigation in Canada. Lawsuits have an impact on officers and their
organizations. Because matters are before the courts, officers accused of
wrongdoing or of making a mistake cannot comment to the media—or
even their friends and family members—about the events that led to the
lawsuit. As these cases can drag on for years, officers must often endure
the negative perceptions of community members, family, and friends
before the matter is resolved (Chrismas, 2013). Lawsuits are also costly to
police organizations in terms of the amount of time and expenses involved
in responding to allegations about their officers.
While we tend to think of civilians launching a lawsuit to seek
damages for an inappropriate use of force or arrest, a series of class action
lawsuits have been initiated since 2010 by employees of police services
who allege they were mistreated by other employees in these agencies
(class action lawsuits are brought by a group of people who allege the
defendant harmed them). A series of class action lawsuits were launched
in 2012 by female officers of the RCMP alleging discrimination,
intimidating behaviour, and harassment, and civilian employees of the
RCMP have made similar allegations (Houlihan & Seglins, 2018a). Two
veteran male officers have also claimed they were bullied and harassed
while working for the RCMP, and in June 2018 they launched a $1.1-billion
class action lawsuit on behalf of officers, civilian staff, and volunteers
(Houlihan & Seglins, 2018b). The RCMP is not the only police service
where employees have alleged mistreatment: female officers from the
Waterloo Regional Police have also initiated class action lawsuits,
claiming “unwanted sexual advances, career sabotage and personal
attacks” (Germano, 2018, para. 4).

Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs)

In addition to their actions being captured by citizens with smartphones,
the police are also under scrutiny from cameras placed on the dashboards
of police vehicles, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are
installed in most police stations. While video recordings of incidents do
not always tell us the complete story of what occurred, they can provide an
unbiased record of incidents. Body-worn cameras (BWCs) show what
happens in interactions between the police and the public, but the evidence
is mixed as to whether these cameras reduce complaints. Braga, Sousa,
Coldren, and Rodriguez (2018, p. 512) found that officers using BWCs
“generate fewer complaints and use of force reports” [and] “made more
arrests and issued more citations” than officers without BWCs. In his
analysis of BWC in Canada, Bud (2016) points out that factors such as
privacy rights, the costs of using these cameras (including storage costs
for the data collected), and a lack of legislation governing their use need to
be considered before a police service uses these tools.

Public Support for the Police

The police require the public’s cooperation in reporting crimes, in helping
with investigations, and in appearing in court as witnesses. Tyler (2006)
also found that when the police are seen as more legitimate by the public,
people are more willing to abide by the law. As a result, the police are
increasingly interested in how the public perceives them. Generally
speaking, national polls of Canadians show our trust and confidence in the
police has been mixed over the past few decades:

• Trust in the police dropped from 69 to 57 per cent between 2007

and 2012 (Ipsos Reid, 2012).
• In the 2014 General Social Survey, trust in the police was higher
than trust in Canada’s school system, banks, the justice system or
courts, the media, federal Parliament, and major corporations
(Cotter, 2015).
• Three-quarters (76 per cent) of Canadians had a somewhat or very
positive opinion on policing in polls conducted in 2016 and 2017
(Insight West, 2016; 2017).
• Over three-quarters (79 per cent) of respondents said RCMP officers
demonstrated professionalism in their work, and 75 per cent said
their officers provided a quality service to the public in 2017 (RCMP,
2018a).

Trust and confidence in the police varies throughout the nation, and
Cotter (2015) reports that respondents in Newfoundland and Labrador
express the highest confidence while British Columbia respondents
reported the lowest.
Confidence in the police also differs by gender, ethnic group, and age.
The results of Canada’s General Social Survey show that women, older
respondents, and non-visible minorities have greater confidence in the
police (Cotter, 2015). Members of visible minority groups or Indigenous
people (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit) expressed less confidence in the
police (Cotter, 2015), and these results are consistent with the findings of
previous Canadian studies (e.g., Cao, 2011, 2014; Sprott & Doob, 2014).
University of Windsor researchers contend that contact with the police
may play a more important role in shaping a person’s perceptions about
officers than an individual’s race or ethnicity (Alberton & Gorey, 2018).
Cotter (2015) found that people who had contact with the police in the
previous 12 months and crime victims rated the police lower than people
with no contact and non-victims. Police activity is often concentrated in
neighbourhoods with a high proportion of members of minority groups. As
a result, young males living in those places may have more contact with
the police than their counterparts in the suburbs, and thus have less trust
and confidence in the police.

Some police services have reported reductions in citizen complaints when officers wear body-
worn cameras (BWC). Many believe that BWCs will reduce police misconduct and citizen
complaints. Very few large police services, however, have adopted this technology. Montreal
and Halifax, for instance, will not adopt BWCs because of their expense and the challenges of
storing data the data collected by these cameras (Valiante, 2019).

Police Independence
The political independence of the police is important in order for them to
carry out their duties in a professional and non-biased manner. As noted in
Chapter 4, inappropriate political influence defined policing until the
1940s and long afterward in small municipal police services. Because of
this inappropriate influence, municipal policing was seldom a long-term
career as chiefs and officers were often fired without cause and had little
recourse to challenge those decisions. The introduction of professional
standards, police unionization, and the public’s rejection of inappropriate
political influence led to police professionalization. Robertson (2012, p.
348) observes that “government direction of police is deliberately
circumscribed to limit inappropriate political influence and operational
interference.… At the same time, policing is a highly regulated area of
public service, subject to legislated standards, directives, guidelines and
procedures.”

When Brenda Lucki was appointed as Commissioner of the RCMP in May 2018 she received
a mandate letter from Prime Minister Trudeau reinforcing the importance of maintaining the
political independence of the RCMP. In it, he said that “I want to be clear that the
Government of Canada recognizes and respects that police independence underpins the rule
of law and ministerial direction cannot infringe on the RCMP in the exercise of police powers
in police investigations” (RCMP, 2018b, para. 2).

Despite those safeguards, the police are operated by governments, and

it is difficult to be fully independent of municipal, provincial, and federal
politicians, especially when they control the agency’s budget and when
mayors, premiers, or the Prime Minister can fire police chiefs who won’t
embrace the leader’s philosophy. As a result, the police are seldom fully
independent of political influence, but any influence that does exist must
be appropriate. The question of how much influence is appropriate created
a crisis for the federal government in 2019, when Jody Wilson-Raybould,
the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, testified that she was
the target of inappropriate pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office after
her office would not stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, a large
engineering company. It is important to acknowledge that politicians do
have a role in establishing police priorities (such as which crimes to focus
on) and operational strategies such as where police are deployed within a
community. Ideally, these decisions should be directed from the public to
their political representatives, should be based on a problem-solving
approach, and should involve community stakeholders.

CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES IN POLICE

OPERATIONS
Increasing Legal Complexity
Our expectations of the police are high: we count on officers to follow the
rule of law, to be professional, and to work long hours with individuals
who are often living on the margins of society, who are openly hostile to
the police, or who pose a risk to officers. The nature of police work is also
growing more complex. A series of Supreme Court decisions since the
1990s, for instance, have increased the expectations of the police to ensure
that the due process protections of suspects are upheld. What sort of
impacts have these changes had? Public Safety Canada (2012) calculated
that the processing time for an impaired driving offence has increased
over 300 per cent in the past three decades, and it now takes over five
hours of an officer’s time to process a single offence, and that does not
account for court appearances if the accused pleads not guilty. There are
also more protections for suspects under police surveillance. Chrismas
(2013) writes that warrant applications for electronic surveillance—which
used to be 25 to 35 pages long—have grown to 350-page documents. The
hazard for officers taking shortcuts that violate a suspect’s constitutional
rights is that the case might not proceed to court.

Technology Is Changing the Nature of Crime

Technological changes have led to new ways of carrying out crimes, such
as internet-based fraud, and the nature of crime has also been changing. As
noted in Chapter 2, there are an increasing number of victims of internet-
based offences and many of these crimes are committed by criminals from
other nations. Gang members and other organized crime offenders are also
becoming involved in cybercrimes, and the Police Executive Research
Forum (2018, p. 5) asks:

Why rob a convenience store if you can get on a computer… and

rip off major US banks or credit card companies? It’s a much
“cleaner” way of profiting from crime, with no potentially
dangerous face-to-face encounters with victims. The risk is lower
and the payoff higher, with criminal penalties in some cases being
essentially non-existent.

In other words, as the rewards of cybercrimes increase and there continue

to be few risks of being punished, more offenders will be drawn to these
crimes, and more of us will be victimized. As a result there will be a
growing need for investigators with cyber-related investigative skills. As
they may never leave the police headquarters, it is unlikely that sworn
officers would be needed to conduct these investigations. Thus, civilian
personnel may play a greater role in crime control in the future.

Technology is Changing the Way Police Carry Out

Investigations
There are a growing number of technology-related resources that police
can draw upon when investigating crimes. The Police Executive Research
Forum (2018, p. 6) points out that information can now be retrieved from
social media accounts (of victims and suspects), records of cell phone
usage, security cameras, automated licence plate readers, and traffic
enforcement cameras. Police can also obtain information from a victim or
suspect’s Fitbit, GPS devices, or dashboard or in-house surveillance
cameras (Police Executive Research Forum, 2018). As a result, the
officers involved in complex investigations may be examining
information from dozens of devices. Some technological changes intended
to improve police effectiveness include the use of big data and predictive
software; these practices are discussed in Chapter 12. These tools enable
officers to forecast where and when crimes might occur and who might
commit them. The use of these tools evokes strong reactions from civil
libertarians concerned about our due process protections and our privacy.
Fasman (2018) observes that our privacy laws were developed during an
era of postal services and landline phones and have not caught up with new
technologies.

Civilianization
The employment of civilian personnel in police organizations is referred
to as civilianization. The number of civilians employed by police services
has been growing at a faster rate than the number of officers. Between
1962 and 2017, the rate of civilian personnel working for police forces in
Canada per 100,000 residents more than doubled, and almost 30,000 are
currently employed, whereas the number of police grew by about one-third
this is shown in Table 5.2 (Conor, 2018, p. 20). All of these employees
work in roles that are intended to support the activities of sworn officers
by freeing them to engage in their core enforcement duties such as
responding to and investigating crimes.

civilianization The employment of civilian personnel in police organizations.

TABLE 5.2 Growth in Sworn Officers and Non-Sworn Police Personnel per 100,000
residents in Canada, 1962 to 2017

Sworn Officers: Change between 1962 and 34%

2017

Civilian Personnel: Change between 1962 and 155%

2017

Conor (2018)

There are two types of civilian personnel: administrative support staff

and uniformed officials without full police powers. With respect to the
first category, management, professional, and clerical support workers
now account for one-fifth of all police service personnel (Conor, 2018,
p.10). As the size of the agency increases, more specialized workers are
required, including dispatchers (who take calls from the public and direct
officer activities), crime analysts, and administrators in specialized roles
such as finance or human resources.
The second category of civilian personnel are uniformed civilians who
have less enforcement powers than sworn officers. These officials go by
different titles, including cadets, special constables, security officers, and
bylaw enforcement officers (Conor, 2018, p. 10). These officials direct
traffic around collisions, collect information about minor crimes, guard
crime scenes, provide security at public events, and enforce municipal
bylaws such as laws restricting public drinking. The annual salaries of
Winnipeg’s auxiliary cadets and sworn officers are shown in Table 5.3.
The difference between a first- and fourth-class constable is the time spent
on the job, and first-class constables generally have at least five years of
experience. Police officer salaries tend to be fairly similar across the
country and Conor (2018, p. 15) reports that “the average annual salary for
police personnel in Canada in 2016/2017, including both police officers
and civilians, was $97,004.”
TABLE 5.3 Annual Salaries of Winnipeg’s Auxiliary Cadets and Officers

Role Annual Salary

Auxiliary cadet $34, 631

Fourth-class constable (starting salary) $55,964

First-class constable $101,753

Winnipeg Police Service (2019)

Because cadets or special constables are paid less than police officers,
police services hire them to free officers for more enforcement-related
duties and to increase police visibility (Kiedrowski, Ruddell, & Petrunik,
2017). Police services can hire five of these non-police officials for the
same cost as two senior constables, making them a cost-effective
alternative. There are also an increasing number of these uniformed
officials working on First Nations, where they are called band constables,
community safety officers, or peacekeepers. In addition to supporting the
police, these officials can act as a bridge between the police and the
community. Many officials work in these positions to gain experience for
employment as sworn officers, and McGuckin (2018) reports that of the
2018 class of Winnipeg police officer trainees, 45 per cent had worked as
cadets.

Representative Workforce
One of Peel’s principles, outlined in Chapter 4, was that the police are the
public, and the public are the police. This means that the police should
reflect the populations they serve—but that has not always been the case.
The police have been criticized for being too “pale and male.” The first
women constables for the RCMP and OPP entered their training academies in
1974—although some municipal police services had employed women
officers in the early 1900s (Corsianos, 2009). Today, policing is a more
diverse profession, and Conor (2018) reports that slightly more than one in
five Canadian officers are women (21 per cent), which is less than the
proportions employed in England and Wales or by the Australian Federal
Police, with 29 and 36 per cent respectively (Allen & Jackson, 2018;
Australian Federal Police, 2018), but almost twice as many as the United
States (12.1 per cent) (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2017).
Although women have made significant inroads in policing, a number
of scholars have drawn our attention to their efforts to overcome the
masculine nature of police work—what some call the boys, club.
Interviews with women officers from Ontario reveal they’ve had to
overcome discrimination, harassment, stereotypes, and being treated as
tokens (Bikos, 2016). Bikos says that these discriminatory attitudes are
rooted in the male-oriented police culture. Langan, Sanders, and
Gouweloos (2018) interviewed 52 women officers from Canada and they
found that a normal event in a woman’s life, such as becoming pregnant,
can have negative social and career impacts. This finding confirms
research done by Cordner and Cordner (2011), who say that women
officers have to overcome a number of employer policies unfriendly to
both their recruitment and their job retention.
The underrepresentation of minority officers in Canadian police
services is a long-standing issue. Jain (1987, p. 791) found that of the 14
police services he examined in his research the proportion of visible
minority officers ranged from zero to three per cent. In a follow-up study,
Jain, Singh, and Agocs (2000) said that Canadian police services had
created policies and practices that inhibited the recruitment of Indigenous
and visible minority officers. Have we increased the proportion of officers
from different ethnic and racial groups? Conor (2018, pp. 7–8) reported
that the number of Indigenous and visible minority officers was growing
and accounted for 5.4 and 8.4 per cent, respectively, of all officers in 2016.
One gap in our knowledge, however, is that some police services do not
collect or provide information about the ethnocultural status of officers,
nor do all officers self-disclose their ethnicity.
We tend to think of diversity only in terms of gender, race, and
ethnicity, but other factors are also related to workplace diversity. Until the
1980s, for example, police services routinely hired new police officers
who were in their early twenties, and few had more than a high school
education. Today, by contrast, many newly hired officers have college
diplomas or university degrees and various surveys suggest that about one-
third of all Canadian police officers have a post-secondary education
(Ruddell & Eaton, 2015). In addition to having more years of post-
secondary education, many new police officers have worked in other
occupations, and this also builds the capacity of police services to look at
old problems in new ways.

The Winnipeg Police Service has invested in auxiliary cadets, uniformed officials who support
the activities of police officers and increase police visibility.
Although the police were once criticized as being too “pale and male,” the profession is more
diverse today, and more than one in five Canadian officers are women. Still, police services
have not achieved representative parity with Canadian society. What are some of the things
policing departments can do to encourage diverse recruits? Should diversity be an ongoing
goal?

Race, Class, and Gender

Women Police Leaders
Women are being promoted into a growing number of police leadership positions.
Gwen Boniface, for instance, was appointed as OPP Commissioner in 1998; Beverley
Busson was appointed as RCMP Commissioner in 2006, and Brenda Lucki became the
RCMP’s second female commissioner in 2018. Women have also held chief positions
and led large municipal police services for over 20 years. Christine Silverberg became
chief of the Calgary Police Service in 1995, and she was the first woman to hold that
rank in a major city. These women often had to overcome discrimination from their
male colleagues. Chief Silverberg, for instance, tolerated sexist comments as she
moved up the ranks working in three Ontario police services, and the day after her
appointment as chief in Calgary, someone painted a pink outline of a body on the steps
 of the police headquarters (Underwood, 2018). Conor (2018, p. 7) reports that 15 per
cent of senior officers in Canada are women.
Policing is a physically and psychologically demanding career, and adding
leadership responsibilities adds additional stress. A survey of Canadian police officers
conducted by Duxbury and Higgins (2012) revealed some interesting findings in terms
of the workplace and non-work demands on women command officers (those holding
positions of higher rank than sergeant). According to Duxbury and Higgins (2012),
women of all ranks were less likely than their male counterparts to have children (p.
21), and when it came to women command staff, over one-half (51 per cent) had no
children, compared to only 7 per cent of male command staff (p. 23). Women
command staff were also less likely to have been married than their male counterparts.
Despite the fact that women in command positions had made those sacrifices for their
careers, only 82 per cent reported earning more than $100,000 per year, compared
with 98 per cent of males in leadership positions (Duxbury & Higgins, 2012, p. 22),
although those salaries are much higher today.

The Expansion of Private Policing

Although the focus of this chapter has been on the publicly funded police,
there are a growing number of private security officers and private
investigators in Canada, and many of them carry out duties that were
formerly done by the police—this is known as private policing. Bayley
and Nixon (2010) note that Canada and the United States have the highest
per capita employment of security personnel in the developed world.
Statistics Canada (2018e) reports that the country had 122,310 security
personnel in 2017, and the actual total is probably greater due to the
challenges in defining these workers’ jobs (for example, is a bouncer in a
bar considered a security officer?). The number of private security
officials grew by 50 per cent between 1991 and 2017 whereas the public
police have only increased by about one-fifth during the same time
(Statistics Canada, 2018e).

private policing Involves the social control efforts of individuals who are not government
employees, but instead are hired to provide security or policing services.

The roles of private security and the police are often complementary,
as employees of both sectors work toward preventing and responding to
antisocial behaviour and crime. Police services are increasingly using
employees of private security firms to support their operations in non-
crime-fighting roles (Montgomery & Griffiths, 2015). For example, in
several provinces, members of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires
operate laser radar in traffic enforcement roles (they have no direct
contact with vehicle operators). The Commissionaires have a long history
of providing services to the police, including guarding crime scenes,
supervising prisoners, or providing the front desk security in police
stations. Police services employ these personnel as their support allows
officers to focus on their core roles of fighting and investigating crime.
Not all stakeholders, however, support the use of private security to carry
out tasks formerly done by the police. The Police Association of Ontario
(2018, p. 1) opposes the outsourcing of police duties to private firms; they
say that the 2018 changes in Ontario’s Police Act allow for “the
privatization of core policing duties critical for public safety, like prisoner
transport,” and they express concerns that police privatization in the
United Kingdom led to investigatory errors and increased crime. Some are
critical that a two-tier policing arrangement exists, where the richest
Canadians are able to purchase additional private services, raising the
question of whether the rich should be safer because they are able to afford
private security. On the other hand, some would argue that a reduced need
for the police to patrol wealthy neighbourhoods frees them to spend more
time in higher crime areas.

Police Officer Subculture

An occupational culture is a set of attitudes, beliefs, and values associated
with a profession, and the police have a distinctive culture that can
contribute to a number of negative outcomes including how peers and
members of the public are treated (Iacobucci, 2014). What differentiates
the police from other occupational cultures is that their job is inherently
dangerous and officers depend on each other for their safety. Some officers
can develop an “us versus them” mindset and become inherently
suspicious of the public given how often officers are misled. This
suspicion, in turn, leads to social isolation, whereby the police tend to
spend most of their on- and off-duty time associating with other officers—
further reinforcing the “us versus them” culture. Campeau (2015)
interviewed officers in a mid-sized Ontario city and found that some traits
of the police culture have withstood change for decades, including
isolation, solidarity, machismo, conservatism, and mission-action, when
officers seek excitement.
Hall (2002) observes that some Canadian officers believe they must
protect each other whatever the cost and that loyalty to the organization
and profession counts more than anything. What emerges from that belief
is called the “blue wall of silence,” whereby some officers obstruct
investigations into police mistakes or misconduct. As this code is intended
as a way for officers to protect each other, it can also lead to further
misconduct as officers claim ignorance of the unethical or illegal actions
of their co-workers. Because the police depend on their peers for their
safety, officers are sometimes reluctant to confront the misconduct of
other officers.
In addition to contributing to misconduct, there are several other
negative aspects of the police subculture. As most officers identify with
the crime-fighting role, they tend to resist reforms that would shift their
job duties toward more proactive or social service–focused
responsibilities, or what Ontario officers called social work (Iacobucci,
2014). Duxbury, Bennell, Halinski, and Murphy (2018) interviewed 103
Canadian policing experts and found that the police culture was a powerful
force in resisting change. Resistance to change, however, may be a
survival skill, as some police services undergo almost continual reform
and officers are never quite sure what reforms are fads (sometimes called
the “flavour of the month”) and which will persist. As a result Mays and
Ruddell (2019, p. 79) say that most officers will take a wait-and-see
approach when reforms are initiated. This reluctance to change is one
reason why most police reforms have failed (Schafer & Varano, 2017).
A growing number of women officers are assuming leadership positions in Canadian police
services. In 2017, Brenda Butterworth-Carr, an Indigenous woman originally from Yukon,
was appointed deputy commissioner and officer in charge of the RCMP “E” Division (British
Columbia), the largest division in the nation. In 2019 she left her position with the RCMP to
became the Director of Police Services for the province of British Columbia.

In their study of the RCMP, Murphy and McKenna (2007, p. 6) observe

that the following factors have led to the formation of a police subculture:

• solidarity: Loyalty to other police officers above all others.

• authoritarianism: Belief in, and willingness to exercise, coercive
power over others.
• suspicion: A mistrust of others that is formed by negative contacts
with non-officers.
• conservative outlook: Caused by the moralistic and negative
nature of police work.
 • prejudicial attitudes: A tendency to prejudge others using
stereotypes based on an officer’s values and work experiences.

The police subculture is also a product of an organization’s values,

mission, leadership, and how members are rewarded (e.g., are officers
punished or rewarded for their community involvement?). As a result of
the relationship between organizational factors and leadership, there is no
single police subculture, and it varies according to where an officer is
employed (Cordner, 2017). In addition, occupational cultures are dynamic,
meaning that they change over time, and some negative aspects of the
police subculture—such as the acceptance of women, minority, and non-
heterosexual officers—have changed. Campeau’s (2015) study of
Canadian officers also identifies the changing nature of the police
subculture in an environment where external accountability and oversight
have increased.

SUMMARY
Despite the transformation from a blue-collar occupation to a well-paid
profession where officers better reflect the demographic characteristics of
the communities they serve, policing remains a controversial profession.
Advocates of the crime control model support hiring more officers and
expanding their powers, believing that justice is denied when police
operations are “handcuffed” by budget cutbacks or court decisions that
make police work more difficult. Supporters of the due process position,
by contrast, argue that police activities should be closely scrutinized by
professional standards units, civilian oversight boards, the media, and the
courts. Moreover, they express concern about how unrestrained use of new
technologies threatens our privacy (Canadian Civil Liberties Association,
2016). The public tends to identify with either of these positions, and
given those feelings, it is unlikely that many controversies surrounding the
police—including questions about the appropriate or excessive use of
force—will ever be resolved.
 If we are to judge the progress of Canadian policing against Peel’s
principles, we find that the police more closely reflect the populations
they serve (in terms of gender and race), that force is used as a last resort
in most cases, and that police activities and operations are increasingly
transparent. Issues that breed mistrust of the police, such as their criminal
behaviours (on- or off-duty) and misconduct, are addressed by the
professional standards units of police services and the courts. In the 1980s
and 1990s, for instance, it was rare that an off-duty officer’s wrongdoing,
such as driving while impaired, would end in an arrest, but arrests for
criminal acts are more likely to happen today. The downside to holding the
police more accountable and publicizing their failures is that our mistrust
of them may increase, despite the fact that in the past misconduct and
illegal behaviour was more widespread and hidden. Perhaps the most
powerful oversight of police activities today is the eagerness of the public
to capture interactions between the police and the public on their mobile
phones and share these occurrences (whether positive or negative) over
social media.

MYTH OR REALITY
Dangers of Police Work
Policing is a dangerous job and officers are at risk of violence simply by wearing a
uniform. In an average year, three or four Canadian police officers are killed on the
job. About half of them die in accidents, and between 2014 and 2018 nine officers
were murdered. How does this compare with the likelihood of being murdered for an
average Canadian? Table 5.4 shows that the homicide rate for police officers is higher
than the general population over 18 years of age, but we have to interpret that statistic
carefully, as one police homicide can drastically impact the homicide rate because their
numbers are so low compared to the general population. Despite the fact that police are
at greater risk of being murdered than other Canadians, their profession is not among
the most dangerous; the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada
(2019, Table 36) reports that the highest risk occupations were construction,
manufacturing, and transportation. Workers in other occupations, however, are seldom
intentionally killed.
 While the discussion so far has been about fatalities, officers are also at very high
risk of being assaulted. Every year between 2012 and 2017 there were about 10,000
reported assaults on peace officers in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2018d). Considering
there are about 69,000 officers in Canada, this suggests that officers have about a one
in seven chance of being assaulted in a given year. That likelihood is higher for
officers working directly with the public, such as patrol officers, than for those working
in administrative jobs.
In addition to accidents and assaults we are now recognizing that a large percentage
of officers suffer from psychological injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), which occurs after exposure to traumatic events. Carleton et al. (2018a)
received surveys from almost 6,000 Canadian public safety personnel about their
reactions to job-related stressors. These researchers found that over one-third (36.7 per
cent) of municipal or provincial police officers and one-half of RCMP officers (50.2
per cent) reported having one or more symptoms of mental health disorders such as
anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, or PTSD. Sawa, Ivany, and Kelley (2019) report
that police organizations with a negative workplace culture, including agencies that
tolerate bullying and harassment, make it difficult for these officers to seek help.
These disorders can have a significant impact on these officers. Carleton et al.
(2018b) found that about 10 per cent of their sample of public safety personnel had
thought about suicide in the prior year and about 4 per cent of the sample had
developed a plan to kill themselves; 18 of their respondents had actually attempted
suicide. There are no agencies that collect information about the number of police
officers who commit suicide for the entire country, but Bueckert (2019) says that nine
Ontario officers killed themselves in 2018, which shows the seriousness of the
problem. If those figures are similar throughout the entire country, it suggests the
likelihood of a police officer dying from suicide is much higher than their risk of being
murdered or accidentally killed on the job.

TABLE 5.4 Policing and the General Population: Homicide Rates per 100,000
Residents, Canada, 2014–2018

Police Officers All Canadians Over 18

Years Old

Average homicides per 100,000 2.6 2.1

residents

Adapted from: Conor, Robson, and Marcellus (2019); Statistics Canada (2018)
 Some of what ails the police industry is due to the negative aspects of
an occupational culture that resists reform and has difficulty moving away
from the traditional crime-fighter identity, even though that role represents
only a fraction of formal police duties. As a result, some initiatives that
are inconsistent with the traditional policing model, such as community-
oriented policing, have not been fully adopted in some places. Despite a
resistance to change, there is growing recognition of the social service
roles that officers play and belief that the police should be involved in
these roles (Meares, 2017). Millie (2013) argues that while the police
currently carry out these social service duties, other organizations,
professions, and volunteers may be more effective at tackling these tasks,
freeing the police to focus on their crime-fighting and investigative
expertise.
A number of police leaders, researchers, and politicians have argued
that the police need to be “reinvented” or “reimagined” in light of their
changing roles (Lum & Nagin, 2017; Tonry, 2017). Although the policing
industry has been undergoing reform for over a century, there is little
agreement about what changes (if any) should occur. Bayley and Nixon
(2010) observe that the public police are slowly losing their traditional
monopoly on policing. As highlighted in this chapter, duties formerly
carried out by sworn officers are now undertaken by civilian employees,
volunteers, and private security agencies. This is part of a global trend. For
the most part, these changes in Canada have been gradual, and it is
unlikely that there will be significant changes in policing in the next few
decades.

Career SNAPSHOT
Police Officer
There are numerous opportunities during a policing career to become involved in a
diverse range of job experiences, from working in an aviation unit to carrying out
criminal investigations in other nations. While municipal police officers generally
spend most of their careers in a single location, provincial police or RCMP members
may be transferred every few years to different places, although in some of these cases
the officer has applied for a transfer to a more desirable location or to earn a
promotion. In addition to working in Canada, some RCMP officers work in other
nations. There is also a growing number of Canadian police officers who have
participated in year-long international assignments sponsored though the United
Nations.
Closer to home, Sergeant Rick Abbott describes his experiences with the Edmonton
Police Service.

Profile
Name: Rick Abbott
Job title: Sergeant, Edmonton Police Service
Employed in current job since: 1996
Present location: Edmonton, Alberta
Education: BA, Sociology, University of Saskatchewan

Background
Growing up, I had numerous family and friend connections to the policing world. As a
result, one of my earliest recollections, in terms of careers, is that I wanted to be a
police officer. I grew up in a rural Saskatchewan city, and parallel to my interest in
policing was a passion for hunting and the shooting sports. Although these pastimes
are only lightly related to police work, the shooting skills that I developed would
eventually play a large part in my career with the Edmonton Police Service.

Work Experience
Prior to starting my policing career, I worked my way through university as a nurse’s
aide in a mental health treatment centre and as a social service worker in a secure
custody youth facility. Both of these jobs prepared me for police work. Working with
people with mental illnesses, many of whom had previous conflicts with the law,
helped me better understand their behaviours. In addition, many of the youth I worked
with in secure custody were Aboriginal youth from northern Saskatchewan, and I
learned about their needs; I got to know them from the “other side” prior to wearing
the police cap.
Much of my career with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) has been in specialized
roles. During my first five years in downtown Edmonton, I worked as a constable in
their patrol services and beats program (foot and bicycle). After that assignment, I
worked for eight years in the tactical section as a sniper. My experiences hunting and
shooting were pivotal in my effectiveness as a sniper dealing with high-risk situations
and offenders. After leaving the tactical section, I went on to teach with the firearms
 training unit where I led their carbine program for three years teaching the use and
deployment of our patrol rifle to over 200 members of the EPS.
Most recently, I was promoted out of the firearms training unit and am back on the
beat as a sergeant in the downtown core, supervising a crew of beat officers. My career
has been quite specialized. Nonetheless, one of my primary attractions to policing has
been the variety of paths one may choose in a singular profession. The variety is
fascinating. One could work in two very separate roles such as sniping in a tactical unit
and working with the Child at Risk Response Team (CARRT), where officers are
paired with a social worker who helps kids in bad situations. Both are very important
tasks in today’s world, yet dissimilar in every sense of the word. One aspect of
policing that I didn’t expect would play such a large part in the work is writing. A
degree in the liberal arts helped me prepare for the massive amount of writing that is
required in everyday policing tasks. Articulation of our actions is the only way to
prevent professional, legal, and political problems from arising from the often
controversial duties of our work.

Advice to Students
It is important to have a “plan B” as there is no certainty that one will be hired for a job
in policing. Police agencies are looking for adults with life experience. Officers today
come from a diverse range of educational and work experiences that can be
completely unrelated to law enforcement. These experiences benefit not only the
individual, but also the police service and the entire community. Some of my most
successful colleagues have backgrounds with no obvious connection to policing. I
have friends who were nurses, carpenters, lawyers, butchers, or electricians, and all of
them went on to contribute in very meaningful ways with the EPS.
Police agencies are looking for mature people with a variety of experiences, but I
believe we lose many good candidates who may have lived a little too much. I was
hired at 26 years of age and clearly remember around the age of 20 thinking that I had
to make good choices to avoid ruining my chances of being hired as a police officer.
Not to mince words, but it’s important that alcohol be used responsibly and drugs be
avoided in our youth so as to not avert a chance at a very rewarding career in policing.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Describe why the number of operational roles increases with agency size.
2. What are some of the challenges in recruiting new police officers?
3. What mechanisms are in place to ensure that the police are accountable to the public?
4. Why can occupational culture be a destructive force in policing?
5. What factors differentiate the three different policing styles?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is patrol considered by many to be the most important role in policing?
2. What is the police service style in your community?
3. Describe some strategies to change the culture of a police service.
4. Describe the four methods of holding the police accountable. What do you think is the
most effective method?
5. What is the most significant challenge confronting the police today?

INTERNET SITE
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is considered one of the
leading law enforcement agencies in the world. Their Law Enforcement
Bulletin, which has a magazine format, is published monthly and
provides an overview of current issues in law enforcement.
https://leb.fbi.gov/archives

CASE CITED
R v The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2017 NBPC06
PART III
The Law and The Courts
 6 Criminal Law

The Great Library of the Law Society of Ontario, in Osgoode Hall, Toronto,
houses a renowned collection of historic legal materials. Do you think historical
precedent is important in Canadian law? (Photo credit: Archive PL/Alamy Stock Photo)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Provide reasons why the criminal law is dynamic
• Identify two main elements of a crime
• Explain the differences between procedural law and substantive law
• Describe various justification and excuse defences for committing a crime
• Describe how court operations differ in Canada and the United States

CASE STUDY
Representing Oneself in Court:
The Case of Dellen Millard
There is an old saying that “a man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client” because
of the disadvantages a person has representing themselves in a criminal trial. Without legal
training, a defendant will have a very difficult time trying to obtain a not guilty decision in
a trial. People accused of crimes are not eligible for legal aid services if they earn more
than $14,453 per year in Ontario, which makes someone working half-time at a minimum
wage job ineligible for legal aid (Ruby & Enenajor, 2017, para. 10). But hiring a lawyer is
expensive and in 2018 a simple one-day trial on a summary offence such as theft can cost
from $2,500 to $6,000 (Bruineman, 2018, p. 22). Lacking the funds to hire a lawyer, a
growing number of defendants are representing themselves in court (see the “Myth or
Reality” box in this chapter). Legal scholars have pointed out that self-represented
defendants pose several challenges for the court; one of the foremost is that they are
incredibly disadvantaged when their opponent is a skilled Crown prosecutor.
Ruby and Enenajor (2017, para. 15) observe that “the right of a person to defend
himself is deeply entrenched in our judicial system.” Most self-represented defendants
simply want their day in court, although there are a number of cases where the defendant
has subjected victims or the family members of a deceased victim to difficult questioning
on the stand, and the nature of their questions has further victimized them. Ruby and
Enenajor (2017) say, however, that “checks and balances exist in our system to ensure that
the right to cross-examine is not abused,” and a key role of the judge in these cases is to
ensure that abusive questioning does not occur. But if defendants are representing
themselves in court, where does the judge draw the line between legitimate questions
intended to get to the truth and questions that are intended to make crime victims and their
families uncomfortable?
 The December 2017 trial of Dellen Millard, who was accused of murdering his ex-
girlfriend, Laura Babcock, is an example of how a defendant can re-victimize the friends
and family of a murder victim. Millard had been convicted of the murder of Tim Bosma in
2016 and sentenced to life imprisonment. At his trial for Babcock’s murder he questioned
her father, her ex-boyfriend, and the former girlfriend of his co-accused. Acting as his own
lawyer, Millard asked Babcock’s father if he had ever hit or abused her, and questioned
him about “her personal life, her drug use and work as an escort” (Dunn, 2017, para. 13).
The fact that Millard was representing himself was unusual; most defendants who act as
their own lawyer do so because they can’t afford counsel, but Millard was wealthy, having
inherited his father’s estate.
Did these victims need to be questioned by Millard? Prior to the trial, Crown
prosecutors argued that a lawyer be appointed by the court to question those three
witnesses, which is allowed under section 486.3 of the Criminal Code. The judge presiding
at the trial, however, denied this request. And as for Millard? He and his co-accused were
convicted of the Babcock murder. Both are serving consecutive life sentences, which
means that they cannot apply for parole until 2063. In September 2018, Millard was found
guilty of killing his father and was sentenced to another 25 years in December 2018, so he
will not be eligible for parole until he is 102 years old.

Critical Questions
1. An Ontario resident who has an income greater than $14,453 is ineligible for legal aid
assistance, while the annual minimum wage salary for that province is $29,120 (at $14
an hour). Is this an appropriate limit for legal aid assistance or should it be increased or
lowered? Why or why not?
2. Describe some risks of having defendants with no formal legal training defending
themselves in court on serious charges.
3. Judges can use section 486.3 of the Criminal Code to prevent a self-represented
defendant from questioning vulnerable people (such as the victims of their alleged
crimes). When should a judge allow or disallow such questioning?

INTRODUCTION
Formal written laws are dynamic, meaning that they are evolving in
response to changes in the broader social, technological, and political
environments. In the past, people living in small communities would often
conform through informal methods of social control. But as people moved
from the countryside to cities, they became more anonymous and their
behaviours were less likely to be influenced by the approval or disapproval
of others. The number of new immigrants also increased around the 1830s,
and many of these individuals were poor and may have been perceived as a
threat to the social order (Baehre, 1981). Because of these social changes,
it became more important to enact laws to respond to antisocial behaviour
and crime, and to establish police agencies, courts, and prison systems to
enforce these laws. Critical criminologists often point out that most
responses to acts defined as crimes protect the interests of the rich while
punishing acts committed by the poor, such as being homeless.
In addition to the limitations of informal social control to regulate our
behaviours, our lives have become increasingly complex, and laws have
had to adapt to changing technology. Therefore, the number of laws “on
the books” has increased. Offences unknown a decade ago—such as
sexting (transmitting sexually explicit images online or via text) of
minors—had to be formally defined as crimes, and punishments for these
offences had to be specified in the Criminal Code. In August 2016 six
Nova Scotia boys were charged with possessing and distributing child
pornography after texting images of some 20 teenage girls, which was the
first test of section 162(1) of the Criminal Code (Bresge & Tutton, 2016).
When sentenced in September 2017 all six youth received conditional
discharges and as part of their sentences they were required to attend
counselling and complete community service work. The number of sexting
incidents is increasing. When section 162(1) was introduced in 2015 there
were 340 occurrences, but this number grew to almost 1,500 in 2017
(Statistics Canada, 2018a).

sexting Transmitting sexually explicit images online or via text message.

Changes in our attitudes and values have also resulted in changes to

laws, and Canadian society has generally become more permissive over
time. Adultery, when a married person has a sexual relationship with a
person to whom they are not married, was once a crime in Canada if
committed “in the home of a child.” As times changed, however, people
became more accepting of these acts, and the law changed in 1985 to
reflect these attitudes. Although this change in law was not very
controversial, it shows the dynamic nature of criminal laws in modern
societies. In some nations, however, adultery is a crime that is still
punishable by death.

adultery When a married person has a sexual relationship with a person to whom they are not
married.

One of the cornerstones of Canadian law is that all individuals are

considered equal and no one is above the law, including politicians, police
officers, and representatives of the Crown such as lieutenant-governors
and the governor general. According to Coughlan, Yogis, and Cotter (2013,
p. 300), the rule of law is “a foundational principle of the Canadian
constitution, dictating that the law is supreme over any body of
government or individual.” Forsey (1980/2012, p. 31) observed that “if
anyone were above the law, none of our liberties would be safe,” and he
noted that an independent judiciary (the courts) safeguards the rule of law
by defining “the limits of federal and provincial powers.” Many people are
skeptical about whether the rich and powerful are really held to the same
standards as the general public. The allegations that staff members from
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office applied undue pressure on Jody
Wilson-Raybould, the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, to
change her decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin, raised the issue of whether
officials in the Prime Minister’s Office were above the law (Harris, 2019).

rule of law The principle that the law is supreme over any individual or body of government.

A Closer Look
Understanding Legal Citation
Throughout this book, court cases are described in a form of shorthand—known as
legal citation—and this section will help us figure out what these citations really mean.
For example, the Sipos decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in 2014 addressed the
issue of the conditions under which an individual could be labelled as a dangerous
offender (which imposes an indeterminate prison sentence on the individual, making it
very difficult for them to be released to the community). That case can be written in the
form of a neutral legal citation as follows:

R v Sipos, 2014 SCC 47

In this case, “R” refers to Regina, which is the Latin term for queen (criminal offences
are prosecuted in the name of the monarch), and “v” is an abbreviation for versus—so
in this example, the Crown was prosecuting an individual named Sipos. The number
2014 refers to the year of the decision, while SCC means that the decision was made
by the Supreme Court of Canada. Last, the number 47 in the citation refers to the fact
that the Sipos case was the forty-seventh judgment issued by the Supreme Court of
Canada in 2014.
Traditional legal citations are reported somewhat differently as they include the
source where the decision was published (in what are called “case reporters”), which
may help an individual find that case. Supreme Court cases, for example, use the letters
SCR to show that the decision was published in the Supreme Court Reports. Using the
traditional citation format, the Sipos case is written as follows:

R v Sipos, [2014] 2 SCR 423

In this example, the square brackets around the year 2014 refer to the decision being
reported in the Supreme Court Reports volume for that year, the “2” refers to the
second volume in 2014, and “423” is the page on which the case is found. Thus, the
key difference between neutral and traditional citations is that the traditional format
provides additional publication information.
Provincial appellate courts also issue judgments, and while fewer of these cases are
reported in this book, a case from Ontario serves as an example. In the case reported
below, Smickle appealed the constitutionality of a mandatory minimum sentence for
illegally possessing a prohibited firearm. The citation is written as follows:

R v Smickle, 2013 ONCA 677

This citation is like those used by the Supreme Court of Canada, although a key
difference is that the decision was rendered by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, which
is abbreviated as ONCA. The last number in the citation, 677, means that it was the
677th decision made by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 2013. All provincial courts
of appeal use a two-letter abbreviation (e.g., Prince Edward Island is PE), followed by
the abbreviation CA to designate that the decision was made by a court of appeal (e.g.,
 PECA). An online guide to legal citations is available at
http://citations.duhaime.org/Country/Canada.aspx.

EVOLUTION OF CANADIAN CRIMINAL LAW

Beverley McLachlin (2013), the former Chief Justice of Canada, observes
that “Parliament makes laws setting out crimes. If people violate those
laws, they are prosecuted by Crown attorneys, and tried by the courts.”
The criminal laws enacted by Parliament are a work in progress, and we
can directly trace changes in the law going back almost 1,000 years. In
Canada, criminal laws are rooted in the English common-law system that
dates back over 800 years, although the English borrowed ideas about the
law from the Romans, Greeks, Assyrians, and Egyptians (Plucknett, 2010).
England’s King Henry II is credited with establishing a more uniform
or common approach to justice shortly after being crowned in 1154. Henry
created legal tribunals in order to resolve disputes between individuals.
The term common law refers to an approach to the law that sought
uniformity and was based on precedent (as judges would attempt to follow
each other’s decisions), which in turn created a common set of legal
principles. In 1215 the Magna Carta was first written in part by the
Archbishop of Canterbury and was recognized by King John of England:
this document established that everybody, even the king, was subject to the
law and that all free men (a very small portion of the population) had the
right to justice and fair trials (Breay & Harrison, 2015). The common law
continued to evolve throughout the reign of Edward I (1239–1307), and
there was increasing recognition of the protection of individual rights
(Plucknett, 2010).

common law An approach to law that is based on tradition, where judges follow decisions or
precedents made by other courts.

The criminal law that we have today replaced informal methods of

seeking justice based on local traditions or practices of resolving disputes,
which is called customary law. Whereas the law had once been applied in
an unpredictable manner, decisions were now becoming more consistent
and uniform across the United Kingdom, and the colonists imported these
practices when they settled in Canada.
Although the focus of this chapter is on criminal law, the common law
is also the basis of resolving other disputes, including problems arising
from businesses, marriage breakdowns, and property rights. The common
law has been called “judge-made” law because decisions made by the
courts are also sources of law upon which we rely to interpret all statutes,
including statutes related to criminal law, and it guides the courts and
lawyers in sentencing in criminal matters. The common law is based on
the notion of stare decisis, which is a legal principle whereby courts are
bound by their prior decisions and the decisions of higher courts.

stare decisis A legal principle whereby courts are bound by their prior decisions and the
decisions of higher courts.

Although all Canadians are governed by the common law in respect to

criminal matters, Quebec’s approach to civil law differs somewhat and can
be traced back to the French Napoleonic Code that originated in 1804.
According to the Government of Quebec, “the Civil Code of Quebec is a
general law that contains all of the basic provisions that govern life in
society, namely the relationships among citizens and the relationships
between people and property” (Friesen, 2012, p. 125). Consequently, this
approach defines the limits to civil rights, such as leasing items or
property, sales contracts, and family matters.
Common-law legal systems are present in most English-speaking
nations colonized by the British, including Australia, New Zealand, India,
the United States, and some African and Caribbean nations. Although
there will be some differences in the procedures used in these nations, they
have a number of common features. These include topics that we are
familiar with from television, such as the adversarial nature of the system
(where both parties present their cases to a judge, who acts as an impartial
arbitrator); the presumption of a defendant’s innocence; and the reliance
on case law where judges make decisions about current cases based on the
outcomes of prior judgments, which is called precedent. Underlying all of
these common features is the principle that the rights of the individual are
balanced against the interests of society.

precedent The practice of judges basing decisions about current cases on the outcomes of prior
judgments.

In addition to the presumption of innocence, there are two other key

elements of the Canadian justice system. The first is the burden of proof,
which requires that Crown prosecutors must prove that the accused person
is guilty prior to a conviction (or accept a plea of guilt). The standard of
proof for a criminal conviction is “beyond a reasonable doubt.” If guilt
cannot be proven, Canadian judges or juries must acquit a defendant even
if they think that he or she is probably guilty. As a result, the priority of
the defence counsel is not to prove innocence but instead to raise enough
doubt that a conviction cannot be made. It is important to remember that if
an accused person is found “not guilty” by a judge or jury, it does not
necessarily mean the accused is innocent, but rather there was doubt that
the accused committed the crime. It is possible that the accused did not
commit the crime, but all we know for certain is that the Crown prosecutor
failed to prove their guilt.
To increase fairness and access to justice, most impoverished Canadians accused of
committing crimes are eligible for legal aid services that are subsidized by the federal and
provincial governments. Pictured above is Jennifer Chan in her legal aid office in 2017.

This chapter is organized around two types of criminal law:

substantive law and procedural law. Substantive law refers to the rules
that define rights and obligations. Procedural law, by contrast, focuses on
the rules that determine the enforcement of rights, or what is called due
process. In order to increase fairness and access to justice, most
impoverished Canadians accused of committing crimes are eligible for
legal aid services subsidized by the federal and provincial governments.
The costs of ensuring criminal defendants have access to state-funded
counsel are high: the Department of Justice Canada (2019) reports that the
entire expenditure in 2016/2017 was $948 million, and that of the almost
half a million applicants who were approved for services, about 50 per
cent obtained help for criminal matters.
substantive law Consists of the written rules that define crimes and punishments, and the rights
and obligations of citizens and criminal justice personnel.
procedural law Focuses on the rules that determine the enforcement of rights or due process.

There is a growing concern that many Canadians are losing access to

legal aid services; news reports since 2018 reveal that many provincial
legal aid organizations are underfunded and some provinces are cutting
services (see Zakreski, 2018). While in tough economic times the public is
not sympathetic to people accused of crimes, the consequences of
underfunding these services can be costly. The Canadian Bar Association
(2015), for example, reports that inadequately funded legal aid systems
result in: (a) slower court processes; (b) job losses when suspects are
unnecessarily incarcerated; and (c) further marginalization of people who
cannot fully participate in society.

CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND

FREEDOMS
Until 1982, the limits to authority that could be carried out by different
levels of government in Canada were defined by the Constitution Act,
1867 (also called the British North America Act, 1867). The Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms (hereafter the Charter) is the first part of
the Constitution Act, 1982, which defines the relationships Canadians have
with the government, including guarantees of basic rights and freedoms,
democratic rights, legal rights, the ability of citizens to move freely
throughout the nation, the protection of equality under the law, the
recognition of two official languages, the acknowledgement of Indigenous
rights, and the ways the Charter can be applied by Parliament and
provincial legislatures.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The part of the Constitution that defines the rights
and freedoms of Canadians, including those accused of committing crimes.

Of special interest to this review of the criminal law are the legal
rights defined in sections 7 through 14 of the Charter. According to the
Government of Canada (2017), these sections “set out rights that protect
us in our dealings with the justice system. They ensure that individuals
who are involved in legal proceedings are treated fairly, especially those
charged with a criminal offence.” A closer look at these principles reveals
they are fairly broad and are intended to define the authority of the state
and limit the conduct of overzealous government officials. Sections 7 to
14 of the Charter outline the following legal rights:

Life, liberty and security of person

7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person
and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance
with the principles of fundamental justice.

Search or seizure

8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search

or seizure.

Detention or imprisonment

9. Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or

imprisoned.

Arrest or detention

10. Everyone has the right on arrest or detention

(a) to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor;
(b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be
informed of that right; and
 (c) to have the validity of the detention determined by way of
habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not
lawful.

Proceedings in criminal and penal matters

11. Any person charged with an offence has the right

(a) to be informed without unreasonable delay of the specific
offence;
(b) to be tried within a reasonable time;
(c) not to be compelled to be a witness in proceedings against
that person in respect of the offence;
(d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to
law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and
impartial tribunal;
(e) not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause;
(f) except in the case of an offence under military law tried
before a military tribunal, to the benefit of trial by jury
where the maximum punishment for the offence is
imprisonment for five years or a more severe punishment;
(g) not to be found guilty on account of any act or omission
unless, at the time of the act or omission, it constituted an
offence under Canadian or international law or was criminal
according to the general principles of law recognized by the
community of nations;
(h) if finally acquitted of the offence, not to be tried for it again
and, if finally found guilty and punished for the offence, not
to be tried or punished for it again; and
(i) if found guilty of the offence and if the punishment for the
offence has been varied between the time of commission
 and the time of sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser
punishment.

Treatment or punishment

12. Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and
unusual treatment or punishment.

Self-crimination

13. A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to
have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate
that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution
for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.

Interpreter

14. A party or witness in any proceedings who does not understand

or speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted or
who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter.

Several other sections of the Charter are also applicable to criminal

matters. Section 15, for example addresses the issue of equal protection
for all people, and states that discrimination cannot be made on the basis
of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or
physical disability. Last, section 24 enables individuals to seek remedies in
a court in the event that their Charter rights have been violated.
Some of the terms used in the Charter are not commonly encountered,
nor are the meanings clearly described within the Charter; defining these
terms can be a complex task. For instance, the term fundamental justice
has been used to describe the principle that people who act reasonably may
not be punished or sent to prison “unless there is some proof that they did
something wrong” (Government of Canada, 2017). Yet, the topic of
fundamental justice is so broad and complex that entire books have been
written to explain the concept (e.g., Stewart, 2012). On the other hand, the
term habeas corpus may be more familiar to readers as it refers to the
ability to question an individual’s detention by the state, and “in the
criminal law context, it is used to bring the petitioner before the court to
inquire into the legality of his or her confinement” (Coughlan, Yogis, &
Cotter, 2013, p. 152).

fundamental justice A principle of Canadian justice that states that people who acted
reasonably may not be punished unless there is proof that they did something wrong.
habeas corpus The right of a person who is being detained to challenge the legality of his or
her detention before a court.

But even when terms used in the Charter seem straightforward, they
can be interpreted from a number of perspectives. What, for example,
constitutes a “reasonable time” to bring a case to trial, as highlighted in
section 11? Terms such as reasonable and unreasonable are not clearly
defined in the Charter, so it is likely that some of these matters will end
up before the Supreme Court for clarification. The Supreme Court
determined that less serious matters, for instance, must be resolved in a
time period of 18 months from the time the individual is charged with a
crime to the conclusion of their trial, whereas more serious cases—often
heard in superior courts—must be completed within 30 months from the
time the individual is charged until the conclusion of the trial (see R v
Jordan, 2016).
Other terms and descriptions in the Charter are also vague, such as the
section 12 prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments. Several Supreme
Court cases have considered what constitutes a harsh punishment, and this
pitted the Supreme Court against the former Harper government’s “tough
on crime” agenda. In order to deter potential offenders from committing
crimes, the federal government introduced a number of mandatory
minimum sentences for certain drug and firearm offences and people
found guilty of these offences were required to serve a mandatory
minimum prison sentence. Some organizations and scholars are critical of
mandatory sentences as they remove the judge’s discretion to consider
factors such as the individual’s role in the offence (e.g., whether the
accused was a leader or a follower) or prior criminal history, or to consider
other factors that might reduce or mitigate responsibility (Chaster, 2018).
Judges are also critical of mandatory sentences as they feel their hands
are tied at sentencing. This influenced the 2015 Supreme Court decision
that found that mandatory minimum sentences for weapons offences were
cruel and unusual punishments.
Because the sections related to criminal law in the Charter were
written in a manner that is open to interpretation, additional challenges
will be launched by defence lawyers and prosecutors as new laws are
introduced. It is not unusual to challenge or reconsider existing laws, as
the criminal law must adapt to changing political, economic, social, and
legal circumstances.
Technology is also shaping the boundaries of the criminal law. Some
self-driving or driverless cars currently being tested do not have a steering
wheel, brake or accelerator pedals, or controls for turning signals. As the
person in the vehicle has no control over its operation, does that mean that
if they were impaired, he or she could not be charged with a crime?
Alternatively, could blind, elderly, or preteen passengers legally operate
these self-driving cars? Laws will also have to account for vehicles that
malfunction and lead to injury or death. Such questions will most likely be
addressed in courts and by legislatures in the future, but these issues
illustrate why the criminal law will continue to evolve.

ELEMENTS OF A CRIME
The previous chapters identified the differences between summary and
indictable offences and described how laws emerged to respond to crime.
One interesting question that we need to address is, “what is a crime?”
This is an important issue because an individual cannot be prosecuted for
an act that is not defined as an offence in the Criminal Code. Individuals
can be charged with a crime of omission—an act that they did not
commit, such as a teacher who fails to report a case of abuse to child
welfare authorities or to the police—or with a crime of commission, which
is a criminal act that was actually carried out. Individuals, however,
cannot be charged with an offence if the act was not defined in the
Criminal Code when the crime occurred. There are two main elements of a
crime that have to occur together:

crime of omission An act where the accused has failed to take some action, such as a school
social worker failing to report child abuse to child welfare authorities.

• actus reus, and

• mens rea

The Criminal Act (Actus Reus)

While all of us have our own ideas of what should (and should not) be a
crime, a criminal act—known as actus reus—has to be considered wrong
by society (e.g., morally wrong) and either cause harm to an individual or
cause general harm to society by affecting all Canadians. The harm must
also be considered serious, and the remedy must be made through the
justice system. Most of us would agree that an individual who assaults a
stranger on the street or vandalizes a neighbour’s property is guilty of a
crime, but what about offences that are not seen as harmful? If a person is
gambling at an unlicensed casino—which is called a gaming house in the
Criminal Code—are they committing a harmful act?

actus reus The criminal action or conduct of a person committing an offence.

Some scholars might argue that illegal gaming threatens the social
order despite there being no direct victim—these acts are sometimes
called victimless crimes. Because there is less agreement on whether
these acts involve any wrongdoing, there is usually more opposition to
laws against them. Yet, advocates for the criminal punishment of illegal
gaming argue that these operations are a $14-billion business (Warren,
2018), and since nobody pays taxes on these revenues to governments, it
places a burden on all taxpayers. Furthermore, illegal gaming contributes
to the expansion of organized crime, and there is a link between these
operations and serious offences. Those outcomes, some argue, are costly
to taxpayers, and all of us are burdened with the costs of responding to the
consequences of these acts—even though they appear to have no direct
victim.

victimless crimes Acts that are legally defined as crimes even though there is no direct victim
(e.g., illegal gambling).

While we think of illegal gambling as a victimless crime, in June 2017 an unlicensed gaming
club in a Woodbridge, Ontario strip mall exploded and York Regional Police arrested two
men for their role in the arson (Edwards, 2017). There are hundreds of unlicensed gambling
houses in Ontario, and some are tied to organized crime: in July 2019, the York Regional
Police arrested 15 individuals allegedly involved in an international criminal organization
that promoted illicit gambling in these clubs (Herault, 2019). Is the criminalization of
“victimless” crimes worth the regulation of people’s behaviour for society as a whole?

A Closer Look
Landmark Supreme Court Cases: Top 10 Criminal
Law Cases in Canada
One of the most difficult aspects of establishing a “Top 10” list of criminal law cases is
that there is not always agreement on which cases are the most important. The 10
Supreme Court cases briefly described below are widely cited, and they have all either
set an important precedent, established a significant legal principle, or otherwise
changed the interpretation or practice of the law.

R v Askov, [1990] 2 SCR 1199

Issue: Trial within a reasonable time
Summary: Several men were charged with conspiracy to commit extortion in
November 1983, and a trial date was set for October 1985. The case, however, could
not proceed on that date and was rescheduled to September 1986. The defendants
made a motion to stay the proceedings because of an unreasonable delay, which was
granted by the judge. The Court of Appeal for Ontario directed that the trial proceed,
but the Supreme Court agreed with the trial judge, and a stay of proceedings was
granted because of the excessive time it took to get the matter to trial.

R v Ewanchuk, [1999] 1 SCR 330

Issue: There is no defence for implied sexual consent
Summary: A woman protested a man’s sexual advances but eventually stopped saying
“no,” which the accused interpreted as implied consent for intercourse. The Supreme
Court held that there was no defence for implied consent and that “no means no.”

R v Feeney, [1997] 2 SCR 13

Issue: Unreasonable search and seizure
Summary: Police investigating a murder entered the home of a suspect after they
knocked on the door but did not receive a response. The man was found in bed and
was asked to go outside, where the officers noticed that his clothes were covered in
blood, and whereupon he was read his rights and arrested. The accused was ultimately
convicted of second-degree murder, and his appeal that the search and seizure was not
reasonable was rejected by the British Columbia Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court
overturned that decision, and ruled that the police should not enter someone’s home
without a search warrant.

R v Gladue, [1999] 1 SCR 688

Issue: The constitutionality of a provision in the Criminal Code to allow for less
punitive sanctions based on the historical overrepresentation of Indigenous people in
the justice system
Summary: Nineteen-year-old Jamie Gladue stabbed her common-law husband during
an argument, and she was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years in
prison. The British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld her sentence, finding that section
718.2(e) that allows courts to mitigate the sentences of Indigenous people did not
apply because she lived off-reserve. The Supreme Court held that Indigenous people
do not have to reside on a reserve in order to benefit from the provisions of section
718.2(e), nor should their lifestyle be considered. While her three-year sentence was
not reduced, she was paroled.

R v Mann, [2004] 3 SCR 59

Issue: Police powers when detaining a person as part of an investigation
Summary: Two Winnipeg police officers stopped an individual suspected of being
involved in a break and enter. A search revealed that the suspect possessed marijuana,
and he was arrested and charged with trafficking. The trial judge ruled that the search
was unreasonable because it went beyond a pat-down search conducted to ensure
officer safety, and the defendant was acquitted. The trial court’s decision was
overturned by the Court of Appeal for Manitoba, which found that the search was
reasonable and ordered a new trial. The Supreme Court overturned the Court of
Appeal’s decision, finding that the original acquittal was correct and that the police did
not have the right to search beyond a pat-down to ensure the individual did not have a
concealed weapon.

R v Martineau, [1990] 2 SCR 633

Issue: Mens rea requirement for murder
Summary: An adult and a 15-year-old young offender carried out a robbery at a trailer
that resulted in a double murder: the adult shot both victims (and was convicted of
murder) and the youth was charged with second-degree murder. The youth maintained
that he did not know a violent crime was planned, yet he was also convicted. His
conviction was overturned as the Supreme Court ruled that he did not have the intent to
kill or the knowledge that a murder would occur.

R v Morin, [1992] 1 SCR 771

Issue: Trial within a reasonable time
Summary: A woman was charged with impaired driving in January 1988, and the trial
did not occur until March 1989. Her lawyer claimed that the delay was unreasonable
given the Askov (1990) decision, and a stay of proceedings was requested, which was
rejected by the judge. The defendant was convicted and the Court of Appeal for
Ontario stayed the conviction as the accused was not tried within a reasonable time.
The Supreme Court dismissed that appeal and clarified what constituted a reasonable
delay. In the 2016 R v Jordan decision, the Supreme Court specified actual timelines
for courts from the time the individual is charged to the end of a trial.

R v Seaboyer, [1991] 2 SCR 577

Issue: Evidence relating to the sexual reputation of a complainant of sexual assault
Summary: Seaboyer was accused of the sexual assault of a woman he had been
drinking with in a bar. At trial, the judge did not allow the accused to cross-examine
the complainant with respect to her prior sexual conduct, and Seaboyer was ultimately
convicted. The Court of Appeal held that the judge had not allowed the appellant to
make a full defence. The Supreme Court clarified the law and ruled that the Court of
Appeal’s decision be dismissed and that Seaboyer’s conviction would remain. (Note:
The case of R v Gayme, which had a similar argument, was decided at the same time.)

R v Stinchcombe, [1991] 3 SCR 326

Issue: Crown duty to disclose evidence to the defence
Summary: A lawyer was being tried on charges of theft and fraud. His defence
attorney requested access to information collected by the Crown. This request was
refused and the defendant was later convicted. The Alberta Court of Appeal affirmed
the conviction, but the Supreme Court disagreed and ordered that a new trial be
conducted. The Supreme Court ruled that the Crown has a duty to disclose all relevant
information to the defence, even if that information could lead to an acquittal.

R v Stone, [1999] 2 SCR 290

Issue: Determining the proper test for automatism (a state of impaired consciousness)
Summary: Stone killed his wife and claimed the offence was involuntary due to
psychological factors including insane automatism and non-insane automatism. The
judge allowed for a defence of insane automatism, and Stone was convicted of
manslaughter and sentenced to seven years. The Crown appealed this sentence, saying
that the non-insane automatism defence should have been left to the jury to decide
(which might have resulted in a harsher sentence), but the original verdict was upheld
by the British Columbia Court of Appeal. The Crown appealed the decision to the
 Supreme Court, which found that the conviction was appropriate and used this case to
establish guidelines for defendants using the insane and non-insane automatism
defence.
Acknowledgement: Heather Donkers of Robichaud Criminal Defence Litigation aided
in the development of this “top 10 list” of landmark cases.

The Guilty Mind (Mens Rea)

Determining whether an individual committed a crime or actus reus is
relatively easy for a prosecutor to establish in some cases. Obtaining a
conviction, however, also relies on showing that the individual intended on
committing the act—or mens rea, which is a Latin term for the “guilty
mind.” Coughlan et al. (2013, pp. 208–209) refer to mens rea as the
“mental element or intent required for the commission of a criminal act”
and may include individuals with differing levels of “intention,
knowledge, recklessness, [or] wilful blindness.” In other words, the
prosecutor must establish that the accused did something that he or she
knew was wrong and that the accused intended to commit the crime.

mens rea The state of mind of a person committing a criminal act.

After taking a closer look at these requirements, we can see that it

might sometimes be difficult to prove that the accused had mens rea. First,
with respect to intent, people can be convicted of an offence if they meant
to commit harm, did not care about the outcomes of their actions, or could
foresee that their actions might be harmful. Individuals can also be
arrested for failing to take steps that a reasonable person would take to
limit harm, which is called criminal negligence. Negligence can be the
result of an act of commission or omission that shows disregard for the
well-being of others. An example is leaving an infant unsupervised for
several hours, something that a reasonable person would not do because
this act places a helpless child in a vulnerable situation. We can also be
convicted for engaging in reckless behaviours—acting in a manner that
we know is dangerous or risky—such as driving twice the speed limit in a
busy downtown neighbourhood at lunchtime.
intent The criminal intention (guilty mind) in mens rea.
negligence An act that shows disregard for the well-being of others.
reckless behaviours Occur when people act in a manner that they know is dangerous or risky.

Last is the issue of wilful blindness, which occurs when a person is

aware that the law is being violated but chooses not to be fully aware of
the offence. For example, if you were offered $1,000 by a known drug
dealer to transport a sealed package across town, you might suspect that it
contained illegal drugs, but by not asking the question “What is in the
package?” some individuals may believe they are not legally responsible.
Prior Canadian cases, however, have established that this is seldom a
successful defence.

wilful blindness Occurs when an accused is aware that a crime was likely being committed but
chose to ignore the facts.

Mens rea is a complicated subject as it forces us to interpret an

individual’s state of mind based on their actions and statements, and this
may also require us to understand what happened during an offence. That
is a significant challenge because many arrestees are under the influence
of alcohol or drugs at the time of an offence (Pernanen, Cousineau,
Brochu, & Sun, 2002), and we have known for over a century that
eyewitness testimony is not very reliable (Innocence Project, 2019). In
fact, faulty eyewitness testimony was responsible for almost three-
quarters of proven wrongful convictions in the United States (Innocence
Project, 2019).

DEFENCES
An accused person has a number of possible defences against a criminal
charge, and his or her counsel can use various strategies to raise
reasonable doubt. The three main strategies are alibis, justification
defences, and excuse defences. Although we are familiar with alibi
defences from watching television, their use in Canadian courtrooms has
some guidelines, which are briefly described below. A broader discussion
of justification and excuse defences follows.

alibis Witnesses or other forms of evidence that show that the defendant could not have
committed the offence.
justification defences Used when the accused admits to committing an offence but the act was
justified under the circumstances.
excuse defences Based on the argument that one’s criminal conduct can be excused because
the accused could not form the intent to commit a crime.

Alibi Defences
We are all familiar with the alibi defence, where the accused claims that
he or she was elsewhere at the time and scene of a crime, so it is
impossible they were directly involved in the offence. Some alibis are of
more value than others. Being filmed in the company of a dozen police
officers a hundred kilometres from the scene of a crime is of more value
than having one’s mother say that they were at home when the crime
occurred. Although there are some challenges with alibi evidence, such as
whether the jury believes the mother of the accused, an alibi is a rather
straightforward defence—you either have a solid alibi or your alibi lacks
credibility. Of course, an individual can hire another person to commit a
crime, such as in the case study that started Chapter 5, in which Tom
Holden hired three men to kill a Mission, British Columbia couple with
whom he was involved in a dispute.
There are some guidelines around the use of an alibi at trial. The
Supreme Court decided in R v Cleghorn (1995) that alibi evidence must be
adequate and timely. The Defence Group (2018, para. 2) defines an
adequate alibi as “one that contains sufficient detail to allow the police to
verify its validity,” whereas a timely alibi is “one that is revealed to
authorities well before trial,” which provides the police with enough time
to conduct a proper investigation. Prior appellate court decisions have
ruled that an alibi that has been fabricated (made up) by the defendant can
be used against them when the judge or jury is deliberating their guilt. If
the defendant does not testify and the alibi is subject to cross-examination,
the alibi will also have less credibility in deliberations.
Justification Defences
In a justification defence, an individual admits to committing an act that is
being prosecuted as a crime, but argues that the act was justified due to
particular circumstances, such as if committing the act was considered the
less serious option available. Justifications for committing crimes include
consent, duress, entrapment, necessity, provocation, and self-defence (or
defence of others).

Consent
Consent has been used as a justification for various types of assault, and
consent to borrow property has been used as a defence against theft. In
assault cases, the accused does not dispute that an assault occurred but
argues that the conduct was permitted. One example is fighting in a
hockey game, as players can expect some degree of physical contact in
that sport. Consent has also been used as a justification for fights and for
domestic or sexual assaults, but cannot be used for murder. Consent
defences are seldom used and are unlikely to be successful in cases where
there were serious injuries, where the assault was accompanied by threats
or where the accused was in a position of authority.

consent A defence that is almost always used by defendants accused of assault, where they
contend that the victim was a willing party in the offence, such as when a hockey player injures
another player.
Some alibis are of more value than others, but in general, an alibi is a rather straightforward
defence—you either have a solid alibi or you lack one. Would someone’s presence at the
gathering depicted above (a small group of friends and family playing cards at home) likely
be a strong alibi or a weak alibi?

Duress
A person accused of a crime can use the justification of duress, which
means the individual does not act voluntarily but acts in response to
threats from another person. Coughlan et al. (2013, p. 85) observe that
“because of some (external) trigger, the accused responds by committing
an offence.” Section 17 of the Criminal Code defines the conditions that
must be met in order for this defence to be successful: (a) the accused was
under threat of serious injury or death; (b) the accused had no reasonable
means to avoid committing the crime; and (c) the harm caused by the
offence was proportional to the harm avoided. In other words, was the act
reasonable?

duress A defence where the accused people claim that their actions were not voluntary but that
they acted in response to being threatened by another person.
 Since the R v Lavallee decision of the Supreme Court in 1990, women
in abusive relationships can use this justification if they have injured or
killed their abusers. According to Duhaime’s Law Dictionary (2018)
battered woman syndrome (also called the battered spouse syndrome)
refers to cases where “expert evidence is led to demonstrate that a female
defendant in an abusive relationship comes to believe that to save herself
she must kill her husband first.” Sheehy, Stubbs, and Tolmie (2017; p. 13)
point out that courts have placed some limits on this defence and have
rejected some duress claims if it is clear that a “safe avenue of escape was
available, that the woman’s behavior was inconsistent with duress, or that
the man’s overt violence had tapered off before the crime was committed.”

Consent has been used as a justification for various types of assault. In such cases, the
accused does not dispute that an assault occurred but argues that the conduct was permitted
by the victim, such as fighting in a hockey game.

Entrapment
Entrapment occurs when police or government officials persuade or lure
an individual into carrying out an offence that he or she would not
otherwise have committed. Unlike other defences, this justification can be
made only after the accused is found guilty, and the burden is on the
defence counsel to prove that entrapment occurred. In the case of R v
Mack (1988), the appellant testified that “he had persistently refused the
approaches of a police informer over the course of six months, and that he
was only persuaded to sell him drugs because of the informer’s
persistence, his use of threats, and the inducement of a large amount of
money.” In the Mack (1988) case, the Supreme Court found that this type
of behaviour “violates our notions of ‘fair play’ and ‘decency’” and in
2014, the Supreme Court placed further limits on police investigations.
So when it comes to entrapment, what constitutes fair play and
decency? In June 2015, John Nuttall and Amanda Korody, a couple
described as recovering from drug addictions and as being poor and
socially isolated, were found guilty of plotting to attack the British
Columbia legislature. Their counsel claimed, however, that an
“undercover officer feigned friendship, injected meaning into their
otherwise isolated lives, as well as money, nice clothes, spiritual guidance
and attention” (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2015). Altogether, the
investigation lasted five months and involved more than 200 police
officers who earned over $900,000 in overtime payments in addition to
their regular salaries (Azpiri & Daya, 2017). In July 2016 a BC Supreme
Court judge stayed the conviction, saying that the plot wouldn’t have
occurred if the RCMP hadn’t organized it. In January 2018 the Crown
appealed the actions of the provincial court and requested a new trial, but
the BC Court of Appeal upheld the stay of prosecution, calling the RCMP’s
conduct a “travesty of justice” and finding that the couple was
“manipulated by police to conduct the terror operation” (Canadian Press,
2018, para. 1).

Necessity
Another justification defence is necessity, where an illegal act was carried
out to prevent a more serious harm, a situation where the individual had
“no choice” but to break the law. While Canadian law allows for the
necessity defence, it is rarely used and only occasionally successful. In
2013, a Saskatchewan woman charged with impaired driving successfully
used a necessity defence. The woman was at a house party where one of
the hosts—her brother-in-law—became violent, and the woman and her
two friends used a vehicle to escape. In their attempt to escape, the
brother-in-law rammed their vehicle with his truck. Although the case was
prosecuted, the judge found that the woman acted reasonably as she feared
for her safety (Mok, 2013). According to Mok (2013), “Whether an illegal
action is deemed a necessity is based on three requirements: the harm
being done must be less than the harm that is being avoided; there must be
a direct threat of immediate peril; and there must be no legal alternative.”

necessity A type of defence claiming that an illegal act was committed in order to prevent a
more serious harm, such as speeding to get to a hospital for emergency treatment.

Provocation
Defendants can use a defence based on the claim that they were provoked
into committing a crime, although this excuse can only be used for
murder, and successful defences can only reduce the charge to
manslaughter. The guidelines for using a provocation defence are outlined
in the Criminal Code. Supreme Court decisions have placed strict limits
on the use of a provocation defence. Nowlin (2018, p. 74) observes that
after 2015 the act triggering a homicide must be an indictable offence, and
that in changing the law, “Parliament put hot-tempered Canadians on
notice that homicidal responses to the slings and arrows of insults and
unrequited love can no longer result in manslaughter convictions. Neither
can short-tempered honour killings.”

provocation A defence based on an accused claiming that he or she was provoked into
committing a crime, although this defence can only be used to argue that an act of murder be
reduced to manslaughter.

Self-Defence
The notion behind a self-defence justification is that an individual has
inflicted harm on another person in order to ensure his or her own safety
or the safety of others. In 2013, the federal government introduced
legislation that made it easier for ordinary people to take reasonable steps
to defend themselves and/or to carry out a citizen’s arrest without fear of
legal consequences.

self-defence A defence arguing that the harm that was inflicted on another person was carried
out to ensure the defendant’s safety or the safety of others.

In order to make a determination surrounding guilt, the court considers

a number of factors, including the nature of the use of force, the roles of
the individuals in the incident, the presence or use of a weapon, the
characteristics of the parties in the incident (e.g., whether one individual is
younger or physically larger), and the relationships between the
participants, such as whether they are strangers or family members.
When it comes to self-defence, some of our misunderstanding about
what is appropriate or legal may come from television programs, news
accounts, and films that are from the United States. It is important to
realize the differences in the manner that self-defence is considered in the
Canadian justice system. Some US states, for instance, have introduced
stand your ground laws (also known as the castle doctrine), which gives
people the right to protect their lives and property by using force that
would be considered excessive in Canada.

stand your ground laws Laws that give some US residents the right to use force to protect their
lives and property in a way that would be considered excessive and illegal in Canada. Also
known as the castle doctrine.

Excuse Defences
People accused of crime can also claim that their illegal behaviour can be
excused based on the defence that they could not form the intent to
commit an offence, based on age, automatism, mental disorder, or a
mistake.

Age
The age defence recognizes that children younger than 12 years of age
cannot be held criminally responsible for an offence, although 12- to 17-
year-olds are accountable for their actions under the Youth Criminal
Justice Act (YCJA). Sanctions for youth sentenced under the YCJA are
generally mitigated to a fraction of what adults convicted of similar
offences could receive. For example, the maximum sentence for 16- or 17-
year-olds convicted of first-degree murder in Canada is life imprisonment,
and they are required to serve 10 years in an adult penitentiary before
being eligible to apply for parole—this contrasts with the mandatory 25
years that adults who committed a similar offence are required to serve.
Once individuals turn 18 years of age, they are considered adults, but
judges often mitigate the severity of punishments for young adults.

age defence A defence that considers immaturity and recognizes that youth under 12 years of
age cannot be held criminally responsible; sanctions might also be mitigated for young
defendants.

Automatism
Defendants can claim that they acted in a state of automatism if they
committed a criminal offence when they were in a state of impaired
consciousness. This offence is “premised on the principle that a person
should not be held criminally responsible for actions over which she or he
had no physical control” (Sheehy, Stubbs, & Tolmie, 2017, p. 5). This
defence is rarely used, and in the 1999 case of R v Stone (one of the “Top
10” list of criminal law cases discussed earlier), the Supreme Court of
Canada recognized that automatism may be classified as either a mental
disorder (insanity) caused by a disease of the mind or a non-mental
disorder (non-insanity). The former would result in a finding of not
criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. Non-insane automatism,
by contrast, refers to cases where the individual had no control over his or
her actions and the cause could be traced back to an injury (e.g., a physical
blow), a medical condition such as diabetes or a stroke, or some severe
psychological occurrence, such as seeing their child killed (Myrah, 2012,
p. 26).
automatism An involuntary act where an individual is in a state of impaired consciousness and
lacks the intent to commit a crime.

Mental Disorder
One of the most troublesome issues in the Canadian criminal justice
system is the challenge of responding to and managing people with mental
health problems (P/MHP). Research conducted by the Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics shows in 2012 there were about one million contacts
between P/MHP and the police (Boyce, Rotenberg, & Karam, 2015). Cotton
and Coleman (2010) found that in Canada, P/MHP were three times more
likely to encounter the police than were members of the general
population, and McCann (2013, p. 2) reports that up to one-quarter of all
police calls for service in Vancouver are related to P/MHP. When people
with a mental illness commit a criminal act, they may lack the mens rea to
be held fully responsible for the act, but this defence is rarely used unless
the defendant is accused of a serious crime. First, it must be proven that
the accused was suffering from a mental illness to use the mental
disorder defence. When cases of P/MHP come before the courts, judges
rely on the expert opinions of psychiatrists and psychologists to determine
whether the accused was suffering from a serious mental illness.

mental disorder defence An excuse defence based on the argument that people suffering from
serious mental disorders are incapable of forming mens rea to be held fully accountable.

Some P/MHP convicted of crimes are found “not criminally responsible

on account of mental disorder” (NCRMD). In a Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics report, Miladinovic and Lukassen (2014) note that in 2011/2012
there were 268 NCRMD cases in the entire country, which was about the
same number of cases per year as in the previous six years (or less than 0.1
per cent of all adult criminal court cases). Those researchers reported that
of a total of 1,908 NCRMD cases between 2005 and 2012, less than two-
thirds (63 per cent) of cases were violent offences (usually assaults) and
13 of the cases were homicides, which averages to about two murders per
year (Miladinovic & Lukassen, 2014). This relationship is shown in Figure
6.1. Although some very high-profile NCRMD homicides have been carried
out by people with mental illnesses, these cases are very rare.
While minor crimes committed by people with mental illnesses are
common, it is the rare but serious cases of violence that can reduce our
confidence in the justice system, especially after the mental health of the
person who committed the offence is restored. While cases such as Vince
Li, the man who beheaded a passenger on a Greyhound bus in 2008, are
well-reported, these occurrences are rare. In fact, people suffering from
mental illnesses may be at high risk of being victimized, and Burczycka
(2018) found that people suffering from a mental-health related disability
were four times more likely to be victimized than those without a
disability.

One emerging area for NCRMD is that of elderly people suffering from dementia who
commit violent acts, generally on other nursing home residents. Palmer (2019), a psychiatric
nurse, says that most of these acts are minor assaults that are seldom reported to the police.
Some lawyers have argued that people suffering from dementia cannot form the criminal
intent necessary for their acts to be considered crimes, but these defences have not generally
been successful. As a result, these individuals can end up in the criminal justice system and
Campbell (2018, para. 6) observes that “they are often left languishing in forensic hospitals
and prisons, institutions that are generally ill-suited for someone with the disease.”

FIGURE 6.1 Total Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD)
Homicide Cases, Canada, 2006–2012
Adapted from Miladinovic and Lukassen (2014)
While incidents of serious violence involving people with mental illness are often discussed, as
with the case of Vince Li, there are only about two cases a year in Canada of homicide where
the defendant is found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. According to
Chris Summerville of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, “of the 300,000 people in Canada
who live with some form of schizophrenia, the vast majority lead quiet, law-abiding lives
hoping for some quality of life” (see CBC, 2012).

Mistake Defences
Two types of mistake defences have been used. The first is a mistake of
law and refers to when the accused person claims they did not realize they
had committed an illegal act. There is an old saying that “ignorance of the
law is no excuse.” While most people know that violent or property crimes
are offences, there are some obscure acts that are defined as offences in
the Criminal Code. For example, many people might be surprised to learn
that it’s a criminal offence to assist a deserter from the Canadian Forces,
as defined in section 54.
mistake defence A defence where accused people claim they were unaware of the law and
therefore unaware that they’d committed a crime, or that they were aware of the law but honestly
believed they were not breaking it.

A mistake of fact, by contrast, occurs when the accused person was

aware of the law but honestly believed that the act they committed did not
break it. One of the leading Canadian cases addressing mistake by fact is R
v Park (1995), where a man claimed that he had a woman’s consent before
having sex with her. Both parties agreed that a sexual act occurred. While
the accused claimed he had consent, the victim maintained she had not
consented to the activity. This case was heard before the Supreme Court in
December 1994, and in June 1995 the Supreme Court upheld an earlier
conviction from the province of Alberta, rejecting the claim of a mistake
in fact.

Race, Class, and Gender

Hate Crimes
Some offenders are motivated by bias or hatred. There has been increased attention to
hate crimes (also called bias-motivated crimes) since the mid-1990s, and this greater
awareness reflects Canada’s growing diversity—as almost one in every four Canadians
is a member of a visible minority group or an Indigenous person. Yet, hate crimes go
beyond our racial or ethnic identity, and Perry (2011, p. 367) notes that offenders have
also targeted individuals based on their “religion, sexual orientation, disability, class,
nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation.” In a study of hate
crimes reported to the police carried out by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics,
Armstrong (2019, p. 3) found that 2,073 of these crimes were reported in 2017 and the
number of these offences has been increasing since 2013. Forty-three per cent of these
crimes were motivated by race or ethnicity, 41 per cent by religion, and the remainder
were based on sexual orientation (10 per cent) or factors such as mental or physical
disabilities, occupation, language, or political beliefs (6 per cent).

hate crimes Offences intended to intimidate or harm a person or the group to which
they belong based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin,
disability, or other similar factors.

There were about 1.9 million total offences reported to the police in 2016 (Allen,
2018 p. 3), so the fact that only 2,073 were hate crimes suggests these offences are
rare. On the other hand, it is also likely that hate crimes are under-reported, and that a
much larger number of people are victimized each year with bias never established as a
motivating factor. As many survivors of hate crimes are members of ethnocultural
groups that lack trust and confidence in the police (Cotter, 2015) or fear the police,
they may be reluctant to report their victimization, suggesting that the number of
criminal offences that are reported is lower than their true number. The victimization
statistics reported in the 2014 General Social Survey and shown in Figure 6.2 indicate
that some groups of people are at a higher risk than others of being a victim of a
violent crime. Although the average violent victimization rate in Canada is 76 incidents
per 1,000 people aged 15 years and older, some groups of people, including members
of sexual minorities, people with a disability, and women, have higher rates of
victimization.
Armstrong’s (2019, p. 3) study showed that nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of hate
crimes were non-violent and almost half of them were mischief offences. Most of the
violent crimes committed were relatively minor offences, such as assaults (10 per cent),
uttering threats (14 per cent), and harassment (5 per cent), while assault with a weapon
and aggravated assault accounted for about 5 per cent of all hate crimes (about 100
offences in 2017) (Armstrong, 2019). Yet, even though these crimes are defined as
minor offences, one act might have a harmful impact on an individual or an entire
population. When a mosque in Ottawa was covered in posters containing white
supremacist messages in January 2018, this act would be defined by the Criminal Code
as mischief. Yet these offences might also inspire fear throughout an entire community.
Figure 6.3 shows the motivations for hate crimes that were reported to the police in
Canada in 2017. The highest proportion of police-reported hate crimes was for acts
directed at racial or ethnic groups. Of those, the largest number of these offences was
directed toward Black populations, followed by Arab/West Asian, South Asian, East
and Southeast Asian, Whites, and Indigenous peoples. With respect to religion, the
group that was victimized the most was the Jewish population, followed by Muslims
and Catholics. The “other” classification included people with physical or mental
disabilities and people who spoke different languages, and it also included crimes
based on factors such as occupation or political beliefs.
One hate crime that unsettled the entire nation occurred when a 27-year-old man
killed six worshippers and wounded five others at a Quebec City mosque in
January 2017. Prime Minister Trudeau said, “These people died of bullet wounds,
but also of ignorance and hatred.” (CBC News, 2018). Pictured above are some of
the thousands who attended the vigil following the attack.

FIGURE 6.2 Violent Victimization Rate per 1,000 Canadian Residents Aged 15
Years and Older by Selected Groups, Canada, 2014
Adapted from Perreault (2015)
 FIGURE 6.3 Police-Reported Hate Crimes by Motivation, Canada, 2017
Adapted from Armstrong (2019)

Hate crimes have been defined in the Criminal Code since 1970, but section 718.2
was only amended in 1996 to allow for harsher sentences for hate or bias-related
offences. Even though hate crimes reported to the police are rare and most are
relatively minor, these acts are likely greatly under-reported. Moreover, unlike other
crimes, hate crimes may have a devastating effect on victims as most of these crimes
are unprovoked attacks on individuals based on who they are rather than anything
specific they have done. Some hate-motivated assaults have resulted in serious injuries
and deaths. The murders of six worshippers at a Quebec City mosque in January 2017
led to vigils across Canada on the anniversary of these killings (CBC, 2018). The killer
was sentenced to a 40-year prison term in 2019, but the Crown has appealed that
decision and is seeking a 50-year prison term.

THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE WEDDING CAKE

MODEL
There are several different ways of understanding the operations and
priorities of justice systems. In Chapter 1, the due process and crime
control models were introduced as a way of understanding the operations
of justice systems.
 Walker (2015) developed another way of describing how the criminal
justice system works and the priorities of the system. He presented the
idea of a four-layered cake, shown in Figure 6.4, where the least attention
is paid to criminal cases in the base or lowest layer (which is composed of
minor summary offences such as property crimes, simple assaults, and
public order crimes), while the cases that tend to be the most widely
reported are in the top layer—what Walker calls “celebrated cases.”
Walker (2015) argues that although there are differences in the way that
system officials treat cases from layer to layer, cases within each layer are
generally handled fairly similarly. Thus, the officials devote more time,
energy, and resources to serious and publicized cases, and that attention
decreases with the more common and less serious offences that represent
much of the work of the justice system. In terms of crimes, most media
attention is paid to violent crimes where there is some factor that sets
these crimes apart from other offences, such as multiple or vulnerable
victims (e.g., children or the elderly), extreme cruelty, or a celebrity
victim or offender.
Few indictable offences receive much media attention, and the second
and third layers of Walker’s (2015) cake are composed of serious and
lesser indictable offences such as “regular” murders (with no
distinguishing circumstances), manslaughter offences, sexual assaults, and
robberies. For similar reasons, individuals who are in the first and second
layers of the “cake” receive more attention from the justice system than
those in the third or fourth layer, and those found guilty in those first two
layers are apt to receive harsh punishments.
The third layer of the cake is generally composed of cases of less
serious indictable offences, such as assaults, break and enters, or drug
trafficking. These cases tend to be processed fairly quickly and most are
resolved through plea bargains. In terms of punishments, most result in
very short custodial sentences in a provincial correctional centre, although
some offenders will serve probationary sentences.
FIGURE 6.4 Criminal Justice Wedding Cake
Adapted from Walker (2015)

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Canadian and US Court Operations
Most of our exposure to issues of crime and justice comes from watching US television
programs and films, and there are significant differences between the American and
Canadian approaches to justice, especially the activities and organization of court
systems. Although there are similar elements between the two nations, as both
countries have legal systems based on the common law, Table 6.1 shows the key
differences between the two nations in terms of court systems. In some respects, the
Canadian criminal law is easier to understand because the system is unified, which
means that all Canadians are subject to the same law (the Criminal Code of Canada),
whereas in the United States, there are 50 state criminal codes and one federal criminal
code, resulting in considerable differences in how people convicted of crimes are
treated. In 31 US states, for example, offenders convicted of first-degree murder can be
executed, whereas in the remaining 19 states (and the District of Columbia) the most
severe sentence is life imprisonment (Death Penalty Information Center, 2019).
One factor in US justice systems that contributes to harsh sentences is that most
judges and chief prosecutors (called district attorneys) are elected, and some of these
officials pander to the media and support harsh sanctions on offenders because they do
not want to be seen as being “soft on crime.” Having elected officials may also reduce
the independence of the judiciary and prosecutors, as some align with political parties.
Judges and prosecutors may solicit election contributions from donors—which may
create the appearance of favouritism. On the other hand, because they are elected, US
justice officials may be more sensitive to public opinion and more willing to impose or
support severe sentences on serious and repeat offenders, which is what the American
public desires (Pfaff, 2017). One question that we should ask is whether the activities
of justice systems should be driven by public opinion or expert knowledge.
There are also procedural differences in the two nations, including the ways that
everyday matters and trials are carried out. In Canada, for example, court proceedings
are typically low-key events, and the Provincial Court of British Columbia (2018a)
says they are more respectful, dignified, and formal than those in the United States. For
example, in Canada, the prosecution and defence counsel are expected to remain
behind their tables, whereas in the United States they may approach the judge and the
witnesses being questioned. Cameras are also allowed in US courtrooms, which may
also lead to “grandstanding” on the part of the judge or counsel. Furthermore, in
Canadian courtrooms there are no gavels or sidebars (informal meetings between the
judge and the counsel), and comments cannot be stricken from the record (Ellwood
Evidence Inc., 2014). Instead of informal “sidebars” heard before the courts, motions
with respect to substantive or procedural matters are heard in hearings held in judges’
chambers. In both civil and criminal cases, counsel often are required to meet with
judges in scheduled pretrial conferences to work out procedural issues and logistics
such as the evidence of expert witnesses or the number of witnesses to be called.

TABLE 6.1 Differences Between Canadian and US Court Systems

Canada United States

• All courts are part of the same • There are state and federal courts,
unified system, where the ultimate and appellate courts exist for both
authority rests with the Supreme systems; the Supreme Court of the
Court of Canada. United States is the ultimate court.
Canada United States
• Judges are appointed by the • Vacancies for judges are filled by the
government and are politically state’s governor, and the judge must
independent. be re-elected.
As judges are not elected, there are Judges may impose harsh sentences
few external pressures to be “tough because they do not want to be seen
on crime.” as being “soft on crime,” and they
• •
do not want to lose public
confidence and future elections.

• One criminal law—the Criminal • There are 50 state criminal codes

Code of Canada—applies in all and one federal criminal code.
provinces and territories.

• The costs of operating local courts, • Local courts and legal aid services
the salaries of judges and are funded by the municipality or
prosecutors, and legal aid services county.
are funded by the provinces or • Funding these operations is often a
territories. challenge for small and rural
counties—which may put some low-
income defendants at a disadvantage
—as legal aid services are sometimes
limited.

• Prosecutors are civil service • Chief prosecutors (also called district

appointees who represent the Crown attorneys) are elected in most
in the prosecution of people accused jurisdictions.
of crimes. • Prosecutors often use their
• The prosecution of offenders tends experiences as a stepping stone to
to be a low-visibility role for most higher political office—making it
Canadian prosecutors. politically dangerous for them to be
perceived as “soft on crime.”

• About 5 per cent of criminal cases • Of all criminal cases, less than 5 per
result in a jury trial, and some cent go to a jury or bench trial (trial
criminal cases are heard by a judge by judge alone).
alone (which is a choice of the
accused).
Canada United States
• Cameras in courtrooms are very rare • Cameras in courtrooms are
(in jurisdictions where cameras are authorized in 38 states, and this
authorized, the use of cameras must makes the justice system more
be approved by the prosecution, transparent and easily accessible to
defence, and judge—which rarely the public.
occurs). The Supreme Court of the United
• Proceedings in the Supreme Court of States does not allow cameras.
Canada are broadcast on television. •

• Jurors who serve in criminal trials • Jurors are free to speak about their
are forbidden from speaking about deliberations and it is common for
deliberations or about what went on them to appear before the media to
in the jury room. describe their deliberations.

• Civil cases (such as lawsuits) are rare • Lawsuits are common, and losers are
in Canada, and losers can be ordered rarely liable for the costs of a failed
to pay the other side’s legal costs. lawsuit.
• Civil cases with a jury are less • Punitive damages can be very high
common in Canada and in some for pain and suffering.
cases the litigants may not be able to
ask for a jury trial.
• Awards to litigants tend to be limited,
and damages in civil cases are not as
high as in US cases.

• Canadian courts will sometimes use • US courts are reluctant to make

examples of court decisions from reference to legal decisions from
other common-law nations to answer other nations.
Canadian legal questions if no
precedent exists.

• Canadians are entitled to a trial in • All trials are in English.

either English or French.

• Most judges and counsel wear • Most judges wear robes, but defence
formal black robes and white collars counsel and prosecutors wear
(in superior and appellate courts and business attire.
before the federal courts). • Attorneys have more leeway in their
• Court procedures are formal and courtroom behaviour than in
emphasize restraint and good Canada, and some courts tolerate
manners. some theatrics at trial.
 Altogether, while there are similarities between the court operations in Canada and
the United States, as proceedings in both countries are adversarial and based on the
rule of law, there are significant differences in the manner that courts are funded and
operated. It is important to be aware of these differences so that we might better
appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of the Canadian justice system.

In Canadian courtrooms, there are no gavels or sidebars (informal meetings

between the judge and the counsel), and comments cannot be stricken from the
record.

Unlike what we see on television crime programs, most of the work

carried out by workers within the justice system involves managing a large
volume of relatively minor offences: petty thefts, simple assaults,
impaired driving, and acts of mischief. These offences are often
committed by youth and young men who were under the influence of
alcohol or drugs at the time of the offence. These cases are usually
resolved very quickly, and they receive little formal attention by the media
or the justice system. Incarceration for these cases is rare (with the
exception of short sentences for someone’s second conviction for impaired
driving), and many people who plead guilty are fined or placed on
probation. Packer’s (1968) example of an assembly-line approach to
justice applies to these relatively minor matters, as most prosecutors want
these cases resolved quickly.
Walker’s (2015) model provides us with another way of looking at the
operations of justice systems and the attention given to different types of
cases. Because celebrated cases attract so much of our attention, we begin
to think that those cases are normal. Yet we know that serious and violent
crimes are relatively rare and are typically carried out by individuals who
are involved in conflicts with people they know. In most of these cases, the
police make a quick arrest and the cases are resolved through a plea
bargain. As a result, jury trials are relatively rare, and account for about 6
per cent of all cases in British Columbia every year. Moreover, most
criminal defendants are not represented by a dream team of lawyers, but
instead by a lawyer working for legal aid, and an increasing number are
representing themselves in court as they are ineligible for legal aid.

SUMMARY
Although at times all of us are skeptical about whether justice systems are
fair and unbiased, people accused of committing crimes can benefit from a
number of procedural protections enshrined in the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms. In addition to ensured access to justice through
government-funded legal aid services for low-income defendants, there
are also a number of advocacy organizations that work toward justice for
both victims and offenders, such as the Canadian Bar Association, the
Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Women’s Legal Education and
Action Fund (LEAF), and provincial law societies.
Despite the fact that there are services in place to support people
accused of crimes, achieving justice is not a simple proposition. Laws are
dynamic, and both the written law as well as the informal operations of
justice systems change according to shifting social values, technological
changes, and the priorities of different political parties and public opinion
(e.g., being “tough on crime”). Regardless of these changes, there are a
number of common elements of crimes that have remained stable over
time, including the need for a prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that the accused committed a guilty act (actus reus), that the
accused intended on committing the crime (mens rea), and that the act and
intent occurred at the same time. Individuals charged with a criminal
offence can use a number of justifications or excuses for their criminal
conduct, although many of these defences are difficult to prove.
All of us have an interest in ensuring that justice systems are fair and
unbiased, and there is broad public support that people accused of
committing crimes should receive protection from the state. A survey
carried out for the British Columbia Legal Services Society reports that 82
per cent of respondents believed that “everyone should have the right to
access the justice system, even if the government has to spend more
money on it” (Sentis, 2015, p. 6). This is a complex and expensive
undertaking, although prior research has shown that when people see the
law as legitimate, they have more trust in the system and believe that they
will be treated fairly. As a result, people are more likely to follow the law,
and even offenders will be more law abiding (Tyler, 2006). In fact, Tyler
(2006) argues that belief in the legitimacy of the system is more important
in regulating behaviour than is the fear of being punished. Perhaps that is
the strongest argument for the rule of law and the notion that all of us
stand equal before the courts.

MYTH OR REALITY
Equality Before the Law
This chapter started by describing some of the issues about defendants representing
themselves in criminal courts. The Canadian justice system is guided by the rule of
law, which is the principle that we are all equal before the law. Although that is an
admirable goal, is it realistic when it comes to the way the world really operates? In
other words, does a homeless person from a marginalized social group have the same
access to justice as a rich and politically powerful defendant? Beverley McLachlin, the
former Chief Justice of Canada, in discussing issues surrounding access to justice in
Canada, said that “we have a wonderful justice system. But the problem is that it’s
often inaccessible for one reason or another to ordinary men and women, ordinary
Canadians” (cited in CBC, 2017). The poorest Canadians can access legal aid services
if they are at risk of incarceration, while the rich can afford to hire private counsel to
represent them. But what about the working poor or middle-class defendants who do
not qualify for legal aid? How expensive is it to have a lawyer represent you in court?
Table 6.2 shows the national and regional costs.
These amounts are based on averages, and a defendant might pay less if they hire a
lawyer with fewer years of experience or who works for a larger firm. Alternatively, a
famous criminal defence lawyer might cost many times the national average for
representation. After CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi was found not guilty of sexual
assault charges in 2016, it was estimated that the legal fees for his trial were at least
$200,000 to $300,000 and could have been as much as $500,000 (Boudreau, 2016).
A Department of Justice Canada study carried out by Hann, Nuffield, Meredith, and
Svoboda (2002) examined self-representation at nine provincial court sites and found
that some courts had over 36 per cent of first-appearance defendants representing
themselves in court, although by sentencing only about one-quarter were self-
represented. Like many other issues related to the criminal justice system, there is a
lack of recent information about self-represented defendants for the entire nation. The
Provincial Courts of British Columbia (2018b), however, report that between
2012/2013 and 2016/2017 about one-fifth of all defendants in those courts were self-
represented. Figure 6.5 shows that there has been a slight decrease in the number of
these defendants in British Columbia, although in most other provinces the numbers
seem to be increasing (CBC, 2018).
The problem for defendants representing themselves is that their unfamiliarity with
the “ins and outs” of the justice system places them at a significant disadvantage when
their opponent is a Crown counsel with legal training and courtroom experience. Many
defendants representing themselves may be further disadvantaged given that offenders
tend to have poor literacy skills, suffer from addictions or mental illnesses, or come
from marginalized groups that already mistrust the justice system. Because of those
limitations, the Canadian Judicial Council (2006, p. 2) published a statement on self-
represented people, which states that:

TABLE 6.2 Costs of Hiring a Criminal Defence Lawyer

Type of National Western Atlantic Province of

Representation Averages Provinces Canada Ontario
(Firm with 1–
4 Lawyers)

Summary $5,501 to Less expensive Less expensive More

criminal $6,000 expensive
offence (one-
day trial; e.g.,
impaired
driving)

Bail hearing $1,000 to

$1,500

Criminal $5,001 to
offence (one- $6,000
day trial)

Simple plea of $1,001 to

guilt $2,000

Trial longer $20,001 to

than seven $26,000
days

Appeal to $10,000 to
provincial court $20,000
of appeal (e.g.,
challenge of
the severity of
one’s sentence)

Adapted from Bruineman (2018, pp. 22–23)

FIGURE 6.5 Self-Represented Defendants in British Columbia Provincial Courts,

2012/2013 to 2016/2017
Provincial Court of British Columbia (2018b)
 Judges, the courts and other participants in the justice system have a
responsibility to promote opportunities for all persons to understand and
meaningfully present their case, regardless of representation.

Sometimes things end badly for self-represented litigants. On June 3, 2015, a

British Columbia mother who was representing herself in a family matter was
sentenced to a 30-day incarceration term (15 days were suspended) and a 90-day
term of probation for overzealous advocacy. The judge held her in contempt
because she had defied several court orders, but a blogger asks, “If a lawyer
stridently opposed an order that they believed to be unfair and unjustified, wouldn’t
they just be doing their job?” (National Self-Represented Litigants Project, 2015).

In 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada, in the Pintea v Johns case, decided that
courts should recognize the Judicial Council’s guideline on unrepresented defendants.
In order to support self-represented defendants, the provincial courts now provide
individuals with online resources to educate them about court procedures, and in
Quebec and some other provinces, self-represented defendants can access lawyers who
will not appear in court but will give advice.
So, is equality before the law a myth or a reality? There is no doubt that prior to the
introduction of legal aid services in the 1970s, low-income defendants had little legal
representation and therefore less access to justice. The promise of legal aid was that
economically disadvantaged people could benefit from receiving counsel that was
provided by the state, and they can benefit, but only if they are eligible. In the 1997 R
v Bernardo case, the Court of Appeal for Ontario held that “the costs associated with
the appointment of counsel must be accepted as the price of the proper administration
of justice.”
Career SNAPSHOT
Criminal Defence Lawyer
There are numerous careers in the justice system for lawyers, including defence
counsel, prosecutor, and judge, and these jobs are profiled in Chapter 7. To become a
lawyer in Canada, one has to first obtain a bachelor’s degree and then be accepted into
a law school; the latter includes three years of classes and a year in an articling
position that is like a paid internship. Altogether, the pathway to becoming a lawyer in
Canada is lengthy, demanding, and expensive, but it can be very rewarding.
In terms of defence counsel, many lawyers work for legal aid, and some—like
Jordana Goldlist, who is profiled below—have their own law firms, requiring them to
be a lawyer and a business person. Careers in the law can pay very well, but these jobs
are also stressful as a client’s freedom rests upon the knowledge and skills of their
counsel.

Profile
Name: Jordana H. Goldlist
Job title: Owner: JHG Criminal Law (Criminal Defence Lawyer)
Employed in current job since: 2008 (as a lawyer); owner of JHG Criminal Law since
2015
Present location: Toronto, Ontario (takes cases from all of Southern Ontario)
Education: BA (Philosophy), York University; LLB/J.D., Osgoode Hall Law School

Background
I wanted to be a criminal lawyer since I was a child, when I watched a family member
go through the justice system. I wanted the power that the lawyer had, both in the
courtroom and with our family. But then I went through hard times during my teens,
including group homes, homelessness, and street life. When I came out of it, at 19
years old, I thought my experiences would preclude me from being a lawyer. I knew I
needed an education so went back to high school, graduating when I was 21 years old.
I was on the Dean’s Honour Roll by the end of my undergrad studies at York
University, and when I was 25 I started at Osgoode Hall Law School.
Fifteen years after starting law school, I’m living my childhood dream. Now I can
be selective with the cases I take, making sure the case and the client are worth the
time it takes to defend them (which is, on average, 2–3 years, depending on the
charges). Controlling my schedule leaves me time for volunteer work and public
 speaking. I encourage youth to find transferable skills in their adverse experiences.
Struggle can be an asset in the business world and not an obstacle if you learn to use it
to your advantage. And I am trying to teach the rest of the world to avoid judging
people by their titles until knowing their character. We write people off as “criminals”
but if we gave people real opportunity to do different, some would excel. Our society
needs to do a better job of offering people the chance to change.

Work Experience
I started my career in civil litigation, but my passion was always for criminal cases. I
made the switch two years into my career and never looked back. I spent five years
working at a large firm focused on street crime, learning how to be a lawyer and
building a client base. I always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and I followed it in
February 2015 by founding JHG Criminal Law. I currently employ two lawyers on
contract and a full-time associate. I now focus my time on people charged with
murder, drug, and firearms offences. The stakes are high so it’s essential that I am
always prepared, armed with an understanding of the law as it applies to each case and
a strategy to win. The best part of my job is fighting for people who want to fight, no
matter the odds, and the most rewarding cases are those correcting an injustice in the
system.

Advice to Students
My advice to students is to always follow your passion. That means taking the classes
that interest you, volunteering with the organizations that move you, and taking the
jobs that excite you. Also, make connections. Take classes, jobs, and opportunities that
will help connect you to people in your field and build those contacts by keeping in
touch. In addition, always treat the people you meet with respect; you never know
when you will cross paths later. Finally, don’t focus on the money. If you plan right
and follow your heart, the money will come. It may take longer and you may have to
work harder but if you enjoy what you do it doesn’t even feel like work.
Watch Jordana Goldlist’s TEDx talk entitled “Who Judges the Judge?” where she
explains why we should judge people based on their character rather than on the
labels, such as “criminal,” that we attach to them. Her talk can be accessed at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4GvfOHV2Tc.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Describe how laws are dynamic, and explain some reasons why the Criminal Code will
change over time.
2. Identify the elements of a crime.
3. Explain the differences between procedural law and substantive law.
4. What are some commonly used excuses for committing a crime?
5. Contrast the differences between Canadian and US court operations. Why should we
learn about those differences?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Wealthy defendants can afford a more sophisticated legal defence (e.g., by hiring teams
of defence counsel and experts to help with their case) compared to economically
disadvantaged defendants who must rely on legal aid services, which might be limited
by high caseloads. How can we ensure that people with limited finances receive an
adequate defence, or should we care?
2. Why should we care that as many as one-quarter of defendants in some courts are
representing themselves in criminal cases?
3. Of mens rea and actus reus, which do you think is the most difficult for the prosecutor
to prove?
4. Walker (2015) developed a method of understanding the attention that criminal cases
receive. Provide an example of a celebrated case and discuss how these matters shape or
change our ideas about crime and justice.
5. Judges and chief prosecutors in many US jurisdictions are elected, whereas in Canada
these officials are appointed by governments. What implications does this have for the
officials’ independence? In addition, which approach—electing or appointing—makes
these officials more responsive to the public?

INTERNET SITE
Canadian court cases can be accessed through the CanLII (Canadian
Legal Information Institute) website, which provides full text records
of court cases. This is a great resource for students examining leading
cases.
https://www.canlii.org/en/

CASES CITED
Pintea v Johns, 2017 SCC 23, [2017] 1 SCR 470
R v Askov, [1990] 2 SCR 1199
R v Bernardo (1997), 105 OAC 244
R v Cleghorn, [1995] 3 SCR 175
R v Ewanchuk, [1999] 1 SCR 330
R v Feeney, [1997] 2 SCR 13
R v Gayme, [1991] 2 SCR 577
R v Gladue, [1999] 1 SCR 688
R v Jordan, 2016 SCC 27, [2016] 1 SCR 631
R v Mack, [1988] 2 SCR 903
R v Mann, 2004 SCC 52, [2004] 3 SCR 59
R v Martineau, [1990] 2 SCR 633
R v Morin, [1992] 1 SCR 771
R v Park, [1995] 2 SCR 836
R v Seaboyer, [1991] 2 SCR 577
R v Sipos, 2014 SCC 47, [2014] 2 SCR 423
R v Smickle, 2013 ONCA 678
R v Stinchcombe, [1991] 3 SCR 326
R v Stone, [1999] 2 SCR 290
 7 Criminal Courts and Court
Personnel

Justice Edith Campbell (left), shown here at her swearing-in June 2018, was
the first resident woman justice (and first person bilingual in English and
French) to serve on the Yukon Supreme Court. In February 2019, Justice
Suzanne Duncan became the second woman to serve. How important is
representation at all levels of the criminal justice system? (Photo credit: Mike
Thomas/Yukon News)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe the main roles of provincial and federal courts
• Describe the roles of provincial appellate courts and the Supreme Court of Canada in
ensuring justice
• Explain the steps in a criminal investigation and trial
• Describe the roles of members of the courtroom work group (including judges, Crown
prosecutors, and defence counsel)
• Discuss the changing role of victims in Canadian courts
• Explain why specialized courts have been established to respond to specific types of
offenders or offences

CASE STUDY
Open Courts, Publication Bans,
and Privacy: The Rehtaeh Parsons
Case
It is important that the actions of the justice system be transparent and that the public be
able to witness court operations. In addition, the media’s freedom to publicize court
proceedings, which is called the open court principle, has been called one of the
hallmarks of a democratic society (Scassa, 2018). One challenge that courts have to
confront is balancing the public’s right to be informed with the need to protect the identity
and privacy of crime victims and witnesses. Publication bans were introduced to protect
the identity of crime victims and witnesses, and the conditions on which they can be used
are outlined in section 486 of the Criminal Code. While testimony is still heard in an open
court, judges may ban publication about some aspects of these proceedings (such as a
victim’s identity), although these bans are rare. Exceptions include cases involving child
victims and survivors of sexual assault; judges will issue a publication ban for victims of
sexual offences who are under 18 years of age.

open court principle Gives the media the freedom to publicize court proceedings,
although some information, such as the identity of a child victim of sexual abuse, may be
subject to a publication ban.
publication bans Made by courts in order to protect the identity of some victims or
specific information about cases.

The “hactivist” group Anonymous was actively involved in the publication of Rehtaeh
Parsons’ name, as part of an effort to increase public awareness of cyberbullying.
While Anonymous was prominent between 2008 and 2016, its influence has faded
(Bernard, 2018).

A high-profile case where a publication ban was ordered took place after the 2013
death of Rehtaeh Parsons, a 17-year-old Nova Scotia student. Parsons died after attempting
suicide 17 months after being sexually assaulted; a picture of the offence taken by one of
the participants was texted to classmates, resulting in cyberbullying, victim blaming, and
harassment. After Parsons’ death, the judge imposed a ban on reporting her name as well
as the names of the individuals accused of the sexual assault (as they were young
offenders at the time of the offence, their identities were protected by law). Once a
publication ban has been ordered, the victims and witnesses are forbidden to discuss the
case with the media unless they apply to have the ban terminated and can explain to the
judge why the need for a ban has changed (Alberta Justice and Solicitor General, 2013).
The CBC describes a case where the survivor of sexual abuse wanted the ban on using her
name lifted so she could tell her story to other potential victims, but as the CBC (2018,
para. 2) observes, “according to the Criminal Code, her identity is not hers to share.”
What was unusual about the Parsons case was that the Halifax newspaper The
Chronicle Herald violated the publication ban, as did members of the “hacktivist” group
Anonymous, who both revealed Parsons’ identity. The young woman’s parents also
opposed the publication ban, as they believed that reporting the case would increase
awareness about cyberbullying and sexual violence. Parsons’ father has said that if
Anonymous had not been involved in the case, it is possible that no prosecutions would
have taken place (Omand, 2015). Civil libertarians, however, have been critical that the
activities of this advocacy group are akin to vigilantism. The publication ban was
ultimately lifted, but individuals will be prosecuted if Parsons’ name is used in a
derogatory manner.
Although Parsons died in 2013, her case continues to impact the operations of Nova
Scotia’s justice system. Like other high-profile criminal justice cases, the Parsons tragedy
led to a number of inquiries about how the justice and school systems, and the mental
health and addictions services in Halifax, responded to this case. Altogether, the inquiries
highlighted deficiencies in the manner in which the system handled this case. In addition to
changing agency practices, Nova Scotia also enacted a tough anti-cyberbullying law, but
that legislation was struck down in December 2015 by the province’s Supreme Court
because it infringed on Charter rights (Canadian Press, 2018). In July 2018 the Nova
Scotia government introduced the Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act, which would
give victims of online harassment the ability to seek damages from their abusers in civil
courts, but it is too soon to gauge the impact of this legislation. Parsons’ case shows us the
dynamic nature of the criminal law and brings attention to offences that were unknown a
decade ago but are significant problems today.

Critical Questions
1. The CBC describes a case where the survivor of sexual abuse wanted the ban on using
her name lifted so she could tell her story to other potential victims, but as the CBC
 (2018a, para. 2) observes, “according to the Criminal Code, her identity is not hers to
share.” What does this tell us about the justice system?
2. What effect does the involvement of activist groups such as Anonymous have on the
administration of justice by threatening to publicize—or actually publicizing—the
names of people whose identities are protected by courts through publication bans?
3. Publication bans may be less effective today given that bloggers from other nations can
post information about Canadian cases with little fear of prosecution. What implications
might this have for getting victims and witnesses to testify?

INTRODUCTION
Most Canadians have a greater understanding of what happens in the
criminal courts than they do of the daily operations of the police or
corrections. Courts are open to the public, and while there are few cameras
in Canadian courtrooms—the exception is the Supreme Court of Canada—
reporters have access to both adult and youth courts and can freely report
on cases, although publication bans do occur. Moch (2018, p. 3) observes
that “the open court principle is vital to the administration of justice, as it
ensures transparency, accountability, and integrity of the courts,” while
also acknowledging that judges have the discretion to limit some public
access.
Although we have an ability to witness what occurs in Canadian courts,
our trust and confidence in those institutions has changed over time. A
survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute (2018) reported that only 41
per cent of respondents had complete confidence or a lot of confidence in
the leadership and operations of the provincial criminal courts (that
proportion increased to 51 per cent for confidence in the Supreme Court of
Canada). Cotter’s (2015, p. 4) study of public confidence in institutions for
Statistics Canada found that 57 per cent of Canadians expressed a great
deal or some confidence in the justice system. Like other national
averages, there are some differences between the provinces. Respondents
from New Brunswick and Ontario had the highest confidence, whereas
respondents from British Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec had the lowest
confidence in the courts and justice system. What explains this lack of
confidence in the operations of the courts?
With the exception of being stopped by the police for violating traffic
regulations, few of us have much contact with the justice system. As a
result, our opinions about the system come from other sources. Anthony
Doob (2014), a prominent University of Toronto criminologist, observes
that our understanding of the courts and justice system are a result of:
highly publicized cases; our experiences with the police, courts, and
corrections; and the views of people we trust (including politicians and
justice system officials). One of the challenges is that a high-profile case
—such as one involving a judge’s misconduct—could be from the United
States, and this could shape Canadians’ opinions even though the
conditions in Canada may be completely different. By contrast, the
messages that we receive about a court—such as a blog post about a
Supreme Court of Canada decision—could present inaccurate information
and may be based on a flawed analysis. Last, our ideas about fair treatment
by the courts could be formed based on specific experiences—such as a
dispute over paying a traffic ticket with an overworked court clerk. Rarely
are our ideas about crime and justice, and especially the courts, based on
research.
So, why is the public’s knowledge about crime and justice important?
Roberts (2016, p. 13) argues that “only when the public has a realistic
understanding of crime and justice can an informed debate over crime
control policies take place.” This chapter focuses on the organization and
operations of Canadian courts, followed by a description of the 12 steps in
a criminal trial—from investigation to the possibility of appeal. The
chapter ends with a description of specialized courts and their
effectiveness in responding to individuals with special needs.

COURT ORGANIZATION
The intent of the courts is to “help people resolve disputes fairly—whether
they are between individuals, or between individuals and the state. At the
same time, courts interpret and pronounce law, set standards, and decide
questions that affect all aspects of Canadian society” (Department of
Justice, 2016, p. 1). Each province and territory has its own court system,
and each jurisdiction pays for the personnel and resources needed to carry
out its courts’ operations.

This photograph shows a Manitoba provincial courtroom. Although the layout of provincial
courts may vary across the country, typically judges sit on a raised platform and the defence
counsel and Crown prosecutors sit at tables facing the judge. The accused may sit in a dock
(or prisoner’s box), which is often placed in the left-hand side of the courtroom, close to the
defence table.
Superior courts differ from provincial courts in that they are designed to hold trials and have
formal seating arrangements for witnesses and jury members. Pictured is a courtroom from
the Thunder Bay Consolidated Courthouse in Ontario.

The Four Levels of Criminal Court

There are four levels of court in Canada that address criminal matters.
This section describes the characteristics of these courts:
1. Provincial and territorial courts. Most of the criminal court work
is done by the provincial and territorial courts, which are also
called inferior courts. All offenders make their first appearance in
these courts, and most cases are resolved here. According to the
Department of Justice (2016, pp. 3–4), provincial and territorial
courts handle:
• most criminal offences (both summary and indictable
offences);
 • family law matters (e.g., child support and protection,
adoption);
• youth justice (e.g., administering the Youth Criminal Justice
Act for 12- to 17-year-olds who have violated the Criminal
Code);
• traffic and bylaw violations;
• provincial and territorial regulatory offences;
• claims involving money;
• small claims, which are civil cases of disputes involving
relatively small amounts of money; and
• all preliminary hearings and inquiries, which are held to
determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant an
entire trial.
Nunavut has a distinctive court arrangement as its territorial
and superior courts are combined so that a single court can hear any
criminal matter. This approach is well-suited to Nunavut given that
there are only 25 communities in the territory.
2. Provincial and territorial superior courts. These courts hear
serious criminal matters and family law cases including divorces.
The superior courts are known by different names across the
country, including the Court of Queen’s Bench (Alberta,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Brunswick), Supreme Court
(Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia,
British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and Yukon), and Superior
Court (Ontario and Quebec).
3. Provincial and territorial courts of appeal. Appellate courts hear
criminal cases from the provincial and territorial courts or the
superior courts. According to the Department of Justice (2016, p.
7), courts of appeal can hear “commercial disputes, property
disputes, negligence claims, family disputes, bankruptcies, and
corporate reorganizations.” The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney
 General (2015) observes that there are a number of decisions that
an appellate court can make, including dismissing the appeal (after
the court finds that there were no serious errors at trial) or ordering
a new trial if the court finds that there were serious errors.
Sentences imposed by lower courts can also be increased or
lowered by appellate courts.
4. Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction
over disputes in all four areas of the law: administrative, civil,
constitutional, and criminal. Between 2007 and 2017 the Court
received an average of 460 applications per year (which are called a
“leave to appeal”) and heard an average of 56 cases a year
(Supreme Court of Canada, 2018). The Supreme Court justices will
only hear cases they consider important and that have a national
interest, although some offenders have the automatic right to
appeal.
This photograph shows a courtroom from the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. Provincial and
territorial courts of appeal differ from regular courtrooms, as three judges rule on cases in
appellate courts. Appellate court justices may ask questions at any point in the proceeding,
and they may make a decision on the appeal immediately or inform the parties of their
decision at some point in the future.
The Supreme Court of Canada has jurisdiction over disputes in all four areas of the law—
administrative, civil, constitutional, and criminal—and they hear about 60 cases a year. The
Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate judges. To be appointed to the
Supreme Court, one must have been a superior court judge or have at least 10 years’
experience as a lawyer. According to the Supreme Court Act, three of these judges must be
from Quebec, and the government has traditionally appointed three judges from Ontario,
two from the western provinces, and one from Atlantic Canada.
FIGURE 7.1 Outline of Canada’s Court System
Department of Justice (2016)

Other Canadian Courts

The description of the four levels of court provided in the previous section
presents a somewhat simplified version of Canada’s courts. Figure 7.1
presents an outline of Canada’s court system and shows that there are also
federal courts that deal with military, tax, and federal matters. Federal
courts hear disputes related to issues such as claims against the federal
government, interprovincial disputes, matters related to immigration and
refugees, and cases involving Crown corporations (Department of Justice,
2016, p. 8). Similar to criminal courts, the federal courts also give
individuals the right to appeal decisions, and most federal legal matters
may be heard by the Federal Court of Appeal. Last, there are two
specialized courts: the Tax Court of Canada and military courts. The Tax
Court of Canada is a superior court that hears cases between taxpayers and
the federal government. Military courts (or courts martial) hear cases
related to wrongdoing committed by members of the military or civilian
employees.
STEPS IN A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AND
TRIAL
In Chapter 1, the justice system was described as operating in a sequential
manner, which means that all criminal cases occur in a similar order,
which is outlined by the Charter and entrenched in the Criminal Code. As
a result, the Canadian justice system prevents us from punishing suspects
and defendants before their guilt has been established. Manitoba Justice
(2018) describes the 12 steps that occur after a crime has been committed,
from the investigation of an offence to its resolution, including the
possibility of an appeal. The 12 steps are summarized as follows:
1. Investigation. An investigation is carried out by the police after a
crime is reported or the officers witness an offence. In some cases,
investigations might be conducted by other officials, such as a
private investigator or civilian worker carrying out a fraud
investigation, and their results given to the police. Some
investigations occur fairly quickly, while others can take years,
particularly if the crime is unusually complex.
2. Laying a charge. If the police believe that a person has committed
a crime, they may lay a charge, although the police have
considerable discretion. The decision to proceed with a charge may
rest on the quality of the information, the willingness of the
witnesses to appear in court, and the harm that was done when the
crime occurred. If the police proceed with laying a charge, they
deliver a package of information to the Crown prosecutor that
contains all of the materials relevant to the case.
3. Deciding whether to prosecute. Crown attorneys also use their
discretion in deciding whether to proceed with a prosecution,
asking two key questions: (a) “Is there a reasonable likelihood of
conviction?” and (b) “Is it in the public interest to proceed?” If the
answer to both questions is “yes,” the prosecutor will proceed but
 will use his or her judgment—called prosecutorial discretion—to
decide the severity of the charge (e.g., whether an offence is an
aggravated assault or an attempted murder) and the number of
offences to be prosecuted.

prosecutorial discretion Refers to the prosecutor’s authority to decide whether to

proceed with a case, withdraw a charge, enter into a plea agreement with defence
counsel, or prosecute an offence as a summary or indictable offence.

4. Requiring the accused to attend court, entering a plea, and bail.

Most individuals charged with a minor crime are given a document
by the police, such as a notice to appear, which advises them of the
date and time to appear in court. Section 515 of the Criminal Code
enables accused people to be detained until their court date if the
Crown prosecutor can successfully argue that the individual
represents a risk to public safety.
People who have been arrested and detained must be brought
before a justice of the peace or a judge for a bail hearing within 24
hours to determine whether they can be released. Although the term
bail is commonly used, the formal language is judicial interim
release. Individuals can be released on their promise to appear, or
by providing reasonable bail—which must be within the reach of
the individuals or their surety (see the “A Closer Look” box in this
chapter for more on bail).

justice of the peace A person who is appointed to carry out judicial functions such as
authorizing searches, reviewing the legality of a suspect’s detention, and determining whether
there are sufficient grounds for a criminal case to proceed to court.
judicial interim release A form of pretrial release where defendants can be released on their
promise to appear in court or by providing bail.
surety A responsible person, such as an employer or family member, who ensures that the
accused will appear in court.

Bail decisions are somewhat controversial among members of

the public. We want the legal system to detain dangerous people to
ensure public safety, yet we also recognize that accused people have
 not been convicted of a crime and that detaining them is a
restriction on their liberty. Renaud (2016, p. 158) explains that “in
Canada, individual liberty is at the heart of a free and democratic
society … [and] the importance of this fundamental freedom is
embodied in the presumption of innocence and more specifically in
the notion of bail.”
5. Decision about type of offence. Crown prosecutors determine
whether they will proceed with a summary or indictable (more
serious) offence.
6. Choice of trial court and election by the accused. Matters
involving individuals charged with summary offences are resolved
in provincial courts. For those accused of committing an indictable
offence—as long as the crime is not within the jurisdiction of the
provincial court—the accused may choose to be tried by a
provincial court judge without a jury and without a preliminary
inquiry, by a justice from a superior court (such as Queen’s Bench
Court) without a jury, or by a superior court justice and jury.
7. Preliminary inquiry. A preliminary inquiry or hearing is
sometimes held to determine whether there is enough evidence to
go to trial. During these hearings, the Crown prosecutor and
defence counsel can call and cross-examine witnesses. If the court
determines that there is sufficient evidence to go to trial, a court
date is set. If there is not enough evidence to proceed, the case is
closed. In 2018 the federal government announced that it would
introduce legislation to restrict preliminary hearings to crimes that
carry a life sentence.
8. Plea negotiation. There are relatively few criminal trials in
Canada, as most cases are resolved through plea agreements. The
idea behind a plea agreement is that the accused agrees to plead
guilty to lesser (or fewer) offences or to a less severe sentence on
the original charge, in exchange for having no trial. When it comes
to sentencing, the Crown prosecutors and defence counsel often
 make a joint submission where they both recommend the same
punishment. Judges, however, are not obliged to accept these
submissions and can impose a lesser or more severe punishment.
Verdun-Jones (2016) reminds us that while judges are often
criticized for the sentences they impose, most of these sentences
are the result of plea agreements.
Negotiating a plea also has several advantages for the justice
system. Trials are expensive, and even if a prosecutor has a solid
case, there is no guarantee that the accused will be found guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. This is especially true in cases where
the facts are confusing, such as with the prosecution of Senator
Mike Duffy on 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery, in
which he was found not guilty on all those charges after a 62-day
trial (Canadian Press, 2016). Even if the prosecutor does have a
solid case, juries may be reluctant to convict some defendants.
Other factors might influence the Crown prosecutor to accept a plea
agreement, such as a reluctance to force a witness or victim to
testify.
While plea bargaining can both benefit the accused and save
prosecutors from taking a case to trial, it does mean that some
innocent defendants plead guilty to crimes they did not commit.
Carling (2018) describes the case of a man who pleaded guilty to
the charge of being unlawfully in a dwelling house, despite having
been incarcerated in a city 200 kilometres away from where the
crime occurred when the offence happened. The defendant felt that
the judge’s sentence in a plea bargain would be shorter than the
months he would spend on remand awaiting a trial. The sentence
was ultimately overturned.
9. Trial. Anyone accused of a crime for which the punishment is five
years or longer has the constitutional right to a trial by jury, and the
accused can choose between a trial by judge or judge and jury—
although trials by jury are mandatory for serious crimes such as
murder. Canadian juries are composed of 12 people who must be 18
 years of age. Judges might appoint 13 or 14 jurors for a lengthy
trial (so there are replacements if a juror becomes ill or otherwise
no longer able to participate), but only 12 jurors can deliberate in
the case.
Trials involve the presentation of evidence by the Crown
prosecutor and defence counsel. The accused person is assumed to
be innocent until they are found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,
and the judge (or judge and jury) decides whether the Crown has
successfully made its case. Trials begin with the presentation of the
Crown’s case that includes evidence and testimony that supports the
charges. The Crown asks questions of the witnesses in a direct
examination, and once they are finished, the defence counsel can
cross-examine the prosecutor’s witness.
Once the prosecution has presented all of their evidence, the
defence counsel presents their case and may question witnesses,
who can also be cross-examined by the Crown prosecutor. After the
defence is finished presenting their case, both sides summarize
their cases and their reasons for recommending conviction or
acquittal.
10. The verdict. After the defence and Crown counsel have
summarized their cases, the court decides whether the Crown has
met the standard of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and will either
convict or acquit the accused. In a jury trial, the judge instructs the
jury on the law that applies to the case, and the jury decides on the
guilt of the accused. Three results are possible: guilty, not guilty, or
a hung jury. A hung jury occurs when the jury is not able to reach a
unanimous decision and they believe that a decision cannot be
reached. If this happens, the judge may order a new trial (with or
without a jury). If the accused is found not guilty, they are free to
go and cannot be tried again on the same charge, unless the Crown
prosecutor appeals the verdict and the appellate court orders a new
trial.
 Sentencing. The judge is responsible for the sentence, and it is
11. common for them to order a pre-sentence investigation report.
These reports are compiled by probation officers and address the
offender’s strengths and weaknesses, including their potential for
rehabilitation and risk to the public. In cases of plea bargaining, the
Crown and defence counsel will make joint sentencing
recommendations, but the judge is not required to accept those
recommendations when meting out the individual’s sentence.
12. Appealing the verdict or sentence. Appeals are requests for a
higher court (such as the provincial courts of appeal) to change a
lower court’s decision. Unlike in the United States, the severity of a
sentence in Canada can be appealed to a higher court. Crown
prosecutors can also appeal non-guilty verdicts. Although appeals
of sentences are rare compared to the volume of criminal cases,
they are more likely to occur when it is thought that the trial judge
made an error on a point of law.

Although the 12 steps identified look relatively straightforward, many

of the case studies that start each chapter of this book show it can take
years before complicated cases are resolved. At each of those 12 points,
decisions are made about the matter and whether (and how) it should
proceed. In a complicated case, dozens of participants might be involved,
including the police officers investigating the offence(s), civilian workers
who analyze the evidence collected from a crime scene, the prosecutor and
defence counsel (and their colleagues), the court personnel, and
correctional staff, including probation officers who might write pre-
sentence reports for the courts. Moreover, although these stages were
briefly described in this section, entire books have been written about each
of these 12 elements, and there are countless subtle rules, guidelines, and
laws that defy easy explanation. Last, while the formal operations of
justice systems are shown in these 12 steps, there are also a set of informal
and unwritten practices at each point in the process, and these minor
variations in carrying out the work of the criminal justice system can have
a significant impact on an individual’s case.

ASSEMBLY-LINE JUSTICE
Sitting in any provincial or territorial courtroom for a few hours would
help any of us understand the term assembly-line justice. As noted in
Chapters 2 and 3, most criminal matters processed by provincial and
territorial courts are relatively minor offences. For instance, impaired
driving, theft, common assault, failure to comply with a judge’s order, and
breach of probation accounted for nearly half of all adult court cases in
2016/2017 (Miladinovic, 2019). These minor cases seldom receive any
publicity and they are dealt with relatively quickly. Few of them ever
result in any form of incarceration, either; as noted in Chapter 3, about
two-thirds of adult criminal court cases (63 per cent) result in a finding of
guilt, and probation is the most common sentence (Miladinovic, 2019, p.
3).
In Chapter 6, we looked at the adversarial nature of Canada’s court
system along with the fact that defendants have a right to a vigorous
defence. Given that right, one might ask, why are most cases processed so
quickly? In response to that question, we introduce two concepts. The first
is the presence of a group of court professionals who have been called the
courtroom work group. This concept, originally identified in the United
States, defines these groups as being composed of judges, Crown
prosecutors, and defence counsel, although they may also include
probation officers and court personnel such as clerks. In most courts, these
officials know each other and work together for years. As a result, they
have a stake in getting along by ensuring that most minor cases move
quickly through the system.

courtroom work group Composed of the judges, Crown prosecutors, defence counsel, and
court clerks from a local court.

One way that the courtroom work group can maximize their efficiency
is to put aside adversarial behaviour—at least for minor criminal cases—
and instead make decisions about sentences based on a shared
understanding of punishments for various crimes. As a result, if you
watched court proceedings for a month, you would have a pretty good
understanding of the average sentences for a given type of crime—this
average has been called the going rate. Casper and Brereton (1984, p. 131)
define the going rate as “shared beliefs about appropriate sentence levels
for defendants charged with given crimes who possess similar records.”
Once these going rates or sentencing norms are adopted by the group,
there may be resistance to change. As a result, some offenders believe that
legal aid counsel are not very effective, but it is important for the work
group to get along as they often work together for many years, and
participation in the work group may be more important to the members
than providing a vigorous defence for a one-time client. Grech (2017)
carried out a study of bail hearings in Ontario courts and she observed that
some of the outcomes of these hearings were the result of the informal
culture in the courts of “getting along.”

going rate The average sanction or punishment for a criminal offence in a local court, which
can vary between different courts.

So, does the presence of a courtroom work group mean that a

defendant cannot receive a vigorous defence? Addario (2015) commented
on defence counsel who engage in overzealous lawyering and observed
that, unlike what we see on television, “lawyers who fling wild accusations
lose credibility. They also lose their cases. The profession shuns such
lawyers, giving the worst a short shelf life in the private bar.” Of course,
these observations pertain to minor criminal matters; as the potential
punishments increase, there is a similar increase in adversarial lawyering.
Sylvestre, Damon, Blomley, and Bellot (2015) conducted a study of
bail and sentencing conditions, which included observing what occurs in
courts. Their description of a Vancouver court is similar to the assembly-
line justice that occurs throughout the country:

The atmosphere is a curious mix of theatre and the mundane.

The majesty of the Crown and the colorful red sash of “Your
 honor” combine with a highly bureaucratic and routinized
process. The cases are dealt with quickly, often taking only a
few minutes to process. The assembly line of the criminal
justice system rolls forward, with only the occasional
moment of confusion and hesitancy.
The only variation is that of the alleged offenders who are
brought, one by one, before the court, some in person, and
others via video feed from a suburban remand centre. Most
of them are charged with petty offences (stealing $159 worth
of meat and cheese from a Safeway store, assaulting a
common-law partner, using a fake ID, failing to report to a
bail supervisor, and so on), with contextual and extenuating
circumstances noted quickly by the defence lawyer (grew up
in Nova Scotia, a history of abuse, a heroin addiction, a
background of mental illness). Standing in a glassed-in
prisoners’ box, they wear bright red, loose fitting tracksuits
and trainers. All are reserved and respectful. Some look
worried, others simply confused, perhaps going through
withdrawal. They say little, if anything, but appear as bit
players in a much larger performance. The judge periodically
addresses the accused person, not unkindly, explaining the
process, making sure they understand the orders. (Sylvestre,
Damon, Blomley, & Bellot, 2015, p. 1347)

The assembly-line approach to dispensing justice, where minor cases

are quickly processed, is a defining feature of the justice system. The fact
that cases are quickly processed is not a serious limitation, but as
described in the previous chapter, a growing number of Canadians are
appearing in court unrepresented by counsel. In addition, legal aid services
are often stretched thin, which increases the likelihood of errors occurring
during the legal process. Writing about justice in the United States, Bellin
(2015) argues that when defendants have “tireless attorneys fighting for
justice,” the criminal justice system “works as it is supposed to—making
the government earn every day of prison time it inflicts. But in most cases,
the system is just an assembly line … [that] often produces a rough
equivalent of justice, but just as often … it inflicts only pain—
unnecessary suffering for defendants, victims and everyone else
unfortunate enough to come into contact with the overburdened criminal
courts.”
Although rare in Canada, jury nullification occurs when a jury refuses
to convict an obviously guilty person because the jury believes that the
conviction and punishment may be worse than the crime. Murchison
(2013) reports that Canadian juries have attempted to nullify the law in
only three high-profile cases. It is likely that other juries have failed to
convict people who were obviously guilty on less serious matters. Some
minor crimes may lend themselves to nullification—for instance,
obtaining a conviction for the possession of a small amount of “magic
mushrooms” (psilocybin) would be difficult in a city where the university
population is high—and prosecutors might be reluctant to pursue those
types of cases.

jury nullification Occurs when a jury refuses to convict an individual who is obviously guilty,
as the jury believes that the conviction and punishment are worse than the crime that was
committed.

COURTROOM WORK GROUP

Judges
As noted earlier in this chapter, there are a number of key players in
courts. Judges have the highest visibility, and the pathways to “the bench”
are not easily achieved. First, potential candidates must have graduated
from a law school and have practised law for at least five years, although
most people appointed to the bench have more experience than that. All
Canadian judges are screened by officials from the provincial or federal
government, and successful judges are then appointed by a province’s
lieutenant-governor (for provincial court judges) or by the Governor
General of Canada (for federal appointees).
 With respect to provincial court judges, lawyers can apply to become a
judge or they can be nominated by peers in the legal profession. Their
application is reviewed by a committee that makes recommendations to
the provincial or territorial minister of justice or attorney general. These
recommendations are based on a review of the individual’s character and
include screening for disciplinary action as a lawyer, involvement in
criminal or civil matters, substance abuse, and financial problems such as
bankruptcies (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2010a).
The process of appointing federal judges who will sit in the appeal,
superior, Supreme, and Queen’s Bench courts in the provinces is similar in
that applications and nominations for the bench are carefully screened by
members of Judicial Advisory Committees (JACs) for each province that
include four representatives from the legal community (e.g., the Canadian
Bar Association, the provincial law society, and nominees from the
province’s chief justice and attorney general), three members of the
public, and one non-voting member representing Judicial Affairs. Fine
(2017) says that the diversity of these JACs increased after changes were
introduced in 2016, and the government has placed a priority on
appointing more judges who reflect the gender and visible minority
representation in Canada’s population. The stakes are high for potential
candidates, as the annual salary for federally appointed judges is over
$300,000 per year for those serving in appeal, superior, Supreme, or
Queen’s Bench courts, and is higher for chief and associate chief justice
positions and for judges serving in federal courts and the Supreme Court
(Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada, 2019).
The Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
(2019) reports that as of March 2019 there were almost 1,200 federal
judges sitting on the provincial or territorial superior courts (e.g., Court of
Queen’s Bench or Superior Court), family courts, and appellate courts.
Although they are hearing cases in the provincial Supreme or Queen’s
Bench courts, they are called federal judges because they are appointed
(and their salaries are paid) by the federal government. Judges sitting on
the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal
Court, and the Tax Court of Canada are fairly uncommon, as there are
fewer than 100 of these judges in the entire country. Of the federally
appointed judges, 41 per cent were women, and that proportion has been
slowly increasing (Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs
Canada, 2019).
The pathways to the Supreme Court bench are different across the
globe. Canadian judges apply to a committee, and, if successful in their
applications, they are appointed by the Governor General of Canada based
on recommendations from the Minister of Justice; they do not have to be
confirmed by politicians as they do in the United States. In many
European nations, by contrast, potential judges are prepared for the bench
with specialized university training, and their appointments are a
bureaucratic rather than political process. Once judges are appointed to the
bench, the demands on them are high. The decisions they make have a
significant impact on the lives of people accused of crimes, victims, and
the other members of the courtroom work group. And despite the high-
profile role of judges in the courtroom, many of their duties are invisible
to the observer. Cole (2016, p. 75) explains that judges “also supervise
pretrial conferences, meet with lawyers, see police officers about search
and other kinds of warrants, write judgments (quite lengthy at times), and
stay current with a large number of areas of the law.”

Crown Prosecutors
Crown prosecutors go by a number of names, including Crown counsel or
Crown attorneys. Prosecutors are seen as acting independently of
government, and the British Columbia Ministry of Justice (2016) observes
that “they do not represent the government, the police or the victim of an
offence…. [T]hey perform their function on behalf of the community.” In
that role, prosecutors are expected to be independent and to make
decisions on charging individuals based on what is in the public interest
without political interference. Crown counsel do, however, provide
support and information to different branches of government and the
police about criminal matters.
Like judges, Crown prosecutors are lawyers, although many
prosecutors have less formal experience as lawyers when initially
appointed to these positions. As a result, Crown prosecutors start their
careers handling minor cases with some supervision and then prosecute
more serious offences once they are more experienced. What is distinctive
about the role of prosecutors is their ability to exercise discretion and act
in the public interest.
The British Columbia Ministry of Justice (2016, p. 1) notes that Crown
prosecutors’ “duty is not to obtain a conviction at any cost, but to ensure
that the trial process is fair to all, that evidence is presented thoroughly
and accurately, and the integrity of the justice process is maintained.” This
approach is unlike what occurs in the United States, where chief
prosecutors (or district attorneys) are elected. Pfaff (2017) argues that this
electoral pressure contributes to miscarriages of justice and an over-
reliance on incarceration as prosecutors must not appear weak to the
electorate by being “soft on crime.”
Even though there is less pressure on Canadian prosecutors to win at
all costs, some of them have engaged in misconduct, and their conduct has
resulted in lawsuits. In March 2018, a Supreme Court of British Columbia
judge awarded a Victoria couple $1.7 million for malicious prosecution by
the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In his written decision, Justice Punnett
explained that the conduct of the CRA was “high-handed, reprehensible and
malicious” and that “a government agency maliciously used the criminal
justice system to pursue the plaintiffs” (Samaroo v Canada Revenue
Agency, para. 325 and 330).
Not all prosecutions are carried out by government-paid Crown
prosecutors employed by provincial or federal governments. In cases
where the public might perceive that prosecutors could be biased—such as
an investigation of the wrongdoing of other prosecutors—the province can
appoint special prosecutors, who are experienced lawyers paid by the
province to look into specific cases. Most of the issues addressed by these
special prosecutors are high-visibility offences. The prosecution of minor
criminal cases is also sometimes carried out by professionals other than
Crown prosecutors: In rural communities throughout Canada, summary
cases, traffic cases, and local bylaw matters are sometimes prosecuted by
police officers rather than by Crown prosecutors, and in this role these
officers are called provincial prosecutors.

special prosecutors Experienced lawyers who are appointed by a province or territory to

investigate offences where government prosecutors might be perceived as biased, such as the
investigation of an alleged case of prosecutorial misconduct.
provincial prosecutors Officials (including police officers in some courts) who prosecute
minor criminal cases (e.g., summary matters), traffic cases, and infractions of local bylaws.

Although prosecutors had evidence that Ivan Henry had not committed a series of sex crimes
in the 1980s, they proceeded with his prosecution, which resulted in his wrongful conviction
and imprisonment for 27 years; he was released in 2010. In 2015 the Supreme Court of
Canada ruled that he could sue Crown prosecutors for withholding evidence favourable to
the defendant (Mulgrew, 2016). This was an important decision as it lowered the threshold
for suing prosecutors for wrongful convictions. Henry received an $8-million settlement for
his wrongful conviction, but he has since been sued by five women claiming he sexually
assaulted them in the 1980s (Fraser, 2018).
Defence Counsel
Individuals who have been accused of committing a crime and have been
detained by the police have a Charter right to be represented by a lawyer
or counsel. Guaranteeing the right to counsel is intended to reduce
injustices by increasing our due process protections. Although that right
exists in reality, in practice most suspects do not speak with their counsel
until their first court appearance.
Like judges and Crown prosecutors, defence counsel are trained
lawyers, although they may be supported by other professionals such as
paralegals (licensed paralegals have basic legal training and may
represent their clients in traffic courts and carry out legal research—
although their roles vary between the provinces). According to the Alberta
Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General (2018), defence counsel’s
responsibilities are to ensure:

paralegals Licensed paralegals have some legal training and perform legal work for law firms
and lawyers.

• that full disclosure is provided by the Crown;

• that all evidence bearing on the accused’s case is disclosed or
produced;
• that all legal issues bearing on the accused’s case are fully explored
and properly adjudicated [e.g., that all evidence was collected
according to constitutional standards];
• that all evidence supporting the accused’s case is tendered at trial;
• that Crown witnesses are cross-examined and weaknesses in the
Crown case are explored;
• that an accused is convicted only when the Crown has satisfied its
constitutional burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt;
• that, where an accused is convicted, the penalty is proportionate to
the gravity of the offence and to the degree of culpability of the
accused;
 that all options are explored for rehabilitation and reintegration of
• the accused, consistent with community safety; and
• that apparent errors made in trials are properly reviewed on appeal.

The justice system expects a lot from defence counsel and there are a
number of factors that make their jobs difficult. Many accused people
receive services from legal aid counsel. Legal aid lawyers, however, are
cutting services to some groups (e.g., refugee claimants in British
Columbia), and placing restrictions on services, such as no longer funding
non–legal aid lawyers for murder trials in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Support Personnel
Although judges, prosecutors, and defence counsel are considered to be the
main players in the courtroom, they are supported by a number of other
professionals. Court clerks, for instance, are responsible for putting
together the docket (the cases scheduled for court that day) and ensuring
that the cases flow through the court. Their duties might include “calling
cases, reading charges, administering oaths to witnesses and interpreters,
recording and maintaining exhibits, monitoring court audio recordings,
recording decisions and completing court records” (British Columbia
Ministry of Justice, 2018, para. 7). These clerks are supervised by court
administrators. In major centres like Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver,
court administrators may be responsible for overseeing the operations of
dozens of courtrooms.

court clerks Responsible for ensuring that a court’s paperwork and records are maintained,
creating the court’s docket, and sometimes administering oaths to witnesses.
docket The list of cases scheduled for court for the day.

The Department of Justice (2017) also provides funding for Indigenous

courtwork services in the three territories and seven provinces (the
exceptions are New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince
Edward Island). Indigenous courtworkers play an important role in
providing services to any Indigenous person accused of an offence and to
their family members who are seeking help. In addition to advocating on
behalf of their clients, courtworkers offer support for these individuals,
provide information about the rights of people accused of crimes and what
they can expect in court, provide translation services, and help their clients
navigate their way through the justice system.

Indigenous courtworkers Provide services to Indigenous people accused of an offence and to

their family members, including advocating on the accused’s behalf, providing information
about the accused’s rights and what to expect in court, and offering translation services.

The arrangements for ensuring security in courtrooms vary across the

nation. Sheriffs in most provinces are responsible for escorting and
transporting detainees and prisoners serving sentences. The roles and
responsibilities of these uniformed officials vary—in Alberta and
Saskatchewan, for example, sheriffs are armed, whereas in Nova Scotia
they are not. In rural and small-town courts, police officers may provide
all of the court security, and in some places, the provincial police or RCMP
are primarily responsible for transporting prisoners and providing
courtroom security.

sheriffs In many provinces, sheriffs provide court security and transport prisoners from the
court to correctional facilities.

A Closer Look
Rural Courts and Access to Justice
Courts in Canada’s largest cities are formal, permanent structures staffed with dozens
of professionals who manage hundreds of cases. There is, however, a shortage of both
lawyers and courthouses in rural areas and these two factors reduce access to justice
for rural peoples. The Canadian Bar Association (2013, p. 16) says that the number of
lawyers in rural areas has been decreasing as younger lawyers are reluctant to work in
the countryside and their older counterparts are retiring. Baxter and Yoon’s (2014)
survey of rural Ontario lawyers reveals that less than 15 per cent of them specialized in
criminal matters. Moreover, these researchers found that sparsely populated areas serve
as an “advice desert” where lawyers are not easily available for consultation; this might
have a greater impact on Indigenous peoples than their non-Indigenous counterparts.
Although technology may help rural people communicate with their counsel this may
be a poor substitute for face-to-face contact with them.
In addition to fewer criminal defence lawyers in the countryside, there is a
declining number of rural courts. Court proceedings in small towns throughout rural
Canada are often conducted only once or twice a month and are carried out in
makeshift facilities that were never intended to be courts, such as First Nations band
offices, Royal Canadian Legion halls, school gyms, social service boardrooms, and
church buildings. A Postmedia News (2017) story about court held in a northern
Saskatchewan curling rink describes the informal nature of these arrangements, as
shown by the foosball tables that are pushed aside to make room for the Crown and
defence counsel’s tables, and the menu board hanging above the proceedings,
advertising eggs for sale. These make-do facilities create a number of challenges for
the courtroom work group, detainees, victims, witnesses, people accused of crimes,
and sentenced prisoners. One of the foremost challenges is that most of these places
lack holding cells, meeting rooms, or prisoner’s docks, reducing privacy and
increasing the risk of escapes or of individuals causing disturbances (although these
acts are rare). Incarcerated suspects often meet with their lawyers in kitchens in
community halls or unsecured offices. Defence counsel in a makeshift northern
Quebec courtroom even met with their clients in bathroom stalls because there were no
private meeting spaces (Fennario, 2015).
The community of Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan, uses the lounge above their curling
rink as a courtroom once a month. Make-do facilities such as this one create
several challenges for the courtroom work group, detainees, victims, witnesses,
people accused of crimes, and sentenced prisoners. These facilities do not provide
holding cells, meeting rooms, or prisoner’s docks, reducing privacy and increasing
the risk of escapes and disturbances.

Depending on where a rural community is located, the entire courtroom work

group sometimes travels together. There are, for example, 15 fly-in communities in
northern Saskatchewan where court is held, and even getting from the airport (or dock
if a float plane is used) to the courtroom may be an hour’s drive. As a result, the work
groups sometimes rely on the RCMP for transportation. In a report prepared for the
Saskatchewan Provincial Court Judges Association (2011, pp. 59–60), Judge Sid
Robinson observes the following:

The court party’s arrival at court in an RCMP truck creates a

huge optics issue. First, having the Crown, defence lawyers
and judge arrive as a group can lead local citizens to
believe that matters have been discussed and decided
before court even starts. Secondly, arriving in a police
truck can suggest that the court party is little more than an
arm of the RCMP…. I do what I can to let people know that
I do not make deals before court and that I do not work for
the RCMP.

Griffiths, Murphy, and Tatz (2015, p. 7) point out that the police in remote
communities may be the only permanent representatives of the justice system.
Arranging court dates in rural or remote locations requires court staff to make flight
arrangements, securing accommodations for the judge and court workers and a secure
place for the prisoners with the police, as not all communities have cells to hold them
overnight. Despite the fact these temporary courts offer less than ideal arrangements,
they are important for providing rural people with access to the justice system.
Travelling to urban courts is expensive and a lack of public transportation increases the
possibility of missing a court date, which could result in failure to appear charges.
Despite the advantages of rural courts, provincial governments in New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan have closed
rural satellite courts or courthouses between 2015 and 2017. These cuts are part of a
long-term reduction of rural services. Although all governments must spend taxpayer
dollars carefully, decreasing access to the justice system may be a significant barrier to
justice for rural people.

A Closer Look
Bail: The Decision to Detain or Release
Many minor crimes are dealt with a promise of the accused person to appear in court;
they are only temporarily detained and then released. When a person is arrested, a
police officer gives them an appearance notice, requiring them to appear in court on a
specified date. An appearance notice is given to a person before they have been
formally charged with an offence. Once a person is charged, a summons can be sent to
the accused by mail or delivered in person. Either the appearance notice or a summons
can require the individual to appear at the police station to have their fingerprints and
pictures taken prior to their court appearance. If they fail to appear at the police station
to have their fingerprints taken or do not appear in court to answer to the charges
against them, a warrant for their arrest can be issued.
But what about people accused of more serious offences? On any given day there
are about 15,000 inmates held on remand and most of them have not been convicted
of a crime (a small proportion of them have been found guilty and are awaiting
sentencing). One important question is: why they are held in custody? First, if a police
officer wants to detain an arrestee, they must appear before a judge or justice of the
peace within 24 hours for a hearing and the Crown must justify the reasons for keeping
the accused in custody. According to the British Columbia Prosecution Service (2017,
p. 2) the three grounds for detaining an individual are set out in the Criminal Code:

• To ensure the accused person attends court;

• To ensure the safety or protection of the public, including any victims or witnesses;
or,
• To maintain confidence in the administration of justice.

In cases where someone is accused of committing a relatively minor crime, bail

hearings tend to be relatively short proceedings, although if the matter is adjourned
because the judge requires more information, they will remain in custody until that
information is provided, which could be several days or longer. For serious or multiple
offences, a bail hearing could last several days; very serious or complicated cases can
take longer. In her study of an Ontario court, Grech (2017, p. 145) found that the
Crown challenged the release of the accused in about one-quarter of the hearings.
 The individual’s guilt is not assessed in bail hearings; the only decision considered
is whether the accused can be released from custody. Allowing them to reside in the
community is important, as detaining them could have adverse impacts on their
employment, education, and family relationships, especially when a trial date is set
months or even years into the future. In the R v Antic (2017, para. 2) case the Supreme
Court of Canada observes that:

The right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause is an essential
element of an enlightened criminal justice system. It entrenches the effect of
the presumption of innocence at the pre-trial stage of the criminal trial process
and safeguards the liberty of accused persons.

In deciding whether to release the accused until their trial, the judge has to weigh the
risks to the public against their freedoms. If they are detained, they will be placed on
remand in a provincial correctional centre. Conditions in remand units are generally
harsh, and the individual may have no access to rehabilitative programs while in
custody (as they have not been convicted of an offence). As a result, some people will
plead guilty to avoid a lengthy stay in remand prior to a trial (Canadian Civil Liberties
Association, 2014).
Before an accused person is released into the community, the judge might require
them to show the court a bail plan, where the Crown’s concerns, such as a substance
abuse problem or a lack of community supports, are addressed. Some accused will be
required to pay an amount of money called bail to guarantee they will appear in court.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (2014, p. 102) reports that the average
amount of bail in five provinces and Yukon was about $2,700, although the accused is
only required to pay if they fail to appear in court. The judge may also require that the
accused have a surety, who is a person willing to supervise them and report to the
police or court if the accused is not abiding by conditions of their release.
Although there are no national statistics that describe bail conditions, Malakieh
(2018, p. 10) reports that the average person on bail in Alberta had eight bail
conditions, while those on bail in British Columbia had an average of seven conditions.
The most common bail conditions were to report to one’s supervisor, reside at a place
approved by the court, and keep the peace and be of good behaviour (Malakieh,
2018). In her Ontario study of bail conditions, Grech (2017, p. 156) was told by a
defence counsel that the accused would agree to almost any conditions to be released
from custody. Does this set the individual up to fail? If the accused violates their bail
conditions, they are returned to court, their bail may be revoked, and they may be
remanded into custody until their trial.
SPECIALIZED COURTS
Traditional provincial courts have a generalist orientation, which means
that they handle a wide range of cases from wilful damage to murder. Most
of these cases are processed efficiently, but sometimes the offenders who
pass through these courts commit further crimes. Throughout this book,
we have talked about the fact that a large number of individuals in the
criminal justice system have some type of special need, such as substance
abuse problems or mental illnesses, or have been convicted of crimes
(such as domestic violence) where a specialized type of intervention might
be beneficial and might hold them more accountable. Some offenders, and
particularly those with mental illnesses, are caught in a revolving door
between the criminal justice system, community mental health services,
and social services (Michalski, 2017). People with mental health
problems, for example, are routinely arrested for very minor offences,
brought before the courts, and then released back to the community—and
some appear before the local courts dozens of times.
In response to these special-needs offenders, a growing number of
specialized courts— also called problem-solving courts or therapeutic
courts—are being established across Canada. Drug treatment courts, for
example, were first introduced in Toronto in the 1990s, and Nova Scotia
has even introduced a specialized court in Dartmouth to manage the
challenges of offenders with opioid addictions (Irish, 2017).

specialized courts Courts that specialize in working with distinctive groups of offenders,
including people with mental illnesses or individuals convicted of specific offences such as
domestic violence. Also called problem-solving courts or therapeutic courts.

Specialized courts enable the members of the courtroom work group to

develop an expertise in dealing with offenders, making their interactions
with these individuals more effective. Often the prosecutors and defence
counsel work with probation officers and other team members who have
specialized training—such as addictions counsellors, mental health
specialists, and other helping professionals. The individuals before these
courts are often on probation; Hannah-Moffat and Maurutto (2012) note
that “participation in these programmes gives offenders the opportunity to
avoid jail” (p. 214), and in “less serious cases, defendants are told that if
they successfully complete the programme, the charges may be
withdrawn, or they will get an absolute or conditional discharge” (p. 205).
Specialized courts for adults originated in the 1980s in the United
States, and today there are thousands of problem-solving courts in
America (National Institute of Justice, 2017; Strong, Rantala, &
Kyckelhahn, 2016). By developing an expertise in either offenders or
distinctive offences (such as domestic violence), it is thought that the
courts can provide a more effective service. The National Institute of
Justice (2017) identifies the following advantages of specialized courts:

• offender screening and assessment of risks, needs, and responsivity;

• offender monitoring—such as drug testing—and supervision;
• graduated sanctions and incentives; and
• treatment and rehabilitative services.

Altogether, specialized courts have a strong rehabilitative outlook, but

they are also supported by the coercive power of the justice system. As
noted by the National Institute of Justice (2017), offenders’ risks and
needs are identified, and treatment plans are developed to address their
unmet needs. Offenders may be brought before the court on a regular
basis, such as every month, so the judge can monitor their progress. In
specialized courts, the members of the courtroom work group act in a non-
adversarial manner while acknowledging a number of shared goals. These
interventions, however, can only work if they are supported by
community-based services, which can be expensive but are a fraction of
the $120,571 it cost to hold a federal prisoner in 2017/2018 (Malakieh,
2019).
Nova Scotia’s Mental Health Court. Canadian court officials overwhelmingly reported that
problem-solving courts enhanced the quality of life for participants, aided in their mental
health or addiction recoveries, and reduced their criminal justice contacts after they finished
the program.

We know that people with mental health or addiction problems will

occasionally relapse (or reoffend), and specialized courts respond with a
series of graduated sanctions, which means that sanctions or punishments
start with the least restrictive response and then get more severe if the
offender continues to engage in unacceptable behaviour. What makes a
specialized court system different than referring an offender to an external
treatment program (which is the norm for probationers) is that the
specialized court is in a better position to use coercive power to ensure the
individual is complying with their treatment. Some people are
uncomfortable with using coercion to force offenders to comply with
treatment. Lutze (2014, p. xi), writing about probation and parole officers,
observes that “community corrections is a unique profession that
possesses the coercive power of the criminal justice system to manage
offenders’ risk and garners the power of the helping professions to address
offenders’ needs.”

graduated sanctions Punishments that start with the least restrictive response and then become
more severe if the individual continues to reoffend.

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Cross-National Differences in the Rule of Law
The rule of law goes beyond what judges and lawyers do in their work. The World
Justice Project (2019, p. 4) identifies four principles underlying the rule of law:

1. The government and its officials and agents as well as individuals and private
entities are accountable under the law.
2. The laws are clear, publicized, stable, and just; are applied evenly; and protect
fundamental rights.
3. The process by which the laws are enacted, administered, and enforced is
accessible, fair, and efficient.
4. Justice is delivered … by competent, ethical, and independent representatives and
neutrals who are of sufficient number, have adequate resources, and reflect the
makeup of the communities they serve.

We could shorten all of these statements into one simple question: Can an ordinary
person receive decent, fair, and respectful treatment from government officials without
fear or the use of bribery?
All cross-national comparisons can be tricky to make, as richer, developed nations
have more options to provide health, educational, social service, or criminal justice
interventions than do poorer nations. The World Justice Project (2019) developed an
index that classifies the rule of law based on nine different themes. These indices can
be useful as they give us a type of “report card” that enables government officials to
identify and overcome weaknesses while building on strengths. Figure 7.2 shows that
Germany has the highest level of rule of law among the G7 nations, but Canada is tied
for the second-highest value (higher values are associated with more effective and less
corrupt systems). So, is there room for improvement? The highest values for criminal
justice go to the Nordic countries—Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland received
the top four global rankings and all had values of 0.85 or higher. As a result, while
 Canada’s index (0.81) is consistent with the other G7 nations, there is still a need for
improvement before Canada can be the highest-ranked criminal justice system.

FIGURE 7.2 Rule of Law Index, 2019, G7 Nations

Adapted from the World Justice Project (2019)

Most specialized courts in Canada are related to domestic violence or

mental health issues, although other types exist or are being developed. A
Saskatchewan mental health court, for instance, is developing separate
arrangements for offenders afflicted with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
(FASD). FASD is caused by exposure of the fetus to alcohol during the
mother’s pregnancy, and people suffering from FASD have problems with
their memory, learning, attention, and interpersonal communication, as
well as physical ailments. Medwick and Chudley (2018, p. vii) estimate
that about 1 per cent of the Canadian population is affected by FASD and
that these people have problems with “homelessness, substance abuse,
interactions with the law, unemployment, mental illness, school drop-out,
and breakdown of the family unit.” Although some individuals with FASD
have appeared before mental health courts, their needs are quite
distinctive, and in some places with a high prevalence of these people,
specialized court-based interventions may be required.
 In the United States, specialized courts are more prevalent. Some cities
have introduced courts to tackle the problems of gun violence (gun
courts), driving while intoxicated, and prostitution. In addition, a number
of specialized offender groups have also been targeted by specialized
courts, including gamblers, people experiencing homelessness, and most
recently, military veterans. In large cities such as Toronto, Montreal, and
Vancouver, there may be enough offenders to warrant these specialized
courts, but in smaller cities and towns the number of these cases is so low
that these strategies might not be worthwhile. This may be another
example of how rural and small-town residents cannot benefit from
services taken for granted by their urban counterparts.
Some of the strongest evaluations of specialized courts have been
published by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (2018),
which found that every dollar spent on drug courts provided a $2.83
benefit to participants and taxpayers (including reduced crime). There was
an even stronger benefit when individuals appeared in mental health
courts, with a $5.62 benefit to taxpayers for every dollar spent on these
courts.
In order to receive the best return on our investments in these courts,
however, the specialized services must match the needs of the clients, and
an evaluation of a Toronto youth mental health court suggests this does not
always occur (Davis, Peterson-Badali, Weagant, & Skilling, 2015).
Moreover, in their study of a Vancouver drug treatment court, Somers,
Rezansoff, and Moniruzzaman (2014) found that the interventions of the
court were more successful with women and Indigenous peoples. Despite
those limitations, these courts appear to offer very promising benefits in
terms of cost savings. There is still a need to carry out long-term
evaluations to determine the most effective treatment approaches and the
types of offenders who are most likely to benefit from these interventions.
Specialized courts attempt to balance the coercive powers of the
justice system with rehabilitation and treatment opportunities that match
the needs of offenders. The challenge of balancing those goals is that it is
easy to hold offenders accountable and impose punishments on those who
fail to abide by their probation conditions, but in some cases there are not
enough community resources to support the individual’s rehabilitation.
Writing about courts in Nunavut, Ferrazzi and Krupa (2016) point out that
it may be difficult to balance treatment and criminal justice and that there
may be some concerns around a lack of due process protections. Hannah-
Moffat and Maurutto (2012) suggest that Ontario prosecutors pressured
some defendants into pleas of guilt even when the Crown had weak cases
that might never have gone to trial. Furthermore, in their analysis of six
Canadian specialty courts, Quirouette, Hannah-Moffat, and Maurutto
(2015) found that some specialized courts required homeless offenders to
maintain residence in shelters, but failing to abide by the rules of those
shelters sometimes resulted in these individuals breaching the conditions
of probation, which put them at risk of incurring more criminal charges.
As a result, supporters of the due process perspective may approach the
issue of specialized courts with both optimism and skepticism. These
examples again show that our interventions can have unanticipated or
unintended results.

Race, Class, and Gender

Representative Juries, Justice, and the Colten Boushie
Case
On May 21, 2015, the Supreme Court decided in R v Kokopenace that the
manslaughter conviction of an Indigenous man from Ontario should stand, even
though there was a lack of Indigenous people on the jury. Like other issues related to
the outcomes of marginalized people in the justice system, there are no easy answers to
the issue of representativeness. On the one hand, individuals have a Charter right to a
representative jury. On the other hand, some people have been critical of the way that
Ontario prepares its jury rolls (lists from which potential jurors are drawn), and they
maintain that the province does not do enough to ensure representative juries. So, what
is a representative jury? According to the Supreme Court, “what is required is a
representative cross-section of society, honestly and fairly chosen,” and in terms of the
jury roll, “representativeness focuses on the process used to compile it, not its ultimate
composition” (R v Kokopenace, 2015).

representativeness A concept related to the composition of juries and whether they

reflect the demographic characteristics of a community.
 jury rolls The lists from which a jury is drawn; in Ontario, lists of potential jurors are
compiled using the most recent voters’ lists and the band lists from First Nations.

The Supreme Court observed that “requiring a jury roll to proportionately represent
the different religions, races, cultures, or individual characteristics of eligible jurors
would create a number of insurmountable problems. There are an infinite number of
characteristics that one might consider should be represented, and even if a perfect
source list were used, it would be impossible to create a jury roll that fully represents
them” (R v Kokopenace, 2015).
The issue of representative juries was again raised with the case of Gerald Stanley,
who was acquitted of the second-degree murder of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old
Indigenous man from Saskatchewan. One of the issues raised after Stanley’s acquittal
was that no Indigenous people served on this jury. Kent Roach (2018, para. 8), a
prominent University of Toronto law professor, said that the jury selection showed the
“alienation and exclusion of Indigenous people from the justice system.” In order to
remedy this shortcoming, Roach recommended that the Criminal Code be amended to
make jury panels more representative, enabling those who have served more than a
year in prison to serve on juries (they are currently excluded) and abolishing
peremptory challenges—where lawyers can exclude some potential jurors. The federal
government has introduced legislation “changing the jury selection process to foster
more representative juries” (Senate of Canada, 2019, para. 2).

Critics argue that specialized courts coerce offenders into treatment,

and they question whether such programs have the same impact as
voluntary treatment. Supporters of the crime control approach, by contrast,
do not share the same concerns about coerced treatment, citing the many
people who engage in addictive behaviours who might not participate in
treatment if they were not afraid of being incarcerated. The promise of a
discharge is a further motivation to comply with the expectations of the
court.

MYTH OR REALITY
The Independence of Prosecutorial Discretion and the
Robert Latimer Case
Crown attorneys use their discretion to decide whether they will prosecute a person
accused of a crime. They are likely to proceed if there is a reasonable likelihood of
conviction and if bringing the matter before a court is in the public’s interest (Manitoba
Justice, 2018). They also have discretion about the charges that can be filed, and as
noted in Chapter 2, a homicide can be prosecuted as an act of manslaughter, first-
degree murder, or second-degree murder. The Department of Justice and Public Safety
of Newfoundland and Labrador (2007, p. 5-1) observes that “considerable care must
be taken in each case to ensure that the right decision is made. A wrong decision to
prosecute and, conversely, a wrong decision not to prosecute, both tend to undermine
the confidence of the community in the criminal justice system.” Are prosecutors truly
independent, or is the decision to prosecute—and the decision about which offence to
pursue in court—guided by public and political opinions?
In most cases, the decisions to prosecute serious crimes are non-controversial, but
the Robert Latimer case was controversial as it involved an otherwise loving father
who murdered his profoundly disabled 12-year-old daughter, Tracy, in 1993, because
he wanted to end her suffering. Tracy suffered from brain damage that occurred at
birth: she was a quadriplegic who had undergone a number of painful surgeries
(Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2010b). Latimer claimed that “surgery performed
on Tracy a year before she died had turned her from ‘a happy little girl’ into a victim of
constant agony. Tracy could not walk, talk or feed herself. At her death she weighed
less than 40 pounds,” and Tracy was scheduled to undergo additional surgeries “to
stabilize metal rods they had inserted into her back to help her stay upright” (DePalma,
1997). Latimer killed his daughter by running a hose from the exhaust pipe to the cab
of his vehicle, and she died of carbon monoxide poisoning while the other family
members were at church. Tracy’s murder was seen by many as an act of mercy or love,
and not an act of malice, and a 1999 Ipsos Reid poll found that about three-quarters of
Canadian adults believed that Latimer killed his daughter out of compassion.
But advocates for the disabled thought otherwise, and DePalma (1997) notes that
“handicapped people and the organizations representing them say that anything less
than a stiff sentence would send a message that the lives of severely disabled people
are worth less than the lives of everyone else.” Despite the fact that public opinion was
overwhelmingly supportive of Latimer, he was charged with first-degree murder and
was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder, although that conviction was
overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada because the prosecutor had engaged in
misconduct. A second trial also resulted in a conviction of second-degree murder. The
jury asked that Latimer’s sentence be mitigated, and a two-year sentence was imposed
(one year behind bars with the remainder served in community supervision) rather than
the 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal
reinstated the mandatory sentence. Latimer appealed that decision and the Supreme
Court of Canada upheld the 10-year sentence.
The homicide occurred in 1993, and Latimer started serving his prison sentence in
2001. He was only granted day parole in 2008 and full parole in 2010. Some people
believe that Latimer was slow to be released because he did not express a proper
amount of remorse for his actions, and some considered him to be a threat to public
safety. In a 2017 interview, Latimer said that “what I did was right, and the
government and the authorities can’t understand that. Or the fact that what they’ve
done is wrong—they can’t understand that” (MacPherson, 2017).
It is said that “hard cases make bad laws,” or in other words, crimes that rarely
occur and are the result of very unusual circumstances do not always fit neatly in the
Criminal Code when it comes to questions of what punishments should be imposed.
While we should not design laws around these rare acts, our criminal laws should also
allow the exercise of discretion. Writing about the Latimer case, Roach (2017, p. 25)
observes that “the criminal law will lose legitimacy if there are too many cases where
there is a wide divergence from the public’s verdict and those produced by state law.”
By reviewing the Latimer case, we can see problems with the definitions of crime,
punishment for an act considered by most of us to be an act of mercy, and the
struggles of one person against the power of the justice system for doing something he
considered the “right thing to do.” On the other hand, we also understand the position
of people with disabilities who consider Latimer to be an unrepentant killer.
Serving on a jury is an important civic duty and any adult can be called to serve on one,
although individuals with some criminal records are generally excluded, as are police
officers. In addition to the demands on their time, there is a growing recognition that jurors
can be exposed to disturbing evidence, such as pictures of victims, that can be traumatizing.
Jurors on the Paul Bernardo trial in the 1990s, for example, were traumatized after viewing
videos of his victims being tortured (Previl, 2019).

SUMMARY
Most of our knowledge about what occurs in Canadian courts comes from
the entertainment media, as few of us spend time in courtrooms. This is
both a good thing and a bad thing. First, an hour’s exposure to a provincial
or territorial court would reveal that most crime is minor and that most
cases are handled in a relatively low-key manner. The facts are reported,
sentences are imposed, and there is very little of the drama portrayed in
US television programs. It is important to remember that there were
almost 360,000 adult court cases in Canada in 2016/2017, and nearly half
were for impaired driving, theft, common assault, failure to comply with
an order, or breach of probation (and a case could involve more than one
criminal charge) (Miladinovic, 2019). These are hardly the types of crimes
that would rate an episode of Law & Order. McKnight (2016, p. 28) has
written about media misrepresentations of crime in Canada and observes
that “the picture of crime painted by the media is … distorted.”
This chapter shows that the personnel employed within Canada’s court
systems attempt to balance the goals of due process and crime control
approaches. It is possible that the crime control model, with its focus on
swift resolution of minor cases (the assembly line), may be the norm for
minor offences in provincial and territorial courts, but as the potential
punishments for the accused become more severe, there is an increased
need to ensure that due process protections are respected, and proceedings
become more adversarial.
The description of court organization and personnel presented in this
chapter suggests that there are subtle differences in the way that Canada’s
justice system is administered across the country. There are, for example,
hundreds of provincial courts throughout the nation, and although their
actions are guided by the Charter and the Criminal Code, there is some
variation in how they operate. These differences may originate in the
courtroom work groups, the culture of each court, and to some extent
where the court is located. Spending an afternoon in a downtown Toronto
court will be a totally different experience than spending a few hours in
the Wunnumin Lake court, which is held in a school gym in the Northern
Ontario First Nation. One question that comes from acknowledging those
differences is whether some Canadians accused or convicted of crimes are
at a disadvantage because of where they appeared in court.
One way we can increase the effectiveness of court systems is to
provide specialized services for difficult-to-manage groups of offenders or
for those who commit crimes that may require a more sophisticated
response than those offered by regular courts. As a result, there is growing
interest in establishing specialized courts for offenders convicted of
crimes such as domestic violence or for individuals who have specialized
needs such as people with mental illnesses. These strategies are in
response to a “revolving door” situation where some offenders are
arrested, required to appear in court, punished, and then released only to
reoffend again. Evaluations have shown that tackling the underlying
problems or providing resources to respond to such offenders’ unmet
needs in specialized courts are cost-effective approaches (Washington
State Institute for Public Policy, 2018). While these efforts are
commendable and a step in the right direction, we have to be mindful that
people living in the countryside might not be able to access these services,
and Canadian researchers have been critical that these courts may have
unanticipated consequences such as increasing the punishment for some
participants (Quirouette, Hannah-Moffat, & Maurutto, 2015). Like so
many other issues raised in this book, there are no easy answers.

Career SNAPSHOT
Crown Prosecutor
Prosecutors play a vitally important role in the justice system, and one significant
difference between Canadian and US systems is the non-political role of the prosecutor
in Canada. The emphasis of the justice system in Canada is to seek the truth and not a
conviction at all costs, and that creates a justice system less likely to result in wrongful
convictions as a result of misconduct (Campbell & Denov, 2016). Like other
professions within the justice system, there is tremendous diversity in the roles that
prosecutors can play, including working for the federal or provincial governments,
prosecuting relatively minor cases in a general caseload, or specializing in the
prosecution of serious violent offenders.

Profile
Name: Omar Siddiqui
Job Title: Crown Counsel, Manitoba Justice
Employed in current job since: 2004 (as a lawyer); 2013 (as provincial prosecutor)
Present Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Education: BA (Honours), University of Winnipeg; MA, McGill University; LLB,
Osgoode Hall Law School

Background
I decided to pursue a career as a lawyer following the advice given to me from an
elder scholar from my community. He impressed upon me that if I was interested in
making a change in the underlying structures of society, law was the discipline I
should consider. From that moment, I was guided by that advice. I ended up in law
school and ultimately prosecuting on behalf of both the federal and provincial Crown.

Work Experience
I articled in family law at Legal Aid Manitoba and then did some policy work before
joining the federal Department of Justice as a civil lawyer in the area of refugee and
immigration law. After two years, I moved to the criminal section of the Department of
Justice (now the Public Prosecution Service of Canada) and prosecuted drug offences
under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act (crimes ranging from simple
possession to major drug trafficking) for approximately seven years, before starting
with Manitoba Justice prosecuting general Criminal Code offences from robberies to
sex assaults and murders. I have found there is no other area of law that so directly and
frequently engages Charter rights and requires practitioners to engage in analysis,
articulation, and ultimately in-depth interpretation of some of our most cherished rights
such as the right to silence and the right not to arbitrarily be detained or imprisoned.
Criminal law is often the forum through which we directly engage in conversations
related to our commitment to liberty and our willingness to allow the state to intrude on
that freedom.
There are a number of challenges in working as a federal or provincial prosecutor.
In addition to the usual issues of large caseloads, work-related stress, and pressure, I
am finding that my role as a Crown prosecutor is increasingly critical in addressing the
accessibility of the legal system particularly to victims. It is critical for Crowns to be
trauma-informed, culturally competent, and broadly aware of how our decisions
impact real people and real communities, how important it is to involve and keep
victims and families informed in the process, and how crucial it is to work toward the
creation of a safe environment for victims within the justice system.
With respect to career experiences that stand out in my mind, I recall walking back
from court in my robes and being asked by a member of the public from an
identifiably and historically socially disadvantaged community, “Are you on their side
or our side?” That impressed upon me how many bridges people working within the
justice system need to build with the citizenry.
I also recall my first jury trial on a particularly gruesome set of facts involving
death and dismemberment. It started with a man who was looking through dumpsters
and found a pair of human arms—the hands were fingerprinted, which led to an
address, which led to a man opening the door to the police with the words, “I got into
a fight with my roommate.” We argued for a conviction on second-degree murder,
 challenging the accused on his version of events and the gruesome way the victim’s
body was treated. He stuck to his story that the death was not intended, and ultimately
a jury of 12 citizens believed him and found him not guilty of murder but guilty of
manslaughter. It is admirable (though some might disagree) how much faith we put in
the adversarial process: that two sides arguing it out will present two versions that
ordinary citizens must decide upon, and what they decide will be the “truth” that
forever impacts people’s lives.
In terms of my most rewarding experience, I realize after over a decade of practice
that I am uniquely positioned to assist the public (through teaching, speaking,
engaging, or just conversing) and, in particular, to help historically disadvantaged
communities, some of which are overrepresented in the justice system. The
Constitution and our legal principles, if applied progressively, can be an instrument
through which we can realize a better and more just world. There was a time when this
was not the case and the highest offices in our land justified cultural genocide and
mass confiscation of liberty. The law need not be used anymore to reinforce the
patterns of our past history; rather, it should be a mechanism for reconciliation and
justice.

Advice to Students
Law school is increasingly competitive, so I recommend that students take whatever
undergraduate courses they excel at to ensure top marks. If you get admitted into law
school and it takes a toll on your mind and soul like it did mine, know that that is
normal, that it may not be an easy place to be or to think outside the box, but that
ultimately you will meet students and teachers who are committed, progressive, and
supportive and who will form part of your network as you push toward your
graduation. After law school, it is often hard to obtain a job, but there are support
networks available. If you befriend a lawyer whom you respect and admire, and whose
reputation in the Bar is sound, know that those personal connections are important in
this profession. But every jurisdiction has its unique characteristics, and every legal
association has its own culture.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Explain why the term assembly line could be used to describe the work of the provincial
courts. Is that approach more consistent with the crime control or due process model?
2. Describe why it is in the best interests of the courtroom work group to establish a going
rate for minor offences.
3. Why is it important that the poor have access to state-funded counsel such as legal aid?
4. What are some advantages of developing specialized courts?
5. Describe how a case flows through the justice system, prior to trial and afterward, and
explain the importance of the accused proceeding through the system in a sequential
manner.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Some judges seem to resist imposing severe sanctions on serious wrongdoers, which is
inconsistent with the desires of ordinary Canadians. Do you think that the judiciary is
out of touch with the public?
2. Rural suspects and offenders may be disadvantaged for a number of reasons, including
that prosecutions might be carried out by police officers (who might lack the objectivity
of full-time prosecutors), legal aid services might be provided by travelling lawyers, and
few rehabilitative services might be available in the countryside. How can governments
overcome those barriers to justice?
3. Discuss the pros and cons of using coercion in specialized courts to ensure that
offenders fully participate in rehabilitative programs.
4. Define the rule of law and provide a few reasons why some nations would prioritize this
principle.
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having representative juries? Should the
additional costs of making juries more representative be considered when thinking
about just and fair outcomes for accused people at trial?

INTERNET SITE
“Why I Went to Law School” is a campaign that features 100 stories
from Ontario lawyers about why they decided to go to law school.
Their accounts provide examples of individuals fighting injustice and
racism, and advocating for victims of crime.
www.oba.org/News-Media/News/2014/June2014/Why-I-Went-to-
Law-School-campaign-update-First-100

CASES CITED
R v Antic, 2017 SCC 27, [2017] 1 SCR 509
R v Kokopenace, 2015 SCC 28, [2015] 2 SCR 398
Samaroo v Canada Revenue Agency, 2018 BCSC 324
 8 Sentencing

Dellen Millard, illustrated at left in this sketch showing his sentencing

hearing, was sentenced to three counts of first-degree murder for the killings of
Laura Babcock, Tim Bosma, and his father, Wayne Millard, and he will not be
eligible to apply for parole for 75 years (Faris, 2019). Unlike in the United
States, consecutive life sentences have only been used in Canada since 2011. Do
you think harsher sentences discourage potential criminals? (Photo Credit: The
Canadian Press/Alexandra Newbould)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe different types of sentencing options for “getting tough” on offenders, including
indeterminate sentences, truth in sentencing, and mandatory minimum sentences
• Describe different community-based and custodial sentencing options
• Provide some possible reasons for the interprovincial variation in sentencing
• Explain why aggravating and mitigating factors are considered at sentencing
• Explain why pre-sentence reports are completed, and discuss the importance of Gladue
reports for Indigenous offenders

CASE STUDY
What is the Correct Punishment
for Bad Driving Causing Serious
Injuries or Death?
In June 2017, 20-year-old Felix Laframboise fell asleep driving on Ontario’s Highway 401
and he rear-ended a van. The van crashed; the driver, Kristine Cadieux, was killed and her
husband Robert “suffered a fractured vertebra, a concussion, whiplash and broken ribs.
The injuries from the crash have left him unable to work” (Burgess, 2018, para. 24). Three
children were left without a mother and the business the husband and wife operated has
struggled since the crash.
The police investigation revealed that Laframboise was not intoxicated, nor was he
texting or committing any other crime. As a result, he was charged with careless driving,
which is not a criminal offence; punishments for violations of this regulation are spelled
out by Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act. On January 9, 2018, Laframboise appeared in court
and pleaded guilty, accepting responsibility for falling asleep and expressing his apologies
to the family for their loss. As this was not a criminal matter, the case was prosecuted by an
articling law student instead of a regular Crown prosecutor, and her ability to prosecute the
case was hampered as the proceedings were conducted in French and she could not speak
the language, nor did she have an interpreter. The justice of the peace presiding over the
 court sentenced Laframboise to a $2,000 fine (the maximum amount for careless driving),
and the matter was closed.
Cadieux’s family was upset with the outcome of the case; they had not been aware that
Laframboise would be sentenced on January 9, 2018, so they were not in court, nor did
they have the opportunity to submit a victim impact statement to the court. There were also
criticisms that a student was prosecuting the case without the proper supervision of a
Crown prosecutor, and that the student and a paralegal who was helping her did not have
the file with them when the case was before the court (Egan, 2018a). The Crown appealed
the sentence, and on March 27, 2018, Laframboise received an 18-month licence
suspension. As Cadieux’s family was present at this hearing, they were able to present their
victim impact statement and Laframboise was able to apologize and express his remorse
directly to the family. Egan (2018b) reports that Robert Cadieux was upset with the police
investigation and how the case seemed to have fallen through the cracks in the criminal
justice system.

CRITICAL QUESTIONS
1. After this incident, Ontario introduced laws to enhance punishments for careless
driving causing death or bodily harm and the maximum penalties increased to two
years of incarceration, $50,000 in fines, a five-year licence suspension, and six demerit
points. Do you think this would deter careless or fatigued driving? Why or why not?
2. What is the correct punishment for a driver who falls asleep and unintentionally causes
the death of another individual? Should all drivers who cause an accident resulting in
death be charged with dangerous driving? Would your answer change if your family
member was harmed in such an accident, or if it was you who was driving?
3. Canada has two official languages and dozens of other languages are spoken, but how
can the criminal justice system ensure that everybody understands what is happening in
court proceedings? Whose responsibility should it be?

INTRODUCTION
Few of us spend much time in courtrooms, so our ideas about sentencing
are often shaped by what happens on television programs or in films:
judges impose a sentence on an individual and the matter might take only
a minute or two. When it comes to what happens in real courtrooms,
however, the process is more involved and time-consuming. As the
seriousness of the offence increases, so does the time it takes to consider
an appropriate sentence. In the case of violent offences, a number of
reports and assessments may be ordered, which may take several months
to complete. The long wait until a sentence is imposed can be tough on
everybody involved in the process—victims want the case resolved so they
can get on with their lives, and an individual accused of committing a
crime could be remanded in custody for months until their case is decided
and, if they are found guilty, a sentence is imposed.

Justice Denise Bellamy in her office. There is a lot at stake when an individual is sentenced;
the judge must carefully consider the risks to the public as well as the individual’s likelihood
of rehabilitation when considering options such as imprisonment.
 Like other legal issues described in the previous chapters, sentencing
is a complex process that is guided by the Charter and the Criminal Code,
and it involves a large number of justice system personnel as well as the
victim(s) and the offender. Why should the act of sentencing be so
complicated? Perhaps the best answer to that question is that all of us have
a stake in ensuring that sentences for wrongdoing are appropriate and that
they protect public safety, maintain confidence in the justice system, and
provide fair outcomes for the victims and the offenders. With so many
stakeholders, however, it is rare that everybody will walk away happy after
a sentence is imposed.
Judges impose sentences, and although over 90 per cent of criminal
cases are resolved through plea bargaining, their workloads are
demanding. In 2015/2016, provincial court judges in British Columbia
were given an average of 961 new cases a year (Provincial Court of British
Columbia, 2018, p. 32). Over one-half (56 per cent) of these new cases
were for criminal matters (both adult and youth) while the remainder
involved small claims, child protection, and family matters. The
Provincial Court of British Columbia (2018) reports that the number of
adult criminal cases is increasing by 2 to 3 per cent per year and that
judges were dealing with increasingly complex and serious criminal
matters. While judicial workloads have eased somewhat in recent years, an
average adult defendant still has to wait over six months for a two-day
trial, and nine months for a trial lasting five or more days (Provincial
Court of British Columbia, 2018, p. 45).
In addition to being busy, judges are responsible for work that is
stressful and carried out in public. A judge remarked that “it is the only
job where everything you do is public. The hearings are public, the
judgment is public [and] the judges are publishing their errors” (Wilson,
2012). Cole (2016, p. 87) describes the court as “usually intense,
sometimes tragic, always human, and endlessly fascinating.” The Criminal
Code provides judges with considerable discretion at sentencing, and even
commonplace offences, such as the break and enter of a residence, can
result in a sentence of life imprisonment—although sentences imposed for
this crime are seldom very severe. Maxwell (2017, p. 20) reports that of
the almost 6,000 adults who pleaded guilty to break-and-enter offences in
2014/2015, only 60 per cent were sentenced to custody, and the median
sentence length was 120 days.
In this chapter, we take a closer look at sentencing and the various
options that judges might consider. The section on tough sentences
describes both the pros and cons of getting tough on crime. In addition, we
will examine different factors that are considered at sentencing, and we
will examine the interprovincial variation in custody sentences and the
fact that some provinces do punish more harshly.

SENTENCING OPTIONS
Canadian judges have a number of sentencing options. In analyzing adults
convicted in Canada in 2016/2017, Miladinovic (2019) found that
sentences were resolved in a variety of ways, which are listed in Table 8.1.
The most common adult sentences are probation, custody, and fines, as
well as “other” sentencing options, which are described later in this
section.

Probation
Probation is the most commonly imposed sentence in Canada, and it refers
to the release of the individual to the community under the supervision of
a probation officer. There are three standard conditions in probation
orders: keeping the peace and being on good behaviour, reporting to the
court when required, and advising the court or probation officer of any
changes in address or job. Judges may also impose additional conditions
of probation that are specific to the individual’s offence, such as requiring
an individual who is struggling with a substance abuse problem to
participate in addictions treatment. Some probationary conditions are
strict, requiring adult offenders to abide by curfews and/or residency
clauses (where the probation officer must approve the individual’s living
arrangements), abstain from using drugs and/or alcohol, restrict their
travel outside the province, or limit contact with certain individuals such
as the offender’s co-accused (Lincoln County Law Association, 2015).
Last, judges can also impose restitution orders, fines, or requirements for
community service work (where the probationer must work in the
community in jobs such as picking up litter alongside highways, or
working in a library or community centre) as part of the probation order.
Although judges have a great deal of discretion in terms of the conditions
they can impose, probationary terms cannot exceed three years, and the
median probationary term in 2014/2015 was 365 days (Maxwell, 2017, p.
4).

community service work A condition of a probation order that requires an offender to

participate in unpaid work programs that benefit the community, such as working at a library or
a community centre.

TABLE 8.1 Types of Sentences in Adult Criminal Courts, Canada, 2016/2017

Sentence Cases (%)

Probation 44.0

Custody 38.0

Fine 31.0

Conditional sentence 3.5

Restitution 2.5

Other 73.0

Note: The total adds to more than 100 per cent, as judges often impose a number of conditions
(such as fines and/or restitution) on a probationary order.

Statistics Canada (2019a)

Fines are imposed in less than one-third of all adult court cases (31 per
cent), and restitution (where payments are made to a victim for the losses
from the crime) accounts for another 2.5 per cent of cases (Statistics
Canada, 2019a). Both fines and restitution are often conditions of
probation, so probationers must pay these costs or risk being returned to
court on a breach of probation offence.

breach of probation A violation of an offender’s condition of probation, such as using drugs

or alcohol when it is forbidden, or violating a curfew.
 Many probationers find it difficult to abide by their conditions of
probation. Failure to comply with a probation order, however, can result
in additional charges and further punishments. This is relatively common,
and in 2016/2017, over 22,000 probationers pleaded guilty to failure to
comply (Statistics Canada, 2019a). Courts interpret failure to comply with
a probation order as showing a lack of respect for the justice system, and
being convicted of this crime may make it difficult for them to receive a
community-based sentence in the future. However, judges can be very
forgiving before they impose a custodial sentence on probationers for
breaching the conditions of their orders. Offences such as failure to appear
in court or breach of probation are reported as administration of justice
offences, but they are commonly called system-generated offences (see
Burczycka & Munch, 2015, for a review).

failure to comply Violating the conditions of a probation order is a criminal offence that can
result in additional charges and further punishments.
administration of justice offences Offences that occur because an individual disobeys a
pretrial condition or an imposed sentence, such as failing to attend court or failing to comply
with a probation order. Also known as system-generated offences.

Conditional Sentences
Conditional sentences allow individuals to serve their custody sentences
in the community if they follow strict conditions. The British Columbia
Branch of the Canadian Bar Association (2015) reports that “judges will
use a conditional sentence only if they are satisfied that you won’t be a
danger to the community and you don’t have a history of failing to obey
court orders…. A conditional sentence usually has strict conditions,
including a curfew.” Conditional sentences were introduced in 1995 to
reduce the use of incarceration, offering an individual a last chance to
avoid a correctional centre or prison sentence. These alternatives to
custody are seldom used and account for about 5 per cent of all adult court
cases.

conditional sentences Custodial sentences of up to two years that are served in the community.
Individuals who do not meet the conditions of their release can be returned to court and ordered
to serve the remainder of their sentence in a correctional centre.
Custodial Sentences
Offenders sentenced to a term of incarceration of less than two years serve
their sentences in provincial or territorial correctional centres. Most
provincial sentences are relatively short, and in 2016/2017, the median
sentence length was about one month (Miladinovic, 2019, p. 8). While all
individuals sent to federal prisons serve two years or longer, about half are
sentenced to fewer than five years and most are released to the community
prior to the end of their sentences (Public Safety Canada, 2018).
Individuals sentenced to custody for more than one offence can be
ordered to serve their sentences concurrently or consecutively. For
example, say an individual is found guilty of four counts of break and
enter, and the judge sentences her to nine months on each count. If the
judge orders her to serve the four counts as a concurrent sentence, all the
sentences run at the same time (concurrently), and she will be released in
nine months. If, however, the judge orders her to serve the four counts
consecutively (a consecutive sentence), then she will be incarcerated for
36 months.

concurrent sentence Multiple sentences that are served at the same time (e.g., a person
sentenced to two 11-month sentences to be served concurrently would be released after 11
months).
consecutive sentence Multiple sentences that are served one after the other (e.g., a person
sentenced to two 11-month sentences to be served consecutively would be released after 22
months).

In order to reduce the harms of imposing a custodial sentence, judges

can order that a sentence be served intermittently as opposed to
continuously. Intermittent sentences allow the inmate to serve several days
a week (typically on weekends) on sentences less than 90 days long.
During the days when they are not incarcerated, the individual is expected
to follow the conditions of a probation order. In most jurisdictions,
intermittent sentences are managed in low-security community-based
correctional facilities where residents “come and go” on the honour
system, their movements only counted a few times a day, although they
can also serve their time in provincial or territorial correctional centres.
By serving their sentences on weekends, they are able to keep their jobs,
continue meeting their family commitments, and/or maintain their
education. Although well-liked by many receiving this type of sentence,
this can lead to overcrowding and security problems in correctional
facilities (Doucette, 2018).

Other Options
Table 8.1 also includes an “other” category, and this classification can
include an absolute discharge, conditional discharge, suspended sentence,
community service order, and prohibition order. According to Coughlan,
Yogis, and Cotter (2013), an absolute discharge involves finding guilt
without registering a conviction:

An absolute discharge is only available in situations where (1)

there is no minimum penalty for the offence; (2) the offence is not
punishable by imprisonment for fourteen years or life; (3) the
Court considers an absolute discharge to be in the best interests of
the accused and not contrary to the public interest. (p. 3)

Prince Edward Island sends more than two times as many individuals to correctional
facilities than do other Maritime provinces, but PEI also has the lowest average sentence
length in the country.

Judges are more likely to consider absolute discharges for first-time

and younger adult offenders who have committed relatively minor
offences. Bowal, Callbeck, and Lines (2014) observe that an absolute
discharge is essentially a pardon and is appropriate “if the offence is
minor in nature or consequence but the individual would lose much with
criminal conviction and sentence.”

absolute discharge The least severe sanction that can be imposed, resulting in a finding of
guilt but with no conviction registered.

A conditional discharge is similar to an absolute discharge, except

that some conditions are attached to the discharge, such as making
restitution to a victim. Although both absolute and conditional discharges
will appear on an individual’s criminal record, the absolute discharge
remains for only one year while the conditional discharge remains for
three years. If the offender fails to abide by the conditions of their
discharge (e.g., they fail to make the restitution ordered by the court), the
judge might revoke the discharge, in which case the original conviction
remains on their criminal history. Individuals who successfully fulfill all
of the court’s conditions and wait the one- or three-year period must
request in writing that they want the discharge removed.

conditional discharge Requires the individual to comply with a number of conditions, and
after they fulfill those conditions, the discharge becomes absolute.

INTERPROVINCIAL SENTENCING
DIFFERENCES
There is some interprovincial variation in the proportion of adults
sentenced to custody, and these differences are shown in Figure 8.1. In
2016/2017, slightly more than one-third (38 per cent) of all Canadians
found guilty were incarcerated. However, Miladinovic (2019, p.8) reports
that Prince Edward Island courts sentence the highest proportion of guilty
offenders to custody of any province (67 per cent), which is about two-
thirds more than the national average. Miladinovic (2019, p. 8) points out
that one explanation for this is PEI’s high rate of incarceration for
impaired driving cases (89 per cent compared to 8 per cent for the rest of
the nation), although judges there also send more individuals to custody
for sexual assault, major assault, being unlawfully at large, and some drug
offences than other provinces. There are two other factors that are
distinctive about adult criminal cases on the Island. First, although PEI
uses incarceration at a higher rate than other provinces or territories, its
sentences tend to be short. Statistics Canada (2019b) reports that the
average custody sentence for the entire nation is 108 days, while the
average sentence length in PEI is 69 days, which is the second lowest in
the country: Figure 8.2 shows the average sentence length in days for all
the provinces. Second, the median charge-processing time (the time from
an individual’s first appearance until they are sentenced) in PEI adult
courts is 36 days, which is about one-third of the national average of 124
days (Miladinovic, 2019).

FIGURE 8.1 Proportion of Guilty Adult Offenders Sentenced to Custody, 2016/2017

Statistics Canada (2019a)
 The interprovincial variation in custody sentences receives relatively
little attention. Figure 8.2 reveals that the average sentence for the entire
nation is 108 days, but it ranges from 59 days in British Columbia to 155
in New Brunswick. The differences between provinces become even more
apparent when we look at the total incarceration rate per 100,000
provincial residents, as shown in Figure 8.3 for 2016/2017. The
incarceration rates in the three territories (not shown) were even higher, in
part due to the smaller populations.

FIGURE 8.2 Average Custody Sentence Length in Days by Province, 2017

Note: Data are not available for Manitoba
Statistics Canada (2019b)
FIGURE 8.3 Provincial Incarceration Rates per 100,000 Residents, 2016/2017
Adapted from Malakieh (2018)

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Prison Waiting Lists
Although crime is present in every nation, the methods that different countries use
when incarcerating offenders are sometimes surprising. Mohsin (2014) observed that
Norway does not have enough prison beds for offenders sentenced to incarceration. As
a result, there were a large number of people who had been convicted of a crime but
were living in the community awaiting a bed to become available before starting their
sentences. This is not a new problem: Norwegian prison officials have used waiting
lists since the 1990s. These lists are typically reserved for non-violent offenders who
sometimes have to wait a year or longer before their prison admission. Drelsinger
(2018) observes that not only are prisons in Norway more comfortable than ones in
North America, but the country’s approach to incarcerating people is more humane,
which reduces prison misconduct and recidivism. While Norwegians generally support
practices such as waiting lists, since September 2015 Norway has been paying the
Netherlands to hold several hundred of its prisoners in order to reduce the number of
individuals on the waiting list; lower numbers of incoming prisoners might eliminate
the need to send prisoners to the Netherlands after 2019 (Berglund, 2017).
While the idea of waiting to be admitted to prison might seem unusual, Canadians
receiving a custodial sentence can be ordered by a judge to report to a provincial
 correctional centre or federal prison at a future date. These postponed admissions are
often granted for some compelling reason, such as finishing an employment contract or
a semester at school. As in Norway, these types of creative sentences are often
reserved for people convicted of non-violent offences who have complied with the
conditions of their bail or other community release.

The reasons for the differences in the use of custody are often
complex, but the factor that should drive the use of incarceration is levels
of crime. We would expect provinces with the highest rates of police-
reported crime, such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan, to also have the
highest use of custodial sentences. Yet Sprott and Doob (1998) analyzed
the use of custody and found a weak relationship between the amount of
police-reported crime or people charged and the use of custody. Instead,
the differences in the number of admissions and the length of sentences
across the provinces and territories may be the result of factors such as
public support for offender rehabilitation or punishment. Neil and
Carmichael (2015) examined the provincial use of incarceration and found
that as the size of the Indigenous and visible minority populations
increased, so did the use of custody—which supports the conflict
perspective described in Chapter 3, where populations that are seen as
threatening are harshly controlled by the justice system.
In Chapter 3, we looked at the crime control philosophy of deterrence,
which is based on the idea that punishments are more likely to work when
they are swift, certain, and severe. A number of prominent Canadian
scholars have challenged that notion by arguing that the severity of
punishment is not as important as its certainty and swiftness (Doob,
Webster, & Gartner, 2014). It is possible that Prince Edward Island’s
justice system officials are following the latter approach, as punishment is
more certain and swift there than in other provinces, but it is also less
severe. The PEI model may be working, as the province’s overall crime
severity index is the lowest in Canada (44.9 compared with the national
average of 72.9), and the violent crime severity index is the also the lowest
in the country (38.9) and less than one-half the national average (80.3)
(Allen, 2018). Although factors other than certainty, swiftness, and
severity of punishment could influence crime rates, this is a subject that
warrants a closer look.
There are also differences in the degree of punishment imposed within
provinces. Many of us have heard that some judges or courts are stricter
than others, and this issue was addressed in Chapter 7 when we looked at
differences in the going rate. One issue that has received comparatively
little attention in Canadian studies is the issue of justice by geography,
where differences in case outcomes are the result of court location. US
researchers examining this issue have generally focused on case outcomes
in urban and rural juvenile courts: Menart (2018) reports that harsh
punishments for juveniles (prosecuting them as adults) occurred in some
California counties, which was the same finding as an earlier study
reported by Feld and Schaefer (2010). There is a lack of Canadian research
examining whether geography is a factor in case outcomes in either adult
or youth courts. Issues such as justice by geography are called extralegal
factors—conditions that are not related to the offence but that may affect
an offender’s sentencing. Most studies of these extralegal factors have
focused on issues of how a person’s status as a woman, membership in a
marginalized group, or financial situation affects one’s sentence—and
research suggests that these issues are worthy of further attention.

justice by geography The differences in case outcomes that are a result of where a court is
located (e.g., some rural courts may be more punitive than urban courts).
extralegal factors Conditions that affect sentencing but are not related to the offence, such as
the location of a sentencing court.

THE PRINCIPLES OF SENTENCING

There are several principles of sentencing, including proportionality,
aggravating and mitigating factors, totality, and crimes motivated by bias
or hatred. There are also some special considerations when sentencing
youth, people with mental illnesses, or Indigenous people convicted of a
crime.

Proportionality
The most important principle of sentencing is proportionality, as
sentences must reflect the seriousness of the crime and the individual’s
responsibility in committing the crime. We can ask more simply, “Does
the punishment fit the crime?” We do not treat all people the same at
sentencing, as a number of individual factors about the offender, the
nature of the crime, and their role in the offence (e.g., as a follower or
leader) are considered by judges. As a result, there is some variation in the
severity of sentences, and there are positive and negative aspects of those
differences. Most of us, for example, would want our good qualities to be
considered by a judge prior to sentencing, such as the volunteer work we
do or our good conduct at school or at work. Yet whenever there are
differences in the severity of punishment for a offence, it might also
suggest that bias has occurred. To shed some light on these differences, we
take a closer look at sentences for homicide.

proportionality The principle that the sentence imposed on offenders is proportionate to the
seriousness of their offence and their degree of responsibility.

Homicide includes manslaughter, first-degree murder, and second-

degree murder offences. The number of these offences has been rising
since 2014, and in 2017 there were 660 homicides (Allen, 2018). Cotter
(2014) reports that about three-quarters of these crimes are cleared
(solved) by an arrest; clearances also include cases when suspects die from
suicide or other causes prior to an arrest. Figure 8.4 shows the outcomes of
the 328 homicide cases heard in adult courts in Canada in 2016/2017; less
than half of these cases result in someone being convicted (142 cases were
stayed, nine defendants were acquitted, and there were 38 “other”
decisions, a category that includes individuals whose cases were waived
out of the province or who were found unfit to stand trial). When it came
to sentence length, the average sentence was 3,517 days, while the median
sentence was 2,190 days (Statistics Canada, 2019b).
The considerable difference in the severity of punishments for
homicide offenders raises questions: why is one convicted murderer
placed on probation while another serves the remainder of his or her life
under correctional supervision? Most of those sentencing differences are
related to the circumstances of the offence. The type of crime that
individuals are ultimately convicted of determines how much time they
will spend behind bars, especially for first- and second-degree murder. As
a result, prosecutors play a key role in case outcomes. Manslaughter, as
you will recall from Chapter 2, involves no intention to cause death,
whereas first-degree murder is a planned and deliberate offence (or part of
another crime), and second-degree murder is a deliberate act that was
unplanned.

FIGURE 8.4 Homicide Cases in Canadian Adult Courts, 2016/2017

Statistics Canada (2019c)

As there is no minimum sentence for manslaughter, some people

convicted of it are sentenced to probation. Community-based sentences for
manslaughter are relatively rare, and usually there is some defence that
leads to these lesser charges (see the “Closer Look” box in this chapter for
one example). The sentences for first- and second-degree murder,
however, are prescribed in the Criminal Code. Every adult convicted of
second-degree murder must serve a minimum of 10 years before being
eligible for parole, while first-degree murderers must serve a minimum of
25 years prior to parole eligibility, and some offenders, such as Dellen
Millard, will serve consecutive life sentences; Millard will not be eligible
to apply for parole until he has been in prison for 75 years. We also have to
remember there are no guarantees that inmates will ever be paroled, as
they have to demonstrate to the Parole Board of Canada that they represent
a low risk to the community; public safety is the board’s main concern
(see Chapter 10).

Aggravating and Mitigating Factors

Differences in sentencing can also relate to the distinctive characteristics
of the offence or offender. Section 718.2 of the Criminal Code allows
judges to consider aggravating or mitigating factors at sentencing.
Aggravating factors are circumstances that a judge might take into
account when considering a severe sentence. Mitigating factors, by
contrast, help to explain the individual’s role in the offence or recognize
the positive characteristics of the individual that might warrant a less
severe sentence.

aggravating factors Facts that might lead to a more severe sentence, including if the offence
involved a particularly vulnerable victim, such as a child, or if the crime was related to bias,
prejudice, or hate.
mitigating factors Facts related to the individual that might encourage a judge to impose a less
severe sentence, such as if the individual is a youth, a young adult, or a first-time offender.

TABLE 8.2 Mitigating and Aggravating Circumstances Considered at Sentencing

Mitigating Circumstances Aggravating Circumstances

First offender Prior jail sentence for related or like offence

(within past five years)

Youthful offender On bail, probation, or parole for related or like

offence

Low risk to reoffend Significant physical injury to victim

Isolated incident (out of character) Lengthy record, with escalation in seriousness

of offences

Spontaneous offence (e.g., no planning) Planned, deliberate, or sophisticated

Guilty plea Abused position of trust or authority

Remorse (accepts responsibility) Vulnerable victims (child, elderly, or disabled)

Follower, not leader (in the offence) Significant value of property involved (e.g.,
loss or damage over $50,000)

Cooperation with authorities Leader (in offence)

Mitigating Circumstances Aggravating Circumstances
Employed or in school Multiple charges

Sole provider or caregiver for dependents Prior outstanding charges

Participation in rehabilitation (e.g., treatment History of breaching court orders

or counselling)

Community or family support Motivated by greed or profit

Unfortunate background Motivated by hate, prejudice, or bias

Dated, minor, or unrelated criminal record Numerous victims

Damage to victims (e.g., financial loss)

Adapted from Legal Aid Ontario (2019)

A Closer Look
Battered Woman Syndrome in Homicide Cases:
Unanticipated Outcomes
Family violence is a serious social problem. In 2016 for all of Canada there were
almost 55,000 child and youth victims of family violence (Conroy, 2018), over 4,000
cases where family members assaulted a senior (Savage, 2018), and over 93,000
incidents of intimate-partner violence reported to the police (Burczyka, 2018).
Intimate-partner violence refers to crimes committed by current and former spouses,
common-law partners, dating partners, or any other intimate partners. Prior research
shows that about 79 per cent of family-violence victims are women (Burczycka &
Conroy, 2017). While those are the actual numbers of cases coming to the attention of
the police, about 70 per cent of domestic violence victims never report the crime
(Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 2016). Sometimes family violence is lethal.
According to Beattie, David, and Roy (2018, p. 33), of the 443 murders in 2017 where
the perpetrator was identified, more than one-third of them (162) were family members
or were involved in an inmate relationship.

intimate partners Current and former spouses, dating partners, or other intimate
relationships.

Some women suffering abuse have used a battered woman defence after killing
their abuser. Canadian defendants have used this defence with varying degrees of
success since the 1911 case of Angelina Napolitano, a 28-year-old from Sault Ste.
Marie, Ontario, who killed her sleeping husband with an axe. Napolitano, who had
suffered physical attacks and had been stabbed by her husband, was initially sentenced
to death for the homicide, but her sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment;
she served 11 years behind bars before her release. In 1990 the defence was formally
recognized by the Supreme Court in the R v Lavallee decision (MacLean, Verrelli, &
Chambers, 2017).

battered woman defence A defence that has been used by some victims of domestic
violence who argued they had no way of escaping their victimization and had no other
choice but to attack their abuser.

Although the battered woman defence has been used in Canada for several
decades, Sheehy (2014) reports that defendants have had varying results. Sheehy,
Stubbs, and Tolmie’s (2012, p. 390) examination of Canadian murder records found
there were “36 cases resolved during the period 2000–2010 involving battered women
defendants who had killed their violent partners and were charged with homicide.” Of
those 36 cases, two women were convicted of or pleaded guilty to murder, 21 were
convicted of manslaughter, and the rest either were acquitted or their cases did not
proceed to trial (Sheehy et al., 2012, p. 394). The decisions to prosecute battered
women who kill their spouses are made by prosecutors who may hold strong opinions
about these cases, and Sheehy (2018, p. 112) says that “the Ottawa Crown office has
stood out for its vigorous, no holds barred efforts to prosecute battered women who
kill.” In other words, battered women in Ottawa may be more likely to be prosecuted
than women in other communities. Sheehy’s comment reinforces the observation made
throughout this book that justice is administered differently throughout the country and
the outcomes of an individual accused or convicted of committing a crime might
depend on where the act occurred.
The number of intimate-partner homicides has been decreasing since the 1990s.
Between 1996 and 2017 the number of men killed by intimate partners decreased by
over one-third (38 per cent), whereas the number of women victims dropped by about
one-sixth (16 per cent) (Burczycka, 2018; Cotter, 2014); this is shown in Table 8.3.
The decreased number of murders has been attributed to providing better access to
community-based resources such as domestic violence shelters, giving victims
alternatives to violence.

TABLE 8.3 Intimate-Partner Homicide Victims, Canada: Variation, 1996 to 2017

Female Victims Male Victims

 16% 38%

Based on Burczycka (2018); Cotter (2014)

Efforts to expand the number of domestic violence shelters, provide additional
services to women victims, and increase police training about family violence are
intended to save women from being harmed by their male partners. One unanticipated
outcome of these policies, however, is that more men have actually been saved than
women. A similar trend has been seen in the United States (Reckdenwald & Parker,
2011). The introduction of better victim-service programs has reduced the number of
women killing men as they are now able to escape abusive or intolerable situations
without resorting to violence, although this was not the intention of the advocates who
introduced these services and supports for women.

Efforts to expand the number of domestic violence shelters, provide additional

services to women victims, and increase police training about family violence are
intended to save women from being harmed by their male partners, but these
changes have also had the unintended effect of saving their violent male partners.

Legal Aid Ontario (2019) summarizes the aggravating and mitigating

circumstances judges might consider when sentencing an individual; these
are presented in Table 8.2. One factor that will not result in a lighter
punishment is cultural values that conflict with the Criminal Code. In
2015, the Ontario Court of Appeal said that “cultural norms that condone
or tolerate conduct contrary to Canadian criminal law must not be
considered a mitigating factor on sentencing” (Perkel, 2015). All together,
aggravating factors tend to focus on the offence, whereas mitigating
factors tend to address the positive aspects of the individual’s character
including his or her potential for rehabilitation.

Totality

As noted earlier in this chapter, when an individual is found guilty of

committing more than one offence, a judge can sentence them to custodial
terms to be served concurrently or consecutively. There are some limits to
the severity of the punishment that can be meted out using consecutive
sentences, and those limits are guided by the principle of totality. Totality
is described in section 718.2(c) of the Criminal Code, which states that
“where consecutive sentences are imposed, the combined sentence should
not be unduly long or harsh.” The Supreme Court in R v Johnson (2012)
explained the importance of totality: “If sentences are unduly harsh and
excessive, confidence in the fairness and rationality of the sentencing
process is lost…. [T]he overall length of incarceration may work against
the attainment of the various goals of sentencing” (as cited in Manson,
2013, p. 488).

totality A sentencing principle that considers the overall length of a sentence and requires that
a single global sentence be imposed to avoid an unjustly long sentence.

One issue in considering totality, however, is that people do not always

agree on what constitutes a harsh or excessive sentence. Judges also
disagree on how severe a sentence should be when an individual has
committed multiple offences. In February 2018, for example, the Court of
Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador reduced to 30 months the 60-
month sentence of a 74-year-old who had sexually molested four girls. The
Court of Appeals said the judge erred by not considering the totality
principle and that the sentence of 60 months was “unduly long and harsh”
(R v O’Keefe, 2018, at para. 39). When reducing his sentence by half, the
Court of Appeal said that his advanced age was only of minimal
consideration. This example shows the complexity of sentencing decisions
and the factors judges consider when making those decisions.
Sentencing in Canada is intended to be just and fair, and section
718.2(b) of the Criminal Code states that “a sentence should be similar to
sentences imposed on similar offenders for similar offences committed in
similar circumstances.” This brings us back to the issue of the going rate,
which was introduced in Chapter 7. Experienced court observers can often
accurately predict an individual’s sentence based on their past criminal
history and the seriousness of the current offence. This does not mean,
however, that custodial sentences need to be imposed, and section 718.2(d)
of the Criminal Code states that “an offender should not be deprived of
liberty, if less restrictive sanctions may be appropriate in the
circumstances.” Section 718.2(e) extends that guideline by directing
judges to consider the special circumstances of Indigenous offenders when
considering custodial sentences (see the “Race, Class, and Gender” box in
this chapter on the challenges of sentencing Indigenous people).

“Tough on Crime” was one of the pillars of the Conservative Party of Canada’s federal
platform running up to the 2019 election. Tough-on-crime policies are often considered a
politically safe issue, as criminals are seldom seen as a very sympathetic group by the public
and few politicians want to be seen as being “soft on crime.” While getting tough is often
politically popular, simplistic solutions to complex problems such as crime are seldom
effective. Political party changes at the federal level often result in legislative changes,
reminding us that the law can change.
GETTING TOUGH ON OFFENDERS
Roberts, Stalans, Indermaur, and Hough (2003) explain that simplistic
criminal justice practices such as getting tough on crime are popular with
the public. Some politicians who want to attract voters promise to put
more police officers on the streets and to take offenders off the streets by
imposing longer prison sentences. Issues of crime control can attract
voters because criminals are generally an unsympathetic group and most
Canadians want lengthy prison sentences imposed on serious and violent
offenders. A study of English-speaking common-law nations reveals that
Canadians are just as punitive as the public in Australia, New Zealand, the
United Kingdom, or the United States when it comes to support for harsh
punishments for young offenders and support for the death penalty
(Kornhauser, 2015).
As noted in Chapter 3, this political advocacy for punitive criminal
justice practices, whether they are effective or not, is called penal
populism. One of the problems with penal populism is that studies have
repeatedly shown that getting tough on everybody who has committed a
crime is a poor criminal justice practice. Doob, Webster, and Gartner
(2014, p. A-3), prominent Canadian scholars, examined studies of crime
control policies and observed that “no reputable criminologist who has
looked carefully at the overall body of research literature … believes that
crime rates will be reduced, through deterrence, by raising the severity of
sentences handed down in criminal courts.” The “tough on crime”
approach taken by the former Conservative federal government from 2006
to 2015 has been criticized because it rejected evidence-based practices
that were demonstrated to reduce crime in favour of politically popular
strategies that were less effective or might have even contributed to more
crime (see Kelly & Puddister, 2017).
Additional problems with getting tough on crime include the fact that
imprisoning people is an expensive proposition and that incarceration can
be harmful to both the prisoner and their families due to the disruption it
has on their household income, future employment prospects, and
reputation in their communities. In terms of the Canadian costs of
imprisonment, in 2017 the average unattached individual or family paid
$11,439 in direct taxes (Palacios & Lammam, 2018). As Figure 8.5 shows,
it would take seven taxpayers to pay for the imprisonment of a provincial
inmate for one year ($84,915) and ten taxpayers to pay for the
imprisonment of a federal inmate ($120,571; see Malakieh, 2019, p. 6). As
a result, if there are less-restrictive and more cost-effective options for
offenders, such as supervision in the community, we can reserve the
harshest sanctions for the most serious and violent offenders.
Rates of crime in Canada have been dropping since they peaked in the
late 1970s, and the 2017 homicide rate, shown in Figure 8.6, was the same
as the 1968 rate, although rates have been increasing somewhat since 2014
(Allen, 2018). One question emerges from that finding: If Canada’s crime
control strategies are not on the right track, then why have serious and
violent crime rates dropped so much? Supporters of “tough on crime”
policies point out that many US jurisdictions have “three strikes”
sentencing laws that enable judges to impose prison terms in the 25-year
range for offenders who have committed their third felony offence. Harsh
sentences for repeat Canadian offenders have been authorized for decades,
and Public Safety Canada (2014) notes the following:

Canada introduced its first high-risk offender laws in 1947, when

Parliament amended the Criminal Code to give the courts the
authority to designate certain repeat offenders as “habitual
offenders.” Under those provisions, individuals who had been
convicted of three or more separate indictable offences and who
were “persistently leading a criminal life” could be found to be
habitual offenders and sentenced to indeterminate imprisonment.
FIGURE 8.5 Number of Taxpayers Required to Financially Support One Provincial or
Federal Inmate in 2017

Even though judges could designate repeat criminals as habitual offenders,

there was dissatisfaction with the practice, as it was not applied in a
similar manner across the nation. The alternative, introduced in 1977, was
to give judges the authority to designate repeat violent individuals as
dangerous offenders, a topic covered in the paragraphs that follow.
While those interested in punishing offenders more severely often
desire American crime control practices, it is important to note that most
states are becoming less punitive. Kaeble and Cowhig (2018) report that
US jail and prison populations have decreased for nine consecutive years,
although the population in 2016 was only 6.5 per cent less than the 2008
peak. A further example of the softening of US criminal justice policies
was the enactment of the First Step Act, which allows for the
compassionate release of sick and elderly prisoners as well as decreased
sentences for some drug offenders (Johnson, 2019). Furthermore, the
number of executions carried out in 2018 was 25, which was down from
the peak of 98 in 2000, and the number of people sentenced to death in
2018 was half the number sentenced to death in 2011 (Death Penalty
Information Center, 2019). The US federal government has also restricted
the use of mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of drug
offences, and some states are making it more difficult to sentence
offenders to decades-long prison terms. The Pew Charitable Trusts (2018)
observes that 35 states have either reduced their tough-on-crime
sentencing schemes, made it easier to release prisoners, or improved
community corrections to keep more offenders in the community.
Supporters of the crime control model maintain that violent and repeat
offenders should be incapacitated. They argue that mandatory minimum
sentences, truth in sentencing, designating violent criminals as dangerous
offenders, and harshly punishing murderers are good practices. Some
supporters of the due process approach agree that we need the option to
incapacitate some dangerous criminals, but they also believe that these
sanctions should rarely be used. Moreover, supporters of the due process
perspective argue that sentencing practices should be rational and guided
by research (e.g., asking whether these approaches are effective in
reducing crime), and sentencing should be based on the circumstances of
the individual and the crime they committed. The problem, as highlighted
in Chapter 3, is that it is very difficult to predict who will be dangerous in
the future. The following sections highlight some of these approaches to
getting tough on crime.

truth in sentencing Limits the amount of a sentence that can be granted as “time served” when
an individual has been remanded prior to sentencing.

Mandatory Minimum Penalties

There are a number of sentencing options that are intended to “get tough”
on certain types of offenders or offences. Mandatory minimum penalties
(MMPs) remove the discretion from the judge as anybody found guilty of
the offence receives the minimum sentence regardless of any mitigating
factors (although judges can impose sentences that are longer than the
minimum). The logic behind MMPs is that all individuals are treated the
same by the judge. As a result, this type of sentencing shifts the power in
the court to the Crown prosecutors who determine the charge.
Mandatory minimum penalties in Canada date back to the 1890s
(Caylor & Beaulne, 2014), and mandatory sentences for impaired driving
and firearms-related offences were introduced throughout the 1900s. Allen
(2017, p. 3) observes that a series of laws starting in 2005 “laid out new or
more severe minimum penalties for drug offences, impaired driving,
firearms offences, and sexual offences involving children as well as child
pornography.” These mandatory penalties can be imposed for a single
offence, such as specific types of sex crimes committed against children,
or for repeat offences, such as the mandatory incarceration for repeat
drunk driving convictions.
The number of MMPs was expanded after the federal government
enacted the Safe Streets and Communities Act in 2012. MMPs were
mandated for offences related to the possession, distribution, and
manufacturing of some illicit drugs; for offences involving the sexual
exploitation of children; and for some violent and firearms offences. There
has been broad opposition to these policies, especially from civil
libertarians who believe that mandatory sentences threaten individualized
justice, which enables judges to consider mitigating factors as well as the
distinctive characteristics of an offence when imposing a sentence.

individualized justice Enables judges to consider aggravating and mitigating factors as well as
the individual’s strengths and limitations when imposing a sentence; it is the opposite of
mandatory sentences.
The individual who killed Alberta RCMP constable David Wynn (pictured above) and
wounded auxiliary constable Derek Bond in January 2015 had 98 prior convictions and
outstanding charges that he accumulated between 1999 and 2015, and he had been admitted
to correctional facilities 16 times. Many of those offences were related to violence and the
unlawful possession of restricted or prohibited firearms. Despite his long criminal history and
inability to abide by conditions of prior releases, he was released from custody after paying
$4,500 in bail. He failed to appear for his court dates, and his freedom ultimately led to the
shooting of the officers.

In 2013, the Ontario Court of Appeal sided with a judge who found that
a three-year mandatory sentence for possessing a loaded prohibited
firearm was cruel and unusual, and it was therefore considered an
unconstitutional punishment. This case was heard by the Supreme Court in
2015, which agreed with the Ontario court and struck down the mandatory
minimum sentence (see R v Nur). The British Columbia Court of Appeal
struck down a one-year mandatory sentence for drug trafficking in 2014 by
calling that sentence cruel and unusual, and its decision was upheld by the
Supreme Court in April 2016 (R v Lloyd). Fine (2018, para. 20) says that
these decisions led to a “steady unravelling of mandatory minimum cases”
and observes that appellate courts have stuck down more than a dozen
different minimum sentences.

FIGURE 8.6 Homicides in Canada, Rate per 100,000 Residents, 1963–2017

Adapted from Boyce (2015) and Allen (2018)

MMPs are an example of a criminal justice policy that “looks good on

paper” but is difficult to implement in a fair and consistent manner. While
the intent of these policies is to deter people from committing crimes and
to treat wrongdoers consistently, there are barriers to those goals. First,
some people may not be aware of the law, which thereby reduces its
deterrent effect. Second, as prosecutors lay charges, they ultimately decide
whether the individuals are vulnerable to MMPs, and they can use that
power to force a defendant into a guilty plea. As a result, if we have two
people who commit the same crime (e.g., illegally carrying a loaded
prohibited firearm), one person could receive the mandatory sentence
while the other might avoid the punishment by pleading guilty to an
offence that does not carry a mandatory sentence. Because of those
inconsistencies, the current Liberal government has pledged to reduce the
number of these sentencing schemes (Fine, 2018).

Truth in Sentencing
The number of arrestees and defendants remanded to custody has been
increasing since the 1990s, and since 2004/2005 the remand population
has exceeded the sentenced provincial and territorial population
(Malakieh, 2019). One popular explanation for the increase was that
inmates on remand deliberately delayed their court dates for trials and
sentencing in order to receive a larger “time served” credit when they were
eventually sentenced. Because conditions for remanded inmates in
provincial correctional centres are harsher than for sentenced inmates
(e.g., they reside in crowded, austere, and high-security living units that
offer little or no rehabilitative programming), judges typically gave a
“two-for-one” credit if the individual was ultimately sentenced to a term
of incarceration. Thus, if an inmate served one year on remand and was
sentenced to three years in custody, the judge would subtract two years
from their sentence as time served.
Bill C-25, the Truth in Sentencing Act, was passed in October 2009,
and that amendment to the Criminal Code limits the credits that judges
could allow for time defendants spent on remand. According to Porter and
Calverley (2011, p. 17), judges could no longer grant credit in excess of
one day for every day spent on remand without having a justification, and
even with justification, they could give only 1.5 days of credit for every
day served on remand. Judges are not, however, obliged to extend any
credit for time served on remand. Despite that change, however, the
number of adults remanded to custody has increased, suggesting that other
factors are responsible for the high number of people awaiting their days
in court.
Increasing the Severity of Life and Indeterminate Sentencing
A number of legislative changes made it harder for prisoners serving a life
sentence to be granted parole, and made it possible to delay the parole
eligibility for offenders convicted of multiple murders. Every prisoner
sentenced to a determinate sentence is advised of their release date,
which is also known as their warrant expiry date, although most inmates
receive some type of early release for good behaviour or as part of a
planned release to the community on parole (see Chapter 10).

determinate sentences Sentences that have a warrant expiry date on which the inmate will be
released from a correctional centre or federal prison.
warrant expiry date An inmate’s release date from custody.

There is, however, no formal release date for prisoners serving a

sentence of life imprisonment—also known as lifers (their preferred term)
—or for dangerous offenders serving indeterminate sentences. What is
distinctive about lifers or dangerous offenders is they will remain under
correctional supervision, whether they are living in an institution or the
community, for the rest of their lives. About 175 people are sentenced to
indeterminate sentences and admitted to federal prisons every year (Public
Safety Canada, 2018, p. 58). Since they are under correctional supervision
until their deaths, these numbers keep growing. As of April 2017, there
were almost 5,500 lifers, or slightly less than one-quarter of the total CSC
population (Public Safety Canada, 2018, p. 59). Included in that total are
several dozen prisoners who were originally sentenced to death, but whose
sentences were commuted to life imprisonment after capital punishment
was abolished in 1976. When compared with prison systems in other
developed nations, Canada’s prison system has a much higher proportion
of prisoners with life or indeterminate sentences (Penal Reform
International, 2018, p. 3).

indeterminate sentences Sentences imposed on dangerous and life-sentenced offenders who

do not have a formal release date and remain under correctional supervision for the rest of their
lives, whether in an institution or in a community.
 Life imprisonment sentences are mandatory for individuals convicted
of first- or second-degree murder. First-degree murderers are not eligible
to apply for parole until they have served 25 years in prison, while people
convicted of second-degree murder must serve 10 years before they can
apply for parole. An amendment to the Criminal Code in March 2011,
known as the Protecting Canadians by Ending Sentence Discounts for
Multiple Murders Act, made it possible for parole eligibility to run
consecutively. As an example, the killer of three Moncton RCMP officers in
2014 must serve three consecutive 25-year terms—a total of 75 years—
before he is eligible to apply for parole. There does appear, however, to be
a lack of consistency in how these sentences are imposed. In three high-
profile multiple-murder homicide cases in 2018/2019, there was a
significant difference in the amount of time these offenders would have to
serve before they were eligible to apply for parole. Faris (2019) points out
that Dellen Millard was sentenced to three counts of first-degree murder
and won’t be eligible to apply for parole until he serves 75 years.
Alexandre Bissonnette, by contrast, will not be eligible to apply for parole
until he serves 40 years for killing six worshippers in a Quebec City
mosque, while Bruce McArthur will not be eligible to apply for parole for
25 years for killing eight Toronto men (Faris, 2019).

A Closer Look
Sentence Calculation in Provincial and Territorial
Correctional Centres
Sentence calculation is carried out by correctional officers after an individual is
admitted to a custody facility. Calculating the length of an inmate’s sentence seems like
a relatively straightforward task, but it can be a complex undertaking. For example, the
release dates of two inmates might differ if one is sentenced to a 30-day term while the
second receives a one-month sentence in a 31-day month (leap years must also be
considered in these calculations). As noted earlier in this chapter, sentences can run
consecutively or concurrently; sometimes the judge’s intentions are not clearly stated
on the warrants of committal (the documents authorizing a prisoner’s incarceration),
and correctional officers must verify the sentence. The officers calculating sentences
must also consider any days that an inmate did not serve due to an escape or failure to
return from a temporary release from custody (e.g., when an inmate is sent to the
community to work, study, or visit with family). Calculating an inmate’s sentence can
be further complicated if a person is serving a youth custody sentence and then is
sentenced in an adult court for an offence committed after his or her eighteenth
birthday. This would result in the custodial sentence being converted to an adult
sentence, and the individual would be transferred from a youth facility to an adult
correctional centre or penitentiary.

warrants of committal Documents that authorize an individual’s incarceration.

temporary release A type of release granted from a correctional facility so that
inmates can participate in employment, education, treatment, or family visits.

Shortly after an individual is admitted to a provincial correctional centre, officers

conduct a sentence calculation to verify their warrant expiry date. While officers
make every effort to ensure that these calculations are correct, clerical errors can
occur and prisoners are sometimes discharged early or kept past their actual
release dates.

Provincial inmates are eligible for earned remission, which is an early release
based on their good behaviour. In Ontario, “sentenced offenders can be credited with
15 days earned remission for each month served,” although they can lose remission for
negative behaviour within the correctional facility, including “violating any
institutional rules, regulations, or conditions” (Ontario Ministry of Community Safety
and Correctional Services, 2018, para. 2 and 5). There is some variation between the
provinces in the manner that earned remission is calculated. According to British
Columbia’s Correction Act (BC Laws, 2017), remission is calculated based on the
 inmate’s conduct; poor performance can result in 0 to 7 days earned remission per
month served, fair performance can result in 8 to 14 days, and good performance
enables the inmate to earn one day of remission for every two days served in custody.

earned remission A type of early release from a provincial correctional centre that
has been earned by the inmate through good behaviour.

Given the tasks of accurately interpreting the judge’s intentions for an individual’s
sentence, calculating the exact release date, and factoring in earned remission and days
away from custody, it is natural that mistakes will occur. Dale (2015) reports that in
Ontario provincial correctional institutions, “98 prisoners were freed prematurely
between 2009 and 2013, mostly because of clerical errors. Four of these prisoners
committed new offences while they should have been behind bars.” This problem is
not isolated to Ontario, and these mistakes are expected given that there were almost
80,000 admissions to provincial or territorial custody in 2017/2018 (Malakieh, 2019).
Not all errors work in the inmate’s favour, however, and some inmates have also been
held past their warrant expiry date due to calculation mistakes.

INDIVIDUALIZED JUSTICE: PRE-SENTENCE

REPORTS
In order to make the best sentencing decisions, judges often request that
probation officers conduct pre-sentence investigations about the person
awaiting sentencing, their circumstances (including the success of prior
criminal justice system interventions), and their role in the offence. This
information is compiled in a pre-sentence report (PSR), which is
authorized by section 721 of the Criminal Code. The chief justice of the
Nova Scotia Court of Appeal commented in the R v Bartkow (1978)
decision that the purpose of the report was “to supply a picture of the
accused as a person in society—his background, family, education,
employment record, his physical and mental health, his associates and
social activities, and his potentialities and motivations.”

pre-sentence report (PSR ) A report ordered by judges prior to sentencing to provide a

comprehensive overview of the individual’s strengths and weaknesses, and whether prior justice
system interventions were successful.
 Although the format and content of a PSR may differ somewhat among
provinces, section 721(3) of the Criminal Code specifies that these reports
should contain the following information:

a. “the offender’s age, maturity, character, behaviour, attitude and

willingness to make amends”;
b. the individual’s criminal history (as a youth and an adult); and
c. “the history of any alternative measures used to deal with the
offender, and the offender’s response to those measures.”

In addition, the probation officer preparing the report is required to

investigate specific issues of interest to the judge, including the person’s
suitability for community-based treatment such as electronic monitoring
or participation in a residential treatment program for substance abuse.
Some provinces allow the probation officer to include information about
risk assessments and to make formal recommendations about sentencing
(Bonta, Bourgon, Jesseman, & Yessine, 2005). All together, these reports
provide judges with a comprehensive overview of the individual, their
strengths and weaknesses, and the success or failure of their prior criminal
justice interventions.
Judges order pre-sentence reports to increase their understanding of the offenders and their
roles in the offences, which in turn helps judges make better sentencing decisions. After the
individual is sentenced, the pre-sentence report is also used by correctional and probation
officers to develop their rehabilitative plans.

Probation officers ordered to write a PSR will interview the individual

and will sometimes speak with their close relatives, such as a parent for a
young person, or a spouse. Their employers are sometimes asked about
their functioning on the job. The probation officers will also speak to
people working in health, education, or social service agencies that are
involved with the individual, especially if they have mental health or other
problems. In addition, an offender’s co-accused might also be interviewed
in order for the probation officer to better understand their respective roles
in the crime. The police officers who carried out the investigation or
arrested the offender are sometimes interviewed to obtain additional
insight into the offence and the individuals involved. As noted earlier,
victims are also given the opportunity to make a statement about the
impacts the offence had on their lives. These reports require a substantial
amount of time to complete, and the length of time increases in cases
involving multiple victims or serious violence.
 Judges typically give officers about a month to prepare a PSR. That
time is required to track down the information and interview the subject,
victims, police officers, and service providers involved with the offender.
Bonta, Bourgon, Jesseman, and Yessine (2005, p. 21) found that the
average PSR in Canada took about 14.2 hours to complete and the
documents averaged about 11 pages. Because of the time needed to
conduct these investigations and prepare the reports, some judges will
order them only if they are deliberating whether a community-based or
custodial sentence is the most appropriate sanction. Officers preparing
these reports are expected to ensure that the documents are accurate and
comprehensive as they often form the foundation of an offender’s case
plan—for community-based supervision or for treatment in custody (see
Chapter 9). A PSR may also be used for release planning, to make parole
decisions, and to conduct research. These investigations result in
documents that may be used by different officials for many years.
Additional reports about the subject’s mental health functioning are
sometimes requested by the judge, including psychological or psychiatric
reports. Psychological reports are commonly ordered for sexual offenders
to give the judge insight into their risks to public safety and likelihood of
rehabilitation. Psychiatric reports, by contrast, are often carried out in
psychiatric facilities or forensic units (mental health units in correctional
facilities) and can take a month or longer to complete.
Although PSRs help judges make sentencing decisions based on the
strengths and weaknesses of the individual, these investigations can be
controversial. PSRs have been criticized because probation officials may
develop their recommendations based on their knowledge of a judge’s
sentencing expectations and practices. Bonta et al. (2005, p. ii) found that
judges accepted the recommendations for community-based sentences in
most cases (71 per cent), and a similar US study revealed that judges
accepted a slightly higher proportion (73 per cent) of probation officer
recommendations (Norman & Wadman, 2000, p. 48).
Some scholars are critical of PSRs as they believe that probation
officers may unconsciously favour offenders who have middle-class
backgrounds, beliefs, and values. Some reports written by probation
officers can be poorly researched or report incorrect or biased information
about the individual or the circumstances surrounding an offence. In the
case of R v Junkert, the Ontario Court of Appeal found that:

The pre-sentence report painted a very negative picture of the

accused, including failing to set out his medical issues and failed
to refer to a report from the accused’s counselor stating that the
accused was genuinely remorseful. Defence counsel cross-
examined the probation officer who prepared the report and
exposed the factual flaws in the report.

Canadian researchers have also raised the issue of whether probation

officers receive enough training to properly conduct their assessments
(Bonta et al., 2005; Storey, Watt, & Hart, 2015). However, since there is so
little research on officers and the preparation of these reports, we do not
know whether these claims are accurate. Another controversial factor is
that reports in some provinces can include hearsay information that the
probation officer does not have to verify (e.g., about an individual’s
alcohol use or gang involvement). These issues are worthy of research, as
pre-sentence reports may have a significant impact on an individual’s
freedom and may influence decisions made by correctional officials after
sentencing. Hannah-Moffat and Maurutto (2010) are also critical of
including formal risk assessments in PSRs as this practice may contribute
to higher incarceration rates of people from some marginalized groups.
Most risk assessments, for example, consider individuals to be at higher
risk of reoffending if they have arrests at early ages, lack a formal
education, or have a long history of prior arrests and convictions.

Race, Class, and Gender

The Challenges of Indigenous Sentencing
In Chapter 6, we looked at the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decision in the R v
Gladue case, which was a response to the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in
youth and criminal justice systems. Jamie Tanis Gladue, a 19-year-old Indigenous
woman who killed her common-law spouse, was sentenced to a three-year prison term
after being convicted of manslaughter. The SCC found that while the three-year
sentence was appropriate for the seriousness of the offence, the sentencing judge
should have specifically considered the background factors that may have led Gladue
to commit the offence. The SCC made the following summary in the case of R v
Gladue (1999):

In sentencing an aboriginal offender, the judge must consider: (a) the unique
systemic or background factors which may have played a part in bringing the
particular aboriginal offender before the courts; and (b) the types of sentencing
procedures and sanctions which may be appropriate in the circumstances for
the offender because of his or her particular aboriginal heritage or connection.
In order to undertake these considerations, the sentencing judge will require
information pertaining to the accused. Judges may take judicial notice of the
broad systemic and background factors affecting aboriginal people, and of the
priority given in aboriginal cultures to a restorative approach to sentencing.

This decision was incorporated into section 718 of the Criminal Code, and it directs
judges to recognize how the histories and circumstances of Indigenous offenders may
influence their involvement in crime. One intention of the SCC was to keep these
people in the community unless there were no alternatives to incarceration. Amoud
(2014, p. 14), a defence attorney in the Northwest Territories, reminds us that the
purpose of Gladue is not “to provide a ‘discount’ on sentences for Aboriginal
offenders…. When discussing Gladue, I have had to explain to my clients that the
more serious the offence or the offender’s criminal background, the less likely the
offender will get much of a different sentence from someone who is not Aboriginal.”
In a national study conducted for the Department of Justice Canada, April and Orsi
(2013, p. 1) found that 19 specialized courts for Indigenous people exist throughout
the country. The study also found that Gladue training and awareness activities were
being provided for justice system officials, bail and parole decision-making decisions
were being informed by Gladue, and community justice programs existed in most
jurisdictions (April & Orsi, 2013). Despite those positive steps, however, Cuthand
(2018) argues that efforts taken to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous people
in the justice system, such as preparing Gladue reports, have fallen short of the
Supreme Court’s expectations because they have not been widely implemented
throughout the country (see also Milward & Parkes, 2011).
Clint Sinclair (pictured here) did not have the benefit of a Gladue report at his 2016
sentencing for drug trafficking; he pursued a Gladue report for his own case, but in
Manitoba these reports are appended to pre-sentence reports rather than being
their own separate, comprehensive reports. The majority of provinces and
territories in Canada do not have an established Gladue writing units even though
the Supreme Court found risk assessments in pre-sentence reports to be culturally
biased.

Courts across Canada have developed initiatives to ensure that the distinctive
circumstances of Indigenous defendants are considered. A cornerstone in crafting a
just and fair sentence is for the judge to be aware of the offender’s circumstances.
Ordering a Gladue report is one step that judges can take to ensure that an Indigenous
person’s circumstances are considered at sentencing. The University of Saskatchewan
(2018, para. 4) notes that Gladue reports “can contain recommendations to a court on
an appropriate sentence and provide details about the impacts of settler colonialism on
an Indigenous person’s background, such as residential school history, physical or
sexual abuse, interactions with the child welfare system, addictions, and other health
issues” (see also Legal Services Society of British Columbia, 2018).
Decades after the 1999 Gladue decision, there is criticism that only a small
proportion of Indigenous offenders ever receive a Gladue report. In 2017, for example,
there were 131 Gladue reports written for the entire province of British Columbia
(Karstens-Smith, 2018). Given there were about 15,000 people found guilty in BC
courts in 2016/2017 and at least one-third of them were of Indigenous ancestry (see
Malakieh, 2018, Tables 4 and 5), these reports are written for less than one per cent of
Indigenous offenders—and that count does not include youth. In some provinces, such
as Manitoba, probation officers will add a Gladue section to a regular pre-sentence
report. These reports, however, might fall short when it comes to fully accounting for
how the individual’s Indigenous background impacted their involvement in crime
(Milward & Parkes, 2011). Some provinces, such as Alberta, have increased the
number of Gladue reports being written. Parsons (2018) found a substantial increase
between 2013 and 2018; those totals are shown in Figure 8.7. Alberta was able to
increase the number of Gladue reports by contracting with individuals who are
specially trained to write them (Parsons, 2018).
Some agencies specialize in the preparation of Gladue reports, including the
Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto (ALST). ALST staff members will prepare a
Gladue report for people in Ontario communities who have been convicted of an
offence and are in jeopardy of a custodial sentence of 90 days or longer. In addition to
preparing Gladue reports, ALST case workers also develop plans to meet the
offenders’ rehabilitative needs, including community-based alternatives to
incarceration.
Roach (2019) observes that Gladue has failed to reduce the overrepresentation of
Indigenous peoples in Canada’s correctional centres and prisons. Despite having been
authorized for over two decades, only a small proportion of these reports are ordered
by judges to help inform sentencing, and few provincial or territorial governments
have made an effort to (a) train probation officers to write these reports; (b) contract
with agencies—such as the ALST in Toronto—to carry out these investigations and
prepare these reports; or (c) hire caseworkers to prepare Gladue reports, as is the
practice in Alberta. But even if a greater number of these reports were written, we
question whether there would be much of a difference in the outcomes of Indigenous
peoples before the courts. For instance, if there are no realistic community-based
alternatives to incarceration, the number of Indigenous peoples admitted to custody is
unlikely to drop. Governments must expand the capacity of health, educational, and
social service resources to support these people. This is a difficult and costly
proposition, and Amoud (2014) observes that community-based services that might
help Indigenous offenders are not readily available in many rural and remote locations,
where these peoples are disproportionately located.
 FIGURE 8.7 Gladue Reports Written in Alberta, 2013/2014 to 2017/2018
Parsons (2018)

The response to the Gladue decision shows that reforms to justice system
operations are often slow to occur, and are sometimes thwarted by local, provincial,
and federal governments. This reluctance to make reforms is sometimes based on
economic factors (“it is too expensive”) or because these changes threaten to disrupt
long-standing social arrangements, such as the relationships between Indigenous and
non-Indigenous peoples. Moreover, criminal justice reforms can sometimes be
threatening to the individuals working within the system if their agencies will lose
resources, or if their personnel are required to change their priorities or practices.

SUMMARY
Although sentencing an individual looks like a relatively straightforward
process when shown on television, it is a very important undertaking as we
all have an interest in ensuring that sentences are fair, unbiased, and just,
and that they increase our safety. Sentencing in Canada is guided by
several principles, but the foremost is proportionality, which says that the
punishment must be related to the seriousness of the crime. In order to
better understand the offender’s strengths and weaknesses, judges often
order a PSR. Despite criticisms of these reports, they are a useful tool that
guides sentencing, and they are used by probation and correctional
officials to develop rehabilitative plans after the sentence is imposed.
With respect to Indigenous peoples, there is a growing interest in ensuring
that they have access to Gladue reports, which are PSRs that highlight the
systemic issues that might have contributed to their involvement in crime.

MYTH OR REALITY
Is Plea Bargaining Really a Pact with the Devil?
Over 90 per cent of criminal cases end after a plea has been negotiated between the
Crown and the defence attorneys (Verdun-Jones, 2016). These arrangements usually
involve the defendant entering a plea of guilty in return for less severe punishments,
such as the reduction of a charge to a lesser offence, a withdrawal or stay of other
charges, an agreement not to proceed on a charge, a promise not to charge other
people, a reduction in the number of charges to one all-inclusive charge, or a
recommendation from the prosecutor on the severity of a sentence (Burke Scott, 2018).
Pleas of guilt are negotiated before a sentencing hearing happens, and the Crown and
defence attorney enter a joint submission to the judge. Although judges are not obliged
to accept those submissions, it is rare that they do not (Verdun-Jones, 2016).
Our reliance on plea bargaining is a relatively new practice, and up until the 1960s
most serious cases went to trial and defendants pleaded guilty to most minor offences.
Writing about plea bargaining in the US, Rakoff (2014) observes that in many other
countries the practice “was viewed as a kind of ‘devil’s pact’ that allowed guilty
defendants to avoid the full force of the law.” Yet plea bargains can also benefit
prosecutors when the defendant has been charged with an offence that carries a
mandatory minimum sentence. Prosecutors are further advantaged since the Supreme
Court, in the R v Nixon (2011) case, agreed that Crown prosecutors can break their plea
agreements, although that rarely occurs.
While plea bargaining is widely criticized, the courts, prosecution units, and legal
aid systems would collapse if every defendant wanted his or her case argued in court.
Piccinato (2004, p. 14) describes the pros and cons of plea bargaining; they are
summarized in Table 8.4. Plea bargaining has benefits for the justice system: police
officers and prosecutors save time as there is no need to collect, organize, and present
evidence to a jury. The defence counsel does not need to prepare and present a case.
Moreover, judges do not need to preside over a trial, and the courts can be reserved for
other cases. But victims have criticized plea bargains because they have very little
 input into the decisions that prosecutors make. Charges, for example, are routinely
stayed by prosecutors, which can make some victims feel betrayed by the justice
system (Moore, 2015).

TABLE 8.4 Advantages and Criticisms of Plea Bargaining

Advantages Criticisms
• Contributes to the efficiency of the • Leads to manipulation of the judicial
justice system system
• Reduces costs and workloads • Encourages abuses of power by
• Provides certainty for all parties prosecutors and judges
• Reduces inconvenience on witnesses • Creates a situation in which the
• Reduces the stress of being a witness defence counsel may put his or her
• Allows prosecutors to get a interests over those of the client
conviction on weak cases • Results in offenders receiving lenient
sentences
• Increases the risk of wrongful
convictions

Adapted from Piccinato (2004)

One limitation in our knowledge of sentencing is that our predictions

about the offender’s potential for rehabilitation or dangerousness lack
accuracy. As a result, we often give people a number of chances to reform,
realizing that making a significant change in one’s life is a challenge for
anybody (think back to your success in keeping your New Year’s
resolutions), and there will be some failures. The hazard of sentencing, of
course, is that the courtroom work group will make mistakes, and some
individuals who receive a second chance will go on to commit serious
offences. On the other hand, keeping individuals incarcerated for longer
than necessary does not make us any safer—which is a criticism of “tough
on crime” punishments.
Achieving the goals of public safety and holding wrongdoers
accountable is a difficult undertaking, and one tension is how we balance
the pursuit of individualized justice against the goal of treating offenders
who commit the same types of crime in a similar manner. Additional
considerations must be made when sentencing Indigenous people; judges
must consider their distinctive circumstances. More than 20 years after the
Gladue decision, however, there is widespread agreement that efforts to
produce these reports have fallen short because they have not been widely
implemented, nor have they been supported by an increase in community-
based alternatives to incarceration. As a result, they have not reduced the
overrepresentation of Indigenous inmates in provincial, territorial, or
federal corrections. Such findings reinforce a theme that underlies the
entire study of the criminal justice system: changes occur slowly and
sometimes the interventions that we have introduced to reduce problems
might not have the desired (or any) effect.
Another theme addressed in this chapter is the variation in the way that
justice is carried out throughout the nation. Some provinces are more
punitive and incarcerate a higher number of individuals per 100,000
residents. Prior research has shown that incarceration is not directly
related to levels of crime, suggesting that other political, economic, and
legal factors influence the use of punishment (Neil & Carmichael, 2015;
Ruddell & Jones, 2017). While almost everybody agrees that we need to
be able to incapacitate people who represent a risk to public safety, there is
less agreement on how such individuals should be imprisoned.

Career SNAPSHOT
Probation Officer
Like other careers in the justice system, probation officers can work in a variety of
roles. One important duty of probation officers is preparing pre-sentence reports, and
this role might be of interest to students who want to gain experience in carrying out
investigations. Pre-sentence reports are prepared for the court and are read by the
individual being sentenced, counsel, and Crown prosecutor, so they require careful
attention to detail and excellent writing skills.
Probation officers also work with individuals accused of offences. Some officers
monitor judicial interim releases or oversee alternative measures programs for first-
time and non-violent offenders. Probation officers can also supervise probationers in a
variety of caseloads. Officers working in small offices are likely to be generalists who
take care of every type of offender, while those working in larger offices may be more
likely to supervise specialized caseloads or work in specialized roles such as being
assigned to a mental health court. While most probation officers start off working in
generalist caseloads, most can expect to be assigned to specialized roles after they
have gained several years of experience.

Profile
Name: Elizabeth Engel
Job title: Probation Officer, Regina Adult Community Corrections
Employed in current job since: 2013
Present location: Regina, Saskatchewan
Education: Bachelor in Human Justice, Minor in Sociology, University of Regina

Background
Upon entering university, I had few ideas about what type of career I wanted to
pursue. I enrolled in a general arts degree program, but I soon realized that I was not
interested in any typical subject as a major, so I transferred into the human justice
program and became energized with the thought of being able to help people facing
adversity. I am currently a probation officer with the Saskatchewan Ministry of
Corrections in Regina, and I have come to realize that this was my career goal even
though I was not fully aware of what I was working toward during my time at the
University of Regina. It was not until after I completed my two practicum (internship)
placements that I decided to pursue a career in community corrections.

Work Experience
I began my career at the Ranch Ehrlo Society in Pilot Butte, Saskatchewan, working
with at-risk youth during a practicum placement as a student. Prior to my convocation,
I also completed an advanced practicum placement at the Crown Prosecutor’s Office in
Regina. In that role, I was able to gain exposure to all of the aspects of the justice
system, including court procedures, community-based partnerships, corrections and
policing agencies, and offender services, and I learned how they operate together. This
experience fuelled my motivation to become a probation officer. I am very dedicated
to promoting public safety by strengthening the offenders’ ability to contribute to and
live positively in their communities.
My experiences at both of my practicum placements helped me to learn about the
diversity of human behaviour and to identify and understand factors associated with
those at risk. My front-line role working with offenders has given me the experience to
develop the skills necessary to assess human behaviour and risk while implementing
intervention strategies to encourage offenders to be successful in their communities.
 In my work as a probation officer, I value the positive impact I have had in the
lives of probationers by helping them work toward their rehabilitation and address
their risk areas with interventions I have recommended. This has had a positive impact
on public safety. Although I am in the first years of my career, I have been required to
testify in court to explain a risk assessment that I administered, and I have also
received positive recognition and accolades from a judge for a pre-sentence report that
I prepared. In my work, I have supervised dangerous, violent, and difficult people who
have worked toward their rehabilitation and success by managing their high-risk
behaviours; this of course, reduces recidivism, which is the most rewarding part of my
job.

Advice to Students
Students who are interested in a career in community corrections should never ignore
their instincts or capabilities. You should try to experience and learn from all of the
opportunities given to you—good or bad. In addition, you should ensure that your
self-care is a priority as well as supporting your team, and you have to remember that
public safety is in your hands. Students interested in working with offenders should
become engaged in their communities and should volunteer as often as possible, as
these experiences demonstrate humility and kindness. My final piece of advice is to
never be afraid to absorb all experiences, to be confident, and to listen to yourself.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are the main types of community and custodial sentences that a judge can impose?
2. Define the principles of proportionality and totality and explain why these factors are
important in the administration of justice.
3. Describe the differences between aggravating and mitigating factors and explain how
they are related to individualized justice.
4. What are the components of a pre-sentence report?
5. Why are sentences in some provinces or territories more severe than in others, even if
they have similar rates of crime?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Should decisions about the use of imprisonment be driven by public opinion, or should
we leave these decisions to experts?
2. Ideally, we would like to treat everybody who commits a crime in the same manner:
Why is this not practical?
3. Some people believe that “getting tough” on offenders when crime rates are dropping is
not good public policy. What is your opinion on “getting tough” on offenders?
4. When imposing a prison sentence on an offender, should the cost of that prisoner’s care
also be publicized?
5. How can our justice system best respond to career criminals?

INTERNET SITE
The victim impact statements, pre-sentence reports, and psychological reports for Justin
Bourque—the offender who killed three RCMP members in 2014—can be found on the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation website. These materials provide readers with a better
understanding of the components of these reports.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new—brunswick/-justin-bourque-evidence-posted-with-
discretion-at-cbc-1.2865791

CASES CITED
R v Bartkow (1978), 24 NSR (2d) 518
R v Gladue, [1999] 1 SCR 688
R v Johnson, 2012 ONCA 339
R v Junkert, 2010 ONCA 549
R v Lavallee, [1990] 1 SCR 852
R v Lloyd, 2016 SCC 13, [2016] 1 SCR 130
R v Nixon, 2011 SCC 34
R v Nur, 2015 SCC 15, [2015] 1 SCR 773
R v O’Keefe, 2018 NLCA 11
PART IV
Corrections
9 Provincial Corrections:
Probation and Short-term
Incarceration

Probationers perform community service work beside a highway. What

benefits do you think this scenario has for those serving their community
sentence, and for those in the community? What are some objections that
community members might have? What about objections of the offenders?
(Photo credit: Mikael Karlsson/Alamy Stock Photo)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to

• Describe the key issues shaping probation in Canada

• Identify the best practices in community supervision
• Describe the evolution of provincial and territorial correctional systems
• Explain how the characteristics of inmates influence their conduct while incarcerated
• Describe the steps officials have taken to increase correctional safety and security

CASE STUDY
A High-Risk Probationer Murders
Three Ontario Women
On December 6, 2017, 60-year-old Basil Borutski was sentenced to serve almost 70 years
in prison before he can apply for parole for killing three women in Renfrew County,
Ontario, in a September 2015 crime spree. Borutski had been involved with the justice
system since the 1970s and numerous individuals had made complaints to the police about
his threatening and violent behaviours. He was also well-known to the workers from
domestic violence shelters where his former partners had sought help (McQuigge, 2015).
Borutski was on probation when the killings occurred. Mayor and Culbert (2016)
observe that the “system failed women” and the family, friends, and neighbours of the
victims “question why the police, probation officers and courts failed to protect these
women.” According to Sibley (2015), “Borutski was well known to police in the area,” and
a year before the murders “he was found guilty … on a variety of charges, including
assault, choking, auto theft, mischief under $5,000, operating a motor vehicle while
disqualified and breach of probation. There was also a firearms-related offence.” At his
2014 sentencing on those crimes, the Crown prosecutor said that:

It’s just simply violation after violation of orders … and all they required him to do
… is simply keep the peace and be of good behaviour, and he can’t manage that.”
(as cited in Nease, 2017, para. 8)
 Mayor and Culbert (2016)1 point out that Borutski served only five months of his 17-
month custody sentence and refused to sign his probation order when released. He
disregarded the conditions of his new probation orders by failing to attend anger-
management classes and he continued to drive, despite having surrendered his driver’s
licence to the court.
Some probationers do not abide by the conditions of their probation orders and go on
to commit serious and violent crimes. One of the challenges in a legal system where an
individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty is that while the police and probation
officials are aware of potentially violent individuals within the community they cannot act
based on a person’s potential for violence, but only after an actual offence occurs. While
judges can order that high-risk probationers be monitored electronically (so their
whereabouts are known to probation officials), taking this step will not prevent them from
acting violently. Additionally, few violations of court orders result in harsh punishments.
Maxwell (2017, p. 20) reports that the median custody sentence for a breach of probation
offence in 2014/2015 was 15 days.

Critical Questions
1. How should the justice system respond to an individual who commits criminal
offences throughout their entire adult life?
2. What strategies should we use to protect people who have been in abusive
relationships with those who continue to threaten them?
3. About 100,000 offenders are sentenced to probation every year and almost 25,000
each year are convicted of violating the conditions of their probation (Miladinovic,
2019). Based on those numbers, would you say probation is a successful approach to
punishing offenders? Justify your answer.

INTRODUCTION
When considering the punishment of wrongdoers, most of our attention is
focused on custody populations, even though they only house a fraction of
all sentenced offenders (Malakieh, 2019). For the most part the public
supports community-based sentencing; a survey conducted by the federal
Department of Justice (2018, p. 1) revealed that:
 • Most Canadians (73 per cent) supported community-based
sentences for non-violent crimes.
• Over one-half of respondents (55 per cent) thought that too many
Canadians were incarcerated.
• About three-quarters believed that restorative justice interventions,
community services, and responding to an offender’s unmet needs
(e.g., substance abuse treatment or job training) would reduce
crime.
• Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) thought community-based
interventions would increase public safety.

Supporters of the due process perspective point out that most probationers
successfully finish their community-based sentences without reoffending.
Yet, there are also millions of Canadians who believe that community-
based sentences do not hold offenders accountable (Mandel, 2017). They
point out that individuals such as Basil Borutski, who had a history of
committing serious and violent crimes, must be supervised more closely.
Ultimately, we rely on the judgment of provincial and territorial
correctional officials to ensure our safety by closely monitoring these
probationers. One of the challenges for provincial corrections
departments, however, is that the demands on their officers is high and
some probationers receive inadequate supervision (Global News, 2017).
There are several arguments for supervising offenders in the
community. Probationary and conditional sentences allow sentenced
offenders to remain in school, maintain their employment, and care for
their families. Imposing harsher punishments, such as incarcerating them,
might further disadvantage or discourage individuals and push them
further into criminality. Moreover, we can supervise probationers at a
fraction of the cost of incarcerating them. Despite those advantages, there
is also a place for the short-term incarceration of some offenders. Inmates
in provincial or territorial facilities are composed of two groups: remands
and those serving sentences of less than two years. Although few inmates
in correctional centres serve more than a few weeks, some present
significant challenges for the staff when they display very disruptive or
aggressive behaviour. This chapter focuses on the delivery of these
correctional services—probation and short-term incarceration—by
provincial and territorial authorities.
In the pages that follow, a more complete description of probation and
corrections is presented. The first section gives an overview of probation,
describing the evolution of probation in Canada and identifying the factors
that shape the practice of probation. That section is followed by an
overview of provincial and territorial corrections, the characteristics of
these facilities and the inmates living in them, and a discussion about the
challenges the correctional staff confront. These descriptions set the stage
for our discussion of federal imprisonment and parole in the next chapter.

AN OVERVIEW OF PROBATION IN CANADA

On any given day in 2017/2018, there were about 25,000 provincial or
territorial correctional centre inmates and another 95,000 offenders who
were serving some form of community sentence (Malakieh, 2019). These
numbers show the importance of probation and conditional sentences to
Canada’s criminal justice system. An offender may be sentenced to a
probationary or conditional sentence or may serve a period of probation
after serving a custody sentence. The one common factor to all these
community-based sentences is that the offender lives in the community
under the supervision of a probation officer. Each probationer in Canada is
required to meet three standard conditions on their probation orders: (a)
keeping the peace and being of good behaviour (which may include a ban
on communicating with witnesses, co-accused, or victims), (b) reporting
to the court when required, and (c) notifying the court or probation officer
of any significant changes, such as getting a new job or residence. In
addition to these standard conditions, there is a range of additional
restrictions that can be placed on the individual, including prohibiting
alcohol or drug use, abiding by a curfew, attending counselling, making
restitution, and completing community service hours.
standard conditions All Canadians on probation are required to keep the peace and be of good
behaviour, report to the court or probation officer when required, and report any significant
changes to the probation officer or court.

There are various levels of intensity when it comes to supervising

probationers, and some low-risk offenders might never meet with their
probation officer after an initial appointment whereas high-risk sexual
offenders may be required to meet with them several times a week.
Probation officers also conduct home visits and meet with some
probationers at their workplaces. These supervision practices are rooted in
social work. Similar to social work, a term commonly used by probation
officers is caseload, which they use to refer to the number of probationers
under their supervision. Also similar to social work is the practice of
developing case plans with an officer’s higher-risk probationers, which
act as the roadmaps for their rehabilitation. These high-risk probationers,
including some chronic domestic violence offenders, may have very
extensive case plans requiring them to participate in treatment. These case
plans are often based on an assessment of the probationer’s strengths and
unmet needs as well as the factors that contributed to their involvement in
crime, such as substance abuse or anger management problems. Case plans
have traditionally focused on issues such as substance abuse, education,
and employment. Some Canadian researchers, however, have been critical
that such plans have failed to challenge the values and beliefs that led to
the offender’s involvement in crime (Bonta, Rugge, Scott, Bourgon, &
Yessine, 2008).

caseload The number of individuals under the supervision of a probation or parole officer.
case plan The “roadmap” for an individual’s rehabilitation that is developed by the offender
and the caseworker.

Figure 9.1 shows the use of probation and provincial incarceration

from 1979 to 2017. These rates peaked in the mid-1990s and while the rate
of probationers per 100,000 residents has been dropping, the provincial
incarceration rate has been relatively stable over time, even after crime
rates decreased. Most probationary sentences are imposed for non-violent
crimes and common assaults, although individuals sentenced to custody on
serious charges sometimes are required to serve a probationary sentence
once released from the correctional centre. While judges can impose up to
a three-year probationary sentence, the average probation term was 468
days in 2016/2017 (Statistics Canada, 2019c).

FIGURE 9.1 Provincial and Territorial Incarceration and Probation Rates per 100,000
Population: Canada, 1979–2017
Statistics Canada (2018a)

Every province and territory operates a community corrections

division; the goals of these organizations are to supervise offenders in the
community. Calverley and Beattie (2005, pp. 7–10) identified these
programs, summarized as follows:

• administer adult alternative measures programs

• supervise offenders serving probationary sentences
• supervise individuals serving conditional sentences
• deliver rehabilitative programs
 • supervise individuals on provincial parole (in Ontario and Quebec)
or temporary absences from custody longer than 72 hours
• oversee fine option programs
• carry out pretrial supervision in some provinces
• administer community service work programs
• prepare pre-sentence investigations for the courts

provincial parole Provincial parole boards are operated in Ontario and Quebec for prisoners in
provincial correctional centres, while individuals serving less than two years in all the remaining
provinces and territories can apply to the Parole Board of Canada for early releases.

Probation Caseloads
Probation officers are assigned a caseload of offenders who are serving a
community-based sentence. In rural areas and small cities, they often
supervise generalist caseloads involving every type of low- and high-risk
probationer. One of the shortcomings of these generalist caseloads is that
probationers with distinctive crime histories or specific needs—such as
people with mental health problems or chronic domestic violence
offenders—account for only a small percentage of any generalized
caseload. As a result, the officers do not have the time to develop
specialized knowledge or skills to excel at managing these different types
of cases. Depending on the nature of their offences, untreated sexual
offenders, for example, pose distinct risks to the public, and reducing
those risks requires an understanding of their offence histories (including
their preferred victims), the circumstances that led to their sexual
offences, and the best practices in their supervision. In urban areas, by
contrast, caseloads tend to be specialized.
Average caseload sizes typically range from 50 to 60 probationers per
officer. The Office of the Auditor General Manitoba (2014, p. 271) reports
the average caseload size was 53 probationers, while Ontario probation
officers supervised about 64 probationers (Reevely, 2014), and BC officers
supervised an average of 59 cases (Hansard, 2018). We must be careful
about understanding service delivery based on averages as they can mask
some very diverse caseloads. Probation officers supervising high-risk
sexual offenders, for example, might only have 25 individuals on their
caseload, while another officer might supervise 200 low-risk cases. The
British Columbia Justice and Public Safety Council (2018, p. 24) contends
that the complexity of cases officers must now manage has been
increasing and officers are now supervising a greater proportion of high-
risk probationers on their caseloads, as well as offenders convicted of
sexual and domestic violence offences.

Focusing on High-Risk Probationers

Probation supervision approaches vary throughout the nation and depend
somewhat on the nature of the caseload. There is agreement in the
correctional literature that scarce treatment resources and officer
supervision time should be prioritized for the offenders who pose the
highest risks. This approach is based on research showing that low-risk
probationers require very little supervision (Bonta & Andrews, 2017).
Some low-risk probationers, for example, might be required to report to
their officer by phone once a month. High-risk probationers are a
comparatively smaller group, but have more unmet treatment needs. Many
of those treatment needs are related to unresolved addictions issues,
mental health problems, negative peer group associations (such as being
involved in a gang), poor employment histories, and attitudes and beliefs
that are supportive of crime. In order to reduce their risks, they require
more attention from probation officials.

Race, Class, and Gender

Fines and Fairness: Should the Rich Pay More?
Almost 64,000 adults in criminal court cases in 2016/2017 were fined as part of their
punishment; the average amount was almost $1,000 (Statistics Canada 2019b). From
2013 to 2018, courts were also required to impose an additional victim surcharge for
anybody convicted of a crime (McDonald, Northcott, & Raguparan, 2014). These
surcharges were used to fund victims’ services throughout the country. While funding
victims’ services using money collected from offenders is in theory a good idea, some
soon recognized that this practice discriminates against the poor, and the amounts were
sometimes very high if an individual was involved in numerous offences. It is no secret
that the poor are disadvantaged when it comes to paying fines, and many are
incarcerated in provincial correctional centres because they cannot not pay their fines
and surcharges. Seymour (2014) describes the case of a homeless 26-year-old in
Ottawa who was convicted of nine offences stemming from a single incident where he
stole a bottle of rye from a liquor store “and then kicked a loss prevention officer and
police officer, confronted a snow plow operator and broke a shelter window, and
lashed out at police after being stopped wandering down the middle of a busy street.”
The minimum surcharge for these offences was $900, which is beyond the reach of a
man with a $250 monthly income. Fines had potentially turned correctional centres
into modern-day debtor’s prisons.
In December 2018, the Supreme Court agreed with civil libertarians and advocates
for the poor that mandatory victim surcharges were a cruel and unusual punishment
(Hassan, 2019).
To reduce the incarceration of people who couldn’t pay their fines, most provincial
and territorial governments—with the exception of British Columbia, Ontario, and
Newfoundland and Labrador—introduced fine option programs, where individuals
can work off their fine in a community setting being credited at the minimum wage
rather than sending money directly to the court to pay their debt (Nunavut Justice,
2018). One critical question we should ask is why those three provinces do not offer
fine option programs. Moreover, the legislation authorizing fine option programs varies
across the nation and some provinces do not allow individuals to use fine option
programs for traffic tickets.

fine option programs Enable people to pay their court-ordered fines using their
labour (typically by working in jobs related to community service).

Although speeding is not a criminal offence, Schierenbeck (2018) observes that in

Argentina and Finland the fines that speeders pay are linked to their annual income;
this approach was also introduced in the United Kingdom in 2017 (Murray, 2017). As
a result, the rich pay higher fines than speeders who have lower incomes, thus helping
to deter the rich from speeding just as much as those with lower incomes. Canadian
researcher McKenna (2018) reports that a wealthy Swedish businessman was fined
more than $1.3 million Canadian for travelling 290 km/hour in Switzerland.
It is important to consider how we deter crime, and whether those deterrents have
the same impact on everyone who is a potential offender.
 As a probationer’s risk level increases, the frequency and intensity of
supervision also rises, which is the theory behind intensive supervision
probation (ISP) programs. Although ISP was introduced in the 1980s,
research shows that its effectiveness is mixed (Hyatt & Barnes, 2017). For
example, many of these high-intensity supervision programs result in
higher rates of breaches of probation because the probationers are more
closely monitored (and so more breaches of probation are caught), but that
might be a positive outcome if their involvement in more serious offences
is reduced. A Manitoba study of ISP with high-risk probationers carried out
by Weinrath, Doerksen, and Watts (2015) reveals that:

intensive supervision probation (ISP) Places higher levels of supervision on high-risk

probationers, and probation officers typically meet more frequently with them.

In a growing number of countries, traffic fines are not the same for every violator and are
based on the individual’s income. As a result, the president of your college or university—
who is very well-paid—would pay a much higher fine than an unemployed student, even
though both of them were travelling at the same speed. Are fines based on one’s income more
fair than the current system? Why or why not?
 Tight supervision results in higher technical violations, failure
rates are higher than desirable, and subjects can end up under state
supervision for extended periods. Not all findings are negative,
however, as deterrence and treatment elements appear to result in
less serious offending. (p. 279)

Some potentially dangerous probationers, however, can fall through

the cracks in the system and receive very little supervision. A report by
Global News (2017) found that some high-risk sexual offenders serving
more than a year on probation had never received a home visit by a
probation officer.
Officials can increase the supervision of probationers using electronic
monitoring (EM)—an approach introduced in the 1980s. Probationers in
these programs are required to wear a monitor attached to their ankles that
alerts correctional officials if they are more than a short distance from
their home’s landline phone (e.g., 30 metres). Many of these probationers
are sentenced to home confinement, where they must remain at home
unless arrangements to leave their residence are made with their probation
officer. Newer versions of EM use global positioning systems (GPS) to
continuously track the probationer’s whereabouts, and some of these
monitors can test for alcohol consumption.

electronic monitoring (EM) Requires probationers or parolees living in the community to wear
a device that communicates their whereabouts to a facility that tracks their movements.
home confinement A sanction that requires an individual on community supervision to remain
at home; this is usually coupled with electronic monitoring.

Wallace-Capretta and Roberts (2013, p. 56) report that EM is used:

• as a condition of judicial interim release/bail;

• to monitor offenders serving intermittent sentences of custody;
• to monitor offenders serving a conditional sentence of
imprisonment at home;
• as a condition of probation in high-risk cases;
 • to monitor adult prisoners leaving a correctional institution on a
Temporary Absence Program; and
• to assist in the supervision of offenders released on parole.

Research carried out by the highly regarded Washington State Institute

for Public Policy (2018) reveals that EM is a cost-effective crime-reduction
practice. While many probationers are good candidates for EM, it is seldom
used (Wallace-Capretta & Roberts, 2013), although the Canada Border
Services Agency has started to use EM as an alternative to detaining
individuals in custody (Blanchfield, 2018). One shortcoming of EM,
however, is that while we know the individual’s whereabouts, we don’t
know what they’re doing—they could still be engaging in crime.
Moreover, some scholars contend that being placed on EM has a
psychological impact on these individuals, and Gacek (2016) found that
offenders on EM express feelings akin to being imprisoned even though
they are living in the community.

Violations of Probation
Figure 9.2 shows just a few of the characteristics of probationers in
2016/2017. Most notably, about one-third of them (31,337 probationers)
appeared in court after being charged with a breach of probation offence,
which is one of the most common crimes heard in adult courts (Malakieh,
2019). Of those individuals, about 25,000 were found guilty (about 2 per
cent were acquitted, and the charges were stayed in about 20 per cent of
such cases). While some of those found guilty of violating their probation
were sentenced prior to 2016/2017, a rough estimate is that about one in
four probationers was unsuccessful in 2016/2017. That estimate is close to
the results published in Johnson’s (2006) examination of breach of
probation offences in five provinces and the results of a Saskatchewan
study carried out by Gossner, Simon, Rector, and Ruddell (2016).
As noted earlier, all probationers are required to abide by three
standard probation conditions: (a) keeping the peace and being of good
behaviour; (b) reporting to the court when required, and; (c) notifying the
court or probation officer of any significant changes. Judges also impose
additional conditions that respond to the probationer’s specific needs or
offence. People convicted of domestic violence, for example, might be
required to attend specialized treatment or an anger-management course.
Johnson (2006, p. 8) identifies the most commonly imposed probationary
conditions:

FIGURE 9.2 Probation Statistics, Canada, 2016/2017

Based on Malakieh, 2019; Statistics Canada (2019a; 2019c)
Although electronic monitoring (EM) enables correctional officials to monitor the
whereabouts of people being supervised in the community, these devices are rarely used.
Malakieh (2018, p. 16) reports there are about 10,000 offenders under some form of
community supervision (including bail) in Saskatchewan, although the province only has 125
EM devices, which works out to about one in 80 individuals being monitored.

Attend counselling
Abstain from drugs or alcohol
Restricted contact with certain people
Community service work
Driving prohibition
Restitution/compensation order
Attend work or school
Reside in a specific place/house arrest
Curfew
Area restriction

Judges are also free to impose additional conditions related to a

probationer’s specific circumstances. For example, offenders convicted of
viewing child pornography may be restricted from using a computer or
other device with internet access. Moreover, judges can also restrict
probationers convicted of violent crimes or firearms offences from
possessing firearms or ammunition.
A common condition of probation is a community service order, which
requires a probationer to perform unpaid community service work—most
often by working for non-profit organizations such as libraries or hospitals
or by performing tasks that benefit the community, such as picking up
trash alongside a roadway. In many provinces the probation agencies fund
non-profit organizations to operate these programs so probationers can
complete their community service work. Administering these programs
can be a challenge, as some probationers are not very motivated to carry
out the work and their participation must constantly be monitored.
Another commonly imposed condition of probation is that the offender
make restitution to the victim(s) of their crimes.
This brings us to the question of what happens when an offender
violates the conditions of their probation. Like other front-line personnel
in the justice system, probation officers have a lot of discretion and if they
discover that a probationer has breached the conditions of their probation
—Americans and some Canadians call this a technical violation—they can
choose to take no action, counsel the probationer, or refer the case to a
prosecutor, who may take the case to court. Some of these outcomes are
related to the seriousness of a breach. Failing to advise one’s probation
officer of a minor change in their circumstances is unlikely to be referred
to a prosecutor, but a sex offender who refuses to attend their court-
ordered treatment would be referred.
Figure 9.3 shows that about one in four probationary sentences results
in a conviction for a breach of probation, which becomes a new offence.
For probationers found guilty of these breach of probation offences in
2016/2017, over one-half (57 per cent) were sentenced to custody,
probation was extended for about one-fifth (21 per cent), and 17 per cent
were fined. The remaining six per cent, classified as “other” in Figure 9.3,
were placed on a conditional sentence, required to do community service
or make restitution, or may have received an absolute or conditional
discharge. Is a failure rate of about one in four bad news? We know that
only about half of US probationers successfully complete their community
sentences, but one of the problems with the US statistics is that probation
agencies lose track of about one-fifth of their probationers (Kaeble, 2018).
Despite that limitation, we can safely say that the probation failure rate in
Canada is generally lower than in the United States.

breach of probation a violation of an offender’s condition of probation, such as using drugs or

alcohol when it is forbidden, or violating a curfew.

FIGURE 9.3 Outcomes for Individuals Convicted of Breach of Probation Offences,

2016/2017
Statistics Canada (2019a)

The reasons that one in four probationers are convicted of a breach of

probation offence are complex. A common issue identified in the previous
eight chapters is that our society does not provide enough economic and
social supports to help offenders succeed, especially if they have chronic
problems with mental health or addictions. As a result, it is no surprise to
workers in the justice system when they reoffend. Some probationers are
required to abide by a dozen or more conditions on their probation orders,
but there is growing awareness that imposing that many conditions
increases their likelihood of failure. Another emerging challenge is that
offenders not represented by a lawyer in court will often agree to almost
any condition in order to secure their release from custody. Once they are
released, however, those conditions can become overwhelming, and it is
more likely they will be breached (Damon, 2014). Some also argue that
homeless probationers are set up to fail as they cannot abide by curfews,
and life on the street will result in frequent interactions with the police,
which might result in further charges. A former probationer says:

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Offender Rehabilitation versus Surveillance in Canada
and the United States
Miller, Copeland, and Sullivan (2014) identify the differences between community
corrections organizations that place a priority on offender rehabilitation and agencies
that prioritize law enforcement functions such as the surveillance, monitoring, and
control of probationers. There will always be a tension between these two approaches,
and it is difficult to balance them when dealing with probationers with histories of
violence or managing offenders with lengthy criminal histories. Canadian probation
officers, however, have stayed much closer to their roots in social work than their US
counterparts. Although supervising and monitoring probationers are important aspects
of an officer’s job, there may be an over-reliance on control in some US jurisdictions.
A further barrier to finishing one’s probation is that many US agencies charge
probationers monthly user fees for their supervision; Human Rights Watch (2018)
argues this practice sets these probationers up to fail.
One important difference between the two nations is that while Canadian probation
officers are employees of provincial or territorial governments, most US officers are
employed by local (municipal) or county governments. As a result, there are thousands
of probation offices throughout America and there is incredible diversity in agency
leadership, officer training, policies, procedures, and funding. Agencies that receive
adequate funding and hire professional and well-trained staff members may deliver
programs that have lower rates of probationer recidivism (Still, 2016).
Unlike their Canadian counterparts, it is common for US probation officers to
engage in formal partnerships with the police and patrol with them (Kim & Matz,
2018). In that enforcement role, American probation officers routinely carry sidearms
and many also wear bullet-resistant vests. The ultimate goal of some US probation
agencies is the monitoring and surveillance of offenders and is summarized by the
saying “tail ’em, nail ’em, and jail ’em” (Western & Schiraldi, 2017). Given that
sentiment, we expect that some offenders are likely afraid of their probation officers—
which makes it difficult to form meaningful helping relationships.
 Many US jurisdictions authorize probation officers to carry sidearms, and these
officers will sometimes patrol with the police. Some critics have suggested that
these officers have lost their rehabilitation orientation in favour of surveillance and
control. Do you think Canada should adopt the “tough on crime” approach of the
United States? Why or why not?

When I was on probation, there was factors of homelessness,

addiction, family life circumstances, the violence that comes on
the street…. You’re not thinking about going into an office when
you haven’t showered for three days, have no place to live and
checking in to make sure you don’t go back to jail. (CBC News,
2015, para. 9)

There is very little research about the acts that result in new criminal
charges for probationers or their outcomes after their convictions. There
is, however, a growing interest in identifying the factors that lead to
successful probation outcomes; these are described in the following
section.

INCREASING PROBATIONER SUCCESS

Research has consistently demonstrated the effectiveness of correctional
interventions based on the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) approach.
Effective supervision starts with an assessment of the probationer’s risk
and needs, and the probation officer and their client work together to
develop plans to address those issues. Table 9.1 highlights the three
components of this approach. A key factor that makes RNR different from
other correctional interventions is the recognition of an inmate’s self-
determination: that offenders should have a say in decisions affecting their
lives. Under this approach, probation staff recognize that offenders have
their own goals, wants, and needs, and that the “mission of the correctional
agency is rehabilitation (not punishment) through respectful, ethical,
humane, psychologically informed treatment” (Bonta, Bourgeon, &
Rugge, 2018, p. 184).
There are, however, several barriers to a probationer’s rehabilitation.
Young, Farrell, and Taxman (2013, p. 1071) observe that probation staff
must accurately assess the offender’s risks and needs and that the
interventions based on those assessments must be available and
implemented correctly. Staff members, for example, must receive training
that enables them to deliver a high-quality intervention that is faithful to
the rehabilitative model. In other words, if the probationer is supposed to
receive 10 hours of counselling by a trained psychologist, agency leaders
should not try to reduce the treatment to six hours or substitute another
type of counsellor such as a nurse. When agencies reduce the intensity of
the intervention or attempt to save money by using less-qualified staff, the
results are often less effective than expected.
TABLE 9.1 Risk-Need-Responsivity Model

Risk Match the level of intervention to the risk level of the cases,
working with moderate- and high-risk offenders (and not
intervening with low-risk offenders).

Need Treat the unmet needs associated with criminal thinking and
behaviour, such as substance abuse or negative attitudes toward
the law or conventional lifestyles.

Responsivity Adapt correctional treatment to account for the individual’s

strengths, motivations, preferences, personality, age, gender, and
 ethnicity.

Officer Skills Matter in Reducing Recidivism

In addition to delivering rehabilitative services that are responsive to a
probationer’s risk and needs, there is a growing body of research that
highlights the importance of probation officer skills in reducing
recidivism. Raynor, Ugwudike, and Vanstone (2014) found that highly
skilled officers had caseloads with lower rates of recidivism. Those
findings lend support to research done by Canadian researchers who
developed the Strategic Training Initiative in Community Supervision
(STICS), which is intended to improve worker skills and knowledge so that
they can effectively target a probationer’s needs and reduce their
recidivism (Bonta, Bourgeon, & Rugge, 2018; Doob, Hunter, Rachamalla,
Sprott, & Webster, 2017).

Strategic Training Initiative in Community Supervision (STICS ) An approach to the

community supervision of probationers that is based on the notion that probation officers who
have stronger relationships with their clients and challenge their pro-criminal or antisocial beliefs
have lower rates of recidivism on their caseloads.

The attitude that the probation officers have toward rehabilitation and
the relationships they have with their clients is also important. Steiner,
Travis, Makarios, and Brickley (2011) report that some officers can
express punitive or rehabilitative values, and these values influence their
approach to offender supervision. Miller’s (2015, p. 19) national-level
study of US probation officers found that some “seemed far more actively
engaged in supervision than others … [and their approach depends on the
officer’s] personal values and characteristics.” Researchers have found
that officers who have better relationships with the probationers they
supervise have lower recidivism rates (Chamberlain, Gricius, Wallace,
Borjas, & Ware, 2017). Punitive and less supportive officers, by contrast,
may contribute to higher levels of anxiety in female probationers, for
example, which in turn increases their recidivism (Morash, Kashy, Smith,
& Cobbina, 2016).
MYTH OR REALITY
You Don’t Need Theory to Understand How the
Justice System Operates
In the previous chapters, the terms theory and theories have been avoided, as the focus
of this book is developing a better understanding how Canada’s criminal justice system
works in practice. Many people say that theories aren’t very relevant in the real world
and that they don’t really apply when it comes to crime and criminals. Yet, a set of
theories underlie all the interventions of the criminal justice system from our crime
prevention efforts to offender rehabilitation. And while most of us can’t provide a
scientific name to our opinions about crime and offenders, our ideas are founded on
theories that were first proposed centuries ago. In fact, most of the philosophies of
punishment described in Chapter 2 are related to different criminological theories; the
next paragraphs briefly describe some of those theories and how different practices of
the justice system are based on them.
When it comes to theories of crime, perhaps the most asked question is: Why did
the offender commit the crime? Once we answer that question, we can develop
strategies to reduce the offender’s chances of engaging in future offences. Many of us
think that offenders commit crimes because they think they will “get away with it” and
won’t be punished for their actions. As a result, many crime control policies are based
on deterrence, which is based on the belief that if the police do a better job of catching
offenders and judges swiftly impose harsh punishments the offender will learn their
lesson and will refrain from crime. Do you believe that deterrence works? Obviously,
this is a very simple explanation of a complex subject—entire books have been written
on deterrence (see Nagin, Cullen, & Lero Jonson, 2016).
Many theories that explain why people commit crimes are based on the notion that
there is something wrong with an individual that leads them to criminal behaviour. All
critical criminologists, however, believe that our economic system and class structure
(where 87 Canadian families have more assets than the 12 million lowest earning
Canadians—see Macdonald, 2018) create the conditions that contribute to crime. They
contend that social problems such as unemployment, poverty, inequality, racism, and
the marginalization of different social groups push people into committing crimes.
Moreover, they also argue that our police, courts, and correctional systems are
designed to maintain those unequal relationships. Critical criminologists observe that
the poor are harshly punished for their involvement in relatively minor street crimes,
while the rich owners of corporations are seldom held accountable for crimes such as
making their employees work in dangerous or unsafe conditions, or dumping toxic
 wastes into our lakes and rivers. As a result, a critical criminologist would say that by
reducing poverty and inequality we would increase the quality of life for the poor and
middle classes and reduce crime. These ideas about reducing crime by making
economic and social changes are based on conflict theory.
Another important theoretical question is: How do we reform offenders? Should we
even try? How we answer these questions informs what our interventions and
rehabilitation programs look like. The risk-need-responsivity approach involves
challenging an individual’s criminogenic attitudes and values—what we call the
offender’s criminal thinking. An individual’s antisocial values and beliefs can be
decreased, and research shows that doing so reduces the risk of recidivism (Bonta &
Andrews, 2017). But this is just one example of correctional rehabilitation, and many
Canadians believe that we shouldn’t try to reform offenders at all, that we should
instead simply “lock them up and throw away the key.” That belief is founded on a
theory called incapacitation, and people who believe in that approach say that the best
way to prevent someone from reoffending is to imprison them. This belief informs
changes to policy such as longer prison sentences and stricter conditions for release.
The reality is that understanding different theories about human behaviour, crime,
and justice is important because the operations of Canada’s criminal justice system are
based on different ideas about offender motivation and the nature of crime. These ideas
also influence how we approach the issue of crime control, and whether we focus on
“fixing” the offender or “fixing” society. By understanding the underlying theory, we
can better understand the motivations of the policy, and can better assess whether it
will be effective.

In addition to a probation officer’s clinical skills and attitude toward

rehabilitation, research also shows that diligent workers have lower rates
of recidivism. A Saskatchewan study examining the outcomes of high-risk
probationers found that officers who were more conscientious (e.g., their
assessments were more likely to be completed on time, their case plans
were more comprehensive, and they made more referrals to community
agencies) also had fewer probationers that reoffended (Gossner et al.,
2016). This research suggests that probation departments can improve
their success rates by:

• using interventions that have been proven to be effective with

probationers;
 • focusing officer time and resources on high-risk offenders;
• confronting attitudes and values that support criminal behaviour;
• hiring competent and skilled probation officers; and
• ensuring that their case work is comprehensive and up-to-date.

It is important to recognize, however, that despite the best efforts of

probation officers, some probationers will fail, and a very small
percentage of them will go on to commit serious and violent offences.

PROVINCIAL AND TERRITORIAL

CORRECTIONS
There were 177 provincial and territorial correctional facilities in Canada
in 2009, and they held almost 24,000 inmates (Calverley, 2010). There is a
great deal of diversity in those operations. For example, size varies
considerably. Some correctional facilities in remote or rural locations are
small, such as the 15-bed minimum-security Kugluktuk Ilavut Centre in
Nunavut. The Edmonton Remand Centre, by contrast, is the largest
provincially operated facility in Canada and holds almost 2,000 inmates.
There are also provincial or territorial correctional facilities that hold only
sentenced offenders or that offer specialized treatment programs, such as
the Clarenville Correctional Centre, a women’s facility in Newfoundland
and Labrador that developed a horse therapy program (CBC News, 2018a).
It is important to note that there are less than three dozen women-only
correctional centres in the country. The low number of these facilities
creates a hardship for some inmates as there might be only one women’s
facility in some provinces and it might be located far away from
offenders’ homes, making it difficult for them to get family visits. Multi-
purpose facilities, by contrast, hold both sentenced offenders and
remanded inmates, and may also house males and females, although coed
facilities are rare.
Like the consolidation of police services across Canada discussed in
Chapter 4, dozens of smaller and older provincial and territorial
correctional centres have closed. Calverley (2010, p. 22) notes that the
number of facilities dropped from 225 in 2000/2001 to 177 in 2008/2009,
and consolidation has continued since. Many facilities with fewer than 50
beds close because it is difficult to deliver cost-effective correctional
programs in very small institutions. Correctional centres have become the
transfer point for the entire justice system, as most arrestees and people
convicted of crimes pass through these places. This was not always the
case: A century ago these facilities had a more local orientation and most
were small, underfunded, and run by correctional personnel who had very
little expertise in managing inmates. The following section briefly
describes how provincial and territorial corrections have been evolving
over time to operate in a more professional manner.

The Evolution of Provincial and Territorial Corrections

In the early colonization of the lands that would become Canada, there was
not much need for incarceration as populations were sparse and informal
social control was an effective method of reducing crime. As immigration
increased and towns became cities, more formal approaches to law
enforcement were required, including the need to secure some arrestees
until their court dates. Places to temporarily hold arrestees went by several
names, including gaols, detention centres, and police lock-ups (called
police cells today). Some of these operations were makeshift structures,
meaning that they were originally intended for some other use but were
adapted to hold inmates. Many local jails were attached to the courthouse
or other town buildings.

gaols The historic term for jails.

police lock-ups A historic term used to describe police cells, which are places where arrestees
are temporarily held until their first court appearance (e.g., overnight).

Like other examples of Canada’s adult and youth justice systems, most
correctional practices were imported by the British and French colonists
who favoured sanctions that were familiar to them. In Europe, the practice
of temporarily holding people accused of crimes behind bars dates back
over 1,000 years. During that era, men, women, and children were often
incarcerated together. Like today’s correctional populations most of the
people accused of crimes and held in detention were poor, had substance
abuse problems, and were in poor mental and physical health. Unlike
today, however, the living conditions for inmates were so grim that few
received enough food or medical care and the facilities were poorly heated
during the winter. As a result, many inmates died of “jail fever” (an
outdated term for typhus—a disease transmitted by lice) and other
illnesses.
Because incarceration was not used as a long-term punishment during
the 1700s and 1800s most wrongdoers who were convicted of minor
crimes were fined, beaten, or whipped (Ekstedt & Griffiths, 1988, pp. 20–
21). Fyson (2006, p. 259) reports that in Montreal between 1765 and 1799,
61 per cent of offenders were fined, 23 per cent were released on their
recognizance, 8 per cent were incarcerated, and 7 per cent were whipped.
Fyson and Fenchel (2015) observe that most of these inmates were held on
minor charges, and less than 10 per cent of all Quebec City or Montreal
jail inmates were violent offenders in the mid- to late-1800s.
By the time of Confederation in 1867, several different arrangements
to manage offenders and populations deemed “problematic” (such as the
poor or people with mental health problems) were being established
throughout the nation. Locally operated detention facilities were first
established in the more populated eastern provinces, and similar facilities
were established in the west as populations grew in the Prairies and British
Columbia. In addition, workhouses were established to manage “vagrants,
beggars, prostitutes and fortune tellers, runaways, gamblers, stubborn
children and servants, drunkards, and orphans” (Kroll, as cited in Ekstedt
& Griffiths, 1988, p. 21). Moreover, there was a growing number of
psychiatric hospitals being built throughout the country in the late 1800s
and early 1900s to hold people who displayed disruptive behaviours and
would otherwise have been placed in jails. The population of psychiatric
facilities increased until the 1970s, when newly developed drugs became
widely used to manage patients’ behaviour, and many were released back
into their communities.
workhouses Places developed in the 1800s where the poor and people with mental illnesses
were given basic necessities (e.g., beds, meals, and clothes) in return for work.

Punishment in the early days of the colony that would become Canada was swift, severe, and
sometimes humiliating. Some wrongdoers were placed in pillories, and townspeople would
throw their household waste at them, while others were whipped; serious offenders were
sometimes pelted with rocks.

As Canada became more populated, makeshift jails were replaced with

structures specifically designed and built as correctional facilities. There
was also a move away from smaller locally-operated facilities toward
larger provincially-funded correctional centres throughout the 1960s and
1970s. As noted above, there are now fewer than 200 facilities operated by
provincial and territorial governments, and most of them were designed
and built to promote safety and security, which is an important
consideration as correctional centre inmates can act more unpredictably
than long-term prisoners in federal facilities.

This small jail was established in 1912 in St Claude, Manitoba, and it was used until the
1930s. Few small towns required a large facility, and this structure contained only two
wooden cells.

Provincial and Territorial Corrections Today

Figure 9.4 shows there are about one-quarter million admissions to
provincial and territorial correctional facilities in Canada every year,
although that number is somewhat deceptive as one person could be
admitted more than once in a year. Almost 65,000 individuals were
sentenced to terms of incarceration of less than two years in 2016/2017,
and that number has increased somewhat from the previous years
(Malakieh, 2018). The one constant factor in these places is the constant
flow of inmates in and out of these facilities, what some have called the
revolving door of corrections (Woo, 2018).
Most people remanded to custody are held for relatively short periods
of time. In 2017/2018, half of males (50 per cent) and 59 per cent of
females were released within one week, and three-quarters (75 per cent)
served one month or less, and only about 5 per cent served more than six
months (see Figure 9.5). Again, those are national averages and some
adults facing serious charges, such as homicide, can serve years in a
provincial facility as their cases work their way through the justice
system. Additionally, the length of stay on remand tends to be higher in
northern Canada as there are fewer court dates in some rural locations (see
Chapter 7). With respect to inmates sentenced to provincial or territorial
custody, the sentences are also very short, and 60 per cent serve less than
one month (Malakieh, 2019).
Provincial and territorial correctional centres have a short-term
orientation toward inmate care, and this reduces their participation in
rehabilitative programs. If the average sentence is one month, there is not
much time to assess the inmate’s rehabilitative needs and to place them in
meaningful programs, even if these inmates wanted to participate in these
programs. Providing few amenities other than a bed and meals is often
called warehousing.

warehousing When inmates receive only their basic needs and few or no rehabilitative
opportunities.

Inmates are eligible to work toward an early release through their good
behaviour, and this earned remission (which was introduced in Chapter 8)
further reduces the number of days they will serve in custody. As a result,
many correctional centre activities are based on keeping inmates
constructively occupied in recreational or work programs such as
institutional cleaning, building maintenance, doing laundry, and preparing
meals. Provincial inmates serving longer sentences may participate in
literacy courses, addictions education, employment or vocational training,
or life skills courses. Nova Scotia Corrections (2013), for example, offers
the programs listed in Figure 9.6.

FIGURE 9.4 Annual Admissions to Provincial and Territorial Corrections, 2000–2018

Statistics Canada (2019d)
FIGURE 9.5 Time Served in Provincial/Territorial Custody, 2017/2018
Adapted from Statistics Canada (2019d)

Many of these programs are delivered internally, although some sexual

offenders are escorted into the community to receive their treatment in
mental health agencies. Last, some low-risk inmates are also released into
the community to participate in work programs or education during the
day and return to the correctional centre in the evenings.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PROVINCIAL
CORRECTIONAL CENTRE INMATES
The characteristics of the inmate population play a significant role in
shaping the behaviours and incidents occurring within correctional
facilities. Historically, most correctional centre inmates were held on
relatively minor offences such as impaired driving, breach of probation,
common assaults, or property offences such as break, enter and theft.
Those individuals were often repeat offenders (some officers call them
“frequent flyers”); a relatively small group of them can account for a
significant number of correctional centre admissions, and place significant
demands on the entire justice system (Woo, 2018). Many frequent flyers
have serious substance abuse or mental health problems. Although people
who repeatedly commit minor offences still represent a significant
proportion of the correctional centre population, there have been some
long-term changes in the characteristics of provincial inmates. There has
been, for instance, an increase in the number of people accused of
committing serious or violent crimes, as well as a growing number of
gang-involved inmates residing within provincial correctional centres.
These changes have resulted in increased misconduct (such as rule
violations, including importing contraband into these facilities) and
violence in provincial correctional centres in some provinces (CBC,
2018b).
contraband Any item that is forbidden in a correctional facility, such as cellular phones, illicit
drugs, home-made liquor, or weapons.

FIGURE 9.6 Nova Scotia Corrections Program Options, 2013

These programs were offered by the provincial corrections department of Nova Scotia. In what
ways would these services affect offender rehabilitation outcomes?
Adapted from Nova Scotia Corrections (2013)

Table 9.2 shows the offence-related and demographic characteristics of

provincial and territorial inmates. Of the approximately 25,000 inmates
held on any given day, more than one-half (61 per cent) are awaiting court
dates on remand, and these inmates are typically placed in high-security
units. Most inmates are males (86 per cent), and Indigenous people are
overrepresented in provincial correctional populations (28 per cent, while
they account for only 5 per cent of the national population). Almost four-
fifths of these inmates are 25 years old or older.
Of the hundreds of thousands of people admitted to correctional
centres every year, a growing number of them have special needs. Over
two-thirds of arrestees are under the influence of drugs or alcohol when
they come into contact with the police. Kouyoumdjian, Calzavara, Kiefer,
Main, and Bondy (2014) surveyed Ontario inmates and found that more
than one-half (56 per cent) had used opioids (medications that reduce pain,
such as morphine, OxyContin, or codeine), cocaine, crack, or
methamphetamine in the previous year. Long-term substance abusers may
go through withdrawal during their first weeks of incarceration, which can
affect behaviour.
TABLE 9.2 Inmate Population Characteristics: Provincial and Territorial Custody,
2017/2018
Total average daily population 24,657

Legal status and time served

• Sentenced custody 39%
• Time served (sentenced inmates): One 60%
month or less
• Remanded to custody 61%
• Time served (remanded inmates): One 75%
month or less
Demographic characteristics
• Male inmates (admissions) 85%
• Indigenous inmates (identity known) 28%
• Age (Admission): 18–24 years 21%
• Age (Admission): 25–34 years 38%
• Age (Admission): 35 and older 40%

Deaths in custody – 2006/2007 to 2015/2016

• Ave. homicides per year < 1.0
• Ave. suicides per year 8.9
• Ave. deaths from natural 32.0
causes/accidents per year
Incarceration costs per inmate
• All provinces and territories (annual $84,915
cost)
• All provinces and territories (average $233
daily cost)

Adapted from Malakieh (2019) and Public Safety Canada (2018)

One issue unique to women’s corrections is the responsibility to provide care to pregnant
inmates and new mothers. There is sometimes a reluctance in providing appropriate health
care for inmates; this was illustrated when an Alberta inmate waited for over a month before
an ultrasound confirmed her fetus had died, and she still had to wait several days after that
test before she was taken to a hospital to have the tissue removed. These challenges are not
unique to Alberta; the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre was sued by an inmate who gave
birth on the floor of her segregation cell (Wakefield, 2018).

Like jail populations 200 years ago, a disproportionate number of

correctional centre inmates today are poor and members of marginalized
populations. These inmates often suffer from physical health-related
problems at a higher rate than the general population, including from
communicable diseases such as HIV, AIDS, or hepatitis (Kouyoumdjian,
Schuler, Matheson, & Hwang, 2016). Correctional centre staff must
respond to those health-related problems. Between 2006/2007 and
2015/2016, 288 inmates died of natural causes or accidents (Public Safety
Canada, 2018, p. 70). One barrier to studying deaths in custody is that
information about these incidents is not collected and reported in the same
manner across the country, making it difficult to fully understand the
scope of the problem (Winterdyk & Antonowicz, 2016).
 An individual’s admission to a correctional facility can be a very
stressful event and this can worsen existing mental health problems. Many
inmates are suffering from depression, anxiety, and borderline personality
disorders, while fewer have very serious mental illnesses such as
schizophrenia. Brown, Hirdes, and Fries (2015) estimate that 41.1 per cent
of Ontario correctional centre inmates have at least one symptom of a
mental health problem, and women and Indigenous people have even
higher rates of mental health issues. Archambault, Joubert, and Brown
(2013) report that female correctional centre inmates were more likely to
receive mental health care than their male counterparts, although some
individuals do not get the care they require, and lack of care may increase
incidents of self-harm and suicide.
On average, women inmates have a greater set of unmet needs; they
require greater access to mental and physical health services compared
with male inmates, and therefore need additional supports (Zinger, 2017).
The stress of being arrested and the uncertainty of forthcoming court
appearances can also increase the need for psychological services, and
such stressful feelings may intensify in mothers separated from their
children. Paynter (2018) observes, for example, that most adult female
inmates in Canada are mothers. Some new mothers are able to care for
their infants in mother-child programs operating in some correctional
centres. For example, a unit at the Alouette Correctional Centre for
Women in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, has been open since 2004,
although the number of participants in this program has been very small
(Givetash, 2016).

INSTITUTIONAL SAFETY AND SECURITY

Although most people are not very sympathetic toward prisoners, ensuring
they live in safe and secure correctional environments is important for
everybody’s long-term safety. Almost all inmates return to the community,
and they become our neighbours and the people we encounter in our daily
lives. As a result, it is in our best interests that people held in correctional
institutions are not returned to the community more damaged than when
they were admitted. This damage can take several forms. Being physically
or sexually assaulted while incarcerated, for example, can have lifelong
physical and mental health consequences. Even inmates who witness
another person being assaulted can develop post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). Many inmates already have histories of being victimized
or have experienced other trauma before their admissions to a correctional
facility, and being victimized or witnessing these acts places them at
higher risk of developing psychological problems (Cabeldue, Blackburn,
& Mullings, 2019).
When it comes to violence in correctional centres, common assaults
and verbal harassment occur often and few of these acts are detected or
punished. Although serious violent crimes also occur, less than one inmate
per year is murdered in all the provincial facilities put together (Public
Safety Canada, 2018). There are several possible reasons for correctional
centre violence, including the characteristics of the inmates (e.g., the
number of inmates accused or convicted of violent crimes), although
researchers have also attributed a recent uptick in violence to the increased
number of gang-involved inmates (CBC, 2018a). Given these increases,
correctional officials have taken several steps to increase the safety of the
staff, visitors, and inmates. Some of these steps have included making
significant changes to the physical design of correctional facilities, and
this has changed the nature of inmate supervision. In the end, however, it
is the daily activities of the correctional officers who work toward
ensuring a safe and secure environment. The following sections describe
how provincial and territorial correctional officials are working toward
increasing institutional safety.

Facility Design and Safety

The physical layout of a correctional centre shapes how much supervision
the inmates receive. Given that inmates greatly outnumber the staff,
correctional officials have developed several strategies over the past
century to ensure the safety of workers as well as to protect inmates and
reduce facility damage. For example, until the 1970s correctional facilities
were constructed using the “big house” design, which featured long
hallways that contained cells in a linear layout first introduced in the
1830s. In larger correctional facilities these rows of cells were stacked on
top of each other. With this design, the correctional officers make periodic
rounds along these hallways and to see what any inmate is doing the
officer has to look into their cell. One limitation of this approach is that
the officer’s ability to know what is going on is limited by blind spots
caused by the design.

“big house” prisons A style of high-security prisons that emerged in the 1800s and featured
large stone buildings surrounded by high stone fences.

Prior to the 1970s, most correctional facilities were designed using a linear design, where
rows of cells made it difficult for correctional officers to supervise inmates and the numerous
blind spots increased inmate misconduct and reduced safety. This picture was taken of the
former Windsor Jail, opened in 1925 and closed in 2014 with the opening of the South West
Detention Centre.

Facilities constructed using the linear design were not very safe
because of the large number of blind spots, and COs could only observe
these areas when making their rounds. Since the 1970s most newly
constructed correctional facilities have been built using the new
generation design (also called the podular design), where the inmates’
cells are constructed on the exterior walls of the living unit. These cells
overlook a central courtyard or common area, which is used for recreation,
classes, and dining. The new generation design reduces blind spots and
enables COs to view the entire unit from their post, which deters
misconduct due to the closer supervision.

new generation design A correctional facility where the cells are arranged on the perimeter of
the living unit and the prisoners eat and recreate in a common area (also called a podular
design).
living unit Refers to where inmates live within a facility, usually featuring cells that surround
an area used for dining, education, and recreation.

The size of these living units varies somewhat by the populations

being supervised. Units in youth custody facilities, for instance, are often
designed to hold fewer than 25 residents, whereas a minimum-security
unit for adults might hold 100 or more inmates. Some of these modern
facilities resemble college dorms and the Hamilton- Wentworth Detention
Centre looks more like an office complex than a correctional facility. The
security of modern correctional facilities is also embedded in their design
and construction. Iron bars that were once used to contain riots or
disturbances have been replaced by windows constructed of thick
polycarbonate see-through materials that are resistant to breakage. Instead
of moveable tables and chairs that could be thrown or used as weapons,
these fixtures are now bolted to the floor. All the steps that correctional
leaders take to embed security into a facility’s physical design, including
the perimeter fencing, are called static security.
In addition to changes in the physical design of correctional facilities,
technology is playing a larger role today in ensuring correctional safety
and security. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on living units can
reduce inmate and staff misconduct (Jackson et al., 2015). In some cases,
these cameras are so sensitive they can alert staff to rapid or unusual
movements such as when an assault occurs. In addition, many facilities
place sensors in their external fences to ensure that unauthorized people
are not entering or leaving the facility. Some technological tools such as
walk-through metal detectors (used to reduce the flow of weapons into or
within a facility) and cell phone detectors are already commonly
encountered. Metal detectors are being replaced, in some correctional
facilities, by more sophisticated backscatter x-ray systems that reduce the
need for strip-searches (where an inmate is required to disrobe in order to
search for contraband). Replacing strip searches with x-ray technology is a
positive step as most inmates consider strip-searches humiliating and they
can be traumatizing to victims of sexual violence.

strip-searches Searches carried out by staff members to detect contraband by requiring

inmates to remove their clothing (inmates may be strip-searched after visiting with their family
members, for example).

The Edmonton Remand Centre uses a new generation design where the inmates’ rooms are
arranged around a central courtyard that is used for dining, recreation, and classes. This
design promotes safety for both inmates and correctional staff.
 Technology is a two-way street, however, and inmates and their
associates living in the community can also use the newest equipment to
continue their criminal enterprises. Cellular phones have always been
banned in correctional facilities given the concern that inmates possessing
these devices will use them to make unauthorized calls (e.g., to a co-
accused) or to thwart justice, such as arranging for witnesses to be
threatened. Furthermore, drones—also referred to as unmanned aerial
vehicles—have been used to drop drugs and other contraband into the
yards of Canadian correctional facilities (Judd, 2018). As a result, some
facilities are experimenting with devices that “jam” the signals
transmitted to a drone (Collins, 2018). A growing number of correctional
facilities are also using low-tech solutions, such as draping nets over the
walls in some courtyards to decrease the success of dropping contraband
into the facilities.

drones Unmanned aerial vehicles that have been used to drop contraband into correctional
facilities.

Dynamic Security
In addition to changing the physical design of correctional facilities, a new
approach to supervising inmates has also been introduced, called direct
supervision. Direct supervision is based on COs having more frequent
interactions with inmates, which is a departure from earlier models of
supervision where COs rarely left their posts to talk with prisoners. This
regular interaction between inmates and officers is also called dynamic
security, which Beijersbergen, Dirkzwager, van der Laan, and
Nieuwbeerta (2016, p. 844) say is “based on positive interactions and
constructive relationships between staff and prisoners, with mutual respect
and trust.” Wener (2012, p. 52) explains that the main reason for
introducing the direct supervision model was to create a new way for COs
to interact with inmates in small living units by promoting a normalized
rather than an institutional environment. One of the goals of more frequent
contact between officers and inmates is to help the inmates develop their
problem-solving skills and thus reduce misconduct and recidivism.
Developing these dynamic security skills can be a challenge, as the
method requires a CO to have effective interpersonal skills and training to
implement this approach.

direct supervision A method of inmate supervision where officers directly interact with
inmates.
dynamic security The regular interaction between prisoners and correctional officers that
promotes problem-solving, information sharing, and rapport building.

Assessment and Classification

One of the foundations for ensuring the safety and security of correctional
facilities is offender classification. Classification is an assessment of an
inmate’s risk by the correctional staff members in order to place the
inmate in a facility (and/or living unit or cell) that best matches the risks
they pose. There are some differences in the sophistication of these
assessments. Arrestees held overnight in a police cell who are appearing in
court the next day will receive an informal assessment where the
admitting officers consider their apparent risks of suicide or self-harm, as
well as their health status, including whether they are intoxicated, injured,
or have a communicable disease. They also assess the arrestee’s risk of
escape or harming others (e.g., if the individual has been charged with
violent crime or has a history of acting violently within correctional
institutions). These assessments are often based on a simple checklist. If
inmates are perceived to be at high risk of self-harm or aggressive
behaviour, they will be placed in a cell or living unit that best matches
their perceived risks. These informal assessments are called subjective
classification and they are at least partially based on the gut feelings, or
intuition, of the admitting officers.

offender classification The process by which an individual’s risks and needs are assessed in
order to assign the inmate to the most appropriate living unit.
subjective classification Informal assessments of inmates based on the judgment or gut
feelings of the correctional supervisor or admitting officer.

Inmates admitted to a provincial correctional centre, or who are

spending more than a few hours in custody, often receive a more formal
assessment called an objective classification. Factors considered in these
assessments include the inmate’s criminal history and their current
functioning, including their withdrawal from alcohol and drugs and mental
health status. The admitting officers also assess the seriousness of the
inmate’s current offence, their prior adjustment to custody (e.g., if the
individual was involved in an escape attempt in a prior incarceration), and
whether they are gang-involved. These objective classification instruments
are based on scores, and higher scores usually lead to placement in higher
security units. Inmates may also be separated from other arrestees who
were involved in the same offence (co-accused).

objective classification A formal method of prisoner classification that uses risk assessment
instruments.

Classification is also used to assess an individual’s dynamic needs to

determine the most appropriate rehabilitative placement, although those
assessments are usually carried out for sentenced offenders. The
Correctional Service of Canada, for example, has a very extensive
admissions process, and a federal prisoner could be assessed over a period
of weeks or months. These assessments are primarily done at the federal
level and so are described in Chapter 10.

Violence, Escapes, and Major Incidents

The goal of introducing new prison designs and new forms of inmate
supervision was to reduce misconduct, suicide, and violence. Although
murders in provincial and territorial corrections are very rare, there is
growing concern about the numbers of inmate-on-inmate and inmate-on-
staff assaults in provincial facilities. Few provinces report about incidents
of inmate misconduct or violence, although British Columbia released
statistics regarding the overall number of incidents in their correctional
centres, and then classified those incidents into contraband, inmate-on-
inmate, and inmate-on-staff assaults (Godfrey, 2018a, 2018b).
Table 9.3 shows the number of these acts per 100 inmates in BC
facilities, and these results reveal that some types of institutions have
higher rates of misconduct. For example, remand facilities—called
pretrial facilities in the table—tend to be higher-risk environments for
both staff and inmates; the two pretrial institutions had an average of 272
total incidents per 100 inmates, compared with an average of 255 for the
other eight facilities. Many of the inmates have only been in custody for a
short time, some may be going through withdrawal from alcohol and
drugs, and almost all of them are anxious about their futures. Many also
have mental health problems, and once admitted into custody, those with
mental health issues are at higher risk of acting violently than other
inmates. Other factors that could influence the number of misconduct
incidents are levels of staff experience, overcrowding, the presence of
activities that enable inmates to constructively use their leisure time,
understaffing, and the staff and inmate cultures of these institutions.
TABLE 9.3 Incidents per 100 inmates, British Columbia Correctional Centres, 2017

Facility Inmate Contraband Inmate-on- Inmate-on-

Rule Incidents Inmate Staff
Violations Assaults Assaults

Alouette Correctional Centre for 117 30 18 4

Women

Ford Mountain Correctional Centre 76 31 4 0

Fraser Regional Correctional Centre 161 40 14 2

Kamloops Regional Correctional 193 33 35 4

Centre

Nanaimo Correctional Centre 196 69 7 0

North Fraser Pretrial Centre 225 41 38 8

Okanagan Correctional Centre 261 67 39 3

Prince George Regional Correctional 233 51 39 6

Centre

Surrey Pretrial Services Centre 206 32 28 5

Vancouver Island Regional 191 35 37 4

Correctional Centre

Adapted from Godfrey (2018a; 2018b)

Inmate Advocacy
COs can also contribute to violence. Ontario’s ombudsman (2018) reveals
that 74 complaints about the excessive use of force by correctional staff
members were reported in 2017/2018. The excessive use of force had been
identified as a problem in the Ombudsman Ontario (2013) report, which
highlighted how a negative culture existed that covered up this
misconduct. Like the discussion of use of force in policing, we must
remember that anybody in custody can claim they were subjected to
excessive force. In order to reduce the number of these claims, all planned
use of force, such as cell-extractions (where an inmate is forcibly removed
from their cell) are now videotaped, and these records provide more
objective evidence of the intervention. CCTV cameras are also present in
the common areas of most correctional facilities, and they record the
interactions among inmates and between inmates and staff.

ombudsman An appointed official who investigates complaints made against organizations

operated by provincial or territorial governments.

The presence of a provincial ombudsman enables correctional centre

inmates to raise concerns about their treatment to investigators from
independent government bodies. This oversight of provincial and
territorial corrections is important as inmates are often out of sight and out
of mind. One of the things that the public tends to forget is that inmates
have very little ability to challenge decisions that can have a significant
effect on their lives, and issues that are relatively minor for the public can
be very important to an inmate’s daily life because of their powerlessness.
Every province has an ombudsman or similar advocate, and the Quebec
Ombudsman also provides services to Nunavut, closely monitoring the
conditions in Nunavut detention and correctional centres (Quebec
Ombudsman, 2018).
Despite the best efforts of correctional staff, major incidents such as
escapes occur. Most escapes from custody are relatively low-profile
incidents where minimum-security inmates simply walk away from a
facility, as few of them have security fences. Although escapes from
medium- and maximum-security institutions are rare, in June 2014 three
remanded inmates from a Quebec detention centre escaped by boarding a
helicopter that landed in the exercise yard; they were not apprehended for
two weeks (Shingler, 2014). Given the large number of people who pass
through provincial correctional facilities each year, there are bound to be
some dramatic escapes. The following are just five examples:

• Two Quebec prisoners escaped from jail in a hijacked helicopter in

2013 but were apprehended the same day: one of the inmates was
sentenced to a 16-year sentence for his role in the escape and
subsequent criminal offences (Feith, 2016).
• Four inmates escaped from a Red Deer facility after they were
placed in a less secure holding area due to facility construction.
Three were apprehended within a day and the last was at large for
less than three weeks (Ramsay, 2018).
• Two sentenced inmates escaped from a Newfoundland correctional
facility in 2010 by breaking through a wooden window covering
and then burrowing under a fence. Both were apprehended within
two days (Canadian Press, 2010).
• A British Columbia correctional officer aided Omid Tahvili’s 2007
escape in return for $50,000. The officer was sentenced to 39
months in prison but Tahvili has never been apprehended (CBC,
2008).
• Over a four-month period six inmates from the Regina Provincial
Correctional Centre broke through the facility’s interior and
exterior walls using pieces of metal they found within the
institution; all six escapees were recaptured within a month. During
that time, 87 different correctional officers working on this unit
failed to detect the damage to the facility (CBC, 2009).
Other less dramatic escapes can occur when low-risk inmates are being
transported to various medical appointments or hospitals; these escorts are
often done by a single correctional officer, and the inmate may not be in
restraints such as handcuffs. Although escapes from medium- and
maximum-security facilities are rare, they often speak to the creativity of
those in custody and to what can happen when correctional staff members
become complacent or corrupted.

CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS
Correctional officers play a key role in establishing the foundation of
security in correctional facilities. Compared with police work, many of the
duties of a CO may seem routine and boring, but they are nonetheless
important. The following lists job tasks of a CO as identified by Statistics
Canada (2018b):

• Observe conduct and behaviour of offenders and detainees to

prevent disturbances and escapes
• Supervise offenders during work assignments, meals, and
recreational periods
• Patrol assigned area and report any problems to supervisor
• Conduct security checks and scanning of visitors, inmates and their
cells, working areas, and recreational activity areas
• Observe behaviour of offenders and prepare reports
• Escort detainees in transit and during temporary leaves
• Prepare admission, program, release, transfer, and other reports
• May supervise and coordinate work of other correctional service
officers

These tasks are critical in reducing the flow of contraband into

correctional facilities, limiting the number of weapons in circulation, and
reducing misconduct by helping inmates solve problems without engaging
in violence. Furthermore, ensuring that the physical security of the facility
is maintained during perimeter patrols and carrying out cell searches
reduces misconduct such as inmates making illicit alcohol from fruit and
yeast (called “moose milk” in some northern facilities and “brew”
elsewhere).
There is some variety in CO career paths, and many officers develop
specialized skills throughout their careers (see the “A Closer Look” box).
Some provincial officers are responsible for conducting assessments after
an individual’s admission. Others are partnered with dogs trained to detect
contraband such as drugs or cellular phones. COs also play an important
role in conducting investigations within facilities. These COs go by several
different names, including security intelligence officers (SIOs), and they
are often tasked with gang suppression activities. Not only is intelligence
about these groups collected, but SIOs are also responsible for validating
gang membership (proving that inmates are, in fact, affiliated with a
gang). In order to reduce violence within Ontario’s correctional facilities,
the province hired 26 of these intelligence officers in 2018 to “seize
contraband smuggled into jails, monitor gang members and work
proactively with inmates to help curb violence” (CBC, 2018b).

A Closer Look
Correctional Training
In the 1970s and 1980s, many COs learned on the job and received very little training
prior to working their first shifts with inmates. Much has changed since that time, and
most provinces now require some form of pre-employment learning prior to academy
training. The province of Ontario, for example, gives their cadets a reading package
that provides information about the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional
Services and how the criminal justice system operates. Other provinces make
attendance at training dependent on the individual having a current first aid/CPR
certificate and driver’s licence.
Whereas police cadets receive about 20 to 24 weeks of in-class academy training
prior to becoming an officer, correctional officer cadets receive from six weeks in
British Columbia to 10 weeks in Saskatchewan. Some provinces also expect them to
apply the skills and knowledge from their classroom learning in a correctional centre
prior to their graduation, which adds additional time to their training. In terms of
training content, the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Corrections (2019)
requires their cadets to master five basic themes in their eight weeks of in-class
training:

• Correctional System Orientation: Includes developing interpersonal skills in order

to increase effectiveness working with inmates and staff. Cadets receive an
introduction to effective correctional practices, including how to ensure the safety
and security of facilities.
• Effective Communication: Focuses on developing listening and communication
skills so cadets can work effectively with diverse populations. Cadets are also
trained in how to write accident, incident, injury, or search reports, and make
appropriate logbook entries.
• Inmate Management and Intervention Techniques: Includes learning how to
interact with and manage inmates in a professional manner. Cadets are exposed to
different scenarios they might confront in their work and learn how to deal with
these situations, including using force.
• Inmate Programs and Services: Involves building the cadet’s skills in using
correctional interventions to create an environment that helps inmates to develop
the attitudinal and behavioural changes that reduces their risk of recidivism.
• Workplace Safety and Security: Develops recruits’ awareness of the
environmental factors, including the potential exposure to infectious diseases that
pose health risks to the inmates and staff.

These training topics are common across the nation, although some provinces will
prioritize different themes, and recruits in one province, for example, might receive
more training in physical intervention such as restraint training, than in provinces that
might place a greater priority on reducing recidivism. In addition to their academy
training, once an officer starts working, they will serve a probationary period of up to
one year; during that time these new officers will typically receive mentoring and
support from senior officers.
In addition to their initial academy training, every province requires that their
officers receive ongoing training to ensure their perishable skills, such as first aid/CPR,
are up-to-date. Ongoing training might also include an introduction into new ways of
managing offenders and issues related to workplace safety, including responding to
emerging technologies or new threats. One emerging threat, for example, is the
increasing danger of exposure to fentanyl in correctional facilities (Grant, 2017).
SUMMARY
Two distinct correctional systems have evolved in Canada. The first are
the ten provincial and three territorial correctional systems that hold about
25,000 remanded and short-term inmates on any given day and supervise
another 95,000 offenders in the community. The second is the federal
system that supervises about 23,000 offenders serving sentences of two
years and longer, and about one-third of them are supervised in the
community on a conditional release (Malakieh, 2019). There are distinct
differences in these systems as there is considerably more variation in the
operations of the provincial systems, which are overseen by 13
governments that have different priorities and operational goals. (By
contrast, the supervision for all 23,000 federal offenders falls under the
management of one agency, the Correctional Service of Canada. As a
result, there tends to be more consistency in the priorities of the federal
system. This will be discussed in Chapter 10.)
Although probation services receive very little media attention—
unless a probationer commits a high-profile offence—they play a key role
in the administration of justice in Canada. Probation has been called the
workhorse of the criminal justice system, as there are over twice as many
offenders serving a probationary sentence than remanded or sentenced
inmates behind bars. Researchers are finding that we can increase the
success of probationers by hiring skilled probation officers who develop
case plans and intervention strategies that target the offender’s antisocial
and criminal thinking (Bonta et al., 2018; Doob et al., 2017). These efforts,
however, must also be supported by strong health, education, and social
service programs in the community to support rehabilitative efforts. The
public generally supports community-based sentencing and wants
probationers to be employed or going to school, and maintaining strong
relationships with their families and neighbours so they have a greater
stake in society, both of which reduce their risks of recidivism.
Provincial correctional centres are a core part of Canada’s criminal
justice system as most arrestees held for more than a day or two are taken
to these places. These facilities have been described as the transfer point
for the police, mental health agencies and federal prisons, as most
arrestees pass through their doors. A review of statistics shows that few
correctional centre inmates serve more than 30 days before their release.
Those short terms of incarceration, however, make it unlikely that they
will participate in any meaningful rehabilitative efforts.
Working at these provincial facilities can be challenging for the staff
members, as the arrestees admitted into these places are often suffering
from mental health and substance abuse problems and they are forced to
manage the uncertainty of their futures as they await their next court
appearances. These factors can lead to disruptive, aggressive,
unpredictable, and suicidal behaviours, and those risks are intensified as
the constant flow of inmates in and out of these places makes it difficult to
predict an inmate’s behaviour. As a result, provincial correctional officers
are often exposed to violence and other highly stressful situations, and
Canadian researchers found that this stress is intensified when facilities
are understaffed and overcrowded (Ricciardelli, Power, & Simas
Medeiros, 2018). In addition to the risks of being assaulted, exposure to
these situations also contributes to high levels of post-traumatic stress
disorder in correctional personnel (Carleton et al., 2018).

Career SNAPSHOT
Correctional Officer
The federal prison system employed almost 18,000 employees in 2016/2017, and over
three-quarters of them worked in institutions; of those, most were correctional officers
(Public Safety Canada, 2018, p. 23). Correctional officers (COs) working with the
Correctional Service of Canada are employed in a variety of roles, including dog
handling and security or intelligence. These professionals can work with male or
female offenders, and they might work in institutions that hold primarily Indigenous
inmates or prisoners with mental health problems. Although COs are employed in
different roles and institutions throughout their careers, their work can be very
stressful. Hours of tedious work can transition to a crisis in a heartbeat when officers
are faced with an offender’s misconduct, a riot, a hostage-taking situation, or prisoner
self-harm or suicide. Furthermore, as correctional facilities operate around the clock
and throughout the week, the unusual working hours can impact an officer’s family
relationships. As a result, COs are at some risk of developing PTSD in their careers
(Carleton et al., 2018).
Like other human service professionals, COs must possess excellent interpersonal
skills and have the confidence to confront prisoners who have had difficult lives and
may feel that they have little to lose. In order to carry out their duties, officers work in
teams and develop a supportive culture. A sense of humour also goes a long way in
making correctional work more manageable.

Profile
Name: Jennifer Wolfreys
Job title: Correctional Officer II and Acting Parole Officer
Employed in current job since: 1998
Present location: Bath Institution, Ontario
Education: BA, Athabasca University; Certificate (Correctional Worker), St Lawrence
College

Background
I started my career in corrections working in a halfway house for women, as well as
tutoring offenders at Millhaven Institution. I decided to work as a correctional officer
in order to get a full-time job, with the intention of becoming a parole officer. I am
currently working at Bath Institution, a federal facility in Ontario.

Work Experience
I have been a CO since 1998 and in that time I have had several opportunities to work
in parole officer and correctional manager roles. I love my work and feel extremely
confident in my position as a supervisory correctional officer. About half of my job is
security-related and the other half is casework with a designated caseload. The work
requires strong writing and interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to work on a team.
I really enjoy these aspects of my work, and I get a lot of satisfaction completing the
extensive and varied requirements of my job. Most of the work with the inmates
involves providing “dynamic security,” which entails both observing and talking with
inmates to ensure that everything is okay within the unit and the institution.
The beginning of my career was sometimes challenging, because I worked at
Kingston Penitentiary, which held dangerous inmates. There were some older staff
who were uncomfortable working with younger, university-educated women COs in a
correctional environment. However, I respected and learned from many of them about
how to deal with inmates and manage the living units. I’ll never forget some good
advice I received early on in my career: watch, listen, be yourself—a woman. I tried to
 display courage even when I was scared, and I did my best to show respect to staff and
offenders alike. In this business, it is important to both command respect from, and
show respect to, offenders, so my aim was to be “firm, fair, and consistent” in my
duties.
I’ve worked at Bath Institution since 2002 and it’s well-suited to my personality. I
generally enjoy working and interacting with offenders, but it is important to be clear
about professional boundaries, especially as a woman.
What I find most rewarding about my work is the ability to treat people with
dignity. Many offenders I work with have led difficult lives; some may be old, sick, or
dying at the institution. Treating people with dignity and respect does not dismiss their
past or the crimes that they have committed, but I don’t believe it is my job to judge
them further. Many offenders are very remorseful and work hard to rehabilitate
themselves, to fulfil their correctional plan, and to repay their debt to society.
The biggest surprise or challenge related to my work is my hesitancy to discuss my
job in social environments, as it is often misunderstood. COs are not simply “guards;”
we are the front-line face of corrections, along with nurses, psychologists, and case
workers. It can be very demanding and complex work that requires dedication and
commitment to the job and to the overarching goal of improving public safety.

Advice to Students
I would recommend taking courses in criminology, (abnormal) psychology, and
counselling in order to better understand criminal mindsets and how to interact with
people including offenders. It’s really important to understand yourself and to be
confident as a CO. Be mindful of, and take responsibility for, your actions, words, and
conduct—and strive to uphold a good reputation with your colleagues and offenders
alike.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Describe the steps that correctional officials have taken to increase safety and security.
2. Provide examples of dynamic and static security.
3. Describe strategies that are intended to increase the effectiveness of probation
supervision in reducing recidivism.
4. Describe how provincial corrections systems have evolved since the early 1900s.
5. Explain why specialized probation caseloads might be preferable to generalized
caseloads.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Do the lack of fine option programs in British Columbia, Newfoundland, and Ontario
make provincial correctional centres into “debtors’ prisons” for those unable to pay their
fines? Why or why not?
2. Do you support the use of traffic fines that are based on the individual’s income, like the
practice in the United Kingdom, rather than a fixed amount, which is used in Canada,
where every person pays the same amount for committing the same violation, regardless
of income?
3. Provide reasons why the behaviours of inmates in provincial corrections may be volatile
and unpredictable.
4. Is the best strategy for supervising probationers based on rehabilitation or surveillance
and monitoring?
5. US probation officers in most states are authorized to carry firearms on duty. How
would issuing Canadian probation officers firearms change their relationships with
probationers?
10 Federal Corrections

Melissa Ann Shepard, also known as the Internet Black Widow, was
convicted of poisoning her intimate partners in addition to committing forgery,
fraud, and stealing from people over 65 years of age. As part of the conditions
of her March 2016 release following the end of her sentence, she was required
to report any new romantic relationships to police and was barred from
accessing the internet. In April 2016, at age 81, she was arrested (as seen in this
photo) for using a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia library to access the internet, but
those charges were dropped. What kinds of considerations must the Parole
Board of Canada consider when placing restrictions on those being released?
(Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to

• Describe how our ideas about offender rehabilitation have changed over time
• Explain the importance of inmate classification for corrections
• Explain why the profile of federal inmates influences institutional conduct
• Describe the different forms of prison releases to the community for CSC prisoners
• Describe some of the barriers to community re-entry for ex-prisoners

CASE STUDY
A Federal Prisoner Commits
Suicide After Falling Through the
Cracks in the System
In August 2010, 24-year-old Edward ‘Eddie’ Snowshoe, an inmate who was originally
from the Northwest Territories, committed suicide in the Edmonton Institution, a
maximum-security Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) facility. Snowshoe, who was
serving a five-year sentence for shooting a cab driver in an armed robbery, had a difficult
time adjusting to prison life. After sentencing, he was sent to the Stony Mountain
Institution near Winnipeg, which is a medium-security facility, but in March 2010, “he was
put in segregation—with no access to the general population—after brandishing a knife
made from a juice box” (CBC, 2014, para. 9) for 134 days and was then transferred to the
Edmonton Institution. After arriving in Edmonton, Snowshoe was directly placed in
segregation where he remained for the 28 days until his death: altogether he served more
than five months (162 days) in segregation before taking his life.
Newspaper accounts reveal that Snowshoe’s mental health was failing during his stay
in segregation. White (2014, para. 3) describes how he was “withdrawn and lethargic, he
refused to speak with psychologists, take his allotted hour of daily recreation time, or
attend monthly meetings where he could argue for a transfer.” While imprisoned at Stony
Mountain, he had tried to commit suicide three times between 2007 and 2009 and had
engaged in one act of self-harm (Report to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General,
2014).
The judge who reviewed the circumstances of Eddie Snowshoe’s death says he fell
through the cracks in the system. His prior suicide attempts were well-documented, but the
Edmonton staff members did not review the reports and were unaware that he had spent
more than four months in segregation prior to coming to their facility. Once Snowshoe
arrived at the Edmonton Institution, he submitted a written request to be moved from
segregation to the general population, but the paperwork didn’t turn up until after his death
(Report to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, 2014). When asked if he needed
help, Snowshoe would tell the staff members that he was okay, but the judge observed that
“just asking someone if they need help doesn’t cut it when there is a clear history of
psychological need” (Report to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, 2014, p. 4).
Although the CSC has psychologists, nurses, and case managers to help inmates with
mental health problems, the staff failed to follow up on concerns raised when Snowshoe
was first admitted.
Long-term placements in segregation have been very controversial. In 2018, the British
Columbia Court of Appeal found that the CSC segregation policy was unconstitutional. A
year later the Court required the federal prison system to take steps to reduce the time
prisoners spend in segregation, allow them to get help from advocates, and let them spend
more time out of their cells (Harris, 2019). In March 2019 the Ontario Court of Appeal
ruled that placement in solitary confinement for more than 15 days was a cruel and
unusual punishment (White, 2019), forcing correctional facilities to change their practices.
All these changes were too late for Snowshoe. His mother said, “If a dog owner had a dog
locked up for that long, that owner would be charged for animal cruelty” (as cited by the
CBC, 2014, para. 3).

Critical Questions
1. Does Eddie Snowshoe’s original misconduct (making a knife from a juice box) warrant
134 days in segregation prior to his move to another prison? Why or why not?
2. Why is it important to examine and investigate cases where people die in police
custody or in a correctional facility?
3. Can you think of some of the possible impacts of a prisoner who dies by suicide on
their family, the other inmates within the facility, as well as the correctional personnel
who respond to these incidents?
INTRODUCTION
The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) supervises about 23,000
offenders and almost two-thirds of them are in institutions while the rest
live in their communities. While the average stay in a provincial
correctional centre is about one month, as discussed in Chapter 9, all
federal prisoners are sentenced to two years or longer and half of them are
sentenced to five years or longer (Public Safety Canada, 2018). Helping
inmates survive these lengthy prison terms can be difficult, especially
when we consider the deprivations they experience, including limited
contact with family and friends, restrictions on obtaining desirable goods
and services—such as accessing the internet or having a home-cooked
meal—and living with the constant threat of violence, the forced celibacy,
and the lack of self-determination, as most of an inmate’s daily activities
are directed by correctional personnel (see Sykes, 1958/2007). Although
the conditions of confinement in federal prisons can be harsh, including
sharing cells that were originally designed for one person, longer
sentences also provide an opportunity for inmates to work toward their
rehabilitation, and the success of ex-prisoners on parole shows the CSC can
safely reintegrate convicted offenders into society.
For most of us, our exposure to prison life is what we see in movies or
in TV programs such as Orange is the New Black. One limitation of basing
our knowledge on entertainment programs is their depiction of the worst
aspects of prison life, such as inmates assaulting other prisoners or other
acts of prison misconduct, which are violations of the prison’s rules.
Although correctional facilities can be violent places, few fictional
accounts of life behind bars accurately portray the boredom, despair, and
loneliness that inmates experience, as well as the bleak living conditions.
These issues are present in Canadian federal prisons even though we spend
more money per incarcerated individual than most other nations.

prison misconduct A violation of the rules of a correctional facility; often classified as major
misconduct, such as assault, or minor misconduct, such as being in an unauthorized area or
possessing contraband (e.g., drugs or a cell phone).
 While the priorities of federal and provincial correctional systems
differ somewhat, there are some common goals in the operations of any
correctional facility, including the priority to provide a safe and secure
environment. This can be challenging, because most federal inmates have
long-term problems with addictions, mental and physical health disorders,
history of unemployment, a lack of stability in their lives, and unhealthy
family relationships. Prisoners can overcome these obstacles, and
Canadian researchers have been on the forefront of developing
correctional interventions that reduce prison misconduct and recidivism
(Bonta & Andrews, 2017). Most of these efforts have focused on the
notion that prison programs can respond to the unmet psychological needs
of inmates and thereby reduce the risks they pose.
Bonta and Andrews’ (2017) work on identifying offender risks, needs,
and responsivity (discussed in Chapter 9) and developing treatment
interventions to address those factors has been adopted by correctional
services around the globe, because their approach improves outcomes for
prisoners. Despite the barriers to the safe transition of prisoners into the
community, staff working within Canada’s federal prison system have
demonstrated success in reducing recidivism (Public Safety Canada,
2018). Reforming prisoners, however, is only one goal of the prison
system. Federal correctional officials must also manage prisoners who
will never return to the community and will die in prison.
The path to developing successful correctional interventions has not
been smooth, and in the following sections we take a closer look at the
types of interventions introduced to ensure the of safety of prisoners in
federal facilities and the steps taken to increase their successful release
into the community. Our examination of federal corrections starts with the
establishment of the first Canadian penitentiaries in the 1800s, as the
location, design, and philosophy of these facilities shaped the delivery of
federal corrections for over a century.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CANADIAN

PENITENTIARIES
Penitentiaries holding offenders for lengthy terms of imprisonment have
been used for less than two centuries. As noted in Chapter 3, prior to the
1800s offenders in the British Empire involved in serious crimes were
usually physically punished, transported to penal colonies, or executed. As
our attitudes toward the value of human life changed and our optimism for
reforming criminals increased, the penitentiary with its emphasis on
rehabilitation was introduced. Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP), which was
founded in 1829 in Pennsylvania, is considered the world’s first
penitentiary. ESP is a large castle-like structure surrounded by nine-metre-
high stone walls, and was the most expensive structure in America when it
was built. Inside the walls, the prison was designed like a wheel with a
central hub and seven long hallways resembling spokes radiating from that
point: the inmate cells were located along these hallways.
ESP was based on the silent system, where inmates were kept in
solitary confinement for their entire sentence and were forbidden to talk
with other prisoners or staff. To further increase their isolation, the
prisoner’s heads were covered when they were escorted within the facility
so they could not interact with others. Prisoners were expected to reform
themselves by reflecting on their crimes. Each was given a Bible, although
since almost all adults in the early 1800s were illiterate, one questions
how many prisoners read these books. Not surprisingly, the long periods of
isolation and harsh conditions of confinement resulted in a high proportion
of prisoners developing mental health problems, much like the experience
of Eddie Snowshoe 150 years later (see the Case Study box at the start of
the chapter).

silent system An early approach to rehabilitation where prisoners were held in solitary
confinement and were forbidden to talk to other prisoners or guards outside their cells.

Large prisons like ESP, with their castle-like design and imposing stone
walls, made a powerful statement about the state’s ability to punish
wrongdoers. These prisons quickly became popular attractions. ESP was a
destination for scholars, philosophers, and politicians from around the
globe, and it served as a prototype for prisons in other nations, including
Canada. Many prisons constructed throughout the 1800s were based on the
ESP model—they are called “big house” prisons today given their
fortress-like construction and high stone fences (see Chapter 9).

“big house” prisons A style of high-security prisons that emerged in the 1800s and featured
large stone buildings surrounded by high stone fences.

Prior to Confederation in 1867, the administration of corrections was a

provincial responsibility. The first prison was the Kingston Penitentiary,
which was originally called the Provincial Penitentiary of the Province of
Upper Canada; it was modeled on the ESP design and used the silent
system. The facility admitted its first prisoners in 1835 even though it was
still under construction (Schwartz, 2016). During the 1800s conditions of
confinement were grim, rules were strict, and punishments were severe for
breaking rules. Enforcing the rules under the leadership of the facility’s
first warden, Henry Smith, resulted in prisoner abuse, and revelations of
their mistreatment led to an 1849 commission of inquiry. The inquiry
revealed evidence of extreme brutality and cruelty, including a prisoner
suffering from mental illnesses receiving 720 lashes (Townson, 1960).
Townson (1960) also describes how child prisoners, some under ten years
of age, were flogged for smiling, winking, or laughing, which were
prohibited acts. The inquiry also heard evidence that some prisoners were
starved, and women prisoners sexually abused (McCoy, 2012).
Despite this early setback, a series of social changes, including
population growth and higher crime rates, led to the gradual expansion of
Canada’s prison system. With the passage of the Penitentiary Act in 1868,
the three original provincial prisons—located in Kingston, Saint John, and
Halifax—became a federal responsibility. Over the next few decades
federal prisons were constructed in Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (Quebec), Stony
Mountain (Manitoba), New Westminster (British Columbia), Dorchester
(New Brunswick), and Prince Albert (Saskatchewan) (Correctional Service
of Canada, 2014b). Most of these facilities were in rural areas, and until
the mid-1900s these prisons were considered closed systems, which
means they had minimal contact with the outside world and were almost
self-sufficient: the prisoners grew crops and raised animals for food, and
built the furniture and fixtures needed for the institutions. In addition, the
power for the prison was often generated on site. The self-sufficient nature
of these prisons reduced interactions with outsiders and lowered operating
costs, but the downside to this isolation was that activities occurring
within these places lacked external scrutiny or oversight, which led to
unprofessional conduct, including prisoner abuse.

closed system A type of prison administration where there is little interaction with the
community.

The motto of the Correctional Service of Canada is Futura Recipere, which means “to grasp
the future”—a statement encouraging offenders to look forward.

While the focus of the federal correctional system was on reforming

prisoners through hard work, several innovations were occurring over
time. The Parole Board of Canada (2018a) describes how parole—where
prisoners are released to the community prior to the end of their sentence
—was introduced in 1899. Prisoners applying for parole were investigated
by officials from the Ministry of Justice to evaluate their likelihood of a
successful community re-entry. As no agency existed to supervise ex-
prisoners in the community, they reported to the police and were required
to abide by conditions such as obeying the law and (in some cases)
refraining from alcohol. The Parole Board of Canada (2018a) notes that
while there were few formal guidelines for ex-prisoners, parole could be
revoked if an ex-prisoner committed a crime or violated the conditions of
their release.
Throughout its history, the federal prison system has weathered a
series of crises and reforms, and despite innovations such as introducing
parole, inquiries into the operations of the entire penal system were
carried out in 1913 and again in 1920. Furthermore, a Royal Commission
was conducted by Justice Joseph Archambault after a series of prison riots
occurred in the 1930s. The Report of the Royal Commission to Investigate
the Penal System of Canada, released in 1938, suggested a series of
changes be made to the federal prison system. Archambault recommended
that prisoners receive better access to education and recreation, and he
advocated for the separation of people with mental illnesses from the
general prison population, for prisoners to serve their time in facilities
close to their homes and families, and for the reduced use of corporal
punishment (Kidman, 1938, pp. 112–113). Although much has changed in
terms of our ideas about corrections, the foremost goals for a prison
system identified by the Archambault Commission seem as difficult to
achieve today as they were almost a century ago. These goals are:

• the protection of society

• the safe custody of inmates
• strict but humane discipline
• reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners (Kidman, 1938, p. 114)
Kingston’s Prison for Women (P4W), shown here, was based on the big house design that
made it difficult to closely supervise the inmates and contributed to increased misconduct. As
a result, P4W was described in one report as “unfit for bears” (Perkel, 2018, para. 2). As this
was the only women’s facility in Canada for many decades, families were often unable to visit
their loved ones because they lived too far away. Closed in 2000, P4W has since been
purchased by developers who hope to convert the former prison into condominiums or a
student residence.

Since the 1930s, the federal prison population continued to grow along
with the national population and increasing crime rates. Offender
rehabilitation became a priority of the prison system and applications for
parole became more formalized. Prisons slowly moved away from their
closed-system orientation and were more open to community input and
external scrutiny. There was also growing recognition of the special needs
of Indigenous and women inmates. One important legislative change was
the introduction of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (1992),
which specifies the minimum conditions of confinement for federal
prisoners and their pathways to community release—including the
overriding principle of the protection of society. One of the ongoing
challenges faced by CSC personnel, however, is supervising some very
difficult-to-manage prisoners.

CSC PRISONER CHARACTERISTICS

The CSC supervises about 23,000 federal offenders, and almost two-thirds
of them live in prisons (Malakieh, 2019). In order to respond to the diverse
needs of the institutional population, the CSC, headquartered in Ottawa,
operates 43 institutions in the Atlantic, Ontario, Quebec, Prairie, and
Pacific regions. Those institutions include four Indigenous healing lodges
and five psychiatric treatment facilities. The remaining CSC facilities are a
mix of minimum-, medium-, and high-security institutions, and some
facilities have more than one security rating (called multi-level
institutions). The CSC also has a high-security special handling unit in the
Quebec region to manage the most dangerous offenders in a super-
maximum-security setting.
Table 10.1 shows the demographic characteristics of the CSC
population. When it comes to punishment, about half of federal prisoners
serve sentences of five years or longer—although almost all of them are
released prior to the expiry of their sentence on either parole or a statutory
release. Almost one-quarter (23.4 per cent) of CSC prisoners are serving
life sentences or have been designated as dangerous offenders (Public
Safety Canada, 2018), and they will likely remain under correctional
supervision—whether living in an institution or in the community—for
the rest of their lives. On March 31, 2108, about 5 per cent of the in-
custody population, or about 700 inmates, were women (Office of the
Correctional Investigator, 2018).
Table 10.1 also shows that most federal prisoners have at least one
violent offence in their current sentence (69 per cent) and the remaining
inmates are convicted of drug (18 per cent) and all other offences (13 per
cent). Housing so many individuals who have engaged in violent crimes
may contribute to higher numbers of prison homicides than in other
countries (see “Comparative View” box). Although homicide and suicide
rates are higher in Canadian prisons, major incidents are rare, and the last
major riot occurred in 2017, when an inmate was killed in the Prince
Albert penitentiary. Prior to that incident, the last major disturbance in a
federal prison happened in 2008, so these events are unusual. Escapes are
also rare: eight inmates escaped from federal prisons in 2016/2017, seven
of which were from minimum-security institutions. Escapes from
minimum-security facilities are not surprising as most lack perimeter
fences, so inmates can simply walk away. Because minimum-security
institutions cannot prevent a determined prisoner from escaping, fewer
than one-quarter (22 per cent) of inmates are placed in these facilities and
almost two-thirds (63 per cent) are placed in medium-security facilities
(Public Safety Canada, 2018).
TABLE 10.1 Correctional Service of Canada Population Characteristics, 2017/2018

Total Population 23,172

Custody 61%

Community supervision (parole, statutory 39%

release, and long-term supervision orders)

Male offenders (in institutions) 95%

Female offenders (in institutions) 5%

White offenders 58.8%

Indigenous offenders 22.7%

Black offenders 7.8%

Median age at admission 34 years

Sentence Characteristics

Less than 3 years 24.6%

Less than 5 years 50.2%

Lifers/dangerous offenders 23.4%

Minimum-security risk 21.7%

Total Population 23,172
Medium-security risk 63.4%

Maximum-security risk 14.9%

Offence Characteristics

Violent offenders 69%

Drug offenders 18%

All other offenders 13%

Institutional Problems

Homicides (avg. per year, 2006/2007 to 2

2015/2016)

Suicides (avg. per year, 2006/2007 to 9

2015/2016)

Escapes (avg. per year, 2007/2008 to 20

2016/2017)

Admissions to segregation (2016/2017) 6,788

Imprisonment Costs

Average per inmate (all security levels) $120,571 ($330 per day)

Adapted from Malakieh (2019), Correctional Service of Canada (2018), and Public Safety
Canada (2018)

Special Needs Prison Populations

Table 10.1 also shows the demographic characteristics of the CSC
population. Within these groups are at least eight special-needs
populations, and many of these prisoners require additional resources and
supports.

Indigenous Offenders
Almost one-quarter of the CSC population are of Indigenous ancestry, and
that population has been growing (Office of the Correctional Investigator,
2018). As discussed in Chapter 3, Indigenous peoples have unique
circumstances within Canada that require specific and culturally sensitive
interventions. Since the 1990s the prison system has become more
responsive in meeting the distinctive needs of Indigenous people,
including incorporating Indigenous traditions and cultural beliefs into
correctional programs. In order to be more responsive to these offenders,
four healing lodges were established between 1995 and 2004, and the CSC
funds another five healing lodges operated by community-based
organizations (Correctional Service of Canada, 2019a). The delivery of
these programs is supported by the participation of elders and other
Indigenous community groups and members. The need for these
interventions is higher among women offenders, as slightly over one-third
(37 per cent) of the in-custody women’s population are Indigenous
offenders (Public Safety Canada, 2018).

Mothers and Pregnant Inmates

One ongoing challenge for the federal correctional system is providing
appropriate care for pregnant inmates and new birth parents. Although the
number of pregnant inmates in provincial corrections is higher, pregnant
women admitted to federal prison present several ongoing challenges
given their lengthy sentences. The CSC has offered a mother-child program
since the 1990s that enables children to stay with their mothers until they
are five years old, and on a part-time basis after that. The mother-child
program is intended to promote a positive and healthy relationship
although there are only about a dozen women participating in these
programs. The low number reflects the relatively small number of
pregnant women admitted to federal custody, as well as screening
programs that might reject some women from participating due to their
behaviours while in custody (e.g., misconduct) or criminal histories.
Writing about her experience as a pregnant inmate and mother, Deschene
(2017) says that prison officials were unsympathetic toward her situation
and after giving birth she only saw her child about once per month.

Radicalized Inmates
Prisons can be places where non-violent prisoners are radicalized to
violence. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (2016, p. 6) defines
radicalization to violence as “a process by which individuals are
introduced to an overtly ideological message and belief system that
encourages movement from moderate, mainstream beliefs toward extreme
views.” Prisons may be ideal recruiting grounds for racist or other radical
groups as inmates are often discouraged, depressed, and isolated from
positive influences in their lives, which makes them easily influenced and
vulnerable to extremist ideas. In response to this challenge, the CSC has
developed programs and interventions to challenge radical beliefs (Stys,
McEachran, & Axford, 2016).

Aging Prisoners
Public Safety Canada (2018, p. 46) reports that the average age of
admission for CSC prisoners has been increasing since the mid-2000s. The
CSC is currently supervising over 700 prisoners 65 years and older in
prisons and another 1,000 in the community (Public Safety Canada, 2018,
p. 48). This population of senior citizens will continue to grow given that
one-quarter of all prisoners are lifers or dangerous offenders, and they will
be under CSC supervision until their deaths. Older inmates pose some
challenges for prison systems, as they have greater health care needs than
their younger counterparts due to chronic health conditions and the need
for end-of-life care. These prisoners are also vulnerable to being
victimized, and the Office of the Correctional Investigator (2019) is
critical that many of them are being warehoused, with their basic needs
addressed but receiving few rehabilitative interventions.

Prisoners with Mental Health Problems

The description of inmates in provincial and territorial correctional
centres revealed that most had addictions and mental health problems.
Table 10.2 shows the prevalence of mental health disorders (at the national
level) among males admitted to the CSC.
 A follow-up study was carried out for women offenders admitted to
CSC facilities; 79 per cent of them were found to be suffering from at least
one disorder, and with the exception of gambling, for every other category
the prevalence rates were higher than the men (Brown et al., 2018).
Inmates with mental health problems may be more likely to be involved in
assaults (as victims as well as perpetrators), use-of-force incidents, as well
as self-harming and suicidal behaviours. In response to these risks, the CSC
operates five regional treatment centres, and has trained counsellors to
respond to prisoners with mental health problems. Those efforts, however,
have been evaluated as insufficient to meet their needs (Office of the
Correctional Investigator, 2018).
TABLE 10.2 Prevalence of Mental Health Disorders in Men Admitted to Canadian Federal
Corrections Facilities, 2015

Disorder Percentage

Mood disorders 17

Psychotic 3

Alcohol/substance abuse 50

Anxiety disorders 30

Eating disorders 1

Pathological gambling 6

Borderline personality disorder 16

Antisocial personality disorder 44

Note: These percentages will add up to more than 100 per cent as some individuals meet the
criteria for more than one category.
Beaudette, Power, and Stewart (2015)

Prisoners Suffering from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

One group of prisoners not counted in CSC studies of mental health
populations are people suffering from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
(FASD), the effects of the maternal use of alcohol when they were still in
the womb. While FASD is not considered a mental health disorder,
individuals suffering from FASD often have numerous behavioural
challenges and can find it difficult to link their actions to consequences,
which increases their likelihood of involvement in the justice system and
can lead to violations of prison rules and routines. Canadian research finds
that children with FASD are overrepresented in provincial care, such as
foster placements (between 3 and 11 per cent) and between 11 and 23 per
cent of youth and 10 and 18 per cent of adults involved in the justice
system are thought to have this disorder (Flannigan, Unsworth, & Harding,
2018). Admitting a higher proportion of people suffering from FASD into a
prison system strains the operations of these facilities, given this
population’s learning difficulties and problems living in structured
environments with strict rules.

Gang Members
The CSC says that about one in ten federal inmates is gang-involved,
although the real number may be much higher as few prisoners willingly
acknowledge their gang affiliations (Harris, 2018a). All together, there are
an estimated 65 different gangs operating in Canadian prisons. Some
offenders admitted to prison are already gang-affiliated while others join
gangs after their admission, believing they will be safer if affiliated with a
gang. A former gang member describes his entry into a prison gang:

A Closer Look
Assessing Risks and Needs
In Chapter 9 the issue of inmate classification was briefly described as it related to the
admission of arrestees serving short terms of incarceration, such as an overnight
detention in police cells. Classification takes on more importance for inmates sentenced
to lengthy prison terms, and the process used by the CSC is both comprehensive and
complex, and guided by the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Like provincial
correctional centres, the federal prison system also assesses the risks a prisoner poses
in order to place them in the most appropriate living unit. Unlike the provincial centres,
the federal system also uses the classification to assign inmates to various correctional
programs.
 In order to carry out a comprehensive classification, the CSC admits new prisoners
to a reception centre after their sentencing and conducts an offender intake
assessment. The stay in the reception centre can last several months, and during that
time institutional parole officers conduct several assessments. One of the most
important is the custody rating scale, an instrument that helps predict a prisoner’s
adjustment to custody, risk of escape, and danger to the public. In addition to assessing
risks, the CSC also evaluates the inmate’s dynamic needs in order to establish priorities
for correctional programming. Assessing these dynamic needs is a complex
undertaking as each factor might be composed of several dozen specific questions
about the offender’s functioning. Stewart et al. (2017) describe the seven dynamic
needs; these are summarized in Table 10.3.

reception centre A prison unit that receives prisoners from the courts and holds
them until their assessment and classification is complete.
offender intake assessment Assessing an individual’s future risk of criminal
behaviour based on their criminal history and their needs (e.g., whether they require
help with employment or substance abuse).
institutional parole officers Officers employed by the CSC who work with inmates to
develop case plans that enable prisoners to make a safe transition to the community.
custody rating scale An instrument that predicts a prisoner’s risk of misconduct,
adjustment to prison life, and potential for escape.
dynamic needs Factors that can be changed by offenders, such as their education
level or employability.

Higher scores on these indicators reflect greater unmet needs, as well as higher
risks and a greater likelihood of recidivism. But these indicators are called dynamic
because they can be changed. Offenders can, for example, increase their
employability, stabilize their family relationships, learn to manage their anger, and
develop more conventional attitudes toward work and the law, and these changes can
lower their likelihood of involvement in prison misconduct or recidivism. The CSC
assessed the outcomes of almost 18,000 individuals released from federal prisons and
found that three of these factors had the greatest impact on increased recidivism:
unresolved substance abuse problems, poor self-control (relating to the
personal/emotional factor), and antisocial attitudes (Stewart et al., 2017, p. 88).

TABLE 10.3 Dynamic Needs

Employment and The offender lacks stable employment, lacks an

education employment history, has limited job-related skills, or lacks
a high school education.
 Family and marital The individual has strained or unhealthy relationships with
parents, siblings, and/or intimate partners.

Associates The offender associates mostly with substance abusers and

has mostly criminal friends, peers (e.g., gang members),
and/or family members, and receives little pro-social
supports from their intimate partner.

Substance abuse The person abuses alcohol/drugs and started using

substances at an early age; substance abuse interferes with
their job and health.

Community functioning The offender has unstable accommodation, poor social

supports, and does not participate in any organized
activities.

Personal/emotional The individual has poor self-control and may be impulsive,

aggressive, inflexible, hostile, and/or manipulative, and
may engage in thrill-seeking.

Attitude The offender has a negative attitude toward the justice

system or employment and displays non-conforming
attitudes toward society, lacks direction, or values a
substance-abusing lifestyle.

Stewart et al. (2017)

I was in and out of jail. Then you start going to adult jail for longer
sentences. Now you’re with killers and rapists. Before you know it,
you begin to fit in, in order to survive. You take on that …
gangster mentality. That disregard for everything that’s right.
(Global News, 2018)

In addition to contributing to higher levels of violence, gangs are also

involved in the underground prison economy (e.g., the sale of drugs and
other contraband), undermine rehabilitative programming, and contribute
to recidivism once these gang-involved inmates return to the community
(Winterdyk & Ruddell, 2010). As a result, the CSC invests considerable
time, energy, and resources into gang-suppression efforts.
Women Offenders
On March 31, 2018, there were 1,397 women under the supervision of the
CSC; 676 were imprisoned, and the remaining 721 were living in the
community (Office of the Correctional Investigator, 2018, p. 83).
Although accounting for about 5 per cent of the entire Canadian prison
population, most women prisoners have special needs for physical and
mental health care; 133 were serving life or indeterminate sentences in
2017/2018 (Correctional Service of Canada, 2019e). Many have suffered
trauma in the form of physical, psychological, or sexual abuse and this
victimization, combined with marginalization, relationship problems, and
substance abuse contributes to their involvement in crime (Wright &
Cullen, 2012). The Brown et al. (2018) study found, for instance, that 79
per cent of women admitted to CSC facilities had at least one psychological
disorder. Given these findings there is a growing acknowledgement that
gender-responsive correctional programs and interventions are required
for these women. In order to accommodate this population, the CSC has a
branch that focuses on the delivery of services to women offenders.
Larger populations of special-needs inmates within a prison system
increase the costs of imprisonment. The average annual cost to house one
federal prisoner in 2016/2017 was $120,571 (Malakieh, 2019). That
amount increases along with the security level, and placement in
maximum security has the highest costs. Figure 10.1 shows the average
daily cost of housing male and female federal prisoners in 2014/2015. The
average cost of housing a female inmate is almost double that of a male
prisoner, as most women are held in very small facilities that are costly to
operate. In addition, as discussed above, women prisoners typically have
more extensive physical and mental health needs, and responding to these
needs increases the costs of their care.
FIGURE 10.1 Average Daily Cost of a Federal Prisoner, 2014/2015
Adapted from Public Safety Canada (2018)

CHALLENGES OF MANAGING LONG-TERM

PRISONERS
Delivering Meaningful Correctional Interventions
One of the historical challenges for prison personnel was keeping inmates
constructively occupied. In the past, correctional treatments were often
based on (a) educational programs, (b) drug and alcohol treatment, and (c)
employment and vocational training. With respect to employment
training, for example, correctional officials tried to keep prisoners busy
working within the prison, preparing meals, cleaning, doing the prison’s
laundry, and maintaining the facilities. These efforts were also intended to
help prisoners develop a set of job-related skills they could use once
returned to the community. While these efforts are admirable, they did
little to increase the prisoner’s knowledge or skills that would land them a
well-paying job after their release.
In 1992, the CSC established CORCAN, which is the agency overseeing
federal prison industries. CORCAN employs prisoners in five industries that
are intended to build marketable skills they can use once returned to the
community:

• Manufacturing: includes the production of office furniture, lockers,

and shelving, as well as vehicle repair
• Textiles: includes the production of offender clothing, government
uniforms, bedding, and towels
• Construction: includes house framing and repairs, and installing
and maintaining plumbing and electrical systems
• Services: includes the production of office supplies, signs, and
clothing, as well as working in printing, vehicle-related areas, and
industrial laundries
• Agriculture: such as crop production or raising dairy cows and
goats (Correctional Service of Canada, 2018b)

The Correctional Service of Canada (2019d, p. 1) says that on an given day

there are almost 1,100 offenders working in CORCAN operations, and in
2017/2018, almost 600 offenders were working toward apprenticeships in
the trades (such as carpentry, plumbing, welding, and painting). Although
exposure to these industries helps to develop a prisoner’s employment-
related skills, their work experiences do not address other unmet
psychological needs such as negative attitudes toward conventional
lifestyles or poor self-control, which are factors associated with
recidivism (James, 2018; Stewart et al., 2017).
 In order to help prisoners address their attitudes, values, and beliefs,
the CSC (2014a) developed five types of treatment programs: (a) general
crime prevention programs that focus on goal setting and problem solving;
(b) violence prevention programs (e.g., managing anger, risk, and
emotions); (c) sex offender programs that teach participants how to
manage their behaviour and understand how their actions harm victims;
(d) substance abuse programs that help inmates understand how alcohol
and drug use leads to crime; and (e) integrated interventions that enable
participants to develop skills to overcome everyday challenges and stress.
Some of these correctional programs can take a prisoner more than a year
to complete. The high-intensity violence prevention program, for example,
requires 83 group sessions and four individual sessions each lasting two
hours (Correctional Service of Canada, 2014a).
The number and intensity of these sessions is needed to confront an
individual’s criminogenic thinking, but an offender’s illness, placement in
segregation, or transfer to another facility can interfere with participation
in these programs—which could then derail their eligibility for transfer to
lower levels of security and delay their potential release. Despite this
limitation, the long-term benefits of correctional treatments based on the
risk, needs, and responsivity model (introduced in Chapter 9) are
significant. Bonta and Andrews (2017) report that prison-based
interventions using this approach reduce recidivism by about 17 per cent,
and that finding is consistent across males and females and in adult and
youth populations. Although 17 per cent might not seem like a lot, if we
consider the cost savings in investigating and prosecuting crimes and then
punishing offenders, and the reduction in pain and misery experienced by
crime victims—that reduction represents a substantial savings to society.

segregation Placement of an inmate in a locked high-security cell within a correctional facility

(e.g., administrative segregation), usually in response to their misconduct.

In order for them to be effective, intensive correctional programs must

be delivered in a consistent manner by skilled facilitators. Barnowski
(2004, p. 3) found that a program for residents in a youth facility delivered
by competent staff members decreased 18-month recidivism by over one-
third, whereas a program delivered by staff who were not competent
increased recidivism by almost one-fifth (see also Makarios, Lovins,
Latessa, & Smith, 2016, pp. 349–50, and Latessa, 2018). Competent
personnel refers to skilled staff members who have professional training
such as psychologists, and who deliver the rehabilitative programs in the
manner in which they were designed. So, what benefits can we gain when
we implement correctional programs with qualified and motivated
personnel? Cost benefit analyses carried out by the Washington State
Institute for Public Policy (2018), and shown in Table 10.4, reveal the
benefits (in reduced crime) from each dollar spent on the five types of
correctional programs. All together, research is showing us that
correctional rehabilitation is a good investment in crime reduction.
TABLE 10.4 Benefits in Reduced Crime for Each Dollar Spent in Correctional
Programming

Program Name Benefit

Correctional education (post-secondary $19.77

education)

Employment counselling and job training $9.86

Vocational education $11.98

Correctional industries $12.80

Treatment for sex offenders $1.30

Washington State Institute for Public Policy (2018)

Violence Reduction in Federal Prisons

Canadian prison officials report mixed success in reducing correctional
violence. Between 2006/2007 and 2015/2016, there were 21 homicides in
prisons (Public Safety Canada, 2018, p. 6) and thousands of acts of serious
misconduct including assaults. Figure 10.2 shows that as the number of
inmates in solitary confinement decreased by almost two-thirds (62.1 per
cent), the number of physical assaults on inmates rose by 90 per cent.
Figure 10.2 suggests there is a relationship between these two factors—the
decreased use of segregation might have led to more violence—but other
factors could also be responsible, such as an increase in gang violence or
perhaps an increase in inmates’ likelihood to report their victimization to
correctional officers. As a result, we cannot say with certainty that these
two factors are related. Some inmate assaults can be expected given that
over two-thirds of Canada’s prison population has at least one conviction
for violence. Yet, Figure 10.2 also suggests that how prison staff manage
prisoners impacts institutional safety. Can you think of factors other than
placing prisoners in segregation that might increase or decrease prison
violence?

FIGURE 10.2 The Relationship Between Solitary Confinement and Inmate Assaults, 2010
to 2017
White (2017)

One of the frustrations of working with prisoners who might be a

decade or longer away from their release is that staff members have few
options other than placing disruptive inmates in segregation—which is
like a “prison within a prison.” Inmates in segregation might only receive
a few hours each day outside their cells, which generally consist of a
cement-walled room with a metal bunk that is bolted to the floor and a
stainless-steel toilet.
Given the overcrowded, bleak, and sometimes noisy conditions in
many facilities, it is not surprising that most inmates will break the
institutional rules at some point. Placement in administrative segregation,
however, is reserved for prisoners who have engaged in assaults,
threatened others, or breached security. In 2015/2016, almost half of all
CSC inmates were admitted to segregation at least once; almost three-
quarters of male prisoners were returned to the general population within
30 days, while only 6 per cent of women inmates served more than 30 days
(Public Safety Canada, 2018, p. 67).
As the Eddie Snowshoe case illustrates, there are concerns about the
adverse effects of using segregation to manage an offender’s behaviour.
Long-term confinement in segregation can increase mental health
problems such as anxiety and depression (Haney, 2018). Prisoners in
segregation sometimes engage in self-harm behaviours such as slashing
themselves with sharp objects or hitting their heads against the wall. These
incidents tend to happen more often in segregation, treatment centres, and
maximum security facilities—places the Office of the Correctional
Investigator (2013) has called austere. The Office of the Correctional
Investigator statistics show that there are about three self-injuries per day
or over 1,100 incidents per year in all the CSC facilities (Zinger, 2017, p.
11). Women tend to be overrepresented in these acts of self-harm, and a
relatively small number of inmates who slash are generally responsible for
a large proportion of these incidents; these prisoners may be at a higher
risk of dying by suicide.

slashing When a prisoner engages in self-harming behaviour by cutting their skin using metal
or plastic objects.

Prisoner Advocacy
In Chapter 9, the role of provincial ombudsmen in advocating for
correctional centre inmates was briefly described. Several federal and
community- based organizations also advocate on behalf of federal
prisoners. The Correctional Investigator of Canada, for example, is an
ombudsman who acts on complaints raised by federal prisoners. Funded
by the federal government, the Correctional Investigator is independent of
the CSC and can make recommendations for system-wide changes. In
addition to issues raised by inmates, the Office of the Correctional
Investigator (OCI) also investigates serious incidents including murders or
suicides, and also reviews the use of force by correctional officers. A
count of inmate complaints and grievances found that between 2014/2015
and 2016/2017, there were 79,771 grievances. The top five concerns were
(Correctional Service of Canada, 2018a, p. 30):

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Prison Murders
Canadian prisoners are at higher risk of being murdered in custody than their American
counterparts. Table 10.5 shows that between 2005 and 2014 the prison murder rate was
Canada per 100,000 inmates was over three times as high as the US rate. Given that
Canadian facilities tend to be smaller and we spend twice as much on corrections per
inmate than do US facilities, an important question to ask is why the murder rate is
higher in Canadian prisons.
There are two possible reasons the murder rate in Canada is higher. First, the
proportion of violent offenders is much higher in Canada (69 per cent in Canada and
54 per cent in the US – see Carson, 2018, p. 1). A second possible reason is the
relatively high prison-gang population in Canadian facilities. Harris (2018a) reports
how the CSC gang population has been increasing, and their activities have been
associated with increased correctional violence as rival groups compete for control of
the underground prison economy (e.g., the distribution of drugs or cellular phones).
Gang activities can also increase racial tension and undermine correctional
programming as they tend to form on racial and ethnic lines (Winterdyk & Ruddell,
2010).

TABLE 10.5 Prison Murders in Canada and the United States per 100,000
Prisoners, 2005–2014

Year US Prison Murder Canadian Prison

Rate Murder Rate
 Year US Prison Murder Canadian Prison
Rate Murder Rate

2005 4 24

2006 4 24

2007 4 16

2008 3 15

2009 4 8

2010 5 38

2011 5 22

2012 7 7

2013 7 14

2014 7 6.5

Average murder rate 5.0 17.4

Adapted from Noonan (2016), Public Safety Canada (2017a, 2018), and Office of the
Correctional Investigator (2017)

• Staff performance, such as inappropriate use of force or staff

misconduct
• Correspondence and access to telephone communications
• Amenities, food, and diet, including insufficient or low-quality
meals
• Personal effects, such as lost items
• Non-urgent health services, such as arranging an appointment with
a specialist

Race, Class, and Gender

 Do White-Collar Criminals Receive Privileged Prison
Treatment?
In 2011, mandatory sentences were introduced in the Criminal Code for offenders
committing fraud and financial crimes resulting in more than one million dollars in
losses. Despite this attempt to get tough, Brown (2018) questions whether there is a
political willingness to investigate and prosecute white-collar criminals in Canada.
Many Canadians believe these individuals are not punished severely enough, and
results of a national survey show the public wants the federal government to get
tougher on them (Angus Reid Global, 2014). Many Canadians, for example, have
expressed disapproval over the federal government’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin
affair, where Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould refused to enter into a deferred-
prosecution agreement with the company, which was facing fraud and corruption
charges, and was subsequently removed from her cabinet position (Coletto &
Anderson, 2019).
When white-collar criminals are sentenced to prison, they are typically placed in
minimum-security facilities. Although victims of financial crimes are often outraged
that white-collar offenders are not punished more severely, few pose a risk to
correctional operations or the public as they are typically first-time, non-violent
offenders with no histories of escaping custody. Placing these low-risk inmates in
higher-security living units might be popular with the public, but it would also raise
correctional costs and would not increase prison safety. In fact, mixing low- and high-
risk prisoners together might increase the recidivism rates in the lower-risk inmates
(Bonta & Andrews, 2017).

Of these complaints, over 8,000 of them were submitted by just 14

inmates in 2017; a federal government auditor found that many of them
were trivial matters and that these prisoners were sometimes submitting
multiple grievances for a single issue (Harris, 2018b). Although
grievances are an important mechanism for offenders to address issues in
a constructive manner, the time and resources needed to manage these
trivial complaints likely reduces the time officials can spend on more
legitimate issues.
Most inmate concerns relate to their powerlessness. Prisoners do not,
for instance, have choices about which doctor they will see, whether they
are assigned to a damaged or overcrowded cell, or their access to a phone
to call home. Moreover, there has been widespread criticism of the meals
federal inmates receive; many complain that the quality is poor and
portion sizes are too small (Zinger, 2017). While people living outside
prisons have little sympathy for these inmates, meeting their basic needs
reduces tensions within a facility.
Strong advocacy for prisoners carried out by the Correctional
Investigator has resulted in positive changes throughout the entire CSC.
Various community-based organizations, including the John Howard
Society and the Elizabeth Fry Society, have also advocated for prison
reforms. Correctional officers have also lent their support to improve the
living conditions of prisoners. The Union of Canadian Correctional
Officers (2015) released a report that was critical of the practice of double
bunking—where two inmates are placed in a cell originally intended for
one person—due to prison overcrowding. The union argues that this
practice leads to unsafe conditions for prisoners and staff. This example
illustrates the shared interests of prisoners and COs, as more tolerable
living conditions benefit both parties.

MYTH OR REALITY
Parole Is “Soft” on Prisoners
Parole plays an important role in the safe transition of federal prisoners into the
community. The Parole Board of Canada (2018b) publishes a list of myths or mistaken
assumptions related to parole. The following list—which is summarized from their
work—presents five facts about parole:

1. Parole does NOT reduce the sentence imposed by the courts. An individual must
serve their entire sentence and granting day or full parole allows federal prisoners
to transition to the community under the supervision of a parole officer. Parole can
be revoked if the parolee does not abide by the conditions of their release, as the
protection of society is the overriding consideration in any release decision.
2. Parole is NOT automatically granted. Prisoners must be eligible to apply for
parole (typically after serving one-third of their sentence) and they must convince
the parole board that the risk they pose to the community can be managed. When
reviewing an application for parole, the Board considers three factors:
(a) the individual’s criminal history
 (b) the applicant’s behaviour within the institution and whether they benefited
from the programs (e.g., education or work programs)
(c) the applicant’s release plan
3. Parole is NOT the same as statutory release. Statutory release is an automatic
release that is mandated by law and is granted to most prisoners in the last third of
their sentence. While their cases are not reviewed by the Parole Board of Canada
(PBC), they are supervised by CSC parole officers while in the community.
Because the transition to the community for parolees is generally better planned
and structured (and approved by the PBC), their rates of recidivism are lower than
inmates who are statutorily released.
4. Parole and probation are NOT the same. Probationary sentences are imposed by
judges, and probationers are supervised by officers employed by provincial or
territorial governments. Parolees, by contrast, are serving custodial sentences of at
least two years, and their re-entry into the community is supervised by parole
officers employed by the CSC.
5. Individuals on parole or statutory release are NOT free to live their lives as
they please. Ex-prisoners supervised in the community must abide by a strict set of
conditions including keeping the peace, being of good behaviour, obeying the law,
and reporting to a CSC parole officer or the police as required. In addition to those
standard conditions, the individual’s place of residence is often specified, and they
must remain in the country. Additional conditions of release might include having
no contact with their victim(s), abstaining from alcohol and drugs, or avoid
associating with criminals.

The overriding goal of the PBC is that public safety should not be compromised by
a prisoner’s release to the community. In order to achieve that goal, the PBC relies on
decision-making that focuses only on public safety and not on other considerations
such as whether prisons are crowded. This approach to the community re-entry of
federal prisoners has been successful, as demonstrated by a Public Safety Canada
(2018) report showing that 99 per cent of day parole and 97 per cent of full parole
placements were completed without any further crimes from the time the prisoner was
released until their sentence ended.

AN OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL PAROLE

Prison officials have no control over the numbers or types of offenders
who are admitted into their facilities, nor the length of their sentences, as
those decisions are made by judges. Soon after an offender’s admission to
prison, the correctional staff work with them to develop plans to return
them to the community. This is not an easy proposition given the large
number of unmet needs that most prisoners have, including problems with
mental health and addictions, as well as their antisocial attitudes that make
it difficult for them to pursue conventional lifestyles. Despite those
challenges, the CSC has been successful in reintegrating prisoners into the
community on parole, although offenders released on a statutory release (a
mandatory release for offenders who have served two-thirds of their
sentence) are less successful. This section focuses on the transition of
federal prisoners from a penitentiary to the community.
As noted above, federal inmates are assessed soon after their prison
admissions and almost two-thirds are classified as medium-security
offenders. These individuals can earn their way to a minimum-security
facility by avoiding prison misconduct and following their rehabilitative
plans. If they continue working on their correctional plans, most inmates
will make the transition from a minimum-security facility to day parole
and ultimately full parole. Public Safety Canada (2018, p. 74) reports that
as of March 31, 2017, almost 9,000 federal ex-prisoners were being
supervised in the community. Another 840 offenders with long-term
supervision orders (LTSOs) are also supervised by CSC parole officers.
LTSOs are imposed by judges to increase the period of an ex-prisoner’s
community supervision past the expiry of their formal sentences (Public
Safety Canada, 2018, p. 109). These orders are made when the judge
believes the offender poses a substantial risk to reoffend, but that their
risks can be managed in their communities; almost two-thirds of offenders
with LTSOs were sex offenders in 2017/2018 (Public Safety Canada, 2018).

long-term supervision orders (ltsos) Orders that can be imposed by a judge to increase the
period of an offender’s community supervision past the end of their formal sentence.

In the sections that follow, we look at the pathways to three different

forms of community supervision: day parole, full parole, and statutory
release. All these releases are governed by the Corrections and
Conditional Releases Act, which specifies how much of a prisoner’s
sentence must be served prior to parole eligibility. Although parole
eligibility can come early in an individual’s sentence, there are no
guarantees that the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) will approve an
application for parole. Moreover, once released from prison, ex-prisoners
must abide by the conditions of their release or they can be returned to
prison.

A Short History of Parole in Canada

For over a century, the federal prison system has been developing
strategies to increase the likelihood of an offender’s safe transition to the
community. The practice of parole was introduced by Alexander
Maconochie, a British naval officer who believed the way that convicts
were treated worked against their rehabilitation. Maconochie was involved
in the supervision of prisoners who had been transported from England to
the penal colonies of Van Diemen’s Land and Norfolk Island, off the coast
of Australia. This warden, who had been held as a prisoner of war for
several years prior to his correctional work, was critical that conditions in
the colony discouraged prisoners from working toward their reform. He
developed the idea of marks of commendation, which rewarded an
offender’s positive behaviour and allowed them to earn more freedoms
and better living conditions within the colony. Continued positive
behaviour earned the convicts a ticket of leave, which was a form of
conditional release, and some were able to return to England. This early
form of parole was introduced in Ireland and was based on a system of
gradual release from prison to the community.

ticket of leave A release established in penal colonies for prisoners who had demonstrated
positive changes and were considered rehabilitated.

The idea that prisoners could earn their freedom by demonstrating

positive behaviour became popular, and in 1899 the Canadian Parliament
authorized early releases from prison with the passage of An Act to
Provide for the Conditional Liberation of Convicts, known as the Ticket of
Leave Act. Conditional releases were intended for young and first-time
prisoners who had committed minor offences. Inmates had to apply for
parole, and prison officials conducted investigations to determine their
suitability for release. As there were no staff members supervising these
ex-prisoners in the community, they reported to the police each month.
Later, officials from the Salvation Army—such as Walter Archibald, who
was appointed the first Dominion Parole Officer in 1905—played a role in
supervising these ex-prisoners (Ruddell, 2017). Although the prison
system’s experiment with these conditional releases started tentatively, the
Parole Board of Canada (2018a) observes that most ex-prisoners granted
conditional releases were successful and this led to the expansion of these
releases.

Alexander Maconochie promoted the idea of tickets of leave to encourage residents of penal
colonies to work toward their reform. Maconochie had himself been a prisoner of war, and
he used his insight about prison conditions to motivate convicts.
Conditional and Community Releases
Parolees are federal prisoners who have been released prior to their
warrant expiry date after their cases have been reviewed by the PBC. Given
the longer prison terms that federal inmates serve—and the fact that over
two-thirds have been convicted of violent offences—the public is
generally more concerned about the safe transition of federal prisoners
into the community than they are about provincial inmates. The
community re-entry of parolees is carefully managed in a gradual process
in order to decrease recidivism. Federal prisoners start earning their parole
by working their way down the security classification system. About two-
thirds of prisoners start in medium-security facilities or units and then are
transferred to minimum-security facilities—the CSC calls this downward
movement cascading. Inmates earn a lower security classification by
participating in rehabilitative programs and avoiding misconduct.

cascading A term used by the Correctional Service of Canada to refer to a prisoner’s

movement to lower levels of supervision, such as from medium- to minimum-security facilities.

The transition from a minimum-security living unit to the community

usually starts with day parole (the planned movement of a federal inmate
from prison to a supervised setting such as a halfway house or CSC-
operated community correctional centre), and this move must be approved
by the PBC. Prisoners must apply for day parole, and 75 per cent of these
applications are approved (Parole Board of Canada, 2018b).
Representatives from the PBC review the prisoner’s progress in custody and
consider their plans for a successful return to the community. Individuals
who are successful in day parole may apply for full parole, and if full
parole is granted, most return home. Alternatively, most offenders who
have served two-thirds of their sentences are released on a statutory
release. Because individuals on statutory release did not have to
demonstrate their progress to the PBC to secure an early release, they are
generally less successful in their return to the community (this is
discussed in greater detail later in this chapter).
full parole A less restrictive form of parole granted by the Parole Board of Canada to federal
prisoners who have been successful in day parole.
statutory release A form of supervised release that is automatically granted after federal
prisoners with determinate sentences of three years or longer have served two-thirds of their
sentences (does not apply to dangerous offenders or lifers serving indeterminate sentences).

Goals of Parole
The overriding purpose of parole is to ensure the safe transition of CSC
prisoners to the community. In order to help ex-prisoners achieve that
goal, parole officers work in 15 community correctional centres and 92
offices throughout the nation (Correctional Service of Canada, 2019c).
One factor differentiating provincial and federal caseloads is the number
of offenders an officer supervises. Whereas provincial probation officers
average about 60 cases, CSC parole officers supervise fewer offenders, thus
allowing them to spend more time with each parolee and ensure they are
following their correctional plan. The duties that CSC parole officers carry
out are guided by policy statements called Commissioner’s Directives
that are related to specific sections of the Corrections and Conditional
Release Act. Commissioner’s Directive 715-1, for example, provides the
guidelines for community supervision and defines a parole officer’s work
activities, including the following:

Commissioner’s Directives Guidelines established by the Commissioner of the CSC for the
operations of the correctional system and the treatment of prisoners and parolees.

• maintain and update the correctional plan in consultation with the

offender
• assist and support the offender to actively participate in meeting the
objectives of their correctional plan
• monitor the offender’s behaviour, release conditions, and
compliance with court- ordered obligations
• obtain all relevant information from community-based residential
facilities (CBRF) as identified in the contract requirements
 • develop and implement interventions which address and respond to
the offender’s risk and needs
• document all relevant information about the offender’s
circumstances, within established timeframes and parameters
(Correctional Service of Canada, 2019b).

Monitoring a parolee’s conduct in the community is a core requirement

of the parole officer’s job and is a key part of the case management
process. Successful case management is based on developing plans with
the prisoner when they are in custody—rather than developing plans for
them—and then supporting them in their efforts toward making positive
rehabilitative changes. As noted in the previous chapter, the effectiveness
of these interventions increases when the parole officer is highly skilled,
and when their work is done according to the timelines and case
management requirements established by the agency.
The Commissioner’s Directive on community supervision, for
example, provides guidelines on how often parolees are seen by parole
officers (Correctional Service of Canada, 2019b). Those guidelines are
based on the risks the individual poses, and the highest-risk offenders
require more frequent face-to-face meetings. Individuals on a statutory
release may be required to meet with their parole officer a minimum of
eight times per month, which is considered intensive supervision. As their
risks decrease, the frequency of contacts also drops. A parolee who has
been living in the community for several years and is assessed as low-risk
might receive only one face-to-face contact every three months. These
guidelines for supervision are dynamic, which means that officers can
provide more supervision and support if they feel that parolees are
engaging in behaviours that increase their risks of recidivism, such as
quitting their job, breaking up with an intimate partner, moving frequently,
abusing drugs or alcohol, or associating with other offenders, such as gang
members.

Community Supervision of Parolees

Most federal prisoners make their first entries into the community on
temporary releases from custody accompanied by staff members. An
escorted temporary absence can occur at any time during a prisoner’s
sentence, often for medical or rehabilitative purposes such as attending
counselling or seeing a medical specialist. Depending on the
circumstances, some prisoners are escorted to attend family functions or
funerals. Levels of security vary on these escorts. Medium- or high-
security inmates are typically escorted in handcuffs and/or shackles by one
or two correctional officers depending on the nature of the escort and the
presence of other security arrangements, such as access to a prisoner
transport vehicle (e.g., a van with iron mesh barriers between the
passenger and driver compartments and covering the windows in order to
prevent escapes).
Most prisoners are eligible for temporary unescorted absences after
serving one-sixth of their sentence if their sentence is three years or more,
or after six months for sentences of two to three years (Parole Board of
Canada, 2019a). Lifers must wait considerably longer before earning an
unescorted absence; for example, if they were convicted of first-degree
murder, they have to wait 22 years to be eligible, and there are no
guarantees their applications will be approved. These unescorted absences
might involve a family visit and some are related to employment,
treatment, or education. Successfully completing these absences builds
trust and the prisoner can use this in their presentations to the parole board
when requesting day parole. The timelines for conditional releases are
shown in Figure 10.3, using the example of a prisoner serving a six-year
sentence.
A Correctional Service of Canada prisoner was escorted by two correctional officers to his
grandmother’s funeral. How might allowing for temporary absences to events such as a
funeral help a future parolee improve his or her chances at a successful return to public life?

Being granted day parole enables prisoners to live in the community in

halfway houses (which the CSC calls community correctional centres) that
provide only minimum supervision, and most residents will work, attend
classes, or participate in treatment during the day and report back to the
centre in the evenings. The CSC operates 15 community correctional
centres in larger cities and contracts with agencies such as the Salvation
Army to house day parolees in community residential facilities. The CSC
(2019c) also places some ex-prisoners in hostels, private homes, and
supervised apartments.

halfway houses Facilities where inmates reside during their transition from a correctional
centre or prison to the community. The CSC calls their facilities community correctional centres.
 Full parole may be granted by the PBC if the individual has
demonstrated success on day parole. Even though many prisoners become
eligible for full parole, the PBC only approves 37 per cent of applications.
A larger percentage of prisoners are released after serving two-thirds of
their sentence; this is called a statutory release. As these releases occur
automatically once the inmate has served two-thirds of his or her sentence,
the PBC is not involved in the decision to release them. CSC officials,
however, can deny a statutory release if they believe that the prisoner is at
risk of committing a violent crime or a serious drug offence.

FIGURE 10.3 Timeline for Conditional Release: Prisoner Serving a Six-year Federal
Sentence
Parole Board of Canada (2019a)

Figure 10.4 shows the average percentage that federal prisoners served
of their sentences prior to receiving their first day parole in 2016/2017.
Public Safety Canada (2018, p. 90) reports that an average prisoner serves
37 per cent of their sentence prior to being granted their first day parole
and 46 per cent of their sentence before being granted full parole. But
there were differences within those averages, and the time to first release
on day parole for Indigenous prisoners (40.8 per cent) was longer than the
time served for non-Indigenous inmates (36.2 per cent) (Public Safety
Canada, 2018, p. 92). When it comes to gender, women inmates were in
custody for a shorter period of their sentence (33.6 per cent) prior to their
release on day parole compared with male prisoners (37.5 per cent). In
order to increase the success of Indigenous offenders in their applications
for parole, a growing number of applicants are supported by Indigenous
cultural advisers, “who ensure that conditional release hearings are
sensitive to Indigenous cultural values and traditions” (Public Safety
Canada, 2018, p. 87).

FIGURE 10.4 Proportion of Federal Prison Sentence Served Before Being Released on Day
Parole, 2016/2017
Adapted from Public Safety Canada (2018)

Parole Success
Public Safety Canada (2018, p. 94) considers day parole successful “if it
was completed without a return to prison for a breach of conditions or for
a new offence.” Table 10.6 shows the success rates of ex-prisoners
sentenced to determinate prison sentences (not including dangerous
offenders or lifers) released on day parole, full parole, and statutory
release. The findings show that individuals who earn their parole are more
successful than prisoners who obtain a statutory release.
Twenty-nine of the 3,499 day parolees in 2016/2017 (less than 1 per
cent) were readmitted to prison with a new offence, and three of them
were readmitted for committing a violent crime: in other words less than 1
in 1,000 of day parolees was convicted of committing a violent crime. The
total number of successful completions for full parole was somewhat less
than for day parole, although that is expected as offenders on full parole
serve more time in the community (day parole might last only a few
months, whereas an individual might serve years on full parole). In
2016/2017, 937 prisoners were granted full parole and three of them were
returned to prison after their involvement in a violent crime (a rate of 3.2
per 1,000 parolees). Of the 5,575 inmates granted a statutory release, by
contrast, 323 were returned to prison with new non-violent offences and 47
of them had committed violent crimes, which works out to 8.4 per 1,000
offenders (Public Safety Canada, 2018, p. 98).
TABLE 10.6 Success Rates of Federal Prisoners Conditionally Released, 2016/2017

Category Success Rate (%) Violent Conviction Rate After

Release (Per 1,000 Offenders)

Day parole 93 0.9

Full parole 90 3.2

Statutory release 67 8.4

Adapted from Public Safety Canada (2018)

Reforming High-Risk Sexual Offenders: Circles of Support

and Accountability (COSAs)
The public has little sympathy for sexual offenders given their histories of
violence, although our assumptions are often the result of inaccurate or
distorted media portrayals and stereotypes rather than the actual risks they
pose (Harper, 2018). These ex-prisoners are routinely returned to the
community and research shows that recidivism rates for some
classifications of these offenders are very low (Duwe, 2018). The risks
that sex offenders pose have been studied extensively, and research shows
that most of them are willing to participate in treatment; those efforts can
be very effective in reducing recidivism (Kim, Benekos, & Merlo, 2016).
Canadian researchers have found that the success of sex offenders
returning to the community increases when they are receiving the proper
supports, resources, and supervision (Wilson & McWhinnie, 2016). We
also increase their risk of reoffending when we isolate and shun them, or
when we prevent them from participating in activities that keep them
constructively occupied, such as work and engaging in positive social
relationships. One way to reduce the risk of recidivism is for offenders to
participate in Circles of Support and Accountability (COSAs), which is a
community-based intervention where volunteers provide support to high-
risk sex offenders released from prison.

Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA s) Groups of volunteers who support the
transition of high-risk sexual offenders from prison to the community.

COSA started with one high-risk sex offender, named Charlie Taylor,
who returned to an Ontario community in 1994 after serving his entire
prison sentence, so he was not supervised by a parole officer. According to
Wilson, McWhinnie, Picheca, Prinzo, and Cortoni (2007), Taylor was
well-known to the police and his release attracted widespread media
attention, as nobody wanted him “on the streets.” A CSC psychologist
approached Harry Nigh, who was the pastor of a Mennonite church (which
Taylor had previously attended), and encouraged him to help in Taylor’s
return to the community. Nigh put a group of volunteers together in what
they called a “circle” to provide guidance and support for this ex-prisoner.
The volunteers met frequently with Taylor and provided encouragement
and advice, and Wilson (2018) observes that the group reduced Taylor’s
isolation from the rest of the world with their friendship. This approach
was successful as it responded to Taylor’s unmet needs. When Charlie
Taylor died in 2006, he had been crime-free since his release from prison
12 years earlier.
There are about 20 COSA sites throughout Canada providing services to
about 200 high-risk sexual offenders, which is a fraction of all sex
offenders living in the community. Because of the difficulty in recruiting
volunteers, the program prioritizes recently released high-risk ex-
prisoners who have few community supports. Each circle is comprised of
the ex-prisoner (called a core member) and three to five volunteers who
commit to a long-term relationship with that individual; it is not unusual
for these groups to exist for years. The circle volunteers are, in turn,
supported by the COSA organization, and this support often includes an
“outer circle” where trained professionals mentor and provide training to
the volunteers.
The COSA approach is based on restorative justice principles that
emphasize reintegration. According to the Church Council on Justice and
Corrections (2011), circles have a life cycle with three phases:

1. In the initial phase, the core member (the ex-prisoner) establishes

trust with the volunteers and receives support from them. Meetings
of the circle might occur several times a week—often at coffee
shops and other informal settings. During this phase, the volunteers
may help the core member find a residence and employment, and
take the core member to appointments. In addition to providing
support, the core member’s living circumstances are stabilized, and
their feelings of social isolation, powerlessness, and hopelessness
are reduced—which in turn lowers their risks of reoffending.
2. The second phase of a circle builds on trust built between the core
member and volunteers. The volunteers might address the attitudes
and behaviours of the core member that place the individual at
higher risk of recidivism, such as feelings of hostility toward
women, associations with negative peers (such as other sex
offenders), or risky or impulsive behaviours such as substance use.
During this phase, the core member builds on their problem-solving
skills, and the circle members meet less frequently.
3. After the core member is fully reintegrated into the community, the
need for support decreases and the circles eventually close,
 although volunteers remain available to help the core member if
their circumstances change. In some cases, the relationship has
changed from that of volunteer to friend.

Neither the volunteers nor the local COSA organizations are associated
with the police or parole authorities, although volunteers are required to
inform the police if the core member has talked about committing a crime.
A Canada-wide evaluation of the approach found that COSA reduces sex
offender recidivism (Chouinard & Riddick, 2015). This approach is
gaining in popularity and has been adopted throughout Europe, the United
Kingdom, and the United States (Wilson, 2018). Yet, despite research
showing that COSA is a successful method of reducing recidivism and its
worldwide adoption, Canadian governments have been reluctant to fund
the agencies providing COSA services, although Doran (2018) points out
the federal government provided $7.48 million in 2017 to fund COSA as a
crime prevention strategy.

FIGURE 10.5 Circles of Support and Accountability

Adapted from Wilson and McWhinnie (2013)

BARRIERS TO COMMUNITY RE-ENTRY

There are many barriers to an ex-prisoner’s successful return into the
community, and some of them, such as high unemployment rates or a lack
of safe and affordable housing, are out of their control. Historically, one of
the most significant barriers to a successful community re-entry was the
lack of resources to establish a residence and cover basic needs. Instead,
ex-prisoners were often released directly onto the streets with a bus ticket
and a cheque for the money they had saved in their inmate accounts. These
individuals often had uncertain plans about where they were going to live
and work once released. Given that many ex-prisoners had no formal plan
on how to succeed once released, or had few resources to support their
community re-entry, it is not surprising that many committed new crimes
and were soon returned to custody.
Although correctional plans are more comprehensive today, and ex-
prisoners can receive social assistance, there are still barriers to their
success. Most ex-prisoners must overcome poor educational and
employment histories, maintain their sobriety, and deal with family and
friends who have criminogenic attitudes and values. They must also avoid
their former associates who may still be involved in crime and substance
abuse. The availability of halfway houses and social programs to support
the gradual re-entry of inmates has reduced some of these barriers to
reintegration. Yet, as Figure 10.6 shows, most ex-prisoners have at least
six issues to overcome. While the Office of the Correctional Investigator
(2017) created this list based on information from women parolees, the
barriers for men are similar.
In addition to confronting issues such as poverty, a lack of a stable
work history, or the inability to obtain safe and affordable housing, ex-
prisoners must also contend with government policies some call collateral
consequences. Collateral consequences are intended to increase public
safety by restricting someone with a criminal record from obtaining a
security clearance, government contract, or various licences and permits
(Adams, Chen, & Chapman, 2017). A common example is a driving
licence suspension for people convicted of impaired driving. Although that
sanction is not very controversial, individuals requiring a driver’s licence
for their jobs can be fired when they lose their licences. Another non-
controversial consequence is restricting sexual offenders from working
with children in paid or voluntary roles.

collateral consequences Government policies that are developed to deter potential offenders
and include job restrictions on people with specific types of criminal histories.

FIGURE 10.6 Barriers to Community Re-entry: Women Parolees

Office of the Correctional Investigator (2017)

A Closer Look
Record Suspensions
Public Safety Canada (2017b) estimates that about 10 per cent of Canadians, or about
3.6 million people, have criminal records. One way individuals can reduce the stigma
of a criminal conviction is through a record suspension, formerly known as a pardon.
A person with a criminal record can apply for a record suspension after ensuring that
all of the conditions of their conviction have been completed—such as paying fines
and meeting the conditions of their probation order—as well as waiting five years after
a summary conviction or ten years after an indictable offence. This program is
administered by the PBC. Applicants for suspensions must pay a fee ($631 in 2019)
and submit a package of information to the PBC. people convicted of cannabis
possession, however, do not have to pay any fees, and the government has promised
those suspensions will be quickly approved (Bell, 2019). While the PBC approves most
applicants after conducting a brief investigation, there is no guarantee that applications
will be approved, and some offenders—such as people who were convicted of sexual
offences involving children—are ineligible for record suspensions. According to the
PBC (2019b, pp. 6–15), the top five categories of offences for which suspensions were
granted in 2017/2018 were:
 • Driving with more than 80 mgs of alcohol in 100 ml of blood
• Driving while ability impaired
• Assault
• Breach of Narcotics Control Act
• Theft under $5,000

The number of record suspensions for these offences is not surprising given these
are the same types of crimes most commonly encountered in adult courts (Miladinovic,
2019).
The criminal convictions of successful applicants are set aside, which means they
are removed from the information reported by the Canadian Police Information Centre
(CPIC). An individual’s previous convictions can be used at sentencing if they are
convicted of a subsequent offence, although re-convictions of individuals granted
suspensions are rare. According to the PBC (2019c, p. 139) by April 1, 2018, over half
a million pardons/record suspensions had been ordered since their introduction in
1970, and 95 per cent were successful (5 per cent had been revoked).
One of the most important benefits of being granted a record suspension is that a
person who has been convicted of a criminal offence can state on a job application that
they do not have a criminal record (employers can only ask whether the individual has
a criminal record for which a pardon has not been granted). The John Howard Society
of Ontario (2018) estimates that having a criminal record can reduce one’s chance of
getting a job by half, and this estimate increases for people living in poverty and
members of visible minority or Indigenous populations. Survey results show that the
public supports granting record suspensions as they enable individuals to move
forward with their lives, act as a reward for good behaviour, remove the stigma of a
criminal conviction, and give people a second chance (Ekos Research Associates,
2017).

Some collateral consequences can have a profound impact on a

person’s life. For example, permanent Canadian residents convicted of
crimes such as impaired driving may be deported (Keung, 2018). In May
2016, an Ontario appeal court reduced an individual’s six-month jail
sentence by one day so he would not be deported upon his release from
custody. The individual was a permanent resident and had legally resided
in the country since 1989, but his six-month sentence for assault and
breach of probation could have led to his deportation (Canadian Press,
2016).
In this photo, a parole officer visits a parolee at work to ensure that he is following the rules
and settling in. One of the most important factors for a successful re-entry is getting a job.
What factors might get in the way of a parolee obtaining employment?

There are also informal barriers to community re-entry of prisoners

that are related to the types of offences that led to their incarceration.
Crimes committed against one’s family and friends, for instance, often
lead to social rejection, and some ex-prisoners (especially people with
mental illnesses) have “burned their bridges” with their friends and family.
The stigma resulting from the media’s publication of an individual’s
criminal behaviour also makes it difficult to re-enter society, especially in
small towns and rural areas where there is little anonymity. Strained
relationships also increase social isolation, making it difficult for ex-
prisoners to establish a support network, find work, or constructively use
their time, which in turn increases their risks of reoffending.
One of the most important factors for an ex-prisoner’s successful
return to the community is getting a job. Obtaining a good job, however, is
a challenge given that many ex-prisoners lack long-term work histories or
positive references. As a result, most employers are leery of hiring ex-
prisoners, especially during tough economic times when many people
without criminal records are also competing for scarce jobs (Decker,
Ortiz, Spohn, & Hedberg, 2015). Ex-prisoners lucky enough to find work
often end up in undesirable jobs (Bumiller, 2015). One step the federal
government has taken to reduce the stigma of a criminal record is to offer
record suspensions (formerly known as pardons), which enable a person to
declare on job applications that they do not have a criminal record (see the
“A Closer Look” box for details).

SUMMARY
In 1938, the Royal Commission’s investigation into riots in Canadian
prisons established a number of goals for the system, including the
protection of society, the humane treatment and safe custody of inmates,
and the rehabilitation of these prisoners (Kidman, 1938). Even though
more than 80 years have passed since the Commission’s report, these goals
are still difficult to achieve. A review of this chapter, however, shows that
CSC officials and their personnel, have made significant progress in
making facilities safer, as well as more humane and rehabilitative, places.
These reforms have taken place over decades and have involved some trial
and error, but the current success rate of ex-prisoners returning to the
community on parole demonstrates the effectiveness of the CSC and PBC
approach to increasing public safety.
One of the things we often forget about corrections is that those
running the prison systems have no control over who is sentenced to serve
a prison term, or how long they will be imprisoned. As a result, new
prisoners are admitted to facilities with a variety of risks, unmet needs,
and distinctive criminal histories, whether or not the facilities have the
resources necessary to meet those needs. Long-term correctional officers
have observed that the profile of prisoners has changed over time; they
must now manage a growing population of gang members, prisoners with
histories of violent crime, and special-needs inmates, such as those with
substance abuse and mental health problems, sex offenders, and elderly
and Indigenous peoples.
 The CSC’s success is founded on providing a safe and secure
environment. A second challenge for CSC personnel is to help these
inmates prepare for their eventual return to the community. About half of
federal prisoners are sentenced to serve five years or longer in prison.
During that time, the correctional staff do their best to provide the
supports needed for a prisoner to both survive their prison sentence and
have opportunities to address their unmet needs so they can live crime-
free lives upon release. This is not an easy undertaking and rates of suicide
and self-harm in the CSC are high compared with US prisons.
Despite those challenges, a very small proportion of ex-prisoners on
federal day and full parole are ever returned to prison, although prisoners
receiving a statutory or mandatory release after serving two-thirds of their
sentences are less successful than parolees (Public Safety Canada, 2018).
We know that some parolees will commit crimes after their release from
prison, but their community-based supervision is still desirable for several
reasons. In addition to saving taxpayer dollars on incarceration,
community-based supervision can help offenders work toward their
rehabilitation by continuing their education, working, and supporting and
rebuilding relationships with their families. Research shows that most ex-
prisoners will not return to prison, and that finding should guide the
correctional services that are delivered (Rhodes et al., 2016).

Career SNAPSHOT
Community Parole Officer
About 8 per cent of Correctional Service of Canada staff members work in the
community, and many of them are parole officers supervising ex-prisoners on
conditional releases or parole (Public Safety Canada, 2018, p. 23). One of the strengths
of working for the federal government is that an employee can apply for opportunities
throughout the country, which creates more opportunities for promotion or change.
While CSC employees have good career mobility, the pathway to a career as a parole
officer generally entails gaining experience with offenders in correctional settings.
Most parole officers were first employed as correctional officers in federal institutions,
although some have experience working as provincial probation officers or youth
workers.
 Throughout their careers, parole officers are expected to build relationships with
the police, court officials, organizations and individuals delivering rehabilitative
programs (such as psychologists), and staff from non-governmental agencies who
provide services to parolees. In order to be successful as a parole officer, one has to
have excellent interpersonal skills, self-confidence, and the ability to manage heavy
workloads and work independently. Tara Tomasi shares her experiences as a
community parole officer working in British Columbia.

Profile
Name: Tara Tomasi
Job Title: Community Parole Officer, Correctional Service of Canada
Employed In Current Job Since: 1999
Present Location: Abbotsford Parole Office
Education: Diploma and BA (Criminal Justice), University of the Fraser Valley

Background
As far back as I can remember, my life plan involved working in the criminal justice
field. As a teenager, I planned to pursue my post-secondary education in a field that
would allow me to work in law, policing, or corrections. As I progressed through my
education, I developed a strong interest in Canada’s correctional system and began
exploring employment opportunities within it. Although my long-term goal was to
work as a parole officer, I first wanted the opportunity to work as a correctional
officer. Therefore, upon completing my Bachelor of Arts degree in the spring of 1999,
I wrote the Correctional Service of Canada’s entry examination. Shortly thereafter, I
completed the Correctional Officer Physical Abilities Test, and I began working as an
officer in August 1999. In 2003, I started work as an institutional parole officer, and in
2009, I transitioned to the community as a community parole officer.

Work Experience
One of the most rewarding aspects of being a community parole officer is the
opportunity to develop ties between the parole office and community partners. After
all, working as a parole officer cannot be done in isolation. An integral part of my
work is to contribute to public safety while assisting and encouraging paroled
offenders to become law-abiding, productive members of society, which is a role
defined by the CSC’s mission statement. Working closely with community-based
partners such as police agencies, non-profit organizations, and social services
promotes a holistic approach that I believe increases an offender’s chances for success
in the community. Personal examples of developing ties between partners include
 providing orientation sessions to local police recruits and attending various meetings
involving social service agencies.
One of the biggest challenges facing a community parole officer is the balance
between contributing to public safety and safely managing an offender’s risk to
reoffend. Many offenders who are on parole have committed serious and sometimes
violent offences, and their risk to reoffend can be increased by substance abuse, a lack
of employment and community support, and an inability to find affordable housing.
Therefore, one of our primary responsibilities is to identify and determine what level of
risk can be safely managed in the community. Risk assessment is done by community
parole officers on a continual basis, and it includes consultations with one’s supervisor
and other officials at the Parole Board of Canada. Although sometimes a challenge,
safely supervising offenders in the community while encouraging and assisting them
to be law-abiding citizens is highly rewarding. It’s a satisfying feeling to know you’ve
made a difference in the community around you!

Advice to Students
Having strong communication skills, both written and verbal, is vital to having a
successful career as a community parole officer. Our work involves liaising with many
different community partners and writing reports for a variety of audiences, including
federal institutions, the Parole Board of Canada, and the Supreme Court of Canada. In
addition to communication, important skills a parole officer should possess are the
ability to work well with others, to assess human behaviour, and to make analytical,
concise decisions. Annual mandatory training (referred to as parole officer continuous
development) helps strengthen these skills.
As an employee of CSC, a parole officer’s role is that of public servant. Strong
values, ethics, and integrity are characteristics of a successful parole officer, and
accountability and behavioural expectations are also very high. Therefore, students
interested in pursuing a career as a parole officer must lead law-abiding, pro-social
lives free from inappropriate and/or illegal behaviour (this also applies to social
media). As a community parole officer, assisting and encouraging offenders to safely
reintegrate, and the responsibility of contributing to public safety, are honours and
privileges not to be taken lightly. One fact is certain: there is never a dull moment!

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are the main differences in the operations of provincial correctional facilities and
federal prisons?
2. What steps can inmates take to make complaints about their living conditions or their
treatment?
3. How do the characteristics of inmates influence behaviours within correctional facilities?
4. What are the two different forms of parole and how do they differ from statutory
release?
5. Provide reasons why the Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) approach has
been effective in reducing sex offender recidivism.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Prison administrators are criticized when inmates are idle, yet they are also criticized
when prisoners produce goods that compete against private manufacturers, such as
office furniture. Under these circumstances, what is the best option to keep prisoners
occupied?
2. Describe the main differences between provincial probation and federal parole.
3. Explain the impact of a five-year prison sentence on a mother, a gang member, a
middle-aged wage earner, and an elderly offender. Should these impacts be taken into
account when sentencing?
4. Prison murders occur at a higher rate in Canada compared with US prisons, despite the
fact that Canadians spend more than twice as much to keep offenders imprisoned.
Provide some reasons for this difference.
5. Provide some reasons why women’s correctional facilities in Canada are more
expensive to operate than male institutions.

INTERNET SITES
The Correctional Investigator of Canada acts as an ombudsman for federal prisoners.
Although the main function of the correctional investigator is to investigate and resolve
complaints, the correctional investigator also prepares reports on issues related to offender
treatment and rehabilitation.
www.oci-bec.gc.ca/index-eng.aspx
Beyond the Fence: Take a virtual tour of a Canadian penitentiary. This website lets you view
a Canadian prison’s inner workings.
http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/csc-virtual-tour/index-eng.shtml
PART V
Youth Justice
11 Youth Justice in Canada

On 8 July 2019, there were only 26 youth held in custody facilities in all of
Atlantic Canada (Davie, 2019). Prior to the introduction of the Youth Criminal
Justice Act in 2003, the number of youth behind bars was much higher; in
2001/2002, the four provinces incarcerated 364 youth (Statistics Canada,
2019a). Why did youth incarceration drop by more than 90 per cent? A change
in legislation in 2003 made it more difficult to place non-violent youth in
custody, and youth crime rates have been decreasing. The drop in youth
incarceration has happened throughout the nation, although in many provinces
the unused correctional beds have been filled by adults. (Photo credit: Emma
Davie/CBC)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to

• Describe current trends in youth crime

• Identify the differences between the Juvenile Delinquents Act, the Young Offenders Act, and
the Youth Criminal Justice Act
• Provide some reasons why sentences for youth are mitigated
• Describe the differences between open and secure custody
• Identify the pathways to girls’ involvement in crime

CASE STUDY
Youth Involved in Homicide
Brett Wiese, a University of Calgary student, was stabbed to death in 2013 after a group of
young people who had been kicked out of a house party “returned with a ‘posse’” to carry
out a “revenge-motivated group attack” (Martin, 2015, para. 2). Wiese was stabbed seven
times, another partygoer was severely wounded, and several others were assaulted. Jazlyn
Radke, who was 17 years old at the time, was found guilty of second-degree murder, two
counts of assault, and one count of aggravated assault for her role in the offences: she
stabbed Brett Wiese once in the back after her co-accused, Mitchell Harkes, had already
stabbed him six times. While Harkes had inflicted serious wounds, Radke’s knife severed
Weise’s aorta (the largest artery in the body), which led to his death. According to the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2015), Radke had been kicked out of the party but
she “refused to go and was screaming, swearing and swinging at partygoers before vowing
to return.”
Although the murder occurred in January 2013, and Radke was convicted in April
2014, the sentencing did not occur until May 2015. Radke was sentenced to life
imprisonment. The judge ruled that Radke can stay in a youth custody facility until she
turns 21 years of age, and then she will be transferred to a Correctional Service of Canada
prison. Because she was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence, Radke will have
to serve at least seven years before she can apply for parole. As with any other Canadian
sentenced to life imprisonment, she will be under correctional supervision for the rest of
her life.
 Mitchell Harkes—who was 19 years old when the murder occurred—was also
sentenced to life imprisonment. Like other case studies starting these chapters, the Harkes
matter has taken years to work its way through the court system, and in 2017 the Alberta
Court of Appeal decided his second-degree murder conviction should be overturned as the
judge made an error instructing the jury. Mitchell Harkes’s case was retried in 2019, and
he was again found guilty; he then filed another appeal (Grant, 2019b). Weise’s parents,
who sat through more than 80 days in court in the previous six years, expressed their
frustration with the court process, calling it “never ending and gruelling” (Grant, 2019a).
Five years after the Weise murder, Mitchell’s father, 65-year-old Keith Harkes, was
sentenced to six years in prison for trying to kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend with a
shotgun in a December 2017 incident (Martin, 2018). Keith Harkes had been convicted of
assault with a weapon in 2009 and was banned from possessing firearms, although he used
a gun in the 2017 attack. Do the separate convictions of a father and son for violent crimes
a few years apart suggest that violence was seen as an acceptable way of solving problems
in this family?

Mitchell Harkes, the 19-year-old who was sentenced to life imprisonment along with
Jazlyn Radke, is shown here being arrested. The public is generally understanding of
youth who commit minor crimes but is less forgiving of youth who commit violent
offences. Although sentences for youth are often mitigated due to factors such as lack
of maturity, youth convicted of murder will be under the supervision of the
Correctional Service of Canada for the remainder of their lives.

Critical Questions
 Why do we hold such punitive feelings toward young people who commit serious and
1. violent crimes?
2. Does the gender of an individual convicted of homicide change your perceptions about
the amount or type of punishment they should receive? Why or why not?
3. Jazlyn Radke will be eligible to apply for parole in 2022: what factors should the parole
board consider when she applies?

INTRODUCTION
It is not uncommon for youth to engage in minor criminal offences such as
shoplifting, theft, trespassing, drug use, or mischief. In addition, there are
a variety of actions that are considered lawful for adults but are violations
of provincial regulations for youth, such as drinking alcohol, gambling,
running away from home, skipping classes, or possessing cannabis
products. Young people caught engaging in these acts are rarely arrested,
and the police will typically caution them or take them home to face their
parents. With respect to minor criminal offences, many officers are
reluctant to go through with an arrest because of the lifelong consequences
an arrest or conviction can have on an individual, including for minor
offences. Even supporters of “tough on crime” punishments are often
sympathetic toward young people who have committed minor offences. As
a result, justice system officials have developed alternative measures
programs to divert young people who have been involved in minor crimes
from the formal justice system.
Our positive or sympathetic feelings toward youth are challenged by
young people who have repeatedly appeared before the courts and continue
to reoffend. But support for juvenile rehabilitation is generally fairly high,
even in cases of violent or repeat offenders. Mays and Ruddell (2019, pp.
265–6) found that over three-quarters of respondents in 12 US polls
conducted between 1998 and 2017 supported placing youthful offenders in
rehabilitative programs—and Americans tend to be more punitive than
Canadians. Yet many Canadians also believe that young people who have
committed violent offences should be treated similarly to adults by
“locking them up and throwing away the key.” This raises the question of
whether youth should be treated the same as adults in the justice system.
In the past, Canadian juvenile delinquents (an outdated term for young
people who committed a criminal act or a status offence—which is an act
that is unlawful for a youth but legal for an adult, such as drinking
alcohol) were treated much like adults. By the 1850s there was growing
awareness that children and youth are different than adults in terms of
their development. Youth were acknowledged as being less mature and
more impulsive, having poorer decision-making skills, and lacking
sophistication compared to adults. As a result, the sentences that youth
received for committing crimes were often mitigated due to their
immaturity. Bernard and Kurlychek (2010) say that children less than
seven years of age were seldom held criminally responsible because they
lacked the maturity to differentiate between right and wrong. Criminal
sentences for youngsters aged eight to 14 were also mitigated in many
jurisdictions. Older adolescents, however, were often treated the same as
adults. Pfeifer and Leighton-Brown (2007) report how three British
Columbia brothers and one of their friends were hanged on January 31,
1881, for their involvement in a murder, even though three of them were
under 18 years of age at the time of the offence.

delinquents An outdated term for young people who committed criminal acts.
status offence Under the Juvenile Delinquents Act, this term refers to actions that were not
considered crimes for adults but were unlawful for youth, such as drinking alcohol.

In the pages that follow, a short discussion of youth crime in Canada is

presented, as examining the volume and seriousness of youth crime is a
first step in understanding and then solving the problem. This discussion is
followed by a description of the evolution of the youth justice system in
Canada since 1908. An overview of Canada’s youth laws is provided, and
boxed features pay special attention to topics such as adolescent brain
development, Indigenous youth in the justice system, and pathways to
crime for young women.
Rates of crime committed by youthful offenders have been decreasing since the mid-1990s,
and homicides committed by youth are at their lowest level since the 1980s. Although those
statistics suggest that current strategies to control youth crime are successful, some people
are still pessimistic about youth involved in crime.

YOUTH CRIME IN CANADA

In developing responses to crime, there are several questions that need to
be considered. How much crime do young people commit? How serious
are these offences? What are the characteristics of these youthful
offenders? Table 11.1 shows that the number of youth court cases in
Canada has been declining for over two decades. There were about 29,000
youth court cases in 2016/2017, which is part of a long-term decrease of
about two-thirds since 1991/1992 (Miladinovic, 2019). Of those
individuals, slightly more than half of them (54 per cent) are actually
found guilty; over 40 per cent of these cases are withdrawn or stayed
(Statistics Canada, 2019d). What is remarkable about this decrease is that
the size of the youth population (aged 12 to 17 years) increased during that
time. While fewer youth are involved in crime, there might be other
explanations for this decrease in court appearances, including the fact that
alternative measures programs, such as diversion, have reduced the
number of youth appearing before the courts.
The types of offences for which youth are appearing in court can shed
light on the seriousness of youth crime. The “top 10” most common
offences committed by youth and reported to the police are presented in
Figure 11.1. According to Allen (2018), the most common offence is theft,
which is followed by level 1 (common) assault, mischief, administration
of justice offences—such as failure to appear in court or breaching the
conditions of a probation order—and drug possession: together, these five
categories of offences account for about 60 per cent of all youth crimes
reported to the police. This finding supports the observation that most
youth offences are relatively minor. Of those youth accused of crime, more
half have their cases stayed, dropped, or diverted from the formal court
processes. When assessing the seriousness of youth crime, we can also
consider the youth Crime Severity Index, which is also shown in Table
11.1. The volume and severity of youth crime (overall) and violent youth
crime have been decreasing since 1998 (Allen, 2018). Although Table 11.1
and Figure 11.1 show all youth crimes, the public is also very concerned
about youth involved in homicides and other serious assaults. The number
of youth aged 12 to 17 years old accused of murder (also presented in
Table 11.1) has dropped by 60 per cent since 1974. When discussing youth
homicides, it is important to note that one-year totals can fluctuate
somewhat; between 2016 and 2017, for example, the number of youth
accused of homicide doubled (Beattie, David, & Roy, 2018). To account
for this in Table 11.1, the average of 1974–1976 was compared with the
average of 2015–2017.

TABLE 11.1 Youth Crime Trends, Canada

Number of Cases Before Youth Courts, 1992 69%

to 2017 Decrease

Crime Severity Index, Youth, 1998 to 2017 60%

Decrease

Youth Accused of Homicide, 1974 to 2017 36%

Decrease

Adapted from Allen (2018); Statistics Canada (2019a; 2019b); Beattie, David, and Roy (2018)

One aspect of crime that differs between juveniles and adults is the
group nature of adolescent involvement in crime (Allen & Superle, 2016).
Carrington, Brennan, Matarazzo, and Radulescu (2013, p. 3) examined
Canadian crime statistics and found that offences involving more than one
individual were over twice as common for youth (44 per cent) as for adults
(19 per cent). Because violent youth offending tends to be a group offence,
that pattern influences the number of youth accused of homicide. Allen
and Superle (2016, p. 12) note that “from 2005 to 2014, 60 per cent of
youth accused in homicides were co-offenders compared to 35 per cent of
adults.” As individuals age, they are less likely to be involved in crimes
involving more than one person. It is rare to have more than two people
involved in a crime and most adult group offences are related to drugs or
property crimes (Carrington et al., 2013).
FIGURE 11.1 Youth Accused of Crimes Reported to the Police: Ten Most Common
Offences, 2017
Adapted from Allen (2018)
This photograph shows a youth courtroom in Toronto. Although there has been a decline in
the number of youth court cases over the past two decades, some of the youth appearing
before the courts have unstable lifestyles that make it difficult for judges to return them to
the community.

Some of the youth crime occurring in groups is gang related. Although

a bit dated, a study by Public Safety Canada (2007, p. 2) surveyed data
collected by police organizations and estimated that there were 434 gangs
in the country and about 7,000 youth involved in them. Dunbar (2017)
explains that one of the challenges of estimating the true number of gangs
in the country is that their activities are often hidden. We do know,
however, that gangs tend to form along racial or ethnic lines. Public Safety
Canada (2007, p. 2) reports that “the largest proportion of youth gang
members are African Canadian (25 per cent) followed by First Nations (21
per cent) and Caucasian (18 per cent).” Those proportions vary across the
country: African-Canadian gangs are more likely to be encountered in
Ontario, Indigenous gangs are more prevalent in the Prairies, and Asian or
Indo-Canadian gangs are active in British Columbia.
Youth gangs are engaged in the drug and sex trades and other criminal
activities. As the money involved in these criminal enterprises increases,
there is often a growth in gun-related violence as well. David (2017, p. 7)
reports that the number of youth accused of gang-related homicides
decreased in 2016, which was “contrary to the average for the previous 10
years, where youth accused of homicide were on average two times more
likely to be involved in a gang-related incident compared to adults.”
Beattie, David, and Roy (2018, p. 15) report that youth were responsible
for about one in 10 homicides in 2017, and were just as likely to be
involved in a gang-related homicide as adults.
Although most gang activities are carried out by males, a small
number of young women are involved in gangs. Researchers have
estimated that up to one-third of all gang members are female, and
suggests those populations are increasing (Dunbar, 2017, p. 17). As so
little research has been done examining women in Canadian gangs, most
of our knowledge is based on reports from officials who work with them,
such as police officers and youth workers. Dunbar (2017, p. 17) says that
some women are playing important roles in gangs including dealing drugs,
recruiting new members, and collecting debts. In their study of the gang
problem in Surrey, BC, Ference and Company Consulting (2018, p. 8)
found that “because females are less likely to be targeted by law
enforcement, they are being used by gang members to carry guns and
drugs, and to provide their names for houses, cars, credit cards, and cell
phones. Females are also becoming more involved in drug trafficking,
recruiting, and committing gang violence.” Like their male counterparts,
females from marginalized populations may be more likely to join gangs
as few of them have access to legitimate ways of generating wealth or
increasing their status in a short period of time.
One question that is difficult to answer is why youth join gangs. While
some turn to gangs due to parental neglect or because they lack positive
supports in their lives, others grow up in gang-involved families.
Furthermore, youth living on the street are at a relatively high risk of
joining a gang (Marshall, DeBeck, Simo, Kerr, & Wood, 2015). Gang
lifestyles often feature a “live for the moment” mindset. Tom Walker, a
Toronto social worker and gang expert, observes that “a lot of the kids I
work with, they think they’re going to be dead before they’re 18, 19.
They’re not looking at the future, they’re looking at living today” (as cited
in Steele, 2015). Having interviewed 175 male and female gang members
in Alberta correctional centres, Chalas and Grekul (2017) say that young
people are drawn to gangs to get respect, money, protection (safety from
others), and to fit in. Those results are similar to the Ference and Company
(2018, pp. 17–18) report that identifies three reasons why young people
join gangs: (a) they want status and money, (b) they do not fear legal
consequences, and (c) they become financially indebted to the gang and
must carry out activities for the gang in order to pay their debts.
Although youth in gangs represent a relatively small proportion of all
youth involved in crime, they are responsible for a disproportionately high
amount of crime. Writing about gun and gang violence, Public Safety
Canada (2018b, p. 1) observes that “gun crime often involves young
offenders and young adults. Across Canada, youth and young adults are
charged with firearm-related violent crime at a higher rate than adults.”
While the police are generally aware of gang activities, gangs themselves
are difficult to eradicate. In some cases, youth gangs are associated with
adult gangs or criminal organizations that have existed for generations
(Schneider, 2018). Witnesses are often fearful of being victimized by gang
members, and it is difficult for the police to obtain information about
some gang-related crimes. Adult gang members have also attempted to
intimidate Canadian police officers (Gomez del Prado, 2011), and
members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club were involved in the
murder of two Quebec correctional officers in 1997 (Cherry, 2018).
In order to increase the punishments for gang members and organized
crime offenders involved in crime, the government enacted legislation in
1997 and strengthened it in 2001. Moreover, the federal government has
been funding anti-gang-violence programs throughout Canada and has
pledged to provide $327 million to the provinces to counter gang violence
(Meissner, 2019). As with other crime-related issues described throughout
this book, it is desirable to develop strategies to prevent at-risk youth from
joining gangs in the first place, and gang resistance programs are
emerging throughout the nation. Some of these efforts are funded by the
federal government’s Youth Gang Prevention Fund (Public Safety Canada,
2018a).
Even though some youth are involved in gangs, we have much to feel
optimistic when it comes to youth crime. The youth Crime Severity Index
and the violent Crime Severity Index have been decreasing for decades,
and the number of youth court cases has also dropped. When youth do
appear before the courts, over half of the cases involve relatively minor
non-violent offences. When it comes to serious crimes, there has been a
downward trend in homicide rates since 2009, and the youth murder rate
per 100,000 youth in 2017 was less than it was in 1983. Yet every year tens
of thousands of youth appear in youth courts, and a common question is,
why does youth crime occur? In this chapter’s “A Closer Look” box, the
issue of adolescent brain development is addressed as one explanation for
the involvement of youth in crime.
Figure 11.2 shows the number of Canadians accused of crimes in 2017
per 100,000 residents in the population by gender and age group. The
results indicate that involvement in crime increases during early
adolescence, peaks during the teenage years and early adulthood, and then
decreases as individuals get older: social scientists call this an age–crime
curve. Savage (2019, p. 6) notes that male involvement in crime is almost
four times greater than female involvement. Figure 11.2 shows that rates
of offending per 100,000 Canadians peaks at 16 years old for females and
17 years old for males. There are also gender differences in the types of
crimes young males and females commit; in 2017, males were almost
three times more likely to be accused of committing a violent or drug-
related crime and twice as likely to be accused of carrying out a property
offence (Savage, 2019, pp. 16–17). Those gender differences are shown in
Figure 11.3 based on the population aged 12 to 17 years. Given their
involvement in crime, males are more likely to be incarcerated than
females (Malakieh, 2019).

age–crime curve Involvement in crime increases during early adolescence, peaks during the
teenage years and early adulthood, and then decreases throughout adulthood (some social
scientists call this “aging out” of crime).

FIGURE 11.2 Rate of Offending, by Gender and Age of Accused, Canada, 2017
Savage (2019)
A Closer Look
Adolescent Brain Development and Crime
Anybody who has spent time with teenagers knows that they are generally less mature
than adults and are more likely to engage in impulsive and unpredictable behaviours.
Some teenagers have problems controlling their anger and engage in temper tantrums
or other displays of low self-control. They may be negatively influenced by peers, test
authority, engage in risky behaviours such as alcohol or drug use, and have a “live for
the moment” orientation rather than planning for the future. Taken together, these traits
result in some youth making very poor decisions, and this has been the case for
thousands of years. Although we know that peer pressure pushes young people toward
involvement in crime, there might also be a biological basis for such behaviour,
including attraction to highly emotional situations, which can lead to violence (Scott,
Duell, & Steinberg, 2018). For instance, a fear of rejection “may draw a teen to engage
in behaviors, including illegal activity, even when they know better” (Cohen & Casey,
2014, p. 64).
As you will recall from Chapter 6, age is an excuse defence for involvement in
crime, and immaturity is the core notion that led to the development of a separate
youth justice system. The issue of immaturity raises the question of whether we should
give similar punishments to youth and adults convicted of the same type of offence,
given that youth have less ability to control their behaviours. It is sometimes difficult
for us to remember that children are not miniature adults and should not be treated as
such by the justice system. Bala (2003) notes that youth do not always have insight
into their behaviours, and he observes the following:

Youths who are apprehended and asked why they committed a crime most
commonly respond: “I don’t know.” Because of their lack of judgment and
foresight, youths tend to be poor criminals as well, and, at least in comparison
to adults, are relatively easy to apprehend. Often youths who commit horrible
murders will boast of their deeds to their friends, or even take their friends to
see the body of the victim, making their arrest inevitable. This is not to argue
that adolescent offenders should not be morally or legally accountable for their
criminal acts, but only that their accountability should, in general, be more
limited than is the case for adults. (p. 3)

Although the differences between adult and youth behaviour have long been
recognized, in the past there was little scientific evidence to tell us why these
differences existed. We know today that there is a biological basis for immaturity.
Medical research shows that the parts of the brain that are responsible for impulse
 control, judgment, future planning, and other factors about being legally responsible
are not fully formed until we are in our twenties (Scott et al., 2018). Furthermore, brain
development does not finish until individuals have passed their teenage years. Given
those facts, we can explain some adolescent behaviour as a function of biological
development. The recognition that people under 20 years of age might not be fully
responsible for their actions due to their developmental stage has resulted in some US
states considering whether the upper end of juvenile court responsibility should be
higher than 18 years of age (Cauffman, Fine, Mahler, & Simmons, 2018).

FIGURE 11.3 Rate of Youth Offending, by Violation Type and Gender of Accused, Canada,
2017
Savage (2019)

Although some youth populations across the globe may have a

somewhat different involvement in crime, the statistics in Figures 11.2
and 11.3 have remained fairly consistent throughout history (Bernard &
Kurlychek, 2010). As a result, we need to acknowledge two facts about
youth crime: (a) most serious offences are committed by young males, and
(b) most people will age out of crime and delinquency—meaning that
people will generally engage in fewer offences as they get older. The
trouble is that some people will continue to engage in criminal activities
well into adulthood, and it is very difficult to predict who will become part
of that group. These observations have implications for the justice system
because wherever the population of young males is high, crime rates will
also be elevated, and a small percentage of this group will continue to
commit offences throughout their entire lives.

THE EVOLUTION OF YOUTH JUSTICE IN

CANADA
For the past 200 years, there has been a growing interest in responding to
the unmet needs of youth in order to reduce their involvement in crime.
Prior to the 1800s, there was less need for a separate youth justice system,
as serious crimes and delinquency committed by youth were rare. Most
people lived on farms or in small settlements, and informal social control
was often effective in controlling behaviour. In addition, youth living in
the countryside typically worked from morning to night on family farms
or small businesses, and they were often married by 16 or 17 years of age
and became parents soon after, leaving very little time or opportunity to
engage in crime.
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, living conditions were harsh
and large numbers of young people were neglected, orphaned, or
abandoned by their families. Tens of thousands of orphaned youth arrived
in Canada from Europe. Many of them were placed with families as
indentured servants, where they would work for several years and then be
granted their freedom. However, not all youth were able to constructively
occupy their time. The Department of Justice (2004) describes juvenile
crime by the late 1860s as follows:

indentured servants Workers who were bound by a contract to work without pay for a given
period of time; this included abandoned or orphaned children who immigrated to Canada and
were placed with families for several years until they could “work off” the costs of their travel to
Canada.

Much of the crime was minor in nature; it was manifested in urban

more than in rural areas; and boys committed crime in larger
 numbers than girls. … In any large community young boys and
girls were to be found loitering around the streets, idle, neglected
and undisciplined. Many children suffered from a lack of proper
diet, malnutrition, unsanitary living conditions, drunken and
dissolute parents and inadequate or no medical care. Parental
neglect also contributed to such personal and social problems as
truancy, lack of interest in schooling, mental and emotional
difficulties, and crime. (p. 4)

Houston (1972, p. 259) notes that while the problem of youth

delinquency was growing in cities, most offences committed by youth
were relatively minor, including vagrancy, disorderly conduct, and
intoxication.
Because there was no national-level legislation to confront youth
crime prior to 1908, each province developed a strategy to manage
delinquency. As there was no separate juvenile justice system, delinquents
were brought before adult criminal courts. Police also rounded up children
who had not committed a crime but were begging on the streets, were not
attending school, or were otherwise out of their parents’ control. Some
youth lacked proper supervision because they were neglected or orphaned.
These delinquent youth, status offenders, or other at-risk youth were
sometimes placed together in reformatories. For instance, the prison on Île
aux Noix, Quebec, was described as:

A Reformatory Prison for Juvenile Criminals, where they would be

free from the corrupting influences derived from their association
with hardened criminals, and where by a proper system of
discipline, education, moral and religious instruction, they might
be weaned from the evil habits which time could have hardly yet
hardened their youthful minds to. (Ryerson & Hodgins, 1859, p. 2)

The idea of developing a separate justice system for youth was

becoming increasingly popular in Canada and led to the development of
national-level legislation in 1908.

The Juvenile Delinquents Act, 1908 to 1984

The first truly national-level youth strategy in Canada was the Juvenile
Delinquents Act (JDA), which was introduced in 1908. The JDA reflected
the social service interests of reformers who advocated for a separate
youth justice system. Section 38 of the JDA prioritized the treatment and
rehabilitation of young people by stating that “as far as practicable every
juvenile delinquent shall be treated not as a criminal, but as a misdirected
and misguided child, and one needing aid, encouragement, help and
assistance.” The focus of the legislation was on responding to the needs of
youth involved in crime rather than focusing on the offence(s) they
committed. As a result, the overall philosophy of the legislation was to act
“in the best interests of the child” (Smandych & Corrado, 2018).
Despite the best intentions of the youth justice reformers, there were
many shortcomings of the JDA. Leon (1977) observes that this legislation
attempted to manage child welfare—where the court responded to the
problems of abused, neglected, and dependent children—and the criminal
and risky behaviours of youth, which included failing to attend school,
drinking alcohol, or being incorrigible or unmanageable (which were
considered status offences). One of the limitations of this approach was
that some abused or neglected youth were treated no differently than youth
who had committed serious crimes. Youth could be removed from their
homes and placed into custody for needing help or because they were
engaging in status offending, and the conditions in some of the facilities
were grim: mortality rates were high, conditions were austere, and
children were sometimes victimized by the staff. In addition, ideas about
correctional rehabilitation were not very well developed, and the
rehabilitative activities in these institutions were often limited to
education and keeping youth busy by putting them to work.
The new juvenile justice system had to confront a small number of
youth who had committed violent offences, such as serious assaults and
homicide. Some of these youth were sent to training schools (another
term for reformatories), but they could not be held past their twenty-first
birthday. One problem was that older youth, for instance a 17-year-old,
could be placed in a training school for only four years prior to release—
and some people felt that sentence was too short for killing someone. In
response to that challenge, youth over 14 years of age who committed
serious offences could be transferred to adult courts. If they were found
guilty, they were given adult sentences, including the death penalty.

training schools Secure placements that were similar to today’s secure custody facilities (also
called reformatories, reform schools, or industrial schools).

An alternative problem was that some youth accused of non-criminal

acts, such as being out of parental control, could be placed in a training
school or reformatory for an indefinite term: youth would be released on
their twenty-first birthday or after convincing the facility staff they had
made rehabilitative progress. In both Canada and the United States, many
young women were placed in youth correctional facilities for
experimenting with their sexuality—their parents and the juvenile court
judges were more concerned about unwanted pregnancies than the stigma
of being placed in a training school.
There were also differences on the upper age limit of the court’s
jurisdiction between the provinces. Prior to 1984, an individual became an
adult at 18 years of age in Manitoba and Quebec, at 17 years in
Newfoundland and British Columbia, and at 16 years in the remaining
provinces (Bala & Lilles, 1984). In other words, a 16-year-old shoplifter in
Nova Scotia was considered an adult, but a 17-year-old committing the
same offence in Quebec was considered a juvenile and would not have an
adult criminal record if convicted. The Department of Justice (2004) notes
that youth awaiting court dates were to be kept apart from adults, and the
“proceedings were also to be private and neither the names of the accused
nor their parents could be published.” Given the fact that the JDA dealt
with abused, neglected, and dependent children, the JDA did not have a
lower age limit, and as a result, preteens could be placed in custody.
Another shortcoming of the JDA was that many youth did not have
access to a lawyer to ensure that their rights were protected—even though
their liberty was at stake—and “judges often did not follow the rules of
evidence or procedure applicable to trials in adult court” (Bala & Lilles,
1984, p. 73). Karpoff and Vaughan (1962, iii) found that over 95 per cent
of youth appeared before juvenile courts without a lawyer. Policy-makers
were not very concerned about the rights of these young people as they
were “being helped and not punished,” although tens of thousands were
incarcerated. A large number of youth were labelled as delinquent between
1927 and 1969, and about 10 per cent of them were placed in training
schools or in detention (Statistics Canada, 2014).

In addition to provincial authorities, a number of charitable organizations historically

provided services to delinquent youth in Canada. In 1911, five sisters of the Soeurs du Bon-
Pasteur order established the first of a series of homes for delinquent and neglected girls in
Winnipeg. Woloschuk (2006) notes that in the 1910s, delinquent girls spent an average of 16
months in one of the programs, which was intended to build their academic skills and prepare
them for employment. The programs were based on “the idea that girls’ morality could be
‘preserved’ through religious training and discipline” (Woloschuk, 2006). The photo above
shows two girls participating in the fencing program at the Marymound reformatory in
Winnipeg.

The Young Offenders Act, 1984 to 2003

By the 1960s, there was growing agreement that the JDA did a poor job of
responding to either child welfare or criminal behaviour. That problem
was corrected with the introduction of the Young Offenders Act (YOA) in
1984, which only dealt with youth accused of committing crimes. Bala and
Lilles (1984, p. 73) observe that “the YOA marks a shift from the welfare
approach of the JDA to one recognizing accountability of young people for
their offences and accepting the need for society to be protected from
illegal behaviour.” In addition, youth had due process protections
guaranteed under section 11, and giving them access to lawyers was
important given their immaturity and vulnerability to punishments. The
1982 enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms also
made it necessary to ensure equality rights—such as standardizing the
upper age limit of being criminally responsible. The YOA also had a lower
age limit. Youth had to be 12 years old in order to be charged with an
offence, although the rare cases of serious or persistent offenders under
that age were often referred to other social service agencies by the police.

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Minimum Ages of Criminal Responsibility
One of the most controversial questions about youth justice is when a young person
should become criminally responsible for their actions, or in other words, when should
he or she be subject to criminal punishments? Going back hundreds of years,
youngsters less than seven years of age were not subject to punishments, but the age
has gradually been increasing over time. Today, Canadians younger than 12 years of
age cannot be held criminally responsible for their actions, and for the most part, that
age limit works for most youth. The trouble with this lower age limit, however, is that
every year or two there is a case of a 10- or 11-year-old involved in a horrible crime,
and the justice system is seen as powerless to respond to those acts. In 2013, for
example, a 10-year-old Saskatchewan youngster who was in foster care killed a 6-year-
old. Because of his age he could not be charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
In a similar case, Leamon (2016, para. 2) describes a 10-year-old Winnipeg youth who
already had 22 encounters with the police and was suspected to have been involved in
“arson, car theft, drug possession, robbery, break-and-enter, uttering threats, assault,
and most recently and perhaps most disturbingly, a near-fatal stabbing.”
 Youth under 12 years of age who are well-known to the police because of their
involvement in crimes are typically referred to the child welfare system, which can
intervene by providing supports and treatment. Yet, some youth engage in crime
because they know they cannot be punished. Nicholas Bala, Canada’s foremost expert
on the issue of youth justice, describes an 11-year-old who sexually assaulted a 13-
year-old girl and told the police that “you got me. So what are you going to do?” (Bala,
2013, para. 9). Bala (2013) argues that the minimum age for criminal responsibility
should be lowered to 10 years for these rare cases. The problem, however, is that
lowering the age might result in a greater number of youth with relatively minor
offences coming into contact with the youth justice system.
One of the strengths of cross-national research is that we can compare what
happens in Canada with the laws and practices in other countries. The Child Rights
International Network (2018) reports on the minimum age of criminal responsibility for
youth for over 100 countries; Figure 11.4 presents the information from ten developed
nations. The nations shown range from 10 to 15 years—a very large difference when it
comes to the developmental status of a young person.

The First Youth Justice Systems

Although the movement to develop formal responses to delinquency was occurring in
all English-speaking common-law nations, the first juvenile court was founded in
Chicago in 1899. The establishment of a separate youth justice system was popular
with policy-makers, and by 1908 a separate youth justice system was introduced in
Canada. Leon (1977, p. 72) called this juvenile justice system “a product of a diverse
social reform movement dedicated to ‘saving’ or ‘rescuing’ children from what were
perceived to be undesirable and harmful aspects of life.”
 FIGURE 11.4 The Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility in Ten Developed
Nations
Child Rights International Network (2018)

US juvenile courts attempted to blend the powers of criminal courts with those of a
social service agency that could respond to the needs of abused, neglected, dependent,
and delinquent youth. Many of the young people appearing before these courts were
from poor families, and they were often socially and educationally disadvantaged.
Given those challenging conditions, these youth were thought to require support and
assistance rather than punishment. In fact, the US juvenile court was founded on the
principle of parens patriae (a concept from Britain that recognizes a government’s
legal authority over citizens who are not able to protect themselves because of their
dependency or immaturity) that enabled the courts to act in loco parentis—in other
words, to take the place of the parents if they were not doing a proper job. Youths
needed protection, sometimes from others and sometimes from themselves (Leon,
1977).

It was not long, however, before some of the limitations of the YOA
became apparent. One controversial aspect of the YOA was the maximum
sentence length of three years in custody, and the only way to manage very
serious cases, such as older youth convicted of murder, was to transfer
them to adult courts. There was also criticism that the YOA led to the
overuse of incarceration, and one reason for placing youth behind bars was
a lack of community-based alternatives to custody. In some respects, the
YOA was a victim of bad timing because it was introduced when rates of
violent youth crime were increasing throughout North America, and the
number of Canadian youth accused of homicide peaked in 1994/1995.
In 1908 and 1984, Canada introduced two national-level responses to
reduce youth crime. Although both the JDA and the YOA had their strengths,
the biggest challenge was to develop one model that could respond to the
bulk of youth crime, which consists of relatively minor offences, and also
provide a just and fair response to the rare events of serious and violent
crime. In addition, the system had to manage difficult cases where
individuals continued to commit offences even though they had received
treatment and support from the youth justice system. The legislative
response to manage those two distinct groups was the Youth Criminal
Justice Act (YCJA).
Sentences for youth could be very harsh when transferred to adult courts. In 1959, 14-year-
old Steven Truscott was sentenced to death for the murder of a female classmate. His
sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was eventually paroled from prison in
1969. Truscott had always maintained his innocence, and in 2007 he was acquitted of the
murder. A year later he was awarded $6.5 million in compensation from the province of
Ontario.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act, 2003 to Present

The YCJA is the legislation that determines how youth aged 12 to 17 years
will be treated by the justice system after they commit a crime. The YCJA
was introduced on April 1, 2003, to respond to a number of shortcomings
of the YOA, including “the overuse of the courts and incarceration in less
serious cases, disparity and unfairness in sentencing, a lack of effective
reintegration of young people released from custody, and the need to better
take into account the interests of victims” (Department of Justice, 2013, p.
1). Kuehn and Corrado (2011) observe that the YCJA is a three-tiered
system that involves the following components:
 • First, minimal or no interventions for minor offences (diversion);
youth who commit minor (even multiple) offences, or are first-time
offenders, are generally to be dealt with outside the formal court
system in the community (e.g., extrajudicial measures and
extrajudicial sanctions).
• Second, youth courts imposing “intermediate” sanctions (e.g.,
probation and short-term custody and supervision sentences) for
offenders who are neither first-time offenders nor serious and
violent offenders.
• Third, the possibility of adult sentences for serious and violent
offenders. These sentences are restricted to cases where a youth
sentence would not be of sufficient length to hold the youth
accountable. (p. 223)

The declaration of principles is outlined in section 3 of the YCJA, and

they are summarized as follows:

(a) the protection of the public;

(b) the use of a separate justice system for youth that is based on
diminished blameworthiness;
(c) the use of fair and proportionate sanctions; and
(d) the acknowledgement of due process protections for youth.

These principles shed light on the priorities of the reformers responsible

for introducing this legislation. The tension between rehabilitation and
punishment is also evident in these principles. For example, the YCJA
highlights the importance of holding youth accountable for their actions,
but it also addresses the importance of their rehabilitation. While these
two concepts are not inconsistent with each other, achieving both
outcomes for a single youth is easier said than done.
 The YCJA was amended in 2012 to make punishments more severe for
youth involved in serious crimes. These amendments emphasized the
protection of society and removed some of the barriers to placing youth
accused of violent offences in detention or custody. Furthermore,
publication bans on naming youth can be lifted in certain circumstances,
including cases of youth involved in violent offences such as homicide.
Although lifting these bans is rare, in July 2018 the Toronto police
received approval from a judge to publicize the name and distribute
photographs of a 16-year-old allegedly involved in a double murder (CBC,
2018). The YCJA also requires prosecutors to seek adult sentences for youth
aged 14 and older who are involved in homicide, attempted murder, or
aggravated sexual assault, although the youth court judge decides whether
an adult sentence is appropriate.
The 2012 amendments to the YCJA are the latest steps that increase the
likelihood that harsh punishments can be imposed on serious or violent
youthful offenders. For example, although the YOA was introduced in 1984,
amendments were made in 1986, 1992, and 1995 to make it easier to
transfer youth to adult courts, extend the length of custody sentences, and
increase punishments of youth convicted of first- and second-degree
murder (Department of Justice, 2004). Table 11.2 shows the key
differences between the three federal youth justice acts. It is noteworthy
that under the YOA, youth benefited from having more due process
protections, including being represented by counsel, receiving determinate
sentences (sentences that have a release date), and having access to trials.
These benefits were, however, offset by the possibility of receiving very
harsh sentences. Ruddell and Gileno (2013) found that 35 individuals
under the age of 18 years were admitted to Correctional Service of Canada
penitentiaries between 1984 and 2005. They also estimated that the total
number of youth sent to prison was actually higher because their data did
not count people who committed offences at 16 or 17 years of age but
were admitted to prison after they turned 18 years of age—which is a very
real possibility given the lengthy case processing times for homicide
offences. This was shown in the Jazlyn Radke case study at the beginning
of this chapter.
TABLE 11.2 Comparison of the Federal Laws in Canada’s Youth Justice System

Juvenile Delinquents Young Offenders Act Youth Criminal

Act Justice Act

Introduced 1908 1984 2003

Lower age limit None 12 years 12 years

Upper age limit 16, 17, or 18 years 17 years 17 years

(depending on the
province)

Focus Child welfare and Youth crime Youth crime

youth crime

Offences Federal offences (e.g., Federal offences Federal offences

Criminal Code
offences) as well as
provincial and
municipal offences

Alternative No formal mention in Identified in the act Prioritized in the act

measures/diversion the act (although often
done informally)

Right to counsel No Yes Yes

Right to trial No Yes—trials only for Yes—jury trials for

youth charged with youth charged with
murder murder or for youth
who could receive an
adult sentence

Victim participation None Yes—minimal (e.g., Yes—victims have

victims can make a greater participation
victim impact in the process and are
statement) more informed

Transfers to adult Yes Yes No—courts may

court allowed impose an adult
sentence if the youth
committed a serious
and violent offence
and is over 14 years
of age
 Juvenile Delinquents Young Offenders Act Youth Criminal
Act Justice Act

Maximum sentence in Until the youth turned 3 years custody 10 years for first-
youth court 21 years of age degree murder
(maximum 6 years in
custody, followed by
community
supervision)

Maximum sentence in Death penalty until Life imprisonment Life imprisonment

adult court 1976; life
imprisonment

Sentences Indeterminate Determinate Determinate

Courtrooms Closed to public Open to public Open to public

Names publicized No No Yes—for some violent

offenders

CASE FLOW OF A YOUNG OFFENDER

THROUGH THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
A youth’s involvement in the justice system starts when the police believe
that he or she has broken the law—and at that point, an officer can proceed
informally (e.g., by taking no action or by issuing a warning), refer the
youth to a program, or charge them with an offence. Figure 11.5 traces the
steps that might happen if the police suspected that a youth had committed
a crime. The likelihood of being charged increases with the seriousness of
the offence, the willingness of the victim(s) to participate in the
investigation, and to some extent the demeanour of the suspect (e.g., is the
individual cooperative and respectful, or confrontational and aggressive?).
In other words, less serious offences carried out by polite youth may be
less likely to result in a court appearance. Figure 11.6 shows the steps that
might happen if a youth were charged with a crime.
Crown prosecutors screen the cases of youth who are charged, and they
can caution them, refer them to an extrajudicial sanction program
(discussed in the next section), or schedule a court date. At this point, the
Crown can proceed in an adult or a youth court, but referrals to adult
courts are rare unless the youth is accused of a serious offence—and those
referrals can be appealed by the youth. The process is similar to what
occurs in adult courts (see Chapter 7), as judges may order a pre-sentence
report for those found guilty. Once the judge has reviewed these
documents, the youth will be sentenced. Unlike pre-sentence reports
prepared for adults, a youth’s report requires interviews with family
members that specifically investigate the maturity, character, and attitude
of the youth, as well as the youth’s willingness to make amends. One
difference between the YOA and the YCJA is the requirement for probation
officers preparing these reports to consider alternatives to custody so that
sentences are the least restrictive and are proportionate to the seriousness
of the offence. Probation officials must also consider the special
circumstances of Indigenous youth. Given those requirements, these
investigations and reports can take a long time to complete, and judges
typically give the probation staff about a month to prepare one.
Youth may be detained in custody until their court dates, but this is
considered a last resort due to the impact that detention can have on them,
such as interrupting their schooling and family life. Moreover, there is
evidence to suggest that mixing low- and high-risk youth might push low-
risk youth further toward crime (Bonta & Andrews, 2017). According to
section 29(2) of the YCJA, youth should not be detained unless they have
been charged with a serious offence, have shown a pattern of reoffending
(or have outstanding charges), pose a risk of failing to appear in court, or
pose a risk to public safety. If the youth do not have a safe or stable home,
they can live with a responsible adult who is able to take care of them in a
judicial interim release.
Malakieh (2019) reports that on any given day in 2017/2018 there were
about 800 youth in custody—although that total does not include Quebec
and Yukon—and about 60 per cent were being held on pretrial detention
(remand). Generally, these periods of detention are short, and over three-
quarters of them last less than one month (Malakieh, 2019). Longer
periods of detention are usually associated with more serious offences, as
these cases take longer to complete. Alam (2015) reports that while the
median charge-processing time (the time between the first and last
appearance) in youth courts was about 120 days, serious cases took much
longer to work their way through the system, and the median case
processing time was 611 days for homicide offences. Statistics Canada
(2019c) reports that charge-processing time has been increasing, and rose
from 114 to 134 days (17.5 per cent) from 2014 to 2017.
FIGURE 11.5 Youth Accused of Crime Flowchart
Reprinted from cleo’s Youth Criminal Law website at youth.cleo.on.ca
FIGURE 11.6 Youth Charged with Crime Flowchart
Reprinted from cleo’s Youth Criminal Law website at youth.cleo.on.ca

YOUTH CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT SANCTIONS

Extrajudicial Sanctions
One of the most significant differences between the YOA and the YCJA to
confront criminal behaviour is the YCJA’s emphasis on using extrajudicial
measures. The YOA allowed for alternative measures, which Bala and Lilles
(1984, p. 2) define as “measures other than judicial proceedings under this
act used to deal with a young person alleged to have committed an
offence.” Provinces were not, however, required to implement alternative
measures programs and after the YOA was introduced, there was a decrease
in the use of informal alternatives to the youth court and the use of
custody increased (Carrington & Schulenberg, 2004, p. 220). In contrast
with the YOA, the YCJA requires the police to consider extrajudicial
measures before a youth is charged. Extrajudicial measures are intended to
hold youth accountable but avoid court appearances, which could label or
otherwise stigmatize them.
The Department of Justice (2015, p. 1) identifies the following six
extrajudicial measures:

1. Taking no further action: The police officer takes no response to a

complaint or incident.
2. Police warning: The officer informally warns the youth that his or
her continued wrongdoing will result in more formal interventions.
3. Police caution: The officer takes a more formal approach and may
write a letter to the youth (or to their parents), or the officer may
ask to meet at the police station to discuss the youth’s behaviour.
4. Referral: Youth are sometimes referred to community-based
treatment that might be related to their offending. For example, if a
 youth has an alcohol problem that leads to involvement in theft, a
referral for an alcohol assessment may be appropriate.
5. Crown caution: As noted in Figure 11.6, the Crown prosecutor
might decide to caution the youth after the case has been
transferred to the prosecution unit.
6. Extrajudicial sanction: These sanctions are the most formal and
involve participation in programs established by the provinces,
which may involve some restorative justice approaches such as
volunteer work, community service work, or making some form of
compensation to the victim(s).

Participation in more formal extrajudicial measures programs is

restricted to those who accept responsibility for the offence, and the
youth’s parents must be aware of their child’s participation. As with other
community-based programs, some youth will fail to fulfill the
expectations of the extrajudicial measures programs and that can lead to a
court appearance. There is also a possibility that more formal sanctions
such as imposing a probationary sentence will occur.

Community-Based Sanctions
Probation is the most common sentence handed down by youth courts,
imposed in 57 per cent of cases (Miladinovic, 2019). Similar to adult
probation (discussed in Chapter 9), youth probation permits the individual
to live in the community while abiding by a number of conditions
including keeping the peace and reporting to the youth court or probation
office when required. Most judges also impose additional probationary
conditions such as restrictions on residency (the youth’s residence must be
approved by a community youth worker), refraining from possessing or
consuming drugs or alcohol, or a curfew. Community supervision is a
fairly broad category that can include sanctions such as deferred custody
and supervision, intensive support and supervision programs, fine option
programs, restitution orders, compensation, and community service and
personal service (Perreault, 2014). These sanctions are typically very
similar to those imposed on adults, and there are few meaningful
differences in fine option programs, restitution orders, or bail supervision
for youth or adults; these activities for both age groups are often run from
a single office. Restitution, for example, occurs when a youth reimburses
the victim(s) for economic damage, such as when a homeowner’s door is
broken during a residential break and enter. A personal service order, by
contrast, involves the offender compensating the victim(s) by completing
labour under the supervision of a community youth worker.

personal service order Requires a youthful offender to compensate the crime victims through
work supervised by a youth probation officer.

Bail supervision differs from other types of community supervision as

the individual has only been accused of a crime and remains in the
community prior to their court date. The YCJA is clear that a youth cannot
be detained because of a lack of community-based child welfare or mental
health services. In order to manage those complicated cases, judges are
imposing a large number of conditions on the youth involved, such as
curfews and specifying where they will live. One challenge of that
approach, however, is that some youth are required to abide by so many
conditions they are almost set up to fail. Sprott and Manson (2017) found
that Ontario youth on bail supervision had an average of about seven
conditions and that girls were more often required to participate in a
treatment program than males. Given those results, these researchers
questioned whether girls were being treated fairly by the justice system.

bail supervision Allows a youth accused of a crime to remain in the community even though
there may be a lack of specialized mental health or child welfare services that he or she requires.

The Department of Justice (2013, p. 12) describes several community-

based sanctions to address youth crime. An intensive support and
supervision order is similar to intensive supervision probation for adults
and “provides closer monitoring and more support than a probation order”
(Department of Justice, 2013, p. 12). Deferred custody is a sentencing
option that is similar to a conditional sentence for adults and “allows a
young person who would otherwise be sentenced to custody to serve the
sentence in the community under conditions. If the conditions are violated,
the young person can be sent to custody” (Department of Justice, 2013, p.
12). In some respects these deferred custody orders represent a “last
chance” for the youth to avoid custody, and they cannot exceed six months,
nor can they be used for youth accused of serious violent crimes. Deferred
custody orders are seldom used (in less than five per cent of all youth
court cases), and a study of Quebec youth shows that success rates are
relatively low (Dufour, Villeneuve, & Lafortune, 2018).

intensive support and supervision Enhanced supervision that is provided to youth who are
considered to be at high risk or to have high needs.
deferred custody Provides youth with an opportunity to serve their custodial sentence in the
community, but if they do not abide by the conditions of their release, judges can order the
youth to serve the remainder of their sentence in custody.

Last, there is the community portion of a custodial sentence, which is

very similar to parole for adults. Most youth will serve two-thirds of a
custody sentence within a facility and the remaining one-third in the
community. Given the split between custody and community, the most
time that a youth can serve in custody is two years for most regular
crimes, but three years for acts for which an adult could receive a term of
life imprisonment. For serious violent offences such as attempted murder,
manslaughter, and aggravated sexual assault, the court orders the amount
of time to be served in custody and in the community.
Most community youth workers (youth probation officers) supervise
caseloads that are somewhat smaller than the caseloads of officers who
work with adults. The issue of caseload specialization addressed in
Chapter 9 is also evident in some urban areas, where officers might have
smaller caseloads that include youth with special needs (e.g., mental
health problems) or specific types of offenders such as those convicted of
sexual offences. Kuehn and Corrado (2011) report that the complexity of
youth probation work increased after the YCJA was introduced. Moreover,
there is often a lack of resources to support community-based sentences.
As a result, a key role in a community youth worker’s job is to collaborate
with workers in other systems to access health, educational, social, and
psychological services (Umamaheswar, 2012).

community youth workers Individuals whose job is to prepare pre-sentence reports for the
court, monitor youth on bail supervision, and supervise youth on probation.

The youth justice system attempts to reduce labelling or stigmatizing

youth appearing in courts by banning the media from reporting their
names (one exception is for those convicted of homicide). Unlike in the
JDA era, however, youth courts are open to the public and a youth’s friends,
classmates, and victims can witness what happens in court. Those
individuals can talk to others about the offence and the accused youth—so
what happens to them is seldom a secret.
Involvement in the youth justice system will also result in a youth
record, and while the file is active (e.g., the youth is on probation), the
record is considered open and is accessible to the police. These records
can be closed once a youth has fulfilled all of the conditions of his or her
sentence and waited a period of three years for a summary conviction or
five years for an indictable offence. If youths are convicted as adults, their
record will stay open for the remainder of their life (unless they obtain a
record suspension; see Chapter 10 for more details).

Open Custody
Each province and territory operates custody facilities to house sentenced
and remanded youth (those awaiting court appearances). Facilities go by
two names: open and secure custody. Open custody facilities are often
small operations with fewer than 15 beds and they offer limited security
(e.g., there are no fences or hardened confinement cells, and the exterior
doors of the building might be locked only at night). These facilities offer
a bridge between the community and more restrictive custody placements,
and many are located in neighbourhoods beside conventional homes. They
closely resemble group homes, and some group homes may have beds
designated for youth serving an open custody sentence. Open custody
facilities can be directly operated by the provincial or territorial
governments although provinces also fund non-profit agencies, such as the
John Howard Society or the Salvation Army, or they fund Indigenous
communities to provide these custody services.
Most youth placed in open custody facilities go to school or are
employed during the day and then return to the facility in the evenings.
Some youth also participate in treatment or rehabilitative activities while
serving their sentences and they may be escorted to their appointments by
facility staff members. Some larger facilities deliver their own programs,
and they might address common problems such as anger management or
substance abuse. Youth are also expected to complete chores within the
facility and are frequently assigned to kitchen or cleanup duties. Unlike
adult facilities, few youth custody facilities—either open or secure
custody—require the residents to wear “uniforms,” and most youth wear
their street clothes.

Youth custody facilities tend to be much smaller than adult facilities and open custody
operations seldom have much security—there are no fences and few locked doors. The Youth
Centre in Victoria was a provincially operated open custody facility that was shut down in
2016, and the empty space was used as a temporary homeless shelter when relocating tent
city residents in BC. Many small open custody facilities are located in residential
neighbourhoods, which is not always popular with neighbours worried about their property
values. Lower numbers of incarcerated youth have resulted in the closure of a number of
youth facilities throughout the country.

Some provinces also place youth in private homes that have been
designated as open custody facilities. These operations go by different
names across Canada (e.g., community custody homes in Newfoundland
and Labrador, and open custody homes in Saskatchewan). These open
custody settings offer a home-like environment for the young person, and,
ideally, the resident is treated as a family member who benefits from
consistent parenting by a positive role model. These community homes are
sometimes located in the countryside and they can enable rural youth to
live close to their families as larger provincially operated facilities may be
hundreds of kilometres from their homes.

Secure Custody
Secure custody facilities offer a higher level of security than open custody
facilities. They are intended to prevent escapes and provide a safe
environment for residents who present a greater risk to public safety, such
as youth who have escaped from open custody, those with serious charges,
and repeat offenders. Youth who are remanded to custody are typically
placed in secure custody facilities to ensure they appear in court. As these
youth often require more extensive education, recreational activities, and
rehabilitative programming, these facilities will typically have classrooms
and gyms, and some facilities also offer employment-oriented programs
operated out of workshops and commercial kitchens.
Secure custody institutions often have more in common with adult
correctional facilities than group homes or open custody facilities and they
tend to be large buildings, or a series of structures surrounded with high
wire fences to deter potential escapes. Residents are placed in living units
that typically hold between 10 and 20 youth. Most youth facilities are
constructed using the new generation design, similar to the adult
correctional facilities described in Chapters 9 and 10. These units typically
have open spaces for education, recreation, and dining, with individual
bedrooms arranged around the perimeter of the living units. Although
juvenile placements are intended to be more home-like than adult prisons,
a tour of a secure custody facility would reveal that many of the fixtures
and furniture are intended to prevent tampering: toilets are made of
stainless steel, and beds, dining room tables, and chairs are often bolted to
the floor to prevent them from being used as weapons. Whereas most open
custody facilities have unlocked doors during the day, secure custody
operations are closed to the public and the doors between different units
are locked to prevent a disturbance on one living unit from spreading
throughout the entire facility.
Another factor differentiating adult and youth operations is that the
ratio of staff members to residents is higher in a youth facility. A single
correctional officer might supervise a living unit of 40 to 50 adult inmates
whereas a youth facility staff member might supervise only 10 residents.
The greater need for staff is a result of the increased volatility and
unpredictability of youth. Leone, Lockwood, and Gagnon (2017) describe
how one of the key goals of staff in youth corrections is to prevent further
harm, although that task is difficult given that many youth are admitted to
facilities with mental health disorders, alcohol and drug dependency,
learning difficulties, and/or extensive histories of involvement in crime.
Another reason for a higher number of staff-to-facility residents is the
expectation that staff will keep the residents constructively occupied, and
this might include participating in recreational and treatment-oriented
activities.
Youth placed in secure custody facilities often feel depressed given the lack of freedom due to
high levels of security and the prison-like environment. Some youth experience stressful
interactions with other youth (many of whom are serious and violent offenders), and some
live far away from family members, making it difficult to have visits. Despite the best efforts
of the staff members, these facilities can be dangerous places for some youth.

A review of youth court statistics reveals that the number of youth

placed in open and secure custody facilities has dropped dramatically
since the introduction of the YCJA. Indigenous youth, however, continue to
be overrepresented in youth correctional populations. In 2017/2018, for
example, Indigenous youth represented almost half (48 per cent) of all
admissions to custody facilities and 39 per cent of all admissions to
community corrections (Malakieh, 2019). The disparity between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous people was greater when it came to girls,
and 60 per cent of all admissions to open and secure custody were
Indigenous girls (Malakieh, 2019). The focus of these court statistics is on
Indigenous youth, and we have very little understanding of whether other
racial disparities exist, such as an overrepresentation of African-Canadian
youth in Ontario mirroring the pattern of adult incarceration in that
province (Office of the Correctional Investigator, 2014).
There is no single reason for the overrepresentation of Indigenous
youth in the justice system. Most scholars suggest that key factors include
a greater involvement in crime, bias on the part of justice system officials,
and the marginalization of Indigenous peoples, which makes it difficult to
escape the cycle of crime and violence. The Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of Canada (2015, p. 1) also reminds us of the long-term
impact of colonial practices that attempted to “eliminate Aboriginal
governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate the Treaties; and,
through a process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples to cease to
exist as distinct legal, social, cultural, religious, and racial entities in
Canada.” Many of the challenges that Indigenous people face today are
linked to the practice of forcing Indigenous children into residential
schools, which disrupted their family and community relationships.
Aguiar and Halseth (2015, p. 5) observe that “residential schools eroded
and undermined all aspects of well-being for Aboriginal peoples through
disruption of the structure, cohesion and quality of family life; loss of
cultural identity; diminished parenting skills; and low self-esteem and
self-concept problems” for those who directly experienced those schools
as well as their descendants.

MYTH OR REALITY
Indigenous Youth: Factors in Criminality
Some scholars believe that Indigenous youth are disproportionately involved in the
justice system because of over-policing or bias in the system (Comack, 2012). Yet
other factors might also be responsible. Are Indigenous youth, for example, more
likely to participate in activities that get them incarcerated? Are their behaviours and
motivations similar to non-Indigenous youth? In order to better understand the factors
contributing to the incarceration of Indigenous youth, Corrado, Kuehn, and
Margaritescu (2014) examined the criminal histories and characteristics of 404 youths
incarcerated in a British Columbia youth facility between 2005 and 2009. These
researchers found that there were more similarities than differences between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth, and they observed the following:

Caucasian incarcerated young offenders came from adverse family situations,

including experienced physical and sexual abuse, criminal activity, and
substance abuse histories. However, incarcerated Aboriginal young offenders
had statistically significant and … higher inter-generational family adversity.
(Corrado, Kuehn, & Margaritescu, 2014, p. 52)

Corrado et al. (2014, p. 56) suggest that targeting problems such as “poverty,
chronic ill health, mental illness, intrafamily abuse, and intimate community violence”
are steps that could be taken to respond to the problem of overrepresentation of
incarcerated Indigenous youth. Cesaroni, Grol, and Fredericks (2019) interviewed
Indigenous youth who had been involved with the justice system and they expressed
their frustrations with having no voice and being left out of decisions that were made
about them. This lack of self-determination was inconsistent with traditional cultural
practices in Indigenous communities where youth were involved in decisions about
their lives. These youth also say that being able to participate in practices that
incorporated Indigenous history, tradition, culture, and ceremony played a role in their
recoveries (Cesaroni et al., 2019, p. 123). Incorporating these approaches is consistent
with many of the recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
of Canada (2015).

Race, Class, and Gender

Pathways to Female Youth Crime
Some of the early interventions that were developed for girls in the justice system were
ineffective in responding to their distinctive needs because the programs failed to
acknowledge that girls and women become involved in crime in different ways than
males. We know that girls and women have far less involvement in crime, but we now
understand that females who commit crime often have different pathways to it. Being
aware of these gender differences is important because the interventions that young
women require can be different from those that work for young men. We always have
to remember that “one size does not fit all” when we try to help someone, as
everyone’s needs are so different.
As shown in the age–crime curve, women have a lower involvement in crime than
do men. The subject of how and why young women become involved in crime has
received considerable recent attention. Feminist scholars link involvement in crime to
early trauma such as caregiver abuse, witnessing violence, long-term mental health
problems (including post-traumatic stress disorder), intimate-partner violence,
substance abuse, the inability to access community resources, and poverty (see DeHart,
Lynch, Belknap, Dass-Brailsford, & Green, 2014; Jones, Brown, Wanamaker, &
Greiner, 2014). Researchers have developed a number of different models to explain
how girls become involved in crime. Boppre, Salisbury, and Parker (2018, pp. 7–10)
summarized this research and found that four factors contributed to different pathways
to crime for females than for males. It is important to acknowledge that many young
women experience abuse, have unhealthy relationships, abuse drugs and alcohol, or
suffer from low self-esteem and other psychological impairments, and never engage in
any criminal activity, but these factors do seem to push some young women toward
crime:

• Childhood abuse: Women tend to have more extensive histories of abuse than men,
and attempts to escape that abuse such as running away from an abusive home or
engaging in substance abuse to self-medicate can lead to contact with the justice
system. Selling drugs or working in the sex trade to survive on the streets also
increases the likelihood of contact with the system. Abuse can also lead to mental
health problems including PTSD, depression, and other problems related to anxiety.
• Substance abuse: Victimized women “often use and abuse substances (drugs and
alcohol) as a means to self-medicate, or cope with, negative life experiences such
as abuse or trauma,” and “this process becomes a damaging cycle: women are
victimized, seek out illicit substances in order to self-medicate and manage their
resulting emotional or mental health problems, participate in criminal acts in order
to obtain more drugs or property they can sell or trade for drugs.” (Boppre,
Salisbury, & Parker, 2018, pp. 8–9)
• Unhealthy intimate relationships: Harmful or exploitative relationships can expose a
female to criminal behaviour, illicit drugs, and criminal organizations, such as
gangs. In addition, intimate partners can be abusive and girls or women suffering
from low self-esteem may be vulnerable to staying in these destructive relationships
 This risk increases if these women are isolated from positive supports, such as
family and non-criminal friends.
• Lack of self-efficacy: A lack of personal confidence may keep some girls and
women in unhealthy lifestyles or relationships. Boppre et al. highlight how some
women are disadvantaged compared to men with respect to their employment,
economic status, and education, and these factors can both limit their opportunities
and increase feelings of powerlessness. These factors can push women into
committing property crimes, such as theft and fraud, to meet their basic needs. Girls
who are parents and are also dealing with the effects of abuse and poverty may also
feel they have fewer choices.

These four factors can also be interrelated, and they also could be shaped by biological
influences such as the early onset of puberty, or other risk factors, such as family
criminality or instability, exposure to violence, and attachment to and engagement with
social institutions such as places of worship or schools (Zahn, Hawkins, Chiancone, &
Whitworth, 2008).
It is important to note that there is no single set of circumstances that leads to a
youth’s involvement in crime; other researchers have developed pathways models that
include other factors, such as the use of violence (DeHart, 2018) and involvement in
subcultures, such as drug-trafficking and criminal networks (Brennan, 2015).
Regardless of which model one prefers, a common finding in the pathways research is
that girls’ involvement in crime often starts in the teen years and is different from what
happens with males. Given those findings, we are unlikely to find a single intervention
that will work with both males and females, and all different types of individuals within
those groups (Mays & Ruddell, 2019).

YOUTH INTERVENTIONS
There is much to be optimistic about when we consider that youth crime
rates have decreased and there are about half as many young Canadians
behind bars today than there were in 2000. Although we will always have
to confront youth crime, youth justice systems today are more responsive
to young people who are in conflict with the law, and our interventions are
more advanced than they were prior to the introduction of the YCJA in 2003.
These evidence-based interventions were developed using an
understanding of the factors contributing to adolescent crime. In addition,
researchers today are better able to identify the interventions that provide
the best bang for taxpayer dollars. In the prior chapters a number of
evidence-based practices were identified that have been demonstrated to
reduce recidivism.
Cost-benefit analyses are increasingly being used to estimate the
costs of justice system interventions, such as different types of treatment,
and to compare those costs to the benefits in reduced crime. There is a
growing interest in applying cost-benefit analyses to adult and youth
justice interventions, and studies consistently show that some programs
are very effective at reducing youth crime. The Washington State Institute
for Public Policy (2018a), for example, has identified a number of
treatment interventions that are proven to reduce youth recidivism, and a
short list of the most successful interventions is shown in Table 11.3.
These results are based on cost-benefit analyses and reflect the savings for
each dollar invested in these programs.

cost-benefit analyses An approach to estimating the costs of justice-system interventions, such

as different types of treatment, and comparing those costs to the benefits in reduced crime.

There are a number of common themes in interventions proven to

successfully reduce youth recidivism, and the programs providing the
highest returns are based on interventions delivered by skilled therapists.
The intervention that provides the best return per dollar of investment for
youth programs is dialectical behaviour therapy. This has been described
as a treatment for young people with complex mental health problems and
is based on enhancing a youth’s skills in dealing with difficult situations,
motivating them to change their behaviours, and ensuring that they
practice these skills in a custody environment (Washington State Institute
for Public Policy, 2018b, para. 2).

TABLE 11.3 Crime Reduction Benefits for $1 Invested in Youth Justice Programs

Program Total Benefits

Dialectical behaviour therapy $28

Cognitive behavioural therapy $38

Program Total Benefits

Education and employment training $42

Coordination of services $24

Functional family therapy $12

Parenting program $9

Washington Institute for Public Police (2018a)

One issue that is gaining more attention in the youth justice field is
providing trauma-informed care. Researchers are finding that a large
percentage of the young men and women in the justice system have been
exposed to traumatic events such as being victimized or witnessing a
violent attack, and that experiencing these acts can have long-term
negative effects on their mental health. Loughran and Reid (2018, p. 5) say
that individuals can be traumatized after exposure to a single event, such
as experiencing or witnessing gang-related violence, a serious accident, an
assault, or the sudden death of a loved one. Their experiences with trauma
can also be due to long-term exposure to negative events such as ongoing
physical and sexual abuse or domestic violence. Witnessing traumatic
events can reduce an individual’s self-confidence and feelings of safety or
well-being, inhibit their ability to form attachments to others, and lead to
anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

trauma-informed care An approach to delivering interventions that acknowledges the impacts

of trauma on individuals and the importance of providing services in a safe, healing, and
empowering manner.

Loughran and Reid (2018, p. 6) observe that exposure to trauma can

lead to “disturbed sleep, difficulty paying attention and concentrating,
anger and irritability, withdrawal, repeated and intrusive thoughts, and
extreme distress—when confronted by anything that reminds them of their
traumatic experiences (i.e., triggers).” Oudshoorn (2015) says that many
Canadian justice officials do not have the awareness or skills to manage
these cases and youth involved in the system are sometimes re-
traumatized by the actions of these officials, such as such as requiring
everybody admitted to a facility to undergo a strip search for contraband;
such a practice might be routine for facility youth workers but can be very
upsetting to some youth.
In order to provide trauma-informed services, youth justice systems
must acknowledge the impacts of trauma on their clients, and all staff
must be aware of how the trauma experienced by individuals can affect
their behaviours years after their exposure. Agencies providing care to
youth must be careful to ensure that their policies do not re-traumatize
their clients, and practices such as physically restraining an out-of-control
youth, for instance, can trigger unpleasant memories for survivors of
sexual abuse. Trauma-informed services are also culturally competent,
which means they “reduce/avoid disparities related to race/ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation, developmental level and socio-economic
status” (Branson, Baetz, Horwitz, & Hoagwood, 2017, p. 641).
Similar to working with adult prisoners, some youth residents in open
or secure custody can make substantial improvements in their attitudes
and beliefs. One of the challenges common to both justice systems (adult
and youth), however, is that when these residents return to their home
communities, they are often subjected to the same temptations that existed
prior to their arrests, including substance abuse, crime-involved peers and
family members, and poverty and chaotic family living conditions.
Moreover, many of them may find it difficult to return to school or find a
job due to the stigma of having been incarcerated. As a result, despite the
positive steps they have made in treatment while in custody, many of them
start to engage in the same behaviours that resulted in their involvement in
crime in the first place.
Given the difficulties that many youth have in their return to the
community, there is an increasing emphasis on designing programs that
involve probation staff and other professionals—such as teachers and
counsellors—who support the youth, along with other role models, such as
family members. The process of supporting an individual’s return to the
community was once called aftercare, but the term wraparound services
is now being used to reflect the involvement of these professionals and
family members in the youth’s case plan. According to the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2014, p. 1), the wraparound
process “is a youth-guided, family-driven team planning process that
provides coordinated and individualized community-based services for
youth and their families to help them achieve positive outcomes.” While
the names of aftercare or wraparound services will differ across the
country, a key goal of these programs is to provide a range of supports to
youth to reduce their recidivism.

wraparound services An approach to developing an individualized, community-based case

plan for a young offender by involving a team of their family and community professionals.

SUMMARY
The crime trends discussed in this chapter show that the number of youth
appearing before the courts has decreased and that most are accused of
non-violent offences. Even the biggest supporters of the crime control
model express some positive feelings toward youthful offenders and
support policies that divert individuals who have been engaging in minor
crimes from the formal justice system. Most of us made mistakes growing
up, and saddling a youth with a criminal record for a minor offence creates
more problems than it solves, especially when that record sets up long-
term barriers to employment and other opportunities. Some youth,
however, are not able to take advantage of the leniency that is extended to
them, and they continue engaging in crime. Others commit serious and
violent offences. These are the youth that challenge the public’s patience
and create the most significant challenges for the justice system and
lawmakers. Although the public believes that these youth “should know
better,” the latest brain research shows that there is a biological basis to
youth immaturity, impulsiveness, and a “live for the moment” orientation
that can lead to tragedies.
Canada has experimented with three different approaches to youth
justice, beginning with the JDA introduced in 1908. This approach was
based almost entirely on the notion of rehabilitating at-risk youth,
although most Canadians would agree that the JDA fell short in protecting
the rights of children or actually providing them with the services they
needed to make positive changes. The introduction of the YOA in 1984
extended due process protections to youth, but also led to the overuse of
custody, and its three-year maximum sentence failed to inspire public
confidence (although youth accused of serious offences could be
transferred to adult courts). In some respects, the YOA was a victim of bad
timing, as youth crime rates increased throughout North America during
the mid-1980s and persisted for a decade; then declined prior to the
introduction of the YCJA in 2003. Court and custody statistics show that the
number of youth appearing before the courts has decreased, and that the
use of custody has dropped by almost two-thirds with no increase in youth
violence.
Although we have made some headway since the YCJA was introduced
in 2003 in terms of reducing the number of youth who are behind bars,
there are still some challenges to overcome. Indigenous youth, for
example, remain overrepresented in custody populations (Smandych &
Corrado, 2018). In addition, the programs developed for youth, especially
for girls, do not always take into account their distinctive needs and
pathways to crime. Regardless of the type of youth justice legislation that
is introduced, one common failing is that we seldom have enough health,
educational, and social service resources to support the efforts of the youth
justice system. These limitations are multiplied in some rural areas, where
access to medical, educational, and social services is further limited.
Although the costs of providing comprehensive youth services can be
significant, there are substantial long-term benefits once we consider the
costs when we fail to respond to the risks and needs of at-risk youth. The
direct costs of crime include funding policing, the courts, and corrections,
and they can quickly add up. An attempted murder that results in a ten-
year federal prison sentence, for example, will cost Canadians over $1.2
million to incarcerate the offender, and it may take $1 million to provide
hospital care for the victim. The indirect costs of crime are harder to
determine, but they include the impacts on the lives and opportunities of
victims and their families. In 2009, Cohen and Piquero (p. 25) estimated
the “value of saving a 14-year-old high risk juvenile from a life of crime
to range from $2.6 to $5.3 million,” and that amount would now be $3 to
$6.2 million once we account for inflation.

Career SNAPSHOT
Facility Youth Worker
Many students express interest in working with troubled youth, and there are many
career opportunities in the community and in facilities. Facility youth workers—also
known as youth correctional officers—are employed in open and secure custody
facilities throughout the country, and they work in a variety of positions. One of the
most important roles that facility youth workers play is to supervise youth and ensure
that they abide by facility rules. This can be challenging because placement in custody
may be the first time that these youth are away from home and they may be
experiencing difficult circumstances such as withdrawal from substance abuse.
Furthermore, many youth awaiting their court appearances are facing considerable
uncertainty. Taken together, these various factors can contribute to youth acting out
and displaying aggressive behaviour. One way that youth facilities attempt to reduce
challenging behaviour is to keep the youth constructively occupied through a variety
of educational, recreational, and rehabilitative programs.

Profile
Name: Catherine Wimmer
Job title: Correctional Service Worker II, Calgary Young Offender Centre
Employed in current job since: 1992
Present location: Calgary, Alberta
Education: BA (Advanced), University of Saskatchewan

Background
I had a brush with the law in my youth, and at that point I realized that I needed to fill
my routine with positive activities. I worked hard in high school, excelled in sports,
and relied on a number of my teachers for guidance. It was around this time in my life
when I realized that I wanted to work with youth. I was accepted into the education
program at the University of Regina with the goal of becoming a guidance counsellor.
After completing my first year of university, I decided to transfer to the University of
Saskatchewan in order to be closer to family and friends. Since the education program
was full, I applied and was accepted into the Bachelor of Arts program. After four
years, I completed a Bachelor of Arts advanced degree with a major in psychology
and a minor in sociology.

Work Experience
After finishing my degree in 1992, I applied for a job at the North Battleford Youth
Centre, which was a secure custody facility. I obtained a casual (part-time) position as
a facility youth worker, and I eventually became a permanent employee. After nine
years of working in that position, I relocated to Alberta and got a job as a youth
worker position at the Calgary Young Offender Centre, where I continue to be
employed.
One of the biggest challenges facing youth involved in the justice system is
recidivism. Government agencies along with community organizations and outreach
programs work to provide treatment and rehabilitation of youth while they are in
custody, in the community, and in transition. We work very hard to provide a stable
and safe environment for the youth in our care, but unfortunately most of them are
released into unstable homes or shelters with few community resources to support
them. As a result, a number of our youth return to custody to have their basic needs
met. For youth workers, this is very disheartening and frustrating, because we work
extremely hard to involve families and communities in the process, participate in case
conferences to address the youth’s specific unmet needs, and develop release plans to
address those shortcomings. But how can we expect youth to be successful if their
home environments are unstable or if they do not have a home to return to?
The most rewarding experiences of working with youth are the success stories;
knowing that you are a part of someone’s success can be very fulfilling. As a youth
worker, you are a guardian, a counsellor, a disciplinarian, and a role model—the list
goes on—but knowing that a youth may rely on you makes all of your hard work
worthwhile. Even if it was just one youth that I personally helped to succeed, it would
make all of the negative aspects of my job appear minimal. As a youth worker, you
can make a big difference in someone’s life!
Throughout my career in corrections, I have witnessed events ranging from minor
assaults to serious violent offences and riots. I have been assaulted by offenders, and I
have assisted in de-escalating suicidal youth and other volatile situations. We draw on
our professionalism, extensive training, and dedication, and we work as a team to
protect each other, the youth, and the public. The youth workers that I work with
consider our group to be a “correctional family,” and the team atmosphere in
correctional facilities is really one of the best.

Advice to Students
 In order to become an effective youth worker, you must be willing to adapt to all
different types of people and work styles, and most importantly, you must be open to
receiving criticism and feedback. Additionally, you must have strong communication
skills—both written and verbal—and you must be able to bounce back from your
mistakes. In the criminal justice field, and specifically in corrections, you will be
exposed to many different challenges. In order to overcome these challenges, you
must have strong values, ethics, and morals.
In regards to education, I would recommend taking criminology, psychology, and
sociology courses. I would also recommend volunteering to work with at-risk youth.
This will give you the foundation you need to become an effective youth worker.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Describe how the volume and seriousness of youth crime has changed over the past two
decades.
2. What are the main differences between the Juvenile Delinquents Act, the Young
Offenders Act, and the Youth Criminal Justice Act?
3. Provide some reasons why youth are not held as accountable for their involvement in
crime as are adults.
4. Describe how the YCJA provides a graduated approach to respond to a range of minor
to serious crimes committed by youthful offenders.
5. Describe the different pathways to girls’ involvement in crime.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. List some reasons why a youth under 18 years of age involved in a homicide should, or
should not, receive a life sentence.
2. Would you support a youth justice policy that does not formally punish first-time non-
violent offenders? How does a “doing nothing” practice contrast with extrajudicial
measures?
3. Research shows that the parts of the brain responsible for reasoning and maturity do not
fully develop until a person is in their twenties. Given that fact, should the YCJA be
changed to increase the maximum age limit from 17 to 19 years of age?
4. Researchers have found that saving one high-risk youth from a life of crime saves
taxpayers millions of dollars over the life of the individual. What are some of the costs
to taxpayers, victims, and society for an individual who continues to commit crime?
5. Rural offenders typically have limited access to rehabilitative services that respond to
their unmet needs. Given that fact, should rural offenders receive less severe
punishments?

INTERNET SITES
The US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has been supporting the
study of girls’ delinquency. They report on the efforts of the Girls Study Group, which is a
group of prominent researchers who identify the distinctive pathways to crime and the most
promising strategies to respond to the unmet needs of these young women.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/223434.pdf
Statistics Canada provides a detailed flowchart of youth court statistics in Canada for
2013/2014. The chart summarizes the total number of cases broken down by the different
decisions and sentences.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2015001/article/14224/c-g/c-g10-eng.htm
PART VI
Looking Forward
12 Looking Forward: Criminal
Justice in the Twenty-First
Century

Michel Cadotte, centre, is shown here walking to the courtroom with court
staff to hear final arguments in his case. In 2019, Cadotte was found guilty of
manslaughter for killing his wife, Lizotte, who had late-stage Alzheimer’s, in
2017. His actions took place after Canada legalized medically-assisted dying in
2016, which he sought but his wife did not qualify for. Should there be a law on
“compassionate homicide”? How do the circumstances of this homicide differ
 from the Robert Latimer case presented in Chapter 7? (Photo credit: The Canadian
Press/Ryan Remiorz)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe the elements of a PESTEL analysis
• Identify the political factors that may shape the future of the Canadian justice system
• Describe how our reliance on technology makes us increasingly vulnerable to victimization
• Explain how social and cultural changes will impact the operations of the justice system
• Identify the different challenges confronting the future of urban and rural justice systems

CASE STUDY
Self-Driving Vehicles and the
Justice System
Self-driving vehicles (also called autonomous vehicles) that require no driving on the part
of the occupants are predicted to be widely introduced by 2025 and become the norm a
decade later. Self-driving vehicles have already travelled millions of kilometres. While
most of these trips were uneventful, there have been hundreds of crashes, and while most
only resulted in minor damages, a growing number of people have been injured in such
collisions (California Department of Motor Vehicles, 2019), and several individuals have
been killed. Although there is a long way to go before the use of self-driving cars is
widespread, the technology used in many cars and trucks is becoming increasingly
sophisticated—a growing number of vehicles have sensors to warn drivers of hazardous
situations, and some automatically brake in emergency situations. Other vehicles,
including some Cadillac, Mercedes, and Tesla models, have semi-autonomous driving
options enabling the vehicle to drive on the highway without human assistance, while
other manufacturers offer cars that can parallel park without drivers having to touch the
steering wheel: smart machines are replacing human drivers.

In the future, self-driving cars may have a significant impact on reducing deaths from
traffic collisions as well as reducing the need for traffic enforcement. It has been
estimated that self-driving cars will reduce collisions by 80–90 per cent. In the
meantime, Volvo is planning on installing sensors and in-car cameras allowing the
vehicles to slow down, stop, or even notify company representatives if they detect
impaired or inattentive drivers; if there is no response to a representative’s call, the
system “can instruct the car to park itself and notify emergency responders” (Cole,
2019, para. 4).

Autonomous vehicles will have significant implications for justice and social systems.
For example, could passengers who drank too much alcohol be convicted of impaired
driving if they had no control over the vehicle? Furthermore, if autonomous vehicles
followed all of the traffic rules, there would be few reasons for police traffic stops—freeing
the police for other duties. It is also projected that the number of crashes would be reduced
by a significant proportion as over 90 per cent of collisions today are the result of driver
error (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2018). Police pursuits would not
occur if officers could override the computer of a self-driving car and instruct it to pull
over in a safe location, or even instruct the car to drive the occupants to the nearest police
station!
 There may also be a dark side to the introduction of driverless vehicles. Black (2018)
warns us that these vehicles could be used by terrorists as weapons that would replace
suicide bombers. Perhaps the most profound impact of this new technology could be on
employment, as hundreds of thousands of drivers of taxis, shuttle services, delivery trucks,
and trucks may no longer be needed. A Government of Canada study, however, also
points out that technological innovation often results in new jobs being created (Cutean,
2018).
The Economist (2018) predicts that the number of vehicles on the road could drop by
up to half if privately owned vehicles were replaced by self-driving taxis. In addition,
reducing collisions by 80–90 per cent could mean that fewer workers would be needed to
repair or insure vehicles. Last, it has also been speculated that roadside motels would
become obsolete as there would be no need to stop overnight on cross-country trips; the
cars would keep driving while the passengers slept. Altogether, this one innovation might
have a significant impact on justice systems, employment, and our everyday lives.

Critical Questions
1. Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Motors, said that self-driving cars will
be so safe that “they may outlaw driven cars because they’re too dangerous” (Bell,
2015). Uber and other transportation companies have advocated for banning privately
owned vehicles in central cities in the future (Scribner, 2018). Are these realistic
predictions? Why or why not?
2. Insurance companies might charge much higher rates for human drivers as they pose
greater risks than self-driving vehicles. Can you think of other examples where
financial penalties or rewards are used to change our behaviours?
3. While technology has reduced the need for human employment, how will that trend
affect existing social problems, including crime?

INTRODUCTION
This book started with an overview of the Donald Marshall Jr. case, an
example of bias that resulted in a miscarriage of justice. In the chapters
that followed, we explored the operations of the justice system, various
challenges in understanding crime and responding to those acts, and some
promising solutions to these complex issues. Why are these topics
important? The World Justice Project (2019, p. 28) observes that “an
effective criminal justice system is a key aspect of the rule of law as it
constitutes the conventional mechanism to redress grievances and bring
action against individuals for offenses against society.” A key objective of
this book was to provide readers with a basic knowledge of justice systems
and to build a foundation for future studies. The previous 11 chapters have
highlighted the operations of Canada’s criminal justice system.
We learned that most of our ideas about crime and justice come from
the entertainment media, and throughout this book it was pointed out that
many of these messages are misleading or wrong (McKnight, 2016). In
addition, news accounts about the operations of the justice system can be
condensed into short articles, internet posts, and television reports that
simplify very complex issues. As you take more classes in criminology
and criminal justice, you will discover that this book has also simplified
many issues. A university graduate can attend three years of law school
and have a year of experience articling (which is like an internship for
lawyers) and still not be prepared to argue a criminal case in court—so a
single chapter on the court system, such as Chapter 7, can provide readers
with only a basic overview of the key issues. In other words, even after
you read through this book, there is still much to learn about justice
systems.
In this chapter, we take a closer look at the changes that are likely to
occur in the Canadian justice system over the next decade. These types of
exercises of predicting future trends are routinely done by agency leaders
as they do not want their organizations to be blindsided by unforeseen
events. All of us have a stake in the future operations of justice systems as
we will be directly or indirectly affected by changing police practices,
court reforms, and the effectiveness of correctional systems. In addition,
some readers may be interested in working in the justice system, and
reviewing future trends may help them make better choices about potential
careers.
THE CANADIAN JUSTICE SYSTEM: WHERE
ARE WE TODAY?
Positive Changes
In reading the previous chapters, one is reminded of how far we have
progressed in a relatively short period of time. Several chapters included
short descriptions of historical practices carried out by the police, the
courts, and correctional employees. These accounts revealed that justice
systems 100 years ago were staffed by personnel with little training, and
there were few written policies or procedures for workers to follow.
Because there were no national- or provincial-level standards, the policing
in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, might not have resembled what occurred in
The Pas, Manitoba. By contrast, if a driver on a cross-country trip is
stopped today by the police in British Columbia for speeding, the driver’s
interactions with the officer will be quite similar to those of a driver
stopped in Quebec for the same violation.
In addition to the lack of formal standards, suspects were sometimes
assaulted by police officers to obtain confessions (during a process of
questioning known as the third degree), and some suspects were beaten
instead of being arrested—the process of forcing a suspected offender to
submit to an unauthorized form of punishment is called street justice.
Police officers were hired for their physical size and ability to intimidate
others rather than for their interpersonal skills or ability to solve
problems. While police misconduct still occurs, officers today are held
more accountable; the public is less tolerant of wrongdoing, and especially
when it comes to the use of excessive force. Even though Canadian
officers are about one-fourth as likely to kill a suspect than are American
officers, there has been increased scrutiny of these acts, and the Green
Party does not believe that Canadian police officers should carry firearms
(CTV News Montreal, 2018).

third degree A long and intense interrogation, which in extreme cases has involved threats of
violence or the unlawful use of force, to obtain a confession from a suspect.
street justice Occurs when a suspected offender is forced to submit to an unauthorized
punishment by a police officer, such as doing push-ups in return for not getting a speeding
ticket.

There have been other positive changes in courts and corrections. The
likelihood of a wrongful conviction was higher in the past than it is today
as there were fewer safeguards for suspects. In addition, legal aid funded
by provincial governments for poor defendants was introduced in 1967 in
Ontario and in the remaining provinces by the mid-1970s, although, as
pointed out in earlier chapters, these programs are underfunded and any
full-time minimum wage earner would be ineligible for their help. With
respect to corrections, punishments such as whipping were carried out in
prisons until 1968 for inmates who broke institutional rules (Correctional
Service of Canada, 2015). Furthermore, the death penalty fell out of favour
in the 1950s; the last Canadian executions occurred in 1962 and the
punishment was abolished in 1976. The “good old days” were not so
pleasant for those accused or convicted of crimes.
Despite the progress that we have made toward fair and just outcomes
for victims and offenders, the past 11 chapters also revealed that we still
need to overcome challenges in the operations of justice systems. As in
other professions, mistakes can be made at all points of the justice system,
from arresting innocent suspects to releasing inmates from correctional
facilities prior to their warrant expiry dates because someone made a
mistake calculating their sentences. In addition to making mistakes, some
justice system personnel engage in misconduct: police and correctional
officials obtain evidence illegally, fail to abide by the policies of their
agencies, or engage in crimes and cover-ups. Because these officials work
with very little direct supervision and with marginalized people who have
very little power, their offences have often gone unreported.
The activities of court officials, by contrast, are more transparent as
their work in courtrooms is conducted in full public view. Despite this
transparency, prosecutors also engage in misconduct, although suspects are
unlikely to have their charges stayed in these incidents (see R v Babos,
2014). Judges are also accused of misconduct, and in 2017/2018, the
Canadian Judicial Council (2018) opened 359 complaints about the
conduct of judges presiding in federal courts or superior courts in the
provinces such as Queen’s Bench courts. Although that number seems
high, most of the complaints referred to relatively minor incidents, such as
judges thought to have acted in a disrespectful, inappropriate, or
condescending manner. Since 1971, the Canadian Judicial Council has
recommended removing fewer than ten judges from office (Canadian
Press, 2017).
Judges today, however, may be held to a higher standard due to the
publicity that can occur after their mistakes or actions become publicized
in the press and on social media. In a 2014 trial, Robin Camp, an Alberta
provincial court judge, asked the survivor of a sexual assault questions
such as, “Why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?” and “Why
didn’t you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn’t
penetrate you?” (cited in Southey, 2015). In March 2017, the Canadian
Judicial Council recommended he be removed from the bench, and Camp
resigned his position. One fact about this case is clear: when the
misconduct of officials in the justice system becomes viral on social
media, the public’s outrage can result in swift action.
Given the difficult nature of the jobs and the range of personnel
working within justice systems, mistakes and misconduct will always
occur. We hold the employees of our justice systems to a higher standard
than workers in other professions—and most of the time they meet our
expectations. We sometimes forget, however, that these personnel are
often overworked and required to interact with very difficult people in
dangerous and uncertain situations. The police, for example, have no
information about the intent of someone they encounter on the street—will
the individual warmly greet the officers or try to kill them? Although it is
easy to criticize the actions of police or correctional officers, they are
often forced to act with limited information in a matter of seconds, and
they do not have the luxury of taking weeks to debate “what should have
been done” from the comfort of a soft chair in a quiet office.
A Calgary police officer talks to cannabis users at a rally outside government offices
following marijuana legalization in 2018. The Calgary Police Service banned officers
involved in front-line policing from using recreational marijuana, even while off-duty (Smith,
2018). Other police services are grappling with the issue and the Toronto Police Service and
the RCMP have developed policies where officers must refrain from using marijuana for 28
days prior to working. The Vancouver Police, by contrast, do not have rules related to off-
duty marijuana use, as long as officers show up fit for duty for their assigned shifts. While
these off-duty drug use policies are being challenged by the officers’ unions, these decisions
show that the expectations of workers in the justice system can be very high, including
regulating their off-duty behaviours.

A Closer Look
Using PESTEL to Scan the Environment
Leaders in every criminal justice agency try to predict the future to reduce the
uncertainty confronting their organizations, especially when it comes to forces external
to the agency. Corporate leaders have used PESTEL analysis to monitor the external
environment for possible threats and opportunities. This “big picture” approach has
also been used by researchers to help predict how external factors will impact the
operations of justice organizations (see van den Born et al., 2013). Writing about the
police in Canada, Griffiths, Pollard, and Stamatakis (2015, p. 177) observe that
“Environmental scans are studies designed to identify community, legislative, policy,
and other forces in the community … that will result in demands on the police.” Figure
12.1 shows the factors considered in a PESTEL analysis, which are summarized as
follows.

PESTELanalysis A method of scanning the environment that considers political,

economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors.

• Political. This factor considers the political climate in a nation (both liberal and
conservative positions) and the fact that politicians will introduce crime control
policies based on either the due process or crime control perspectives. Csanady
(2015) notes that between 2006 and 2015, the Conservative government “tabled 68
bills that directly amend the Criminal Code,” and of those, 30 became law. All of
these legislative changes affected the activities of justice systems personnel as well
as the lives of crime victims and offenders. Demonstrating the dynamic nature of
justice systems, the Liberal government, elected in 2015, pledged to reform the
criminal justice system, but Spratt (2019) says their promises have fallen short.
• Economic. Between 1948 and 2011, there were 11 economic recessions (or about
one every 4.5 years). These economic downturns affect both the amount of crime
(in some recessions crime increased, while in others it decreased) and the system’s
ability to respond to it, especially when funding is cut to the operations of the
justice system, and the police, courts, and corrections are asked to do more with
less.
• Social. This factor includes demographic and cultural changes. In terms of
demographic changes, aging populations are usually associated with less crime
whereas rapid population growth is associated with more crime. Crime rates are
also linked to the number of 15- to 25-year-old males in the population, as shown
in the age–crime curve in Chapter 11, and the higher their numbers, the more crime
we can expect. Cultural changes include a reduction in trust and confidence in the
police, courts, and correctional systems, which may in turn reduce citizen
cooperation with the police and courts. Not all social or cultural changes are
negative. In the 1970s, for example, impaired driving had a greater social
acceptance whereas drunk drivers are shunned today. These changes in our
attitudes were shaped by the public education efforts of advocacy organizations,
such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
• Technological. Technology has had a significant impact on the operations of the
justice system in terms of offenders (who have used the internet to develop new
ways of committing crimes – see the Police Executive Research Forum, 2018) and
justice systems officials (such as police officers who have access to automated
licence-plate readers that can detect stolen or uninsured vehicles). Police
 organizations are also using social media in investigations as well as to
communicate with the public through Facebook and Twitter.
• Environmental. Concern over environmental protection is playing a greater role in
government regulations, and there are more officials tasked with these duties.
Environmental factors also include climate change and this could have a long-term
impact on conditions in Canada, such as opening the North to more ocean traffic,
which would require an increase in policing as well as search and rescue
operations.
• Legal. Supreme Court decisions play a significant role in the operations of the
justice system, and the rulings of the Supreme Court can place administrative
burdens on agencies that can cost millions of dollars, and have far-reaching impacts
on the entire justice system. Appellate court decisions impact the activities of
police, court, and correctional personnel, such as the legality of the police
accessing information on the cell phones of suspects they arrest or the decision to
strike down Canada’s prostitution laws. In the R v Jordan decision, for example,
the Supreme Court established strict limits to the time that courts can take before a
case is resolved, and this has resulted in hundreds of cases being stayed by
prosecutors.

FIGURE 12.1 PESTEL Analysis

Doug Menuez/Photodisc/Thinkstock
 The scrutiny of justice system personnel by internal and external
watchdogs, advocacy organizations, ombudsmen, and the media has
increased. And this oversight has resulted in some positive outcomes.
When it comes to officials working in the justice system, for example, the
police are better trained, more diverse, and have higher professional
standards today than in the 1980s. In addition, accused people in court
have access to lawyers who work for agencies funded by provincial
governments to protect their rights (Michael, 2018). If convicted and
sentenced, probationers or provincial or federal inmates are more likely
today to participate in evidence-based rehabilitative programs that have a
greater likelihood of helping them overcome the attitudes and behaviours
that contributed to their involvement in crime.
Crime victims, who in the past were often ignored by the justice
system, are now treated with more respect, and the Canadian Victims Bill
of Rights extended their rights in 2015. Victim services operations exist
across the country to inform these victims of their rights and to ensure that
they get the medical and psychological help they need to overcome the
impact of their experiences (Department of Justice, 2018). Not only do
individuals have the right to make victim impact statements prior to an
offender’s sentencing, but correctional systems must inform victims when
a prisoner is being returned to the community. Victims of family violence
also have better access to resources such as residential centres and
counselling to help them rebuild their lives (Beattie & Hutchins, 2015).
Yet, despite this renewed emphasis on victims’ rights, the Office of the
Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (2018, p. 10) reported they
received 399 complaints in 2016/2017.
There have been a number of false claims that individuals in Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and
Thunder Bay were detained by the police and then dropped off on the outskirts of town, often
in cold weather. These so-called “starlight tours” did happen in the 1990s and resulted in the
deaths of several Indigenous Saskatchewan men, but since the whereabouts of all police
patrol vehicles are tracked by GPS, these recent claims were proven to be false.

Developing a More Effective Justice System

While the previous section paints a somewhat optimistic picture, there are
still shortcomings with the operations of the justice system; that can be
expected given that there are over 250,000 police officers, court workers,
and correctional officials working throughout the nation (Charron, Nemr,
& Vaillancourt, 2009). Some of these workers are poorly suited for their
jobs, and this leads to mistakes and misconduct. Every year, police
officers are convicted of wrongdoing, lawyers are disbarred for
misconduct, and correctional officials are charged with engaging in illegal
acts. Many of these acts would have been covered up 20 or 30 years ago,
but officials working in the justice system today are less tolerant of
misconduct and less willing to “look the other way.” While the increased
expectations are a significant step in the right direction, any criminal
behaviours or acts of misconduct are now widely reported on television
and social media. The irony is that this increased scrutiny and reporting of
these cases may actually contribute to our lack of faith in these officials.
The evolution of the Canadian justice system has not been quick or
painless, as individuals in organizations are often resistant to reform, and
when changes do happen, they are often very minor, and occur slowly.
Moreover, most changes are driven by external factors: Supreme Court
decisions, economic crises, changes in legislation, or media publicity that
shames justice system officials into taking action.
Politicians have also played a key role in defining the boundaries of
crime. The former Harper government, for example, attempted to make
punishments for offenders more severe—although many of these efforts
were struck down by the Supreme Court. Moreover, many of our current
practices are being scrutinized, and Harris (2018) observes how the
Trudeau government has proposed that changes are required to modernize
the justice system and speed up the court system. Yet, while some changes
may look relatively easy to make, the reality is quite different. The
legalization of marijuana, for example, took almost two years longer than
originally proposed, and it will be years before the full impact of this
change in laws is fully understood, especially when it comes to managing
drivers under the influence of this drug and how marijuana use will be
managed in the workplace. One reason to move slowly when considering
changes to the Criminal Code is that reforms might result in unanticipated
impacts that could reduce public safety or increase injustice.
One key difference between Canada and the United States is that the
justice system in Canada is far less political. Many American politicians
have based their election campaigns on “tough on crime” activities and
policies; this has had a destructive impact on the US justice system, and
“politics driven by fear of crime had direct, destructive social costs”
(Chettiar & Ofer, 2018, para. 3). Some scholars have been critical of
conservative governments’ attempts to politicize the Canadian justice
system (Tonry, 2013) and make it more like the US system (Webster &
Doob, 2015).
EXTERNAL FORCES SHAPING CANADIAN
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY
In the pages that follow, a PESTEL analysis is used to identify the broader
external trends that will shape the future of Canada’s justice system.
Understanding these external forces enables agencies and individuals to
plan for the future—especially in terms of the type of work each of us will
be doing throughout our careers. Of course, one of the hazards of
attempting to predict the future is that many of our best guesses will be
incorrect as forecasting involves some guesswork. While some larger
agencies produce comprehensive reports identifying different potential
threats and opportunities as part of their short- and long-term planning
(e.g., Hamilton Police Service, 2018), the efforts of smaller organizations
are often less formal. The problem is that there are sometimes unforeseen
events that upset our best plans. The further we look into the future, the
more difficult it becomes to make accurate predictions. For example, few
predicted the effects of the economic recession that started in 2008, which
persisted longer than most policy-makers anticipated. This downturn had a
significant impact on all criminal justice agencies, as well as the health,
education, and social service agencies that support the activities of the
justice system.
When reading through these sections, try to think about how these
factors will affect your life and your career choices, especially for those
considering working in adult or youth justice systems.
After being elected as Premier of Ontario in 2018, Doug Ford (left) appointed Ron Taverner
—a family friend who had served with the Toronto Police Service for 51 years—as
Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). This appointment was widely
criticized, as Taverner did not meet the minimum standards for the position, and an OPP
executive officer critical of the appointment was fired. While a report carried out by
Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner found no criminal wrongdoing, the hiring process was
called “flawed” (Gray & Stone, 2019). How does this example influence our ideas of
relationships between politicians and the police?

Political Changes
Because of their visibility and expense, the operations of the justice
system are of interest to politicians. Municipal, provincial, and federal
politicians play a role in setting the crime control agenda. Legislators
establish priorities based on factors such as: (a) public and stakeholder
input into policies and practices; (b) practices from other jurisdictions
(which may or may not be based on evidence, cost-benefit analyses, or
other forms of research); and (c) gaining public support in order to win
elections. The extent of political influence varies, and while municipal
politicians are primarily interested in local crime problems, federal
politicians often express a greater interest in national-level issues such as
environmental protection, organized crime, and terrorism.
One of the issues addressed earlier in this book was the extent to which
politicians attempt to interfere with the officials in the justice system. In
February 2019 there were allegations of inappropriate political influence
after staff members from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office (PMO)
attempted to pressure Jody Wilson-Raybould, the Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada, to overturn a decision made by the Director
of Public Prosecutions to prosecute SNC-Lavalin for corporate crimes. PMO
staffers wanted Wilson-Raybould to enter into a deferred prosecution
agreement, which would enable SNC-Lavalin to avoid prosecution and
avoid sanctions, including a 10-year ban on applying for government
contracts. This scandal resulted in two cabinet members and a number of
prominent officials resigning (Connolly, 2019).
Most municipal government politicians use budgets to influence the
operations of the police, and provincial and territorial leaders play a
greater role in corrections and to a lesser extent the courts. For example,
adding more officers to a police service, whether they are needed or not, is
generally considered to be good politics as it allows governments to show
support for police, support for public safety, and opposition to “villains”
(Robertson, 2012, p. 358). Alternatively, increasing funding for
correctional rehabilitation may lead to lower recidivism rates, although
these budget increases will rarely attract much public support. So while it
is difficult to predict future trends in this respect, it is likely that more
funding will be directed to highly visible elements of the justice system
such as the police, although research shows that other interventions may
produce a better return on taxpayer dollars (Washington State Institute for
Public Policy, 2018).
The comparative analyses presented throughout this book reveal that
the Canadian justice system is less punitive than the US justice system. In
order to make our methods of punishing offenders similar to those of our
southern neighbours, the former Conservative government introduced
dozens of “tough on crime” policies between 2006 and 2015 (Csanady,
2015). These policies were popular with the Canadian public, but many of
them were rejected by appellate courts who ruled they were cruel and
unusual punishments, making them unconstitutional. Although the
previous federal government implemented a “tough on crime” agenda, it is
unlikely that we will mimic what has happened in the United States. The
US incarceration rate in 2017 was 669 for every 100,000 residents
(Bronson & Carson, 2019; Zeng, 2019), whereas in Canada the
incarceration rate was 131 for every 100,000 residents (Malakieh, 2019,
p.3).
So what does the future hold? One thing that we have to remember is
that politics and crime control are tied together. Canadians, for the most
part, have resisted the worst of US-style “tough on crime” policies, what
Roberts, Stalans, Indermaur, and Hough (2003) call penal populism (see
Chapter 3). Instead, justice system policies in Canada have been shaped by
bureaucrats with expert knowledge rather than by politicians. It is likely
this trend will continue, and when governments attempt to rule by penal
populism, the courts will reject it.

Economic Factors
The 2008 recession forced Canadians to acknowledge the growing costs of
the justice system, and many municipalities continue to have trouble
paying for these services. Given the fact that crime rates have been
decreasing since the mid-1990s, many local, provincial, and federal
politicians argue that the costs of policing, courts, and correctional
services should also drop. But the costs of the criminal justice system
continue to rise. Figure 12.2 shows that between 2001 and 2017 policing
costs increased by 82 per cent and the daily cost to incarcerate an inmate
grew by 60 per cent, while at the same time the Crime Severity Index (CSI)
decreased by 30 per cent.
Many politicians, researchers, and public policy analysts believed that
the economic crisis that started in 2008 was an opportunity to change the
way that justice systems operated (Toews, 2013). As shown in Figure 12.2,
the costs continue to increase while crime is dropping. Why are the costs
of our justice system so high? Salaries represent the biggest cost of
operating justice systems and usually account for about 85 per cent of an
agency’s entire budget. Wages for public safety workers have been
increasing, and a review of the “sunshine list” (a list of people earning
more than $100,000 per year) shows that almost two-thirds of the
personnel employed by the Toronto Police Service were on that list in
2018 (Province of Ontario, 2019). Although that is good news for those
intending on working for a police service, many smaller and rural
municipalities are having trouble paying those costs (Baxter, 2018).

FIGURE 12.2 Per Capita Police Costs, Daily Inmate Costs, and Overall Crime Severity
Index, 2001–2017
Adapted from Allen (2018), Conor (2018), and Statistics Canada (2018b)
 So, how expensive is it to operate the justice system? Figure 12.3
presents an estimate of the costs in Alberta’s justice system from arrest to
incarceration. This sheds light on how expensive justice system
interventions can be, even for relatively minor crimes. These amounts will
differ from province to province, but this gives a good estimate for each
action in the justice system.
As economic downturns typically occur about once every five years,
we can all expect to experience several of them throughout our careers.
For recessions lasting more than a year, there are a number of common
outcomes such as cuts to public services (Gascon & Foglesong, 2010). The
police in some places may no longer respond to reports of minor property
offences, rehabilitative programs in corrections may be cut, and probation
officers may carry out fewer home visits and might supervise larger
caseloads. Moreover, public services such as afterschool programs,
libraries, health care services, and public transportation are often cut.

FIGURE 12.3 Unit Costs in the Alberta Justice System

Note: Unit costs are based on 2010–2011 values but have been adjusted for inflation to provide
estimates for 2018.
Adapted from Institute of Health Economics (2014)

There are three main outcomes of cutting these services. First, being
expected to carry out one’s job with fewer resources can reduce staff
morale. Second, cutting services may reduce the public’s trust and
confidence. Third, reducing funding to non-justice agencies might also
contribute to increased crime. If we cut the budgets for playgrounds,
recreation centres, and libraries, for example, where will kids go and what
will they do when they are not in school? One finding important in
understanding the relationship between crime and economic downturns is
that each recession is different. Researchers examining the downturn in
the Alberta economy in 2014/2015 could not find a clear relationship
between the recession and overall increases in crime, although some
offences, such as domestic violence, did rise (Fotheringham, 2016).

Social Changes
PESTEL analyses consider two broad social influences: cultural factors and
the demographic characteristics of a population (see the “Race, Class, and
Gender” box in this chapter on Canada’s changing demographic profile).
Cultural factors can take a number of different forms, including our
perceptions toward crime and the justice system. Figure 12.4 shows the
results from Angus Reid Institute polls carried out between 2012 and
2018, which reveal that Canadians had more confidence in their police and
courts in 2018 than they did in 2012. Those results, however, are based on
national averages, while there are differences between the provincial
results: confidence in the police and courts, for example, is the lowest in
Atlantic Canada, and Ontarians have the greatest confidence in the police
in the nation (Angus Reid Institute, 2018).
Laws also reflect our changing social interests. A series of highly
publicized accusations of sexual harassment and assault were made
against high-profile male entertainers, politicians, public officials, and
sporting figures starting in October 2017. This came to be known as the
“Me Too” movement, and the widespread volume of sexually
inappropriate behaviour has been extensively publicized by the media. We
will not, however, have a full understanding of the impact of this
movement on the justice system in terms of the number of sexual assaults
reported to the police and whether prosecutors will charge more people
with these crimes. We know that only a small proportion of sexual assaults
are ever reported, and some believe that a greater number of survivors will
report their victimization. Yet, research carried out by the Canadian Centre
for Justice Statistics shows that even when individuals report their
victimization, the police and prosecutors will not necessarily determine
that a crime actually occurred. Greenland and Cotter (2017) found, for
instance, that almost one-quarter of indecent or harassing communications
(23 per cent) and 14 per cent of sexual assaults were considered
unfounded, which means the police investigation determined the offence
did not occur, nor was it attempted (Rotenberg, 2019, p. 31). Changes in
our awareness and interests, and the influences of social movements such
as “Me Too,” may also result in changes to the long-term practices of the
police, courts, and corrections.

FIGURE 12.4 Respondents Indicating they had “Complete” or “A Lot of Confidence” in

these Elements of Canada’s Justice System
Angus Reid Institute (2018)
 Many readers of this book are interested in crime and justice, but our
interests might be different from other Canadians. When it comes to the
concerns of the general public, polls can inform us about the top concerns.
A review of national surveys since 2010 reveals that Canadians are
primarily concerned about their economic well- being as well as climate
change, health, education, and social services, but less so about crime.
Armstrong (2019) reported on the top 12 concerns of Canadians, which are
summarized in Table 12.1; only three per cent of us felt that crime was the
most important problem facing the nation. Armstrong’s results were very
similar to those reported by Anderson and Coletto (2017), who found that
only 4 per cent of Canadians listed crime or law and order as their top
concern.
Throughout this book, we’ve looked at the influence of politicians and
the media on our ideas of crime and justice. Most of our understanding of
the justice system and our treatment of offenders comes from these
sources, and most of the cases focused on in the media are rare violent
crimes or offences that are somehow exceptional: often these cases
involve celebrity offenders (or victims), multiple victims, or vulnerable
victims (McKnight, 2016). It is likely that our preoccupation with
exceptional cases will continue, although most of the work of justice
system personnel is in response to relatively minor offences. The top five
offences before criminal courts in 2016/2017 were impaired driving, theft,
failure to comply with a court order, common assault, and breach of
probation; together these crimes accounted for nearly half (47 per cent) of
all cases (Miladinovic, 2019, p. 6). Perhaps the most significant changes
will occur in the composition of our population as it becomes more
diverse, as highlighted in this chapter’s “Race, Class, and Gender” box on
Canada’s changing demographic profile.
TABLE 12.1 Top Concerns of Canadians

Category Top Concerns (%)

Cost of living 32
Climate change 19
Health (my health/family member health) 10
Category Top Concerns (%)
Immigration 8
International relations/trade 7
Social inequality 6
My job/finding a job 5
Crime, public safety 3
Truth in media 3
None of these issues 3
Terrorism 2
Racism 1
Adapted from Armstrong (2019)

Black Lives Matter Toronto protesting the death of Abdirahman Abdi, who was killed by an
Ottawa police officer in 2016. Between 2014 and 2016, Canadians witnessed the protests
after the police-involved deaths of unarmed Black suspects in the United States. These events
contributed to a reduced trust and confidence in America’s justice system, and Canadians
considered these protests to be the top US news story of 2014 (Logan, 2014). It is unknown,
however, whether these acts influence how Canadians think about our justice system.
Race, Class, and Gender
Canada’s Changing Demographic Profile
One of the most significant challenges that will affect the future of Canada’s justice
system is the changing population and the accompanying cultural and social changes.
Statistics Canada (2017b) reports that more than one in five Canadians was born in
another nation, and a growing number of them are visible minority residents. When we
add the population of Indigenous peoples, who account for about 5 per cent of the
national population, almost one in four Canadians is a member of a visible minority
group or is of Indigenous ancestry. An increasingly diverse population can create some
challenges for the operations of justice systems, as trust in the police can vary between
ethnic groups, and people who have more trust and confidence in the police are more
likely to cooperate with them.
Cotter (2015, p. 7) analyzed the results of the 2014 General Social Survey, and he
found that immigrants who came to Canada after 2000 had the highest confidence in
the police and justice system compared with non-immigrants and immigrants who
came to Canada prior to 2000. Some new Canadians, however, came from countries
where the justice systems were corrupt or were used by political officials to repress and
control the people (World Justice Project, 2019). Given these experiences, individuals
from such nations might distrust the police and court personnel, especially if they
believe their ethnic group has been over-policed (Owusu-Bempah & Wortley, 2014).
As a result, they may be reluctant to help the police in investigations, to testify in court,
or to fully cooperate with probation or correctional staff members. Justice system
personnel might also find it difficult to provide services for members of some
ethnocultural groups as they may lack employees with the necessary language skills
and understanding of cultural values and traditions.
Prior research has generally shown that Indigenous Canadians and members of
visible minority groups express less trust and confidence in the justice system than
White respondents when asked in surveys. Figure 12.5 shows the results from an
Angus Reid Institute (2018) poll of Canadians about their confidence in the justice
system. Visible minority respondents expressed having lower confidence in the RCMP,
their local police, and the courts than respondents who were not a member of a visible
minority group. Cotter (2015) did find, however, that visible minorities and immigrants
who came to Canada after 2000 had more confidence in public institutions than
immigrants who had been in the country longer.
In the previous chapters, the difficult relationships between Indigenous people and
the justice system were described. Indigenous peoples are overrepresented in every
aspect of the justice system from arrests to placement in corrections. Malakieh (2019,
p. 20) reports that in 2017/2018, Indigenous peoples accounted for over a quarter of
admissions to provincial and territorial corrections or federal prisons (30 and 29 per
cent, respectively). This pattern is similar for youth corrections: Indigenous youth
represented 48 per cent of admissions to corrections while accounting for 8 per cent of
the youth population (Malakieh, 2019, p. 26).
In addition to being overrepresented in correctional populations, Indigenous
peoples are also overrepresented as individuals charged with involvement in crime and
as victims. Using results from the 2014 victimization survey, Perreault (2015) reports
that Indigenous peoples are twice as likely to be victims of break and enter and sexual
assault offences than are non-Indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples are also six
times more likely than non-Indigenous Canadians to be murdered. In 2017, for
instance, while representing 5 per cent of the population, Indigenous peoples made up
almost one-quarter (24 per cent) of all homicide victims. Indigenous people were also
12 times more likely than non-Indigenous people to be accused of homicide in 2017
(Beattie, David, & Roy, 2018).

FIGURE 12.5 Respondents Indicting They Had “Complete” or “A Lot of

Confidence” in Canada’s Justice System: Visible Minorities and Not Visible
Minorities, 2018
Angus Reid Institute (2018)

One statistic that has potential implications for the justice system is that the youthful
Indigenous population is high. Statistics Canada (2017a, p. 15) reports that almost one-
third (29 per cent) of them are 14 years of age or younger, whereas the non-Indigenous
population of the same age accounts for about 16 per cent of that population.
Regardless of ethnocultural status, the proportion of young males in a population is
 usually a good predictor of involvement in crime (Bernard & Kurlychek, 2010). Given
the high number of young males in the Indigenous population, there is a higher at-risk
population. As a result, unless something is done to better support these youth, they
may continue to be, or even become further, overrepresented in the justice system.

Technology
Technology has changed the way that crimes are carried out today, and it
will continue to pose a challenge for justice system personnel for the
foreseeable future. The Police Executive Research Forum (2018) observes
that criminals are becoming increasingly involved in cybercrimes as the
rewards are high and the risks of an arrest or prosecution are very low. For
example, thieves steal from residents of other nations using internet scams
and frauds. Apprehending these offenders is complicated because
Canadian police officers have no authority to investigate crimes occurring
in other countries, and they must get the help of the police in other
nations. This can be further complicated by language barriers and by the
fact police officers in other nations may have little time to pursue such
crimes. As a result, Canadians victimized by foreigners may have little
hope the offenders will be prosecuted for their crimes.
Amanda Todd, a 15-year-old from British Columbia, killed herself in October 2012 after
being tormented by a Dutch man named Aydin Coban, who was over 30 years old at the
time. Coban allegedly threatened to release indecent pictures of Todd; court documents
revealed that he cyberbullied dozens of other young girls and gay men (Global News, 2017).
In 2017, Coban was sentenced to over 10 years in prison in the Netherlands, and the Dutch
government has ruled that he can be extradited to face five charges in a Canadian court for
his role in Amanda Todd’s death (Lazatin, 2018).

Technology enables offenders to victimize large numbers of

individuals. It was difficult for offenders in the past to steal from more
than one person at a time. Corporate criminals, by contrast, work together
to increase prices on goods or services (which is called price-fixing) so
that thousands of us are victimized by paying higher costs. Because
consumers pay only slightly higher prices for an item, we are usually
unaware of our victimization. For example, tens of thousands of Canadians
who bought computers, MP3 players, DVD players, or printers between 1999
and 2002 were victims of price-fixing and were eligible for a $20 refund
(Tencer, 2015). We looked at another example in Chapter 2, where
Canada’s Competition Bureau found the nation’s largest bakeries had
plotted to keep the price of bread artificially high, which may have cost
each Canadian family over $800.
Because we are so dependent on the internet for our work,
communications, banking, purchases, and recreation, we are increasingly
vulnerable to being victimized and losing our privacy due to internet
attacks. Whereas in the past, computer- and internet-based crimes were
carried out by individuals, Goodman (2015, p. 25) observes that “nation-
states, neighborhood thugs, transnational organized crime groups, foreign
intelligence services, hacktivists, military personnel, cyber warriors, state-
sponsored proxy fighters, script kiddies, garden-variety hackers,
phreakers, carders, crackers, disgruntled insiders, and industrial spies” are
all engaged in cybercrimes today. Holt (2018) explains that there are two
types of hackers—those motivated by financial gain and those driven by
ideology, such as terrorists. Figure 12.6 shows some of the key findings
from a review of the cybercrime literature in Canada. Cybercrimes are the
crimes of the future, and Brenda Lucki, the Commissioner of the RCMP,
says that her organization is not able to keep pace with the increased
volume of internet-based crimes (Tunney, 2018).
Although most discussion about the future of technology and crime has
described internet-based offences, other forms of technology are also
changing the options available to offenders. A growing number of
firearms, for example, are illegally smuggled into Canada across the US
border, and these guns are being used in crimes: City News (2018) reports
that Canada Border Security Agency officials from the Toronto area seized
112 illegal guns coming across the US border in 2017, which was up from
the two guns they seized in 2016. The availability of inexpensive 3d
printers, however, may make it unnecessary to smuggle guns into the
country as individuals will be able to build the parts required to make a
gun using software available online. All together, it costs less than $2,000
to buy the printer and the software needed to make a gun, and an
individual with modest manufacturing skills could build an unlimited
number of untraceable guns in this way. Elliot (2018) reports that making
a firearm in Canada is a criminal offence unless one has the proper
business licence. While the firearms built using this technology are not
very sophisticated, Hafner (2018, para. 23) observes that their quality will
undoubtedly improve, but “until then, those firing the potentially faulty
guns may face the greatest danger” as these guns sometimes explode.
FIGURE 12.6 Cybercrime in Canada
Based on data from Greenland and Cotter (2018); Statistics Canada (2018a)

As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are also called drones,

become cheaper, their use by offenders and the police will also increase.
Some of these small aircraft can carry a 10-kilogram payload and
smugglers have used them to fly illegal drugs from Mexico to the United
States (Mikelionis, 2018). Offenders using these aircraft have also
dropped drugs and contraband such as cellular phones into Canadian
correctional facilities (Judd, 2018), and in December 2015, a handgun was
dropped into a Quebec detention centre by a UAV (Ling, 2015). Law
enforcement leaders are also concerned that terrorists could crash UAVs
loaded with explosives into passenger planes. Perhaps the most common
misuse of drones occurs when they are used to violate our privacy by
filming us in our homes or on the beach without our awareness. Canadians
have complained about camera-equipped UAVs hovering outside the
windows of their homes (Gawdin, 2018).
Everybody’s personal information is vulnerable to cyberattack. In October 2018, the
Facebook accounts of over 50 million users were hacked, and the individuals responsible
could have accessed all of the online activities of these users, including the content of private
messages. Those private messages could be released online, which would be a significant
attack on a user’s privacy (O’Sullivan, 2018).

Although drug smugglers were among the first groups to take

advantage of UAV technology, Canadian police services have also used
drones fitted with heat-sensing cameras for search and rescue operations.
Drones can be fitted with cameras, firearms, microphones, and licence-
plate readers, and they can be used in situations that would expose officers
to high risk by providing a “bird’s-eye view” of an active crime scene.
Because UAVs are so much cheaper to operate than planes or helicopters,
and they can fly above lands that are impassable by vehicles, they have
also been used to patrol the Canada–US borders. Both offenders and law
enforcement personnel will likely increase their reliance on UAV
technology over the next 10 years, and The Crime Report (2018) predicts
that in the future every police patrol car will have its own drone.
In some respects, technological innovation has moved faster than our
legal system’s ability to develop guidelines for its appropriate use. In
terms of policing, for example, Chen (2014) identifies a number of tools
used to carry out large-scale surveillance on the public, including:
 Facial recognition software enables officers to compare a
• photograph of someone they encounter with a database of arrestees
or people in public spaces viewed on cameras.
• Automated licence-plate readers can scan hundreds of licence
plates per hour and alert officers to stolen and uninsured vehicles or
people of interest; these readers can be mounted on patrol vehicles
or on street lights, signs, or buildings, and they can also be used to
track our movements.
• Enhanced streetlights can record video images, gunshots, or
conversations and transmit them using wireless technology.
• Stingray technology allows users to “mimic cellphone towers in
order to trick nearby cellphones into connecting. Once they are
connected, the Stingray user can collect information transmitted by
the phone, including its location, data transmissions, texts, emails
and voice conversations” (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,
2016).
• Software applications can predict where crimes will occur and
some programs can carry out data mining (where the relationships
between thousands of different variables, including information
about individuals, are examined).

Although most people support the police using technology to reduce

crime, there are concerns about how much data the police are collecting
and how they use that information. Writing about “big data” in policing,
Mark (2018) describes how police are accessing an ever-increasing
amount of data about the public and are using that information to monitor
and predict our activities. Most people do not fully understand the
implications of the government collecting so much information about our
attitudes (such as our Facebook “likes”) and online activities.
Technology also introduces new products, and these products may
influence the operations of the justice system. Fentanyl, for example, is a
powerful prescription drug used to treat chronic pain, and since 2013 the
abuse of this drug has led to thousands of deaths across Canada. Figure
12.7 shows how the number of monthly deaths from illicit drugs in British
Columbia has changed between 2008 and 2019. To put that number into
perspective, in 2018, for every murder in the province there were 17 fatal
illicit drug overdoses (89 and 1,535 deaths respectively). Not only has
fentanyl increased deaths, but the Red Deer RCMP attribute addiction to this
drug to an increase in property crime (Barrett, 2018), and fentanyl-related
deaths are increasing as the drug moves toward eastern Canada. These
changes are similar to the introduction and movement of crack cocaine
throughout the US in the 1980s.
One question that we might ask is whether the increased use of
fentanyl is a problem for the criminal justice system, or should it be
treated as a medical or public health problem? Brennan and Mazowita
(2019) looked at the people who died from illicit drug overdoses in British
Columbia between 2011 and 2016. They found that two-thirds of them had
not been arrested in the two years prior to their deaths, and more than 80
per cent of those who had come into contact with the police had been
arrested for non-violent offences; the most common offence was
shoplifting. Do these findings change your ideas about these people and
whether using illicit drugs should be treated as a crime or a health
problem?
FIGURE 12.7 Monthly Deaths from Illicit Drugs, British Columbia, 1 January 2008, to 31
May 2019
British Columbia Coroners Service (2019)

Environmental Factors
Environmental forces may also shape the future operations of justice
systems. Although there is some debate over how much of climate change
is caused by human activities or whether it is part of long-term global
cycles, there is agreement that our climate is changing and becoming more
volatile, with an increasing number of severe conditions such as extreme
hot or cold weather, storms, and flooding. Some areas are experiencing
droughts that have persisted for years. Extreme weather has also led to
environmental disasters, and responding to avalanches, forest fires, and
tornados is a routine part of policing the countryside. These disasters can
be very destructive and costly, such as the 2013 flooding in southern
Alberta, the wildfires that destroyed parts of Fort McMurray, Alberta, in
2016, or the British Columbia wildfires that persisted through the summer
of 2018. Other environmental disasters are less obvious, but they can still
have devastating effects; the heat wave that struck eastern Canada in 2018
contributed to the deaths of over 90 Quebec residents (Woods, 2018).
Public Safety Canada (2018) has a database of natural and manmade
disasters that can be accessed at
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/cndn-dsstr-dtbs/index-en.aspx.
There is a growing interest in protecting the environment. Scholars
have defined green criminology as “the study of those harms against
humanity, against the environment and against animals other than humans
… committed both by powerful institutions (for example, governments,
transnational corporations, military apparatuses, scientific laboratories)
and also by ordinary people” (Beirne & South, 2012, p. 23). There are a
number of crimes committed against the environment, including:

green criminology A branch of criminology that focuses on environmental crimes and harms
to the environment.

• abuse and exploitation of ecological systems (including animal life)

• corporate disregard for damage to land, air, and water quality
• profiting from trades and practices that destroy lives and leave a
legacy of damage for subsequent generations
• military actions in war that adversely affect the environment and
animals
• illicit markets in nuclear materials
• legal monopolization of natural resources (e.g., privatization of
water, patenting of natural products) leading to divisions between
the resource-rich and the resource-poor (Beirne & South, 2012, p.
23)

We are increasingly concerned about the long-term impact of crimes

committed against the environment, especially when these acts harm
endangered species. McCune et al. (2017, p. 1) polled Canadians and
found 89 per cent were “strongly committed to species conservation.”
Those results are similar to polls of Canadians carried out by Environics
Research Group (2015) and Ipsos Reid (2012) that found an overwhelming
majority of their respondents (93 and 97 per cent respectively) considered
protecting endangered animals as important.
Most law enforcement responses to environmental crimes are carried
out by conservation and fisheries officers employed by federal and
provincial governments. Although the public is generally supportive of
their efforts to reduce environmental crimes, governments have been
reluctant to pay for this enforcement. Figure 12.8 shows the number of
conservation officers per 100,000 residents in 2016 and in that year there
was approximately one conservation officer for every 14 police officers.
Environmental forces will play a less significant role in shaping the
future operations of justice systems than technology, political factors, or
the law. Yet, for a growing number of Canadians the protection of the
environment is a key priority, and about $1.5 billion has been pledged by
the federal government every year to counter climate change (Government
of Canada, 2018). What will be the outcomes of that interest over the next
decade? It is likely that federal, provincial, and territorial governments
will enact new laws to deter and punish environmental criminals. This
may, in turn, create more opportunities for personnel in front-line
enforcement roles such as conservation officers, and an increasing number
of environmental offences may be processed by the courts. In addition, if
the extremes in climate continue, there will be an increased demand for
officials trained in disaster management and emergency response.

Legal Changes
Supporters of the due process perspective believe that strengthening
protections for people accused of committing crimes reduces errors and
increases the legitimacy of the justice system, which in turn makes all of
us more willing to abide by the law (Tyler, 2006). In any given year, the
Supreme Court of Canada rules on about two dozen issues related to the
criminal law. In several important cases, the Supreme Court has limited
police and prosecutorial powers by restricting the admissibility of
confessions made in “Mr. Big” investigations (where suspects are asked
by police officers pretending to be organized crime offenders to disclose
information about crimes), as in the case of R v Hart (2014). The Supreme
Court also permitted medically-assisted deaths (Carter v Canada, 2015),
restricted the ability of police to access histories of an individual’s text
messages (R v Marakah, 2017), recognized that the police are obliged to
inform detained suspects of their right to counsel and to respect the
suspect’s ability to exercise that right (R v Taylor, 2014), and clarified the
position that people on bail had the presumption of innocence (R v Antic,
2017). Perhaps the most controversial Supreme Court rulings since 2010
have been the limits they have placed on case processing time in the R v
Jordan (2016) case.

“Mr Big” investigations Investigations carried out by undercover police officers posing as
criminals to obtain confessions from suspects about their involvement in serious crimes.

FIGURE 12.8 Conservation Officers per 100,000 Residents, 2016

Statistics Canada (2019)

Predicting the outcomes of future Supreme Court decisions is a

difficult task, as the justices only consider a small number of cases each
year. Between 2007 and 2017, the Supreme Court heard an average of 56
cases per year, and of those judgments, fewer than two dozen were
criminal matters (Supreme Court of Canada, 2018). About 390,000 adult
and youth cases were heard in criminal courts in 2016/2017 (Miladinovic,
2019, p. 3), and if 20 cases are heard in the Supreme Court, this means that
only one in about 20,000 criminal cases is heard before that Court, making
these matters very rare events.
Supreme Court decisions can have a significant impact on all aspects
of the justice system. Requiring prosecutors to make a complete disclosure
of their evidence to defence counsel, for example, has required countless
hours of police and prosecutors’ time (see R v Stinchcombe, 1991). The R v
Jordan (2016) decision, by contrast, has led to Crown prosecutors staying
hundreds of charges, many of them for serious crimes, as it took too long
to bring these matters to court. The Jordan decision has been called a
ticking time bomb that “has woken the criminal justice system up from its
25-year slumber to address trial delay” (Lundrigan, 2018, p. 146). We have
to remember, however, that while some of the Court’s decisions can be
costly to agencies, they increase the due process protections for all
defendants.
Few of us spend much time thinking about the Crown’s burden to
provide disclosure, but there are negative consequences when Crown
attorneys fail to get that information to the defence counsel in a timely
manner. Perrin, Audas, and Peloquin-Ladany (2016) observed the
following:

In Sherbrooke, Quebec, in October 2015, murder and conspiracy

charges against five members of that city’s chapter of the Hells
Angels were stayed. The men were released from custody because
of a lengthy delay in the Crown’s disclosure to the Defence.
Thirty-one Hells Angels members and associates who were caught
in the same police investigation similarly had drug charges against
them stayed, also because of unreasonable delay (p. 2).

The impacts of these outcomes are widespread, including how the

family members of a murder victim would feel about the justice system
knowing the accused were returned to the street without a trial. In addition
to our ideas about the justice system, these acts also influence public
safety as these accused people are now “back on the streets” without being
punished or rehabilitated. Last, if you were one of the police officers who
gathered evidence to pursue the homicide and drug charges on these 36
suspects, would you think your efforts were wasted, and how would that
affect your morale?
Some Supreme Court decisions may reduce the due process protections
of suspects. In 2015, the Supreme Court held that British Columbia’s
immediate roadside prohibition (IRP) legislation was constitutional (see
Goodwin v British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles)). The IRP
program targets drunk drivers and allows police officers to issue licence
suspensions of up to 90 days if the driver refuses to provide a breath
sample or if they receive a “fail” on a roadside breathalyzer. In addition to
the licence restrictions, there are numerous costs to the driver, including
having his or her vehicle towed and impounded in a storage facility and
being required to pay higher licensing fees. All together, a person guilty of
these infractions could lose their driving privileges, lose the use of their
vehicle, and pay thousands of dollars in costs. But, as these enforcement
practices are not Criminal Code matters, the provinces have the
jurisdiction to enact these laws much like any other non-criminal driving
regulation. So, how does that affect drivers? Between September 1, 2010,
when the program was implemented, and May 31, 2019, almost 225,000
BC drivers received these roadside prohibitions, varying from 24 hours to
90 days (RoadSafetyBC, 2019).

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
The Future of Urban and Rural Justice Systems
Few urban residents spend much time thinking about what happens in the countryside
because they typically have fewer connections to rural Canada than they would have in
the past. Perreault (2019), for instance, reports that less than 20 per cent of Canadians,
or about six million people, live in rural areas. We tend to think of the countryside as
being relatively peaceful with a slow pace of life, but in Chapter 2 we saw that rural
crime rates in some places can be very high. Some offences, for example, are
distinctively rural, and certain crimes committed against wildlife or the environment
seldom occur in cities.
There are significant differences in rural crime rates across the country, and
although crime is rare in some places, some northern communities have very high
crime rates (Allen & Perreault, 2015). Overall, Perreault (2019) reports that both the
total and violent crime rates are higher in rural Canada, and especially in the Prairies.
Some offences are more likely to be overrepresented in rural Canada, including
impaired driving (Perreault, 2013) and all forms of family violence (Burczycka, 2018;
Conroy, 2018; Savage, 2018). Rates of victimization are also high in the countryside;
Perreault and Simpson (2016, p. 3) report that “more than one-quarter of residents of
the territories (28 per cent) reported being the victim of at least one crime in 2014.”
The issue of rural crime was widely reported by the media in the Prairie provinces
between 2016 and 2018, and became a controversial political issue (Macpherson,
2019).
The countryside can be a dangerous place. More than half of fatal collisions occur
on rural roads (Transport Canada, 2019) and most forest fires, floods, tornados, and
avalanches occur in rural areas. In addition, the quality of life of rural residents is
decreased when environmental crimes such as the illegal dumping of toxic waste
occur. Our perceptions about the quiet pace of life in rural Canada are sometimes
mistaken.
Table 12.2 presents the possible future of urban and rural justice systems in Canada
using a PESTEL analysis. For the most part, the conditions in all of Canada will be
relatively similar, and the differences between urban and rural issues are often subtle.
Many of the key differences are related to the decreasing rural population and how that
will impact other factors. For instance, a declining rural economy with fewer job
opportunities drives some young rural residents to move to cities for work. This has a
number of implications for rural justice systems, and as the rural population ages it
should result in reduced crime. Rural crime rates have, however, been increasing, and
some scholars blame this on city people who travel to the countryside to carry out
property crimes (Ruddell, 2017).
Rural crime victims may find it harder to access supportive services such as
domestic violence shelters, and a fear of being the topic of gossip prevents some
rural victims from seeking help.

TABLE 12.2 Forecasting the Future of Urban and Rural Justice Systems

Issue Urban Rural

Political • Increase in politically • Increase in politically

liberal views, and less conservative views, and
support for the justice greater support for the justice
system system
• Less support for “tough • Greater support for “tough
on crime” policies on crime” policies
• Most justice system • Little research is carried out
research is funded for on rural justice systems
issues related to cities • Rural crime becomes an
increasingly controversial
political issue
Issue Urban Rural
Economic • Policing costs remain • Per capita rural policing costs
stable as agencies hire increase as populations drop
more non-sworn • Businesses close due to
uniformed officers to decreasing populations, and
carry out “non-core” the potential for crime
police duties increases due to higher
Big city police unemployment
departments will • Fewer government services
• operate more (health, education, and social
efficiently and costs services) are provided due to
will remain stable decreasing populations
• Fewer manufacturing • Fewer opportunities to access
jobs exist, increasing offender rehabilitation
unemployment (and programs (e.g., substance
possibly crime) abuse treatment)
• Increased use of
private security
Issue Urban Rural
Social/demographic • Urban populations • Populations drop as young
increase with higher people move to the cities for
levels of immigration employment, which results in
• Urban populations closures of businesses and
become more diverse reductions in government
• Increased use of services
opioids and overdose • Rural non-Indigenous
deaths population ages
• Indigenous populations • Indigenous youth
increase in urban areas populations increase
• Increased use of opioids and
overdose deaths
• Increased numbers of urban
residents and Indigenous
peoples protesting
environmental issues in the
countryside (e.g., pipelines)
• Greater reliance on
volunteers for fire and
emergency services, but
fewer young people in the
population makes it difficult
to replace existing volunteers
Little change in population
diversity
•
Issue Urban Rural
Technological • Closed-circuit • Introduction of self-driving
television becomes farm equipment and the
more prevalent in cities expansion of corporate,
to deter crime and to rather than family farms,
identify and apprehend reduces rural employment
offenders • Increased use of unmanned
• Increasing use of semi- aerial vehicles for search and
autonomous vehicles in rescue
cities and decreased • Rural critical infrastructure
private ownership of (such as hydro, nuclear
vehicles plants, or water treatment
• Expansion in police plants) are vulnerable to
surveillance internet (e.g., hacking) or
• Greater use of social terrorist attacks
media to publicize Reduced prisoner
crime-related issues transportation due to a
• greater use of video-based
court appearances
• Greater use of social media
to publicize rural crime
issues
• Increased use of privately
owned surveillance
technology to monitor rural
property
Environmental • Environmental • Environmental crimes such
protection becomes as the illegal dumping of
more popular with toxic waste reduces the
urban residents quality of rural life
• More government personnel
will be working in
environmental protection
roles
• Climate change may increase
the number of extreme
weather events
 Issue Urban Rural
Legal • More lawsuits and • Increased interest in
litigation launched for restorative justice and non-
damages caused by traditional interventions for
personnel working Indigenous people
within justice systems Number of lawyers
• More specialized courts providing services in rural
(e.g., mental health, • Canada decreases
domestic, Gladue, or • Greater restrictions on
drug courts) are firearms ownership and use
introduced has a greater impact on rural
peoples
• Police staff fewer
detachments and deploy
“fly-in, fly-out” officers
rather than permanent
staffing

Robichaud (2014) contends that the rights of people accused of crimes

were also eroded by a series of Supreme Court decisions, including
allowing the police to search the contents of an arrestee’s cell phone
without a warrant (R v Fearon, 2014), failing to place limits on experts
who are testifying about matters outside their expertise (R v Sekhon,
2014), allowing searches of dwellings without a warrant when officers
believe that their safety is in jeopardy (R v MacDonald, 2014), and
considering threats of violence (and not requiring actual acts of violence)
when judges are deliberating whether to designate an individual as a
dangerous offender (R v Steele, 2014).
So how will appellate court decisions influence justice systems in the
future? In their decisions, appellate court judges interpret the law amidst
changing factors including the influence of technology, the outcomes of
research (looking at things like adolescent brain development), and
changing police practices, and some of their decisions have been
controversial. As a result, neither the supporters of the due process or
crime control perspectives will be entirely satisfied with the Court’s
decisions.
MYTH OR REALITY
Will Future Justice Policies Be Driven By
Revolutionary Change?
There are different views on how the criminal and youth justice systems should be
transformed to ensure just and fair outcomes for victims and offenders. Some scholars
advocate for change that is revolutionary. Prominent Canadian criminologists Anthony
Doob and Cheryl Webster (2015) suggest that in the past, the justice system was based
on four broad principles: (a) acknowledging the importance of social conditions such
as poverty, unemployment, and the marginalization of social groups; (b) the fact that
harsh punishments do not reduce crime; (c) that the development of criminal justice
policies should be informed by expert knowledge; and (d) that changes in the law
should address real problems (rather than being based on political reasons). All of
these ideas have been presented throughout this book, and regardless of whether one is
a supporter of the due process or crime control perspective, most of us would generally
agree with two or three of these principles.
Doob and Webster (2015) argue that “rather than making piecemeal changes [the
next government should] review large areas of the criminal justice system, instituting
changes that reflect broad integrated knowledge of current problems.” Consistent with
that recommendation, the Trudeau government has proposed making major reforms to
the justice system, but they seem to have fallen short of expectations (Spratt, 2019).
One question that some are asking is whether the government’s incremental or
piecemeal changes will be enough to satisfy people who believe the justice system is
fundamentally flawed and oppressive. Activists and critical scholars throughout
Canada and the United States are advocating for radical change, including the
abolishment of the police (Meares, 2017; Vitale, 2017)—or at least disarming them
(Wright, 2018). In terms of corrections, Brock University students held a Prison
Abolition Symposium in 2017 (Brock University, 2017) while Boccio, Chan, and
Sicora (2017) advocate for the use of restorative justice in their vision of a world
without prisons. The legalization of marijuana has led some advocates from the Liberal
and New Democratic parties to propose the legalization of all illicit drugs. Moreover,
Parkes (2018) and others argue that mandatory minimum sentences be abolished,
including the parole eligibility dates for first- and second-degree murder.
Many younger Canadians are unhappy waiting for social and economic changes to
happen, and instead of reforming the system based on piecemeal changes they argue
for a radical social transformation to share society’s wealth; they claim this would
reduce many social problems, including crime. To achieve that goal some have become
 involved in social movements that resulted in clashes with the police, such as the
protests against the G20 (Beare, Des Rosiers, & Deshman, 2014), the Idle No More
(Barker, 2015), Black Lives Matter, and Occupy Toronto (Woods, 2012) movements,
and it is likely that Indigenous protests will be associated with any pipeline
developments in the future. There is growing recognition that social changes are
moving faster today due to the influences of social media and technology, as well as
increased population diversity and the rising activism of members of marginalized
social groups. Those issues, combined with a significant economic downturn, could
result in growth of new political parties and sweeping social changes.
Is revolutionary change possible? Throughout this book, there are many examples
of the justice system making slow and steady progress. Many Canadians support this
approach because there is generally considerable resistance to major legal or social
reforms. Even when the need to make changes has been identified, the personnel
working within the justice system tend to be fairly conservative and are resistant to
reform (Duxbury, Bennell, Halinski, & Murphy, 2017). In fact, most justice system
reforms have been driven by external factors such as scandals or shortcomings that
have resulted in media attention, Royal Commissions, inquiries, lawsuits, and court
judgments.
While there is considerable interest in rapid and revolutionary change, it is doubtful
that such changes will occur in the justice system, and it is likely that reforms will
continue to happen slowly. While these evolutionary changes can be frustrating to
those who want to ensure just and fair outcomes to everybody involved in the justice
system, it may be preferable to making rapid changes that result in unanticipated or
unforeseen outcomes that actually reduce public safety or increase bias or injustice.

SUMMARY
Although the leaders of every police service, court, and corrections system
attempt to predict the external and internal factors that might influence
their agency’s operations, it is difficult to make accurate forecasts a
decade or more into the future. One of the barriers for criminal justice
personnel to engage in these exercises is that they are so busy in their day-
to-day activities they have little time to devote to scanning the external
environment for potential threats or opportunities. So, why should they
bother? Some changes are predictable and forecasting makes sense. A
municipal police department with 100 officers, for example, recently
constructed a new police headquarters. As the population of the
community was projected to double in the next 25 years, the agency’s
leaders designed the facility so that it could be expanded in size at a lower
cost. As a result, the planners today reduced a financial burden on
tomorrow’s taxpayers.
We tend to think of the future in a linear manner, meaning that we
think that our experiences next year will be much the same as they were
this year. The problem with that approach to forecasting is that it fails to
consider unforeseen events, like the 9/11 attacks. In addition, few of us
would have predicted the impact of new forms of drugs—such as fentanyl
—on overdose deaths and increasing crime, or the influence of the internet
on criminal activities. Moreover, preventing terrorist acts continues to
divert the time and resources of the police away from traditional crime
control activities; Freeze (2017) notes that the RCMP shelved hundreds of
organized crime cases so they could focus on fighting terrorism. Last,
another unforeseen social force was the great recession of 2008 and the
economic recovery that took much longer than most of us predicted.
The impact of policies such as getting tough on crime has some
predictable outcomes. Increasing the severity of punishments for offenders
will expand the size of correctional populations, which can be an
expensive proposition for cash-strapped governments. A more diverse and
foreign-born population will also create changes in the operations of
justice systems as agency leaders try to employ a workforce representative
of this changing population. These findings reinforce the important role
that political factors play in the operations of justice systems. Despite the
fact that politics and justice are closely related in Canada, the political
influence is minor compared with the operations of the US justice system,
where local sheriffs, prosecutors, and judges are elected officials who
often advocate for severe punishments so voters do not think they are
weak (Pfaff, 2017).
In some respects, the “getting tough on offenders” approach in Canada
may prove to be a fad, although one that lasted for almost a decade during
the Harper era, which only ended in 2015. Criminal justice reforms are
sometimes based on ideas that have a “common sense” appeal, but these
practices are often ineffective or actually push some individuals toward
crime. Most fads are short-lived as they are introduced with enthusiasm
but then disappear after their value is called into question (Denver, Best,
& Haas, 2008). Examples of criminal justice fads include boot camps—a
US correctional approach featuring a physically demanding, short-term
military-style program that was intended to improve self-esteem but has
failed to reduce recidivism. Another fad was the popularity of “scared
straight” programs, where youngsters on probation for engaging in minor
crimes were taken to prisons where they were confronted by inmates who
told them they were headed to prison if they did not change their attitudes
and behaviours.
Because we are more careful when introducing criminal justice
programs today, it is likely that research on the operations of justice
systems will play a greater influence on agency operations in the future.
Research that compares the costs and benefits of different policing, court,
and correctional practices attempts to identify the best impact for each
taxpayer dollar invested in crime reduction. Evidence-based practices,
where police, court, and correctional interventions must be demonstrated
by research to be effective, will become the norm in the future. As a result,
it is likely that academics and researchers will play a larger role in
studying the justice system and providing suggestions to agency leaders.
The potential impacts from these partnerships are important as
jurisdictions using their resources more carefully may be rewarded with
lower crime rates. Cost-benefit analyses have demonstrated that
introducing policing, court, and correctional programming that has been
demonstrated to reduce crime is a cost-effective investment in public
safety (Washington State Institute for Public Policy, 2018).
In this chapter, and throughout this book, the operations of the justice
system were presented, and readers were exposed to a number of ways of
defining, analyzing, and interpreting crime and our responses to the acts
we define as crimes. A key theme of the book is that political, economic,
social, technological, environmental, and legal factors shape the ways we
define a crime and how the justice system should respond to these acts.
However, there is seldom agreement on crime-reduction strategies, and
most people have different ideas about what the priorities of the justice
system should be. Regardless of our differences in opinion, we will always
have to confront the challenges caused by crime and work toward building
a justice system that respects victims, provides due process protections to
people accused and convicted of crimes, and protects all of us in a fair and
unbiased manner. While this is an optimistic goal, it is hoped that the
readers of this text—many of whom might be considering working within
the justice system—will develop the mindset to prepare for these
challenges.

Career SNAPSHOT
Conservation Officers
Conservation officers (COs) are employed by federal, provincial, and/or territorial
governments, and a number of municipal governments such as Ottawa’s National
Capital Commission employ COs to patrol urban parks and wilderness areas. The
enforcement-related powers of these officials varies greatly, and some uniformed
officials are employed in federal, provincial, or territorial parks where their main role is
to provide information to visitors, as well as to participate in conservation and public
education efforts. A smaller percentage of COs work in enforcement roles, such as
park wardens in Canada’s national parks, and they carry firearms. Several thousand
COs working for provincial and territorial governments also have peace officer status
and are authorized to enforce the Criminal Code of Canada as well as other federal
and provincial/territorial acts related to environmental protection.
Although educational requirements for CO jobs vary across the country, most
officers are graduates of resource management programs. After they are hired, all COs
in the western provinces and the territories attend the Western Conservation Law
Enforcement Academy (which is currently in Saskatchewan), and provincial officers in
the Maritimes attend the conservation enforcement program at Holland College in
Prince Edward Island. Ontario and Quebec have their own training programs, and
officers hired by Fisheries or Parks Canada receive training at federal facilities such as
the Coast Guard College in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police depot in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Profile
Name: David Bakica
Job title: District Conservation Officer, Environment Yukon
Employed in current job since: 1989
Present location: Whitehorse, Yukon
Education: Renewable Resource Management Diploma, Lethbridge Community
College

Background
I grew up in Whitehorse and always wanted a job working in the outdoors and with
wildlife. After graduating from high school I attended the two-year Renewable
Resource Management program at Lethbridge Community College (LCC). I worked
during the summers while in college for Yukon Department of Environment as a Fish
and Wildlife Technician. Once I graduated from LCC, I was hired as a seasonal
conservation officer in the Watson Lake District. I worked for three six-month
contracts over two years. While on these seasonal contracts, I was sent for an
additional five weeks of conservation officer training at the Leslie Frost Natural
Resource Centre in Ontario. Near the end of my third six-month contract, I competed
for an open position and became the district conservation officer in the Ross River
District.

Work Experience
Like most COs, I started my career working in part-time summer positions after high
school and was hired as a full-time officer after completing my post-secondary
education and working in seasonal positions for several years. My job assignments
have varied depending on where I was posted and on my role. Most of my duties are
related to enforcing the Wildlife Act, the Fisheries Act, and the Environment Act.
Although the public believes that most of our work is related to enforcing hunting and
fishing legislation, we have a diverse range of job duties that varies from day to day.
COs are responsible for enforcing all environmental legislation, and that includes
regulating wilderness tourism operations and game farms and investigating violations
of natural resource laws, such as illegally dumping waste materials and importing non-
native species, which can threaten the environment. Some of my job is also related to
human–wildlife conflicts where large animals such as elk disrupt farming operations. I
have also responded to many calls to manage bears, which can cause problems for
people living in the countryside or for tourists, and I recently flew by helicopter to
British Columbia to help federal parks officials with a problem bear on the Chilkoot
Trail that was putting hikers at risk.
The public does not always understand how much of a conservation officer’s job is
related to office work; only about half of my job involves being on patrol. Some of my
 office work involves collecting information related to investigations; I have been
involved in major ones related to poaching as well as the illegal dumping of
environmental waste. While I have a lot of flexibility in my job, there is also a large
volume of work that must be done. Some of that work is seasonal, of course; COs are
very busy during the summer, in the fishing and hunting seasons. But while the
winters are supposed to be quiet, we can be busy when wolves cause problems for
farmers.

Advice to Students
Students who want to be a CO must have good communication and people skills, and
most officers have extensive backgrounds in the outdoors and are fishers and hunters.
In addition, the job can be physically demanding and being fit is important. COs often
work alone in remote areas, so they must also develop effective problem-solving skills
in working with the public—some of whom are offenders.
One of the most important things that a person who wants a CO career can do is to
get as much conservation-related experience as possible, and show the full-time staff
their enthusiasm for the job and determination to be a full-time CO. Students can also
learn more about the job by doing a ride-along with a conservation officer. Potential
COs can also get experience working in voluntary and paid jobs. In Yukon, Deputy
Conservation Officers are unpaid volunteers who patrol alongside conservation
officers. Most COs start their careers working in summer-job placements in the
outdoors, such as parks. Often these jobs are in remote locations far away from cities,
and once hired most new full-time COs are posted in those remote locations; they are
able to move to larger communities as they gain time on the job and experience. While
the pathway to full-time conservation officer employment may take a while, it is a very
rewarding career to those who love the outdoors, and there is rarely a dull moment in
our jobs.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Why would agency leaders engage in a PESTEL analysis?
2. Provide reasons why some politicians support a “tough on crime” agenda.
3. Discuss how our reliance on technology makes us increasingly vulnerable to
victimization.
4. How might the changing demographic characteristics of the Canadian population
influence the future operations of police, court, and correctional organizations?
 How would advocates of Packer’s crime control and due process approaches explain
5.
recent Supreme Court decisions?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why are people living in rural areas (and representing about 20 per cent of all
Canadians) disadvantaged when it comes to their interactions with the justice system?
How can we overcome these challenges?
2. Which of the PESTEL factors is the most important in shaping the future of the
Canadian justice system? Why?
3. Given the changes projected for justice systems in the future, how can you best prepare
for a career in this field?
4. Describe how governments and corporations attempt to influence your risky or crime-
related behaviours without involving the criminal justice system.
5. How would you explain to a person from a developing nation about the importance of
the rule of law in Canada?

INTERNET SITE
As our reliance on technology—and especially on the internet—
increases, individuals, corporations, and governments are vulnerable to
potentially devastating attacks. Goodman (2015) explores the threats
of technology to our safety and well-being in his book Future Crimes,
and the accompanying website contains a number of relevant videos
and written materials.
http://www.futurecrimesbook.com/

CASES CITED
Carter v Canada (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 5, [2015] 1 SCR 331
Goodwin v British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles), 2015
SCC 46, [2015] 3 SCR 250
R v Antic, 2017 SCC 27, [2017] 1 SCR 509
R v Babos, 2014 SCC 16, [2014] 1 SCR 309
R v Fearon, 2014 SCC 77, [2014] 3 SCR 621
R v Hart, 2014 SCC 52, [2014] 2 SCR 544
R v MacDonald, 2014 SCC 3, [2014] 1 SCR 37
R v Marakah, 2017 SCC 59, [2017] 2 SCR 608
R v Sekhon, 2014 SCC 15, [2014] 1 SCR 272
R v Steele, 2014 SCC 61, [2014] 3 SCR 138
R v Stinchcombe, [1991] 3 SCR 326
R v Taylor, 2014 SCC 50, [2014] 2 SCR 495
Glossary
absolute discharge The least severe sanction that can be imposed, resulting in a finding of guilt
but with no conviction registered.
actus reus The criminal action or conduct of a person committing an offence.
administration of justice offences Offences that occur because an individual disobeys a pretrial
condition or an imposed sentence, such as failing to attend court or failing to comply with a
probation order. Also known as system-generated offences.
adultery When a married person has a sexual relationship with a person to whom they are not
married.
age defence A defence that considers immaturity and recognizes that youth under 12 years of
age cannot be held criminally responsible; sanctions might also be mitigated for young
defendants.
age–crime curve Involvement in crime increases during early adolescence, peaks during the
teenage years and early adulthood, and then decreases throughout adulthood (some social
scientists call this “aging out” of crime).
aggravating factors Facts related to the offence that might lead to a more severe sentence,
including if the offence involved a particularly vulnerable victim, such as a child, or if the crime
was related to bias, prejudice, or hate.
alibis Witnesses or other forms of evidence that show that the defendant could not have
committed the offence.
alternative measures programs Programs that divert individuals involved in minor crimes, such
as property offences, from the formal justice system and usually require the individual to
participate in community service work, make restitution to victims, attend counselling, or make
an apology to victims.
antisocial behaviour Conduct that can be disruptive and reduce our quality of life, but might not
be considered a criminal act.
assault A crime of violence that can range from a relatively minor act (level 1, also called
common assaults) to a serious crime resulting in severe bodily harm (level 3).
assembly-line justice An approach to justice where a priority is placed on quickly processing
minor matters in criminal courts with the assumption that most defendants are guilty.
automatism An involuntary act where an individual is in a state of impaired consciousness and
lacks the intent to commit a crime.
aviation units Officers who use fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters for traffic enforcement
(including vehicle pursuits), transporting prisoners, and providing information to officers on the
ground.
bail supervision Allows a youth accused of a crime to remain in the community even though
there may be a lack of specialized mental health or child welfare services that he or she requires.
battered woman syndrome A defence that has been used by some victims of domestic violence
who argued they had no way of escaping their victimization and no had other choice but to
attack their abuser.
“big house” prisons A style of high-security prisons that emerged in the 1800s and featured
large stone buildings surrounded by high stone fences.
blaming the victim Occurs when the victim is held responsible for being harmed (instead of or in
addition to holding the offender responsible).
breach of probation A violation of an offender’s condition of probation, such as using drugs or
alcohol when it is forbidden, or violating a curfew.
break and enter When an individual breaks into a residence or business, usually with the intent
to steal items.
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) An organization operated by Statistics Canada
that produces reports on crime, offenders, victims, and the operations of the justice system.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The part of the Constitution that defines the rights
and freedoms of Canadians, including those accused of committing crimes.
Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) A database that can be accessed by law
enforcement personnel that reports the criminal histories of Canadians.
canine (K9) officers Officers who are partnered with dogs to engage in patrol activities, detect
drugs or explosives, and track suspects or escaped prisoners.
carding A controversial police practice where information is collected about people who are
stopped at random and questioned.
cascading A term used by the Correctional Service of Canada to refer to a prisoner’s movement
to lower levels of supervision, such as from medium- to minimum-security facilities.
case plan The “roadmap” for an individual’s rehabilitation that is developed by the offender and
the caseworker.
case processing time The time between an individual’s arrest and when the case is resolved,
such as when a sentence is imposed or the case is stayed. Also called charge-processing time.
caseload The number of individuals under the supervision of a probation or parole officer.
chain of command The lines of authority in a police organization, which are clearly defined and
range from a constable (on the bottom of the pyramid) to the chief or commissioner (at the top).
chivalry The lenient treatment of girls and women by employees within justice systems.
circle sentencing A justice practice intended for Indigenous offenders, where sanctions for
criminal conduct are developed by members of a circle, including a judge, the offender, victims
(and their supporters), the police, and other community members. In some jurisdictions these
practices are called healing or peacemaking circles.
Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) Groups of volunteers who support the transition
of high-risk sexual offenders from prison to the community.
civilianization The employment of civilian personnel in police organizations.
closed system A type of prison administration where there is little interaction with the
community.
collateral consequences Government policies that are developed to deter potential offenders and
include job restrictions on people with specific types of criminal histories.
Commissioner’s Directives Guidelines established by the Commissioner of the CSC for the
operations of the correctional system and the treatment of prisoners and parolees.
common law An approach to law that is based on tradition, where judges follow decisions or
precedents made by other courts.
community service work A condition of a probation order that requires an offender to
participate in unpaid work programs that benefit the community, such as working at a library or a
community centre.
community youth workers Individuals whose job is to prepare pre-sentence reports for the
court, monitor youth on bail supervision, and supervise youth on probation.
community-oriented policing An approach to policing that relies on community involvement to
take a proactive approach to reducing antisocial behaviour and crime.
concurrent sentence Multiple sentences that are served at the same time (e.g., a person sentenced
to two 11-month sentences to be served concurrently would be released after 11 months).
conditional discharge Requires the individual to comply with a number of conditions, and after
they fulfill those conditions, the discharge becomes absolute.
conditional sentences Custodial sentences of up to two years that are served in the community.
Individuals who do not meet the conditions of their release can be returned to court and ordered
to serve the remainder of their sentence in a correctional centre.
conducted energy devices Less-lethal devices, such as tasers, that send an electrical charge that
temporarily incapacitates an individual.
consecutive sentence Multiple sentences that are served one after the other (e.g., a person
sentenced to two 11-month sentences to be served consecutively would be released after 22
months).
consent A defence that is almost always used by defendants accused of assault, where they
contend that the victim was a willing party in the offence, such as when a hockey player injures
another player.
contraband Any item that is forbidden in a correctional facility, such as cellular phones, illicit
drugs, home-made liquor, or weapons.
contract policing A form of policing where a police service, such as the RCMP or OPP, provides
policing to a municipality under a contract.
correctional centres Facilities that hold inmates sentenced to terms of incarceration of two years
or less.
cost-benefit analyses An approach to estimating the costs of justice-system interventions, such as
different types of treatment, and comparing those costs to the benefits in reduced crime.
court clerks Responsible for ensuring that a court’s paperwork and records are maintained,
creating the court’s docket, and sometimes administering oaths to witnesses.
courtroom work group Composed of the judges, Crown prosecutors, defence counsel, and court
clerks from a local court.
crime control model An approach to justice that is based on the philosophy that it is more
important to protect society than the rights of any individual.
crime of omission An act where the accused has failed to take some action, such as a school
social worker failing to report child abuse to child welfare authorities.
Crime Severity Index (CSI) A measure of the volume and seriousness of crime based on all
Criminal Code and federal statute offences reported to the police.
crimes against humanity Violent acts and persecution of a civilian population that are
committed as part of a systematic attack.
Criminal Code of Canada A federal statute that lists the criminal offences and punishments
defined by Parliament, as well as justice system procedures.
criminal negligence An act that shows reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other people.
critical criminologists Scholars who argue that justice systems are designed to maintain class
relationships.
cronyism Occurs when friends of people in authority are appointed to jobs without regard to
their qualifications.
CSI effect Unrealistic expectations about the use of scientific evidence in criminal investigations
that are based on inaccurate information portrayed on television.
custody rating scale An instrument that attempts to predict a prisoner’s risk of misconduct,
adjustment to prison life, and potential for escape.
dangerous offenders Individuals who the court has deemed to be a threat to the life, safety, or
physical or mental well-being of the public.
dark figure of crime The difference between the amount of crime that occurs and the amount of
crime that is reported to the police.
day parole A type of release for federal prisoners who live in a community-based facility and
usually work, attend school, or participate in treatment during the day.
deferred custody Provides youth with an opportunity to serve their custodial sentence in the
community, but if they do not abide by the conditions of their release, judges can order the youth
to serve the remainder of their sentence in custody.
delinquents An outdated term for young people who have committed criminal acts.
detention centres Facilities where individuals are held awaiting their court dates or serving short
periods of incarceration (called provincial correctional centres in some provinces).
determinate sentence Sentences that have a warrant expiry date on which the inmate will be
released from a correctional centre or federal prison.
deterrence The use of punishment to impede or discourage wrongful behaviour.
direct supervision A method of inmate supervision where officers directly interact with inmates.
discretion Refers to when judgment is used to determine which of several options to pursue; in
the case of policing, this includes whether to take no action, provide a warning, make a formal
caution, issue a ticket, or arrest a suspect.
docket The list of cases scheduled for court for the day.
drones Unmanned aerial vehicles that have been used to drop contraband into correctional
facilities.
dual offences Offences that can be prosecuted as either summary offences or indictable offences.
due process model An approach to justice that is based on the philosophy that the justice system
needs to protect the rights of a defendant.
duress A defence where the accused people claim that their actions were not voluntary but that
they acted in response to being threatened by another person.
dynamic needs Factors that can be changed by offenders, such as their education level or
employability.
dynamic security The regular interaction between prisoners and correctional officers that
promotes problem-solving, information sharing, and rapport building.
earned remission A type of early release from a provincial correctional centre that has been
earned by the inmate through good behaviour.
electronic monitoring (EM) Requires probationers or parolees living in the community to wear a
device that communicates their whereabouts to a facility that tracks their movements.
evidence-based practices Strategies that research has demonstrated to be effective and have
positive impacts.
evil woman hypothesis Women who commit violent offences may be treated more harshly by the
justice system.
excuse defences Based on the argument that one’s criminal conduct can be excused because the
accused could not form the intent to commit a crime.
executive protection Protection provided by police officers to the Prime Minister, the Governor
General of Canada, provincial premiers, mayors of large cities, and visiting dignitaries.
extrajudicial sanctions Alternative measures programs for youth.
extralegal factors Conditions that affect sentencing but are not related to the offender or offence,
such as the location of a sentencing court.
failure to comply Violating the conditions of a probation order is a criminal offence that can
result in additional charges and further punishments.
field training officers Experienced police officers who train and mentor new police officers
during their first months on the job.
fine option programs Enable people to pay their court-ordered fines using their labour (typically
by working in jobs related to community service).
First Nations A term used to describe the Indigenous people of Canada, not including the Inuit
or Métis; the term can also refer to the lands set aside for Indigenous peoples.
First Nations Policing Program A federal government policing strategy that gives Indigenous
communities the choice between operating their own police services or contracting with other
police organizations to police their communities.
first responders Professionals who respond to emergencies, such as police officers, paramedics,
and firefighters (both paid and volunteer).
first-degree murder A planned and deliberate act that results in death.
front-line officers Officers who occupy front-line policing positions (e.g., up to the rank of
sergeant) and do not have executive authority.
full parole A less restrictive form of parole granted by the Parole Board of Canada to federal
prisoners who have been successful in day parole.
fundamental justice A principle of Canadian justice that states that people who acted reasonably
may not be punished unless there is proof that they did something wrong.
gaols The historic term for jails.
General Social Survey (GSS) An annual survey of Canadians that is conducted by Statistics
Canada about a range of social trends, with each annual survey addressing one theme in depth.
genocide The systematic killing of a population, such as an ethnic, racial, religious, or national
group.
going rate The average sanction or punishment for a criminal offence in a local court, which can
vary between different courts.
graduated sanctions Punishments that start with the least restrictive response and then become
more severe if the individual continues to reoffend.
green criminology A branch of criminology that focuses on environmental crimes and harms to
the environment.
habeas corpus The right of a person who is being detained to challenge the legality of his or her
detention before a court.
halfway houses Facilities where inmates reside during their transition from a correctional centre
or prison to the community. The CSC calls their facilities community correctional centres.
hate crimes Offences intended to intimidate or harm a person or the group to which they belong
based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or other similar
factors.
home confinement A sanction that requires an individual on community supervision to remain at
home; this is usually coupled with electronic monitoring.
homicide When someone causes the death of another person.
hot spots Areas where a high volume of crimes occur (e.g., near rowdy bars).
identity theft When an individual obtains another person’s information in order to commit
offences such as fraud or forgery.
incapacitation A crime-reduction strategy based on the idea that removing offenders from
society reduces reoffending.
indentured servants Workers who were bound by a contract to work without pay for a given
period of time; this included abandoned or orphaned children who immigrated to Canada and
were placed with families for several years until they could “work off” the costs of their travel to
Canada.
indeterminate sentences Sentences imposed on dangerous and life-sentenced offenders who do
not have a formal release date and remain under correctional supervision for the rest of their
lives, whether in an institution or in a community.
indictable offences Serious offences, such as homicide, where the defendants must appear in
court and cases are heard before federally appointed judges.
Indigenous courtworkers Provide services to Indigenous people accused of an offence and to
their family members, including advocating on the accused’s behalf, providing information about
the accused’s rights and what to expect in court, and offering translation services.
individualized justice Enables judges to consider aggravating and mitigating factors as well as
the individual’s strengths and limitations when imposing a sentence; it is the opposite of
mandatory sentences.
inferior courts Provincial and territorial courts that have limited jurisdiction and deal with less
serious adult and youth criminal matters, as well as civil, family, traffic, and municipal bylaw
cases.
informal social control When people conform to the law and other social norms because of the
actions and opinions of other individuals, such as praise or disapproval.
institutional parole officers Officers employed by the CSC who work with inmates to develop
case plans that enable prisoners to make a safe transition to the community.
intensive supervision probation (ISP) Places higher levels of supervision on high-risk
probationers, and probation officers typically meet more frequently with them.
intensive support and supervision Enhanced supervision that is provided to youth who are
considered to be at high risk or to have high needs.
intent The criminal intention (guilty mind) in mens rea.
intermittent sentence Sentences of 90 days or less that are served in segments of time rather than
all at once; can be imposed on inmates who would be unduly harmed by full-time incarceration,
such as losing their job or interrupting their studies.
intimate partners Current and former spouses, dating partners, or other intimate relationships.
iron law of imprisonment The concept that most prisoners will return to the community, so it is
in the public’s best interest to help those individuals succeed in their re-entry.
jails Facilities where individuals are held awaiting their court appearances (called provincial
correctional centres in most provinces, but jails in Ontario).
judicial interim release A form of pretrial release where defendants can be released on their
promise to appear in court or by providing bail.
jurisdiction The range of a government’s or court’s authority (e.g., provinces have jurisdiction
over non-criminal traffic matters).
jury nullification Occurs when a jury refuses to convict an individual who is obviously guilty, as
the jury believes that the conviction and punishment are worse than the crime that was
committed.
jury rolls The lists from which a jury is drawn; in Ontario, lists of potential jurors are compiled
using the most recent voters’ lists and the band lists from First Nations.
just deserts An expression used to suggest that a punishment reflects the seriousness of an
offender’s crimes (“they got what they deserved”).
justice by geography The differences in case outcomes that are a result of where a court is
located (e.g., some rural courts may be more punitive than urban courts).
justice of the peace A person who is appointed to carry out minor judicial functions such as
authorizing searches, reviewing the legality of a suspect’s detention, and determining whether
there are sufficient grounds for a criminal case to proceed to court.
justification defences Used when the accused admits to committing an offence but the act was
justified under the circumstances.
less-than-lethal weapons Alternatives to firearms that are intended to temporarily incapacitate or
confuse an individual.
lifestyle exposure model of victimization The idea that certain activities, careers, places of
living, and lifestyles place individuals at higher risk of victimization.
lip service When more time is spent talking about something than actually implementing the
approach.
living unit Refers to where inmates live within a facility, usually featuring cells that surround an
area used for dining, education, and recreation.
long-term supervision orders (LTSOs) Orders that can be imposed by a judge to increase the
period of an offender’s community supervision past the end of their formal sentence.
malum in se An act that is universally considered by the public as being evil or harmful to
society, such as homicide.
malum prohibitum An act that is defined as illegal or wrong by a government, but is not
considered wrong in itself, such as speeding on a highway.
marine units Officers who are deployed in boats to patrol waterfront areas and harbours,
including conducting search and rescue activities, promoting water safety, and engaging in crime
prevention.
mass imprisonment The overuse of imprisonment as a crime control strategy.
mens rea The state of mind of a person committing a criminal act.
mental disorder defence An excuse defence based on the argument that people suffering from
serious mental disorders are incapable of forming mens rea to be held fully accountable.
mission creep Occurs when organizations take on more duties than were originally envisioned
by the founders of those agencies.
mistake defence A defence where accused people claim they were unaware of the law and
therefore unaware that they’d committed a crime, or that they were aware of the law but honestly
believed they were not breaking it.
mitigating factors Facts related to the individual that might encourage a judge to impose a less
severe sentence, such as if the individual is a youth, a young adult, or a first-time offender.
motor vehicle theft The theft or attempted theft of a land-based motorized vehicle.
“Mr Big” investigations Investigations carried out by undercover police officers posing as
criminals to obtain confessions from suspects about their involvement in serious crimes.
National Flagging System A system that tracks people who have been convicted of serious
violent crimes to ensure that their prior criminal histories are considered by prosecutors if they
reoffend.
necessity A type of defence claiming that an illegal act was committed in order to prevent a more
serious harm, such as speeding to get to a hospital for emergency treatment.
negligence An act that shows disregard for the well-being of others.
neighbourhood watch Programs that encourage community members to work together to report
suspicious people or unusual activities to the police.
nepotism Preferential hiring carried out by people in powerful positions of their family members
or friends.
new generation design A correctional facility where the cells are arranged on the perimeter of the
living unit and the prisoners eat and recreate in a common area (also called a podular design).
non-violent Crime Severity Index A measure that considers all crimes that are not included in
the violent CSI category.
norms Standards of acceptable behaviour that are based on tradition, customs, and values.
North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) A police force established in 1873 in response to
lawlessness in the North-West Territories (in what is now Alberta and Saskatchewan) and to
reinforce Canadian sovereignty in that region. The organization became the Royal North-West
Mounted Police in 1904 and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920.
objective classification A formal method of prisoner classification that uses risk assessment
instruments.
occupational crimes Offences that are committed by individuals for their own benefit in the
course of their employment.
offender classification The process by which an individual’s risks and needs are assessed in
order to assign the inmate to the most appropriate living unit.
offender intake assessment Assessing an individual’s future risk of criminal behaviour based on
their criminal history and their needs (e.g., whether they require help with employment or
substance abuse).
officer-involved shootings Occur when police officers discharge their firearm, including
accidental and intentional discharges.
ombudsman An appointed official who investigates complaints made against organizations
operated by provincial or territorial governments.
open court principle Gives the media the freedom to publicize court proceedings, although some
information, such as the identity of a child victim of sexual abuse, may be subject to a
publication ban.
open custody facilities Low-security youth custody facilities that are generally small and are
sometimes located in residential neighbourhoods.
order maintenance Involves managing minor offences, antisocial behaviour, and other conduct
that disturbs the public, such as loud parties.
organizational crimes Offences committed by employees of legitimate businesses that are
intended to increase profits or otherwise benefit the organization.
over-policed Refers to when members of a social group or neighbourhood are treated
suspiciously, watched, stopped, searched, questioned, or otherwise negatively paid attention to
by the police by virtue of being members of that group.
paralegals Licensed paralegals have some legal training and perform legal work for law firms
and lawyers.
paramilitary organizations Services organized along military lines, which have a chain of
command where lines of authority are clearly defined by the organization.
parole A form of conditional release from a federal correctional facility to the community, where
the ex-prisoner is supervised by a parole officer.
paternalism The unfair treatment of girls and young women based on the rationale that their
treatment was in their best interests.
patrol zone A defined area within a community that officers are assigned to patrol.
personal service order Requires a youthful offender to compensate the crime victims through
work supervised by a youth probation officer.
PESTEL analysis A method of scanning the environment that considers political, economic,
social, technological, environmental, and legal factors.
plea agreement An agreement arranged by a defendant’s counsel and a prosecutor that usually
involves the accused pleading guilty in return for a less serious punishment.
police lock-ups A historic term used to describe police cells, which are places where arrestees are
temporarily held until their first court appearance (e.g., overnight).
police militarization Occurs when police services use military equipment, tactics, and training as
regular methods to police civilians.
police strength The ratio of police to civilians; the Canadian average is about two officers for
every 1,000 residents.
police subculture A set of informal rules and expectations that shape police attitudes, values, and
behaviours.
political interference The inappropriate use of political authority to influence police operations.
precedent The practice of judges basing decisions about current cases on the outcomes of prior
judgments.
pre-sentence report (PSR) A report ordered by judges prior to sentencing to provide a
comprehensive overview of the individual’s strengths and weaknesses, and whether prior justice
system interventions were successful.
price-fixing When business owners engage in a conspiracy to reduce competition or to keep
prices of a product or service artificially high.
prison misconduct A violation of the rules of a correctional facility; often classified as major
misconduct, such as assault, or minor misconduct, such as being in an unauthorized area or
possessing contraband (e.g., drugs or a cell phone).
private law Legal matters that relate to the relationships between individuals or businesses that
involve contracts.
private policing Involves the social control efforts of individuals who are not government
employees, but instead are hired to provide security or policing services.
probation officers Provincial officials who prepare reports for the courts about sentencing
options for individuals convicted of crimes and monitor their activities if serving community-
based sentences.
procedural law Focuses on the rules that determine the enforcement of rights or due process.
professional model of policing A model that emphasizes a “top down” style of police
management with an emphasis on random patrols and rapid response, where citizens play a
passive role in crime control.
proportionality The principle that the sentence imposed on offenders is proportionate to the
seriousness of their offence and their degree of responsibility.
prosecutorial discretion Refers to the prosecutor’s authority to decide whether to proceed with a
case, withdraw a charge, enter into a plea agreement with defence counsel, or prosecute an
offence as a summary or indictable offence.
provincial parole Provincial parole boards are operated in Ontario and Quebec for prisoners in
provincial correctional centres, while individuals serving less than two years in all the remaining
provinces and territories can apply to the Parole Board of Canada for early releases.
provincial prosecutors Officials (including police officers in some courts) who prosecute minor
criminal cases (e.g., summary matters), traffic cases, and infractions of local bylaws.
provocation A defence based on an accused claiming that he or she was provoked into
committing a crime, although this defence can only be used to argue that an act of murder be
reduced to manslaughter.
public law A type of law addressing matters that affect society, such as responding to a person
who commits a criminal act.
public order policing The use of police during mass demonstrations (such as protests) to
maintain the balance between the rights and interests of government, society, and individuals.
publication bans Made by courts in order to protect the identity of some victims or specific
information about cases.
random preventative patrol A patrol method thought to reduce crime by providing a visible
police presence in the community.
reception centre A prison unit that receives prisoners from the courts and holds them until their
assessment and classification is complete.
recidivism Occurs when a person who has been previously convicted of an offence reoffends by
committing another crime.
reckless behaviours Occur when people act in a manner that they know is dangerous or risky.
rehabilitation The process of helping offenders develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they
require in order to reduce their likelihood of recidivism.
representativeness A concept related to the composition of juries and whether they reflect the
demographic characteristics of a community.
restitution When an individual makes a payment to the victim for the losses that were
experienced by the victim, such as property damage or loss.
restorative justice An alternative approach to conventional practices of justice that focuses on
interventions intended to repair the harm that was experienced by the victim and the community
when the offence occurred.
retribution A crime control philosophy that involves taking revenge on the offender often
through harsh punishments, as expressed by the biblical principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth.”
ride-along When members of the public accompany a police officer on patrol to learn about
policing.
robbery An act of theft that also involves violence or the threat of violence.
Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) A police force that emphasized mounted patrols and was a
model for early Canadian police services.
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Established in 1729, this police force claims to be Canada’s
oldest police service and still provides services throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) The policing authority of the Canadian North
from 1904 to 1919; it became the RCMP in 1920.
rule of law The principle that the law is supreme over any individual or body of government.
school resource officers Officers placed on a part- or full-time basis in schools to provide
security, teach classes, act as positive role models, and build positive relationships with students.
second-degree murder A deliberate but unplanned act that results in death.
secure custody facilities High-security youth custody facilities that are usually large and often
look similar to adult correctional centres. Also known as closed custody facilities.
segregation Placement of an inmate in a locked high-security cell within a correctional facility
(e.g., administrative segregation), usually in response to their misconduct.
selective incapacitation A concept based on the notion that incapacitating the highest-risk
offenders will reduce crime (e.g., “three strikes” policies in the United States are based on this
idea).
self-defence A defence arguing that the harm that was inflicted on another person was carried out
to ensure the defendant’s safety or the safety of others.
self-determination Occurs when Indigenous communities are able to exert more control over
their economic, social, and cultural development, including taking ownership over policing.
self-report surveys A type of survey where respondents answer questions about their attitudes,
beliefs, or experiences, including being an offender or crime victim.
sequencing The treatment of people involved in the justice system follows a set pattern that is
dictated by law and policy.
sexting Transmitting sexually explicit images online or via text message.
sexual assault An assault of a sexual nature, including assaults committed by individuals of the
same sex or assaults committed against one’s spouse.
sheriffs In many provinces, sheriffs provide court security and transport prisoners from the court
to correctional facilities.
silent system An early approach to rehabilitation where prisoners were held in solitary
confinement and were forbidden to talk to other prisoners or guards outside their cells.
slashing When a prisoner engages in self-harming behaviour by cutting their skin using metal or
plastic objects.
sovereignty A nation’s claim on its territory.
special handling units High-security units within a maximum-security penitentiary where the
movement of prisoners is very controlled.
special prosecutors Experienced lawyers who are appointed by a province or territory to
investigate offences where government prosecutors might be perceived as biased, such as the
investigation of an alleged case of prosecutorial misconduct.
special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams or emergency response teams A group of officers
who receive specialized training and have access to military-style weapons to confront armed
and/or dangerous suspects.
specialized courts Courts that specialize in working with distinctive groups of offenders,
including people with mental illnesses or individuals convicted of specific offences such as
domestic violence. Also called problem-solving courts or therapeutic courts.
stand-alone police services Police services that are typically small and are not part of a larger
police organization.
standard conditions All Canadians on probation are required to keep the peace and be of good
behaviour, report to the court or probation officer when required, and report any significant
changes to the probation officer or court.
stand your ground laws Laws that give some US residents the right to use force to protect their
lives and property in a way that would be considered excessive and illegal in Canada. Also
known as the castle doctrine.
stare decisis A legal principle whereby courts are bound by their prior decisions and the
decisions of higher courts.
status offence Under the Juvenile Delinquents Act, this term refers to actions that were not
considered crimes for adults but were unlawful for youth, such as drinking alcohol.
statutory release A form of supervised release that is automatically granted after federal
prisoners with determinate sentences of three years or longer have served two-thirds of their
sentences (does not apply to dangerous offenders or lifers serving indeterminate sentences).
Strategic Training Initiative in Community Supervision (STICS) An approach to the
community supervision of probationers that is based on the notion that probation officers who
have stronger relationships with their clients and challenge their pro-criminal or antisocial beliefs
have lower rates of recidivism on their caseloads.
street checks A practice where individuals engaged in suspicious activities are questioned by the
police.
street crimes Violent, property, and public order offences that are contrasted against crimes of
the powerful (such as white-collar crimes).
street justice Occurs when a suspected offender is forced to submit to an unauthorized
punishment by a police officer, such as doing push-ups in return for not getting a speeding ticket.
strip-searches Searches carried out by staff members to detect contraband by requiring inmates
to remove their clothing (inmates may be strip-searched after visiting with their family members,
for example).
subjective classification Informal assessments of inmates based on the judgment or gut feelings
of the correctional supervisor or psychologist.
substantive law Consists of the written rules that define crimes and punishments, and the rights
and obligations of citizens and criminal justice personnel.
suicide by cop Occurs when individuals deliberately provoke the police into shooting them, such
as by pointing an unloaded firearm at an officer.
summary offences Crimes that carry a less serious punishment in which judges can impose a jail
sentence of up to six months and/or a maximum fine of $5,000.
Supreme Court of Canada The highest court in Canada; it only hears cases that are being
appealed out of a lower court.
surety A responsible person, such as an employer or family member, who ensures that the
accused will appear in court.
sworn officers Police officers with the legal authority to arrest and use force (as opposed to
peace officers, who have less legal authority).
temporary release A type of release granted from a correctional facility so that inmates can
participate in employment, education, treatment, or family visits.
theft Taking another person’s possessions without his or her consent.
third degree A long and intense interrogation, which in extreme cases has involved threats of
violence or the unlawful use of force, to obtain a confession from a suspect.
ticket of leave A release established in penal colonies for prisoners who had demonstrated
positive changes and were considered rehabilitated.
totality A sentencing principle that considers the overall length of a sentence and requires that a
single global sentence be imposed to avoid an unjustly long sentence.
training schools Secure placements that were similar to today’s secure custody facilities (also
called reformatories, reform schools, or industrial schools).
trauma-informed care An approach to delivering interventions that acknowledges the impacts
of trauma on individuals and the importance of providing services in a safe, healing, and
empowering manner.
truth in sentencing Limits the amount of a sentence that can be granted as “time served” when
an individual has been remanded prior to sentencing.
undercover roles Officers carry out investigations in a covert manner that can involve immersing
themselves into criminal worlds.
unlawful act An act that is not authorized or justified by law.
vicarious traumatization Occurs when an individual is subjected to disturbing content, such as
counsellors listening to stories of their clients’ victimization or jurors at a murder trial viewing
crime-scene photographs.
victimless crimes Acts that are legally defined as crimes even though there is no direct victim
(e.g., illegal gambling).
victimology The study of crime victims and their interactions with the justice system.
vigilante justice The unlawful practice of a person or group of people who take the law into their
own hands without legal authority to do so.
violent Crime Severity Index A measure of the volume and seriousness of all violent offences
that includes homicide, all three levels of assault, robbery, sexual assault, uttering threats, forcible
confinement/kidnapping, attempted murder, and criminal harassment.
warehousing When inmates receive only their basic needs and few or no rehabilitative
opportunities.
warrant expiry date An inmate’s release date from custody.
warrants of committal Documents that authorize an individual’s incarceration.
white-collar crimes Non-violent crimes that are committed for monetary gain and include acts of
corruption.
white-collar offenders People who engage in financially motivated, non-violent crimes.
wilful blindness Occurs when an accused is aware that a crime was likely being committed but
chose to ignore the facts.
workhouses Places developed in the 1800s where the poor and people with mental illnesses were
given basic necessities (e.g., beds, meals, and clothes) in return for work.
wraparound services An approach to developing an individualized, community-based case plan
for a young offender by involving a team of their family and other community professionals.
youth Crime Severity Index A measure of the volume and seriousness of all crimes committed
by youth between 12 and 17 years of age.
youth justice conference A group of community members, sometimes including a judge, who
come together to develop a sanction for a young person who has committed an offence.
References
Chapter 1
Allen, M. (2014). Victim services in Canada, 2011/2012. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Allen, M. (2017). Mandatory minimum penalties: An analysis of criminal justice system outcomes
for selected offences. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Anderson, B., & Coletto, D. (2016). Canadians’ moral compass set differently from that of our
neighbours to the south. Abacus Data. Retrieved from http://abacusdata.ca/canadians-moral-
compass-set-differently-from-that-of-our-neighbours-to-the-south/
Angus Reid Global. (2013). Three-in-five Canadians would bring back death penalty.
Vancouver, BC: Author.
Angus Reid Global. (2014). Canadian confidence in police, courts sees significant rebound over
2012 sentiment. Retrieved from http://angusreidglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ARG-
Canadian-Perceptions-Police-Crime-2014.pdf
Angus Reid Institute. (2018). Confidence in the justice system: Visible minorities have less faith in
courts than other Canadians. Retrieved from http://angusreid.org/justice-system-confidence/
Armstrong, J. (2018). Once wrongfully convicted, Marshall faces new woes. The Globe and
Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/once-wrongly-
convicted-marshall-faces-new-woes/article18152123/
Balko, R. (2013). Rise of the warrior cop: The militarization of America’s police forces. New
York: Public Affairs Books.
Beattie, S., David, J. D., & Roy, J. (2018). Homicide in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Bowal, P., & Brierton, T. D. (2018). Stinchcombe: Crown disclosure of criminal evidence.
LawNow. Retrieved from https://www.lawnow.org/stinchcombe-and-crown-disclosure-of-
criminal-evidence-2/
Boyce, J. (2016). Victimization of Aboriginal people in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Boyce, J., Rotenberg, C., & Karam, M. (2015). Mental health and contact with police in Canada,
2012. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
British Columbia Courts. (2018a). Annual report 2017. Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Victoria, BC: Author.
British Columbia Courts. (2018b). Annual report 2016/2017. Victoria, BC: Author.
Britto, S., Ruddell, R., & Jones, N. A. (2019). Constructing retributive sentiments: Offence
characteristics and crime causation on Canadian police procedurals. Presented at the Digitizing
Justice conference: Winnipeg, MB.
Campbell, K. M., & Denov, M. (2016). Wrongful convictions in Canada: Causes, consequences,
and responses. In J. V. Roberts & M G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A
reader (5th ed.) (pp. 225–242). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Canadian Press. (2018, March 29). Liberals look to “abolish peremptory challenges” with Bill C-
75 following Colten Boushie acquittal. Calgary Herald. Retrieved from
http://calgaryherald.com/news/national/liberals-look-to-abolish-peremptory-challenges-with-
bill-c-75-following-colten-boushie-acquittal/wcm/1c67b614-e33f-46cf-8dbb-66d6217d3030
Carstairs, C. (2000). “Hop heads” and “hypes”: Drug use, regulation and resistance in Canada,
1920–1961. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Toronto.
Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E., & DeJong, C. (2018). Criminal justice in America. Scarborough, ON:
Nelson Education.
Conor, P. (2018). Police resources in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Correctional Service Canada. (2016). Correctional Service Canada healing lodges. Retrieved
from http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/aboriginal/002003-2000-eng.shtml
Cotter, A. (2015). Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey: Public
confidence in Canadian institutions. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
Coughlan, S., Yogis, J. A., & Cotter, C. (2013). Canadian law dictionary (7th ed.). Hauppauge,
NY: Barron’s.
Cryderman, K. (2018, February 23). Bias played role in Indigenous victim’s jailing: report. The
Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/alberta-
report-condemns-treatment-of-indigenous-sexual-assault-victim/article38088903/
CTV News. (2018). A look at each province’s rules for marijuana legislation. Retrieved from
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/a-look-at-each-province-s-rules-for-marijuana-legalization-
1.3894944
Cuciz, S. (2018). Child sexual exploitation in Canada: Survivors reveal terrifying reality. Global
News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4047182/child-sexual-exploitation-in-
canada-survivors-reveal-terrifying-reality/
Deadly statistics, unanswered questions and missing Aboriginal women [Editorial]. (2014, May
4). The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-
debate/editorials/deadly-statistics-unanswered-questions-and-missing-aboriginal-
women/article18407550/
Department of Justice. (2005). Canada’s court system. Retrieved from
http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2012/jus/J2-128-2005-eng.pdf
Department of Justice. (2015a). Canada’s court system. Retrieved from
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/ccs-ajc/pdf/courten.pdf
Department of Justice. (2015b). Canada’s system of justice. Retrieved from
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/just/img/courten.pdf
Department of Justice. (2018a). Applications for ministerial review – Miscarriages of justice.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Department of Justice. (2018b). What we heard: Transforming Canada’s criminal justice system.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Department of Justice. (2019). Legal aid in Canada, 2017/18. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Dubinski, K. (2019, June 13). Selling sex is ‘a social blight,’ Crown argues in prostitution charter
challenge. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/sex-trade-
charter-challenge-london-ontario-fantasy-world-escorts-1.5172469
Fallon, K. (2018, June 13). Confessions of a true-crime re-enactor: Inside TV’s hottest, most
morbid genre. Daily Beast. Retrieved from https://www.thedailybeast.com/confessions-of-a-
true-crime-re-enactor-inside-tvs-hottest-most-morbid-genre
Government of British Columbia. (2017). Police resources in British Columbia, 2016. Victoria,
B.C.: Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
Government of British Columbia. (2018). BC’s criminal justice system. Retrieved from
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/bcs-criminal-justice-system
Government of Canada. (2015). Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. Retrieved from http://laws-
lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/C-23.7.pdf
Government of Canada. (2018). Cannabis regulations: SOR/2018-144. Retrieved from
http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2018/2018-07-11/html/sor-dors144-eng.html
Innocence Canada (2019). Current cases. Retrieved from:
https://www.innocencecanada.com/current-cases/
Ipsos. (2017). Consumption of marijuana likely to increase in Canada with many saying they’ll
light up after legislation. Retrieved from
https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2017-09/consumption-of-
marijuana-increase-PR-2017-9-16v1.pdf
Ivison, J. (2018, January 18). Liberal foot-dragging on prostitution law may lead to Charter
challenge. National Post. Retrieved from http://nationalpost.com/opinion/john-ivison-liberal-
foot-dragging-on-prostitution-law-may-lead-to-charter-challenge
Kerbel, M. R. (2018). If it bleeds, it leads: An anatomy of television news. New York: Routledge.
Kiedrowski, J., Ruddell, R., & Petrunik, M. (2019). Police civilianizationin Canada: A mixed
methods investigation. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy,
9(2), 204–222. doi: 10.1080/10439463.2017.1281925
Kirkey, S. (2018, June 15). 14 years for selling pot to youth? Lawyers say punishments under
Liberal pot bill ludicrous. National Post. Retrieved from
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/14-years-for-selling-pot-to-youth-lawyers-say-
punishments-under-liberal-pot-bill-ludicrous
Malakieh, J. (2019). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Mays, G. L., & Ruddell, R. (2019). Making sense of criminal justice: Policies and practices (3rd
ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult criminal and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Montgomery, R., & Griffiths, C. T. (2015). The use of private security services for policing.
Ottawa, ON: Public Safety Canada.
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming
power and place. Vancouver, BC: Author.
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. (2015). How should compensation be determined.
Retrieved from
https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/truscott/section9.php
Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. (2018). Correctional services:
Facilities-jails. Retrieved from
 https://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/Corrections/Facilitieslocationsandvisitinghours/Jails.h
tml
Packer, H. (1968). The limits of the criminal sanction. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Perreault, S. (2015). Criminal victimization in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada,
Minister of Industry. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-
x/2015001/article/14241-eng.pdf
Petrovsky, P. (2018, October 19). Milton woman charged with witchcraft. InHalton. Retrieved
from https://www.inhalton.com/milton-woman-charged-with-witchcraft
Police Executive Research Forum. (2018). The changing nature of crime and criminal
investigations. Washington, DC: Author.
Public Safety Canada. (2018). Corrections and conditional release statistical overview, 2017.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Roberts, J. V. (2016). Criminal justice in Canada: An overview. In J. V. Roberts & M. G.
Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 2–15). Toronto, ON:
Nelson.
Robertson, N. (2012). Policing: Fundamental principles in a Canadian context. Canadian Public
Administration, 55(3), 343–363.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2014). Missing and murdered Aboriginal women: A national
operational overview. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall, Jr., prosecution. (1989). Digest of findings and
recommendations. Sydney, NS: Province of Nova Scotia.
Schwartz, Z. (2018, March 1). Canadian universities are failing students on sexual assault.
Maclean’s Retrieved from https://www.macleans.ca/education/university/canadian-
universities-are-failing-students-on-sexual-assault/
Smith, J. (2014, June 11). Don’t be fooled by the pro-prostitution lobby. Winnipeg Free Press.
Retrieved from http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/dont-be-fooled-by-the-
pro-prostitution-lobby-262654711.html
Statistics Canada. (2018a). Incident based crime statistics, by detailed violations, police services
in British Columbia [Table 35-10-0184-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510018401
Statistics Canada. (2018b). Labour statistics consistent with the System of National Accounts
(SNA), by job category and industry [Table 36-10-0489-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610048901
Surette, R. (2015). Media, crime, and criminal justice: Images, realities, and policies (5th ed.).
Stamford, CT: Cengage learning.
Tyler, T. R., & Trinkner, R. (2017). Why children follow rules: legal socialization and the
development of legitimacy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Volokh, A. (1997). Guilty men. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 146(2), 173–216.
Waller, I. (2014). Smarter crime control: A guide to a safer future for citizens, communities, and
politicians. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2018). Benefit-cost results. Retrieved from
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/ Benefit Cost
Wemmers, J. M. (2017). Victimology: A Canadian perspective. Toronto, ON: University of
Toronto Press.

Chapter 2
Alberta MP Rural Crime Task Force. (2018). Toward a safer Alberta. Addressing rural crime.
Retrieved from http://johnbarlowmp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Toward-a-Safer-Alberta-
AB-Rural-Crime-Task-Force-Report-FINAL.pdf
Allen, M. (2018). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Allen, M., & McCarthy, K. (2018). Victims of police-reported violent crime in Canada: National,
provincial and territorial fact sheets, 2016. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Allen, M., & Perreault, S. (2015). Police-reported crime in Canada’s provincial north and
territories, 2013. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada. (2018). National work injury, disease
and fatality statistics. Retrieved from http://awcbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/National-
Work-Injury-Disease-and-Fatality-Statistics-Publication-2015-2017.pdf
Beattie, S., David, J. D., & Roy, J. (2018). Homicide in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Bittle, S. (2016). Criminal (in)justice: Responding to corporate crime in the workplace. In J. V.
Roberts & M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 324–
337). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Bolan, K. (2018, Jan. 15). Lack of “criminal” designation for Hells Angels in B.C. allows biker
gang to flourish. Vancouver Sun. Retrieved from http://vancouversun.com/news/crime/will-a-
b-c-court-finally-declare-the-hells-angels-a-criminal-organization
Burczycka, M., & Conroy, S. (2018). Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2016.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Burns, I. (2018, January 9). Low fine collection by securities regulators not due to lax
enforcement, observers say. The Lawyer’s Daily. Retrieved from
https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5615/low-fine-collection-by-securities-regulators-not-
due-to-lax-enforcement-observers-say
Campigotto, J. (2019, February 11). A shocking portrait of sexual abuse in sports and some good
advice for parents. CBC Sports. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/sports/the-buzzer/the-
buzzer-sexual-abuse-in-sports-1.5014821
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. (2018). CAFC summary report: May 2018. Data obtained from the
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2011, October 1). Winnipeg crime prompts Air Canada
hotel move. CBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/10/01/air-canada-winnipeg-security.html
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2017, December 6). Volkswagen executive gets 7 years in
prison for emissions scandal. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/oliver-schmidt-sentencing-1.4436312
Canadian Centre for Child Protection. (2018). Child sexual abuse by K-12 school personnel in
Canada. Winnipeg, MB: Author.
Canadian Press. (2017, November 10). Police in Newfoundland pulled over a driver who owed
$158K in fines. National Post. Retrieved from http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/n-l-driver-
with-158k-in-unpaid-fines-allegedly-caught-driving-with-no-licence
Castillo-Manzano, J. I., Castro-Nuno, M., & Fageda, X. (2015). Are traffic violators criminals?
Searching for answers in the experiences of European Countries. Transport Policy, 38(1), 86–
94.
Connolly, A. (2019, May 29). SNC-Lavalin will stand trial on criminal corruption charges,
Quebec judge rules. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/5329173/snc-
lavalin-criminal-trial/
Conroy, S., & Cotter, A. (2017). Self-reported sexual assault in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Corbella, L. (2018, February 28). As rural crime soars, residents go to desperate measures to
protect their property. Calgary Herald. Retrieved from http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-
news/corbella-crime-epidemic-leaves-rural-families-frightened-in-their-homes
Cotter, A., & Beaupre, P. (2014). Police-reported sexual offences against children and youth in
Canada, 2012. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Coughlan, S., Yogis, J. A., & Cotter, C. (2013). Canadian law dictionary (7th ed.). Hauppauge,
NY: Barron’s.
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada. (2014). Backgrounder on organized crime. Retrieved from
http://www.cisc.gc.ca/media/2014/2014-08-22-eng.htm
CTV News. (2017, June 15). Canadians at risk as counterfeit goods sneak through customs.
Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadians-at-risk-as-counterfeit-goods-sneak-
through-customs-1.3460549
Dangerfield, K. (2018). Food fraud: 6 of the most commonly faked products and how to avoid
them. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4014182/food-fraud-avoiding-
fake-product/
David, J. D. (2017). Homicide in Canada, 2016. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
DeAngelo, G. (2018, June 27). CTSS empirical analysis. Presentation at the combined traffic
services Saskatchewan meeting, Regina, SK.
DeAngelo, G., & Hansen, B. (2014). Life and death in the fast lane: Police enforcement and
traffic fatalities. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 6(2), 231–257.
Dentons Canada LLP. (2018, March 16). Canada’s 2018 budget heralds introduction of deferred
prosecution agreements for corporate wrongdoing. Retrieved from
https://www.dentons.com/en/insights/alerts/2018/march/16/canadas-2018-budget-heralds-
introduction-of-deferred-prosecution-agreements-for-corporate-wrongdoing
Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. (2017). Road trauma Australia 2016
statistical summary. Canberra, Australia: Author.
Easton, S., Furness, H., & Brantingham, P. (2014). The cost of crime in Canada. Vancouver, BC:
Fraser Institute. Retrieved from https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/cost-of-crime-
in-canada.pdf
Feith, J., & Quan, D. (2018, March 1). Quebec mother who killed newborn ordered to take
pregnancy tests every six months. National Post. Retrieved from
 http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/quebecer-who-pleaded-guilty-to-infanticide-must-get-
pregnancy-tests-twice-a-year
Fitzgerald, R. T., & Carrington, P. J. (2011). Disproportionate minority contact in Canada: Police
and visible minority youth. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 53(4),
449–486.
Fleiter, J., Watson, A., Watson, B., & Siskind, V. (2015). Criminal histories of crash and non-
crash involved Queensland speeding offenders: Evidence supporting the idea that we drive as
we live. 2015 Australasian Road Safety Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland.
Francisco, J. & Chenier, C. (2007). A comparison of large urban, small urban and rural crime
rates, 2005. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Freeze, C. (2017, September 17). RCMP shelved hundreds of organized-crime cases after terror
attacks. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mounties-put-hundreds-of-files-on-hold-in-
shift-toward-anti-terrorism/article36285597/
Gardner, G. (2018, January 19). Judge rejects GM ignition switch deal for car owners. USA
Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/01/19/judge-rejects-
gm-ignition-switch-deal-car-owners/1047873001/
Goodman, M. (2015). Future crimes. Toronto, ON: Doubleday.
Government of Canada. (2018). Detailed tables for the Canadian student tobacco, alcohol and
drugs survey 2016-17. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/health-
canada/services/canadian-student-tobacco-alcohol-drugs-survey/2016-2017-supplementary-
tables.html#t19
Hamilton, C. (2018, February 14). Frustrated and helpless: Rural residents say Stanley trial
highlights crime, police response time concerns. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/stanley-verdict-again-raising-concerns-over-rural-
crime-1.4535146
Hamp-Gonsalves, D. (2019). Halifax crime statistics. Unpublished data obtained from the
researcher.
Hayman, S. (2011). Older people in Canada: Their victimization and fear of crime. Canadian
Journal on Aging, 30(3), 423–436.
Hodgkinson, T., Andresen, M. A., & Farrell, G. (2016). The decline and locational shift of
automotive theft: A local level analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice, 44(1), 49–57.
Hoekstra, G. (2018, January 15). Hundreds of millions of penalties issued by B.C. Securities
Commission going unpaid. Vancouver Sun. Retrieved from
http://vancouversun.com/business/local-business/hundreds-of-millions-of-penalties-issued-by-
b-c-securities-commission-going-unpaid
Holfeld, B., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2015). The nature and frequency of cyber bullying behaviors
and victimization experiences in young Canadian children. Canadian Journal of School
Psychology, 30(2), 116–135.
Hu, Y., Huang, S. Y., Hanner, R., Levin, J., & Lu, X. (2018). Study of fish products in Metro
Vancouver using DNA barcoding reveals fraudulent labeling. Food Control. doi:
10.1016/j.foodcont.2018.06.023
Identity Theft Resource Center. (2017). Identity theft: The aftermath 2017. Retrieved from
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_comments/2017/10/00004-141444.pdf
Insurance Bureau of Canada. (2019). Top 10 stolen vehicles. Retrieved from
http://www.ibc.ca/on/auto/theft/top-ten-stolen-cars?p=National
Kauzlarich, D., & Rothe, D. L. (2014). Crimes of the powerful. In G. Bruinsma & D. Weisburd
(Eds.), Encyclopedia of criminology and criminal justice (pp. 778–786). New York: Springer.
Kay, B. (2014, January 30). With Calgary court ruling on mom who dumped her babies, it’s
open season on unwanted infants. National Post. Retrieved from
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/barbara-kay-with-calgary-court-ruling-on-mom-who-
dumped-her-babies-its-open-season-on-unwanted-infants
Keighley, K. (2017). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2016. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Kramer, K. (2006). Unwilling mothers, unwanted babies. Vancouver, BC: University of British
Columbia Press.
Layson, G. (2018, April 19). VW’s $290M settlement with owners of 3-litre diesels gets court
OK. Automotive News Canada. Retrieved from
http://canada.autonews.com/article/20180419/CANADA/180419713/vw’s-$290m-settlement-
with-owners-of-3-litre-diesels-gets-court-ok
Linning, S. J., Andresen, M. A., Ghaseminejad, A. H., & Brantingham, P. J. (2017). Crime
seasonality across multiple jurisdictions in British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of
Criminology and Criminal Justice, 59(2), 251–280.
Macnab, A. (2018, May 22). Protection against the state: Top 10 criminal law boutiques.
Canadian Lawyer. Retrieved from https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/author/aidan-
macnab/protection-against-the-state-top-10-criminal-law-boutiques-15722/
Markusoff, J. (2018, January 11). Loblaws’ price-fixing may have cost you at least $400.
Maclean’s. Retrieved from https://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/14-years-of-
loblaws-bread-price-fixing-may-have-cost-you-at-least-400/
Maxwell, A. (2017). Adult criminal court statistics in Canada, 2015/2016. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Mays, G. L., & Ruddell, R. (2019). Making sense of criminal justice: Policies and practices (3rd
ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult criminal and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving. (2018). Alcohol and/or drugs among crash victims dying within
12 months of a crash on a public road, by jurisdiction: Canada, 2014. Retrieved from
https://madd.ca/pages/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Alcohol-and-or-Drugs-Among-Crash-
Victims-Dying-Within-12-Months2c-by-Jurisdiction-Canada2c-2014_April-202c-2018.pdf
Moulton, E. (2013). Myth and reality: Interpreting the dynamics of crime trends: Lies, damn lies
and (criminal) statistics. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 14(3), 219–
227.
Munch, C., & Silver, W. (2017). Measuring organized crime in Canada: Results of a pilot
project. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming
power and place. Vancouver, BC: Author.
Newark, S. (2013). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada: Still more questions than answers.
Ottawa, Ontario: Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Ogrodnik, L. (2010). Child and youth victims of police-reported crime, 2008. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Center for Justice Statistics.
Perreault, S. (2015). Criminal victimization in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada,
Minister of Industry. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-
x/2015001/article/14241-eng.pdf
Perreault, S. (2017). Impaired driving in Canada, 2015. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Perreault. S. (2019). Police-reported crime in rural and urban areas in the Canadian provinces,
2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Pierson, P. B., & Bucy, B. P. (2018). Trade fraud: The wild, new frontier of white collar crime.
Oregon Review of International Law, 19(1), 1–91.
Police Executive Research Forum. (2018). The changing nature of crime and criminal
investigations. Washington, DC: Author.
Pontell, H. N., Black, W. K., & Geis, G. (2014). Too big to fail, too powerful to jail? On the
absence of criminal prosecutions after the 2008 financial meltdown. Crime, Law, and Social
Change, 61(1), 1–13.
Price Waterhouse Coopers. (2018). pwc’s 2018 global economic crime survey, Canadian
supplement. Toronto, ON: Author.
Reiman, J., & Leighton, P. (2017). The rich get richer and the poor get prison. New York:
Pearson.
Riddell, J., Pepler, D., & Craig, W. (2018). Cyberbullying in Canada. In A. C. Baldry, C. Blaya,
& D. P. Farrington (Eds.) International perspectives on cyberbullying (pp. 39–64). London:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Road Safety Education. (2015, July). Can we really make a difference? RSE Newsletter, 26.
Retrieved from http://www.rse.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Newsletter-2015-2.pdf
Robertson, G., & Cardoso, T. (2018, March 28). Ontario beefs up securities enforcement in
budget, gives OSC new tools. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-beefs-up-securities-enforcement-in-
budget-gives-osc-new-tools/
Schmidt, C. (2018, January 19). Operation cold start coaches hundreds of drivers about auto theft
prevention. CTV News. Retrieved from https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/operation-cold-start-coaches-
hundreds-of-drivers-about-auto-theft-prevention-1.3767083
Schneider, S. (2018). Canadian organized crime. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars Press.
Scott, H. (2015). Victims of crime. In N. Boyd (Ed.), Understanding crime in Canada (pp. 97–
114). Toronto, ON: Emond Montgomery.
South Kesteven District Council. (2019). What is anti-social behaviour? Retrieved from
http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8355
Statistics Canada. (2018a). Crowdsourced cannabis prices, February, 2018. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/180309/dq180309e-eng.htm
Statistics Canada. (2018b). Evaluation of the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics program
(2011/2012 to 2015/2016). Ottawa, ON: Author.
Statistics Canada. (2018c). Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations [Table 35-10-
0177-01]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017701
Statistics Canada. (2019). StatsCannabis data availability: Crowdsourced cannabis prices, fourth
quarter 2018. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Stow, N., & Akbar, J. (2018, December 19). London murder rate 2018 – how many murders
have there been so far and which city has the world’s highest murder rate? The Sun. Retrieved
from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5963434/london-murder-rate-2018-city-highest-rate/
Transport Canada. (2019). Canadian motor vehicle traffic collision statistics, 2017. Ottawa, ON:
Author.
Tremblay, P., & Sauvetre, N. (2014). “Jockeys and joyriders” revisited: Young offenders’
involvement in motor vehicle thefts in the province of Quebec. Canadian Journal of
Criminology and Criminal Justice, 56(2), 167–183.
Wallace, M., Turner, J., Matarazzo, A., & Babyak, C. (2009). Measuring crime in Canada:
Introducing the crime severity index and improvements to the uniform crime reporting survey.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Waller, I. (2014). Smarter crime control: A guide to a safer future for citizens, communities, and
politicians. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Will, S., Handelman, S., & Brotherton, D.C. (2013). How they got away with it: White collar
criminals and the financial meltdown. New York: Columbia University Press.
Willett, T. C. (1964/2001). Criminal on the road: A study of serious motoring offences and those
who commit them. London: Routledge.
Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund. (2014). R. v. LB. (Ontario Court of Appeal)
Judgment March 2, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.leaf.ca/cases/r-v-l-b-ontario-court-of-
appeal/
World Health Organization. (2015). Global status report on road safety, 2015. Geneva,
Switzerland: Author.

Chapter 3
Adam, B. A. (2014, January 2). Sentencing circles fall out of favour. StarPhoenix (Saskatoon), p.
A1.
Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre. (2015). What does access to justice mean for the
homeless? Retrieved from http://www.aclrc.com/homelessness-and-access-to-justice/
Anderson, D. A. (2002). The deterrence hypothesis and picking pockets at the pickpocket’s
hanging. American Law and Economics Review, 4(2), 295–313.
Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada. (2018). National work injury, disease
and fatality statistics. Toronto, ON: Author.
Bala, N. (1997). Young offenders law. Concord, ON: Irwin Law.
Bala, N., & Carrington, P. J. (2016). The changing nature of youth justice: Assessing the impact
of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. In J. V. Roberts & M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice
in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 265–277). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Beare, M. E., & Des Rosiers, N. (2015). Introduction. In M. E. Beare, N. Des Rosiers, & A. C.
Deshman (Eds.), Putting the state on trial: The policing of protest during the G20 summit (pp.
3–22), Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Beattie, S., David, J. D., & Roy, J. (2018). Homicide in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Bellemare, A. (2018, March 2). Stacks of tickets are “psychological weight” on marginalized
itinerants, advocates say. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/homeless-overticketed-montreal-police-1.4556351
Bittle, S. (2012). Still dying for a living: Corporate criminal liability after the Westray mine
disaster. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Blais, T. (2015, December 22). Crown appealing sentence for Edmonton man who killed Geo
Mounsef. Edmonton Sun. Retrieved from http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/12/22/crown-
appealing-sentence-for-edmonton-man-who-killed-geo-mounsef
Boyce, J. (2016). Victimization of Aboriginal people in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Bradbury, T. (2017). Man agrees to exile. The Northern Pen. Retrieved from
https://www.northernpen.ca/news/local/man-agrees-to-exile-25530/
Braithwaite, J. (2018). Minimally sufficient deterrence. Crime and Justice, 47(1), 69–118.
Britto, S. (2015, October 22). Justice in prime time: Media and crime related public perceptions.
Presented at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan.
Brzozowski, J., Taylor-Butts, A., & Johnson, S. (2006). Victimization and offending among the
Aboriginal population in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2018). Imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners under the
jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities per 100,000 US residents. Retrieved
from http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=nps
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2019). Corrections statistical analysis tool (CSAT) – prisoners.
Retrieved from https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=nps
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2012, May 8). Westray remembered: Explosion killed 26
NS coal miners in 1992. CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-
scotia/westray-remembered-explosion-killed-26-n-s-coal-miners-in-1992-1.1240122
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2015, January 24). Geo Mounsef’s mother condemns
assault of accused drunk driver Richard Suter. CBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/geo-mounsef-s-mother-condemns-assault-of-
accused-drunk-driver-richard-suter-1.2930734
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2016, March 2). Homeless man’s $110K in fines sign of
“systemic” issue with police, advocate says. CBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-homeless-man-100k-fines-1.3473707
Canadian Council of Academies. (2019). The expert panel on policing in Indigenous
communities. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Canadian Press. (2014, May 21). “Gentle” Quebec man who slapped teen daughter to death after
she failed to finish chores gets 60 days in jail. National Post. Retrieved from
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/quebec-man-who-slapped-his-13-year-old-daughter-so-
hard-she-died-sentenced-to-60-days-in-jail
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime. (2011). Restorative justice in Canada: What
victims should know. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Cesaroni, C., Grol, C., & Fredericks, K. (2018). Overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in
Canada’s criminal justice system: Perspectives of Indigenous young people. Australian and
New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 52(1), 111–128.
Cesaroni, C., & Pelvin, H. (2016). Young people doing time: Consequences of custody for young
offenders. In J. V. Roberts & M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader
(5th ed.) (pp. 278–292). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Cole, S. A., & Dioso-Villa, R. (2011). Should judges worry about the “CSI effect”? Court
Review, 47(1), 20–31.
Collins, M. E., & Loughran, T. A. (2017). Rational choice theory, heuristics, and biases. In W.
Bernasco, J. van Gelder, & H. Elffers (Eds.) The Oxford handbook of offender decision
making (pp. 10–23), New York: Oxford University Press.
Corrado, R. R., Kuehn, S., & Margaritescu, I. (2014). Policy issues regarding the
overrepresentation of incarcerated Aboriginal young offenders in a Canadian context. Youth
Justice, 14(1), 40–62.
Correctional Service of Canada. (2014a). Corrections in Canada: A historical timeline. Retrieved
from http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/about-us/006-2000-eng.shtml
Correctional Service of Canada. (2014b). History of penitentiaries in Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/about-us/006-1006-eng.shtml
Courtemanche, Z. T. (2015). The Restorative Justice Act: An enhancement to justice in Manitoba?
Manitoba Law Journal, 38(2), 1–16.
Death Penalty Information Center. (2019, March 12). Facts about the Death Penalty.
Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf
Department of Justice. (2015). Youth justice: Conference and committees. Retrieved from
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/sheets-feuillets/pdf/commi-comit.pdf
Desjarlais, B. (2001, Sept. 20). Criminal code: Private members’ business. 37th Parliament, 1st
session. Hansard, 82.
Douai, A., & Perry, B. (2018). A different lens? How ethnic minority media cover crime.
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 60(1), 96–21.
Fagan, L. (2017, August 23). Indigenous peoples courts: How they can help offenders. CBC
News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/how-indigenous-peoples-court-
help-offenders-1.4258203
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2018). Crime in the United States, 2017. Washington, DC:
Author.
First Nations Information Governance Centre. (2018). The First Nations regional health survey.
Retrieved from
http://fnigc.ca/sites/default/files/docs/fnigc_rhs_phase_3_national_report_vol_1_en_final_sm_
1.pdf
Gamson, W. A., Croteau, D., Hoynes, W., & Sasson, T. (1992). Media images and the social
construction of reality. Annual Review of Sociology, 18, 373–93.
Gartner, R. (2011). Sex, gender and crime. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Oxford handbook of crime and
criminal justice (pp. 348–384). New York: Oxford University Press.
Greenwood, P.W., & Abrahamse, A. (1982). Selective incapacitation. Santa Monica, CA: RAND
Corporation.
Huey, L. (2010). “I’ve seen this on CSI”: Criminal investigators’ perceptions about the
management of public expectations in the field. Crime, Media, Culture: An International
Journal, 6(1), 49–68.
Huey, L. (2015). Understanding critical criminology. In N. Boyd (Ed.), Understanding crime in
Canada: An introduction to criminology (pp. 193–212). Toronto, ON: Emond Montgomery
Publications.
Johnson, J. (2016, June 17). Man who kidnapped, tortured Richard Suter to be sentenced in
August. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/man-who-
kidnapped-tortured-richard-suter-to-be-sentenced-in-august-1.3641571
Jones, N. A., Ruddell, R., & Winterdyk, J. (2017). Crime, political economy, and punishment: A
cross-national analysis. Bucharest University Annual Review, 16(1), 20–34.
Kappeler, V. E., & Potter, G. W. (2018). The mythology of crime and criminal justice (5th ed).
Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Kelly, J. B., & Puddister, K. (2017). Criminal justice policy during the Harper era: Private
member’s bills, penal populism, and the Criminal Code of Canada. Canadian Journal of Law
and Society, 32(3), 391–415.
Kennedy, J. L. D., Tuliao, A. P., Flower, K. N., Tibbs, J. J., & McChargue, D. E. (2018). Long-
term effectiveness of a brief restorative justice intervention. International Journal of Offender
Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 63(1), 3–17. doi: 10.1177/0306624X18779202
Lightstone, M. (2018, March 1). Restorative justice works well, but not in all cases: Ontario
judge. Halifax Today. Retrieved from https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/restorative-
justice-works-well-but-not-in-all-cases-ontario-judge-851534
Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T., & Ball, R. A. (2019). Criminological theory: Context and consequences.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lithopoulos, S. (2013, October 16). First nations policing policy/program (FNPP) update.
Presented at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan.
Lithopoulos, S., & Ruddell, R. (2016). Criminal justice and Aboriginal Canadians. In J. V.
Roberts & M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 186–
198). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
MacDonald, M. (2017, May 9). Families mark the 25th anniversary of the Westray mine disaster.
Maclean’s. Retrieved from https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/families-mark-the-25th-
anniversary-of-the-westray-mine-disaster/
Macdonald, N. (2018, March 21). Are prisons Canada’s new residential schools? University of
Regina Stapleford lecture.
McDonald, S. (2010). “Explain please!” Working with victims and restitution. Victims of Crime
Research Digest, 3, 9–14.
Malakieh, J. (2019). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Maxwell, A. (2017). Adult criminal court statistics in Canada, 2014/2015. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Maurutto, P., & Hannah-Moffat, K. (2016). Aboriginal knowledges in specialized courts:
Emerging practices in Gladue courts. Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 31(3), 451–471.
Mays, G. L., & Ruddell, R. (2019). Making sense of criminal justice: Policies and practices (3rd
ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Meng, Y. (2018). Profiling minorities: police stop and search procedures in Toronto, Canada.
Human Geographies, 11(1), 5–23.
Miedema, A. (2015, April 8). Criminal liability for OHS violations: A review of 10 years of Bill
C-45 cases. Webinar presented through Bongarde.
Miladinovic, Z. (2016). Youth court statistics, 2014/2015. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics.
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult criminal and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Montreal Gazette. (2019, March 11). Crown to appeal Quebec mosque gunman Alexandre
Bissonnette’s sentence. Montreal Gazette. Retrieved from
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/crown-to-appeal-quebec-mosque-gunman-
alexandre-bissonnettes-sentence
Nagin, D. S. (2013). Deterrence in the twenty-first century. Crime and Justice, 42(1), 199–263.
Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service. (2013). National flagging system for high risk, violent
offenders. Halifax, NS: Author.
Packer, H. (1968). The limits of the criminal sanction. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Parrott, S., & Titcomb Parrott, C. (2015). US television’s “mean world” for white women: The
portrayal of gender and race on fictional crime dramas. Sex Roles, 73(1), 70–82.
Perreault, S. (2014). Admissions to adult correctional services in Canada, 2011/2012. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Perreault, S. (2015). Criminal victimization in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada,
Minister of Industry.
Peterson, J., Sommers, I., Baskin, D., & Johnson, D. (2010). The role and impact of forensic
evidence in the criminal justice process. Los Angeles: California State University, Los
Angeles.
Polischuk, H. (2015, November 12). Regina man approaching 100 break and enters sentenced to
32 months in latest court appearance. Leader Post. Retrieved from
http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Regina+approaching+break+enters+sentenced+months+latest
+court+appearance/11489643/story.html
Province of Nova Scotia. (1997). The Westray story: A predictable path to disaster: Report of the
Westray mine public inquiry, Justice K. Peter Richard, Commissioner. Halifax, NS: Author.
Public Safety Canada. (2017). Corrections and conditional release statistical overview, 2016.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Public Safety Canada. (2018). Corrections and conditional release statistical overview, 2017.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Reale, K., Beauregard, E., & Martineau, M. (2017). Is investigative awareness a distinctive
feature of sexual sadism? Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Published online ahead of print.
doi: 10.1177/0886260517698824
Reiman, J., & Leighton, P. (2017). The rich get richer and the poor get prison. New York:
Pearson.
Revell, P. (2018, June 9). Southern Alberta man up to 97 charges after another 25 added.
Medicine Hat News. Retrieved from https://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-
news/2018/06/09/southern-alberta-man-up-to-97-charges-after-another-25-added/
Rhodes, B. (2015, September 8). Nova Scotia criminals failing to make restitution in most cases.
CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-
criminals-failing-to-make-restitution-in-most-cases-1.3216482
Roberts, J. V. (2016). Criminal justice in Canada: An overview. In J. V. Roberts and M. G.
Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 2–15). Toronto, ON:
Nelson.
Rocque, M., Posick, C., Haen Marshall, I., & Piquero, A. R. (2015). A comparative, cross-
national criminal career analysis. European Journal of Criminology, 12(4), 400–419.
Romain, D. M., & Freiburger, T. L. (2016). Chivalry revisited: Gender, race/ethnicity, and offense
type on domestic violence charge reduction. Feminist Criminology, 11(2), 191–222.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2015). Missing and murdered Aboriginal women: 2015 update
to the national operational review. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2017a). Forensic science and identification services key
performance indicators. Retrieved from http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/forensic-science-and-
identification-services-key-performance-indicators
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2017b). The national DNA data bank of Canada. Ottawa, ON:
Author.
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. (1996). Bridging the cultural divide: A report on
Aboriginal peoples and criminal justice in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Supply and Services Canada.
Rugge, T., & Cormier, R. (2013). Restorative justice in cases of serious crime: An evaluation. In
E. Elliott & R. M Gordon (Eds.). New directions in restorative justice (pp. 266–277). New
York: Willan.
Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice. (2018). Sentencing circles. Personal communication.
Savage, L. (2019). Female offenders in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Savignac, J., & Dunbar, L. (2015). Guide for selecting an effective crime prevention program.
Ottawa, ON: Public Safety Canada.
Serani, D. (2008). If it bleeds, it leads: The clinical implications of fear-based programming in
news media. Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, 24(4), 240–250.
Smith, L. (2018, April 4). Prolific offender takes the bait. RCMP, Kelowna detachment Press
Release. Retrieved from http://bc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?
siteNodeId=2087&languageId=1&contentId=54935
Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights Evidence. (2018). Testimony of Renee Acoby.
Senate of Canada. Retrieved from
https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/Committee/421/RIDR/54206-e
Statistics Canada. (2018). Census profile, 2016 (Canada). Retrieved from
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/start
Statistics Canada. (2019a). Average counts of adults in provincial and territorial corrections
programs [Table 35-10-0154-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510015401
Statistics Canada. (2019b). Average counts of young persons in provincial and territorial
correctional services [Table 35-10-0003-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510000301
Statistics Canada. (2019c). Youth admissions to correctional services, by Aboriginal identity and
sex [Table 35-10-0007-01]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?
pid=3510000701
Tonry, M. H. (2013). “Nothing” works: Sentencing “reform” in Canada and the United States.
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 55(4), 465–480.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the truth, reconciling for
the future. Ottawa, ON: Author.
von Hirsch, A. (1994). Proportionality in the philosophy of punishment. Crime and Justice, 16,
55–98.
Walmsley, R. (2016). World prison population list (11th ed.). London: Institute for Criminal
Policy Research.
Wane, N. (2013). African Canadian women and the criminal justice system. In N. Wane, J. Jagire,
& Z. Murad (Eds.), Ruptures: Anti-colonial & anti-racist feminist theorizing (pp. 107–125).
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2018). Benefit-cost results. Retrieved from
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/BenefitCost
Wolfgang, M. & Tracy, P. E. (1982). The 1945 and 1958 birth cohorts: A comparison of the
prevalence, incidence, and severity of delinquent behavior. University of Philadelphia, PA:
Center for Studies in Criminology and Criminal Law.
Yarr, K. (2018, March 12). “Naive approach” or “having an impact”? Why P.E.I. jails drunk
drivers. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-
incarcerating-drunk-drivers-1.4572392
Zehr, H. (2014). The little book of restorative justice. New York: Good Books.

Chapter 4
Allen, M. (2014). Victim services in Canada, 2011/2012. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Allen, M. (2018). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Anastakis, D. (2015). Death in the peaceable kingdom: Canadian history since 1867 through
murder, execution, assassination, and suicide. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
Anderson, M. (2011). In thrall to political change: Police and gendarmerie in France. Oxford,
UK: Oxford University Press.
Auditor General of Canada. (2014). First nations policing program, Public Safety Canada.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Barghout, C. (2018, February 23). Tina Fontaine met social workers, police and health care
workers—but no one kept her safe. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/tina-fontaine-system-failed-1.4548314
Barnsley, P. (2002). Aboriginal policing underfunded from the start. Windspeaker, 20(5), n.p.
Baxter, M. (2018, February 2). Small towns can’t afford independent policing, but don’t know
where to turn. TVO. Retrieved from https://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/small-towns-cant-
afford-independent-policing-but-dont-know-where-to-turn
Beattie, S., David, J. D., & Roy, J. (2018). Homicide in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Bradford, B., & Tiratelli, M. (2019). Does stop and search reduce crime? London: Centre for
Crime and Justice Studies.
Broadbeck, T. (2018, February 22). Tina Fontaine murder case never had a chance. Winnipeg
Sun. Retrieved from https://winnipegsun.com/opinion/columnists/tina-fontaine-murder-case-
never-had-a-chance
Brunton-Smith, I., & Bullock, K. (2018). Patterns and drivers of co-production in neighbourhood
watch in England and Wales: From neo-liberalism to new localism. British Journal of
Criminology, 59(1), 85–106. doi:10.1093/bjc/azy012
Canadian Council of Academies. (2019). The expert panel on policing in Indigenous
communities. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Canadian Press. (2018, January 31). Cause of Tina Fontaine’s death could not be determined,
forensic pathologist testifies. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/cause-of-tina-fontaines-death-could-not-be-
determined-forensic-pathologist-testifies/article37810077/
Carmichael, J. T., & Kent, S. L. (2015a). The use of lethal force by Canadian police officers:
Assessing the influence of female police officers and minority threat explanations on police
shootings across large cities. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 40(4), 703–721.
Carmichael, J. T., & Kent, S. L. (2015b). Structural determinants of municipal police force size in
large cities across Canada: Assessing the applicability of ethnic threat theories in the Canadian
context. International Criminal Justice Review, 25(3), 263–280.
City of Toronto. (2018). Budget.
Clairmont, D. (2013). Canada: Aboriginal. In M. K. Nalla & G. R. Newman (Eds.), Community
policing in Indigenous communities (pp. 83–89). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Comack, E. (2012). Racialized policing: Aboriginal people’s encounters with the police.
Winnipeg, MB: Fernwood.
Conor, P. (2018). Police resources in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Conor, P., Robson, J., & Marcellus, S. (2019). Police resources in Canada, 2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Corsianos, M. (2009). Policing and gendered justice: Examining the possibilities. Toronto, ON:
University of Toronto Press.
Dawson, M., & Hotton, T. (2014). Police charging practices for incidents of intimate partner
violence in Canada. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 51(5), 655–683.
DeAngelo, G. (2018). Combined traffic services Saskatchewan (CTSS): Preliminary quantitative
results of Phase I. Regina, SK: Collaborative Centre for Justice & Safety.
de Finney, S. (2017). Indigenous girls’ resilience in settler states: Honouring body and land
sovereignty. Agenda, 31(2), 10–21.
de Lint, W. (2004). Public order policing in Canada: An analysis of operations in recent high
stakes events. Retrieved from
http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/e_records/ipperwash/policy_part/research/pdf/deLint.pdf
Dhillon, S. (2018, June 15). Vancouver police department’s use of carding disproportionately
targets Indigenous people. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-vancouver-police-
departments-use-of-carding-disproportionately/
Dobrin, A. (2006). Professional and community oriented policing: The Mayberry model. Journal
of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 13(1), 19–28.
Dolski, M. (2013). Firefighters describe “colossal task” of battling “unprecedented” fire that
engulfed downtown Lac-Megantic. National Post. Retrieved from
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/14/firefighters-describe-colossal-task-of-battling-
unprecedented-fire-that-engulfed-downtown-lac-megantic/
Doolittle, R. (2017, February 3). Why police dismiss 1 in 5 sexual assault claims as baseless. The
Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/unfounded-sexual-assault-canada-
main/article33891309/
Doucette, C. (2018, September 29). Killing carding: The deadly toll of putting street checks on
ice. Toronto Sun. Retrieved from https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/killing-carding-the-
deadly-toll-of-putting-street-checks-on-ice
Eurostat. (2019). Personnel in the criminal justice system by sex – number and rate for the
relevant sex group. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-
datasets/product?code=crim_just_job
Fair Change Community Legal Clinic. (2018, May 28). Evidence filed in Charter challenge of
Safe Streets Act alleges infringements on Ontario’s most vulnerable people [Press
release].Retrieved from
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5574f20ce4b0156262b571ed/t/5b15d02baa4a99890c42
08bf/1528156207645/Fair+Change+Press+Release+-+May+28+2018+%281%29.pdf
Fanning, S. (2012). Forging a frontier: Social capital and Canada’s Mounted Police, 1867–1914.
American Review of Canadian Studies, 42(4), 515–529.
Finegan, S. (2013). Watching the watchers: The growing privatization of criminal law
enforcement and the need for limits on neighborhood watch associations. University of
Massachusetts Law Review, 8(1), 88–134.
Gillis, A. R. (1989). Crime and state surveillance in nineteenth-century France. American Journal
of Sociology, 95(2), 307–341.
Griffiths, C. T., Montgomery, R., & Murphy, J. J. (2018). City of Edmonton street checks policy
and practice review. Retrieved from https://edmontonpolicecommission.com/wp-
content/uploads/2019/02/EPS-Street-Check-Study-Executive-Summary-June-26.pdf
Hayes, M., & Gray, J. (2018, June 28). Toronto area chief faults new Ontario restrictions on
carding for rise in violent crime. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-toronto-area-police-chief-faults-new-ontario-
restrictions-on-carding/
Heyer, G. den. (2018, March 12). Book review [Review of the book The end of policing, by A.
Vitale.] Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice. Retrieved from
https://academic.oup.com/policing/advance-article/doi/10.1093/police/pay019/4930783
International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2014). The death of community policing.
Alexandria, VA: Author.
Jones, N. A., Ruddell, R., Nestor, R., Quinn, K., & Phillips, B. (2014). First Nations policing: A
review of the literature. Regina, SK: Collaborative Centre for Justice and Safety.
Kang, J. H. (2015). Participation in the community social control, the neighborhood watch
groups: Individual-and neighborhood-related factors. Crime & Delinquency, 61(1), 188–212.
Kiedrowski, J., Jones, N. A., & Ruddell, R. (2017). “Set up to fail?” An analysis of self-
administered Indigenous police services in Canada. Police Practice and Research: An
International Journal, 18(6), 584–598.
Leighton, B. N. (2016). Community policing in Canada: The broad blue line. In J. V. Roberts &
M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 128–141).
Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Lithopoulos, S. (2013, October 16). First nations policing policy/program (FNPP) update.
Presented at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan.
Lithopoulos, S. (2014). Municipal police amalgamation. Unpublished paper (contains data from
Statistics Canada, CANSIM tables 254-004 and 254-006).
Loader, I. (2016). In search of civic policing: Recasting the “Peelian” principles. Criminal Law
and Philosophy, 10(3), 427–440.
McClearn, M., Freeze, C., & Dhillon, S. (2018, March 7). The RCMP’s thin red line: Is contract
policing unsustainable? The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/rcmp-contract-policing-
investigation/article38085153/
McGahan, P., & Thomson, A. (2003). Valley policing: The pre-modern era. In A. Thomson, D.
Clairmont, & L. Clairmont (Eds.), Policing the valley: Small town and rural policing in Nova
Scotia (pp. 17–41). Halifax, NS: Dalhousie University Atlantic Institute of Criminology.
Macdonald, W. A. (2017, December 21). The rule of law still matters. The Globe and Mail.
Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-rule-of-law-still-
matters/article37403020/
Maguire, S., & Dyke, L., (2012). Survey results: CACP professionalism in policing research
project. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth. (2019). A place where it feels like home: The story of
Tina Fontaine. Winnipeg, MB: Author.
Marchand, G. (2017, November 3). Online neighbourhood watch groups helpful, but must tread
carefully. CTV News. Retrieved from https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/online-neighbourhood-
watch-groups-helpful-but-must-tread-carefully-police-1.3663406
Marquis, G. (2016). The vigilant eye: Policing Canada from 1867 to 9/11. Winnipeg, MB:
Fernwood Publishing.
Mathieu, E. (2018, May 29). Plight of panhandlers only made worse by fines, legal clinic says.
Toronto Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/28/plight-of-
panhandlers-only-made-worse-by-fines-legal-clinic-says.html
May, K. (2018, January 31). “There was pressure to solve this:” International attention affected
how police investigated Fontaine murder, court told. Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved from
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/tina-fontaines-cause-of-death-unknown-pathologist-
471973853.html
Meares, T. L. (2017). Policing: A public good gone bad. Boston Review. Retrieved from
https://bostonreview.net/law-justice/tracey-l-meares-policing-public-good-gone-bad
Meng, Y. (2017). Profiling minorities: Police stop and search practices in Toronto, Canada.
Human Geographies, 11(1), 5–23.
Mohamed, B., & Walters, R. (2017, June 30). Opinion: Police carding is nothing but racial
profiling. Edmonton Journal. Retrieved from
https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-carding-black-or-indigenous-people-
is-nothing-but-racial-profiling
Molnar, A., Whelan, C., & Boyle, P. J. (2019). Securing the Brisbane 2014 G20 in the wake of
the Toronto G20: “Failure-inspired” learning in public order policing. British Journal of
Criminology, 59(1), 107–125.
Mugford, R. (2018). First Nations police services. Unpublished data. Ottawa, ON: Public Safety
Canada.
National Academies of Science. (2018). Proactive policing: Effects on crime and communities.
Washington DC: National Academies Press.
Ngo, H. V., Neote, K., Cala, C., Antonio, M., & Hickey, J. (2018). The experience of ethno-
cultural members with racial profiling. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work,
27(3), 253–270.
Nicholson, K. (2018, February 22). “I am not a saint”: What Raymond Cormier revealed to CBC
about the case against him in Tina Fontaine’s death. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/raymond-cormier-conversation-with-cbc-
1.4546319
Nilson, C. (2018). Community safety and well-being. Saskatoon, SK: Community Safety
Knowledge Alliance.
O’Grady, B., Gaetz, S., & Buccieri, K. (2013). Tickets … and more tickets: A case study of the
enforcement of the Ontario Safe Streets Act. Canadian Public Policy, 39(4), 541–558.
Ottawa Police Service. (2018). Annual report, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Page, J. (2018, July 4). 5 years after Lac-Megantic tragedy, residents still waiting to feel safe.
CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lac-megantic-five-years-
rail-safety-questions-remain-1.4733803
Police Association of Ontario. (2014). A history of the PAO, 1933–1997. Retrieved from
https://www.pao.ca/public/index.php?ref=history
Press, J., & Blatchford, A. (2015). New LacsmallMegantic charges laid by federal government.
Canadian Press. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/06/22/federal-
government-lays-n_n_7637418.html
Robertson, N. (2012). Policing: Fundamental principles in a Canadian context. Canadian Public
Administration, 55(3), 343–363.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2018). RCMP “F” division calls for service, 2012 to 2017.
Unpublished data obtained from the RCMP.
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. (2018). Corporate plan: 2018-2021. St. John’s, NL: Author.
Ruddell, R. (2017). Policing rural Canada: Police, partners, and public safety. Whitby, ON: de
Sitter Publications.
Ruddell, R., & Jones, N. A. (2018, February 9). Policing the “middle of nowhere”: Officer
working strategies in isolated communities. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice.
Published online ahead of print at https://academic.oup.com/policing/advance-
article/doi/10.1093/police/pay007/4850523
Ruddell, R., Lithopoulos, S., & Jones, N.A. (2015). Crime, costs, and well-being: Policing
Canadian Aboriginal Communities. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies &
Management.
Ruddell, R., & Thomas, M. O. (2009). Does politics matter: Cross-national correlates of police
strength. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 32(4), 654–
674.
Ruddell, R. & Thomas, M. O. (2015). Determinants of police strength in Canadian cities:
Assessing the impact of minority threat. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal
Justice, 57(2), 215–252.
Schulenberg, J. (2014). Systematic social observation of police decision-making: The process,
logistics, and challenges in a Canadian context. Quality & Quantity, 48(1), 297–315.
Shaw, D. (2019, March 4). Ten charts on the rise of knife crime in England and Wales. BBC.
Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42749089
Sheptycki, J. (2017). Contemporary reflections on the history of Canadian policing [Review of
the book The vigilant eye: Policing Canada from 1867 to 9/11, by G. Marquis]. Police
Practice and Research, 18(6), 624–629.
Smith, K. (2018, January 1). We were wrong about stop-and-frisk. National Review. Retrieved
from https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/01/new-york-city-stop-and-frisk-crime-decline-
conservatives-wrong/
South Kesteven District Council. (2019). What is anti-social behaviour? Retrieved from
http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8355
Tanovich, D. M. (2006). The colour of justice: Policing race in Canada. Toronto: Irwin Law.
Thomson, A. (2003). The transformation of valley policing. In A. Thomson, D. Clairmont, & L.
Clairmont (Eds.), Policing the valley: Small town and rural policing in Nova Scotia (pp. 42–
71). Halifax, NS: Dalhousie University Atlantic Institute of Criminology.
Thomson, A., & Clairmont, D. (2013). Canada: The Annapolis Valley. In M. K. Nalla & G. R.
Newman (Eds.), Community policing in Indigenous communities (pp. 91–98). Boca Raton, FL:
CRC Press.
Tulloch, M. H. (2018). Report of the independent street checks review. Toronto, ON: Queen’s
Printer for Ontario.
van Steden, R., Miltenburg, E., & Boutellier, H. (2014). 101 things to do: Unravelling and
interpreting community policing. Policing, 8(2), 144–153.
Waller, I. (2014). Smarter crime control: A guide to a safer future for citizens, communities, and
politicians. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Warnica, R. (2015, April 29). Toronto police chief won’t abolish controversial practice of carding:
“There will be an increase in crime.” National Post. Retrieved from
http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/torontos-new-police-chief-wont-abolish-controversial-
practice-of-carding-there-will-be-an-increase-in-crime
White, E. (2018, April 25). Espanola town council votes to disband local police force and hire
OPP. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/espanola-police-
opp-1.4634334

Chapter 5
Alberton, A. M., & Gorey, K. M. (2018). Contact is a stronger predictor of attitudes toward police
than race: a state-of-the-art review. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies &
Management, 41(1), 2–23.
Allen, G., & Jackson, L. (2018). Police service strength. London: UK Parliament, House of
Commons Library.
Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada. (2019). National work injury/disease
statistics program. Toronto, ON: Author.
Australian Federal Police. (2018). AFP staff statistics. Retrieved from
https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/facts-and-stats/afp-staff-statistics
Bayley, D. H., & Nixon, C. (2010). The changing environment for policing, 1985–2008.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School.
Beattie, S., David, J. D., & Roy, J. (2018). Homicide in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Berman, P. (2018, June 18). Nova Scotia’s police watchdog ‘spread too thin.’ CBC News.
Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-police-watchdog-
spread-thin-need-more-investigators-1.4711366
Bikos, L. J. (2016). “I took the blue pill”: The effect of the hegemonic masculine police culture
on Canadian policewomen’s identities. MA Research Paper 7, University of Western Ontario.
Boivin, R., & Obartel, P. (2017). Visitor inflows and police use of force in a Canadian city.
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 59(3), 373–396.
Braga, A., A., Sousa, W. H., Coldren, J. R., & Rodriguez, D. (2018). The effects of body-worn
cameras on police activity and police-citizen encounters: A randomized controlled trial.
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 108(3), 511–538.
Bud, T. K. (2016). The risk and risks of police body-worn cameras in Canada. Surveillance &
Society, 14(1), 117–123
Bueckert, K. (2019, January 4). Nine police suicides prompt review from Ontario’s chief coroner.
CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/ontario-police-
officer-suicides-chief-coroner-expert-panel-1.4966154
Campeau, H. (2015). Making sense of police oversight. British Journal of Criminology, 55(4),
669–687.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2017, September 29). RCMP failed to provide equipment,
training in Moncton shootings, judge says. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/rcmp-labour-code-trial-moncton-shooting-
1.4312673
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018a, April 24). Officer praised after taking down Toronto
van attack suspect without gunfire. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/officer-praised-taking-van-attack-suspect-custody-
peaceful-1.4632661
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018b, June 14). Lisa Dudley murder inquest recommends
better follow-up in cases of potentially ‘grievous’ injuries. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lisa-dudley-murder-inquest-1.4707271
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2019, February 19). Attorney General announces major
changes to Ontario’s police oversight system. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-attorney-general-news-conference-1.5024326
Canadian Civil Liberties Association. (2016, April 19). Stingrays: It’s time for transparency.
Retrieved from https://ccla.org/stingrays-its-time-for-transparency/
Canadian Police and Peace Officer’s Memorial. (2018). Honour roll. Retrieved from
https://www.thememorial.ca/memorial/index/honourroll
Cao, L. (2011). Visible minorities and confidence in the police. Canadian Journal of
Criminology and Criminal Justice, 53(1), 1–26.
Cao, L. (2014). Aboriginal people and confidence in the police. Canadian Journal of
Criminology and Criminal Justice, 56(5), 499–525.
Carleton, R. N., Afifi, T. O., Turner, S., Taillieu, T., Duranceau, S., LeBouthillier, D. M., …
Asmundson, G. J. G. (2018a). Mental health disorder symptoms among public safety
personnel in Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 63(1), 54–64.
Carleton, R. N., Afifi, T. O., Turner, S., Taillieu, T., LeBouthillier, D. M., Duranceau, S., …
Asmundson, G. J. G. (2018b). Suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts among public safety
personnel in Canada. Canadian Psychology, 59(3), 220–231. doi: 10.1037/cap0000136
Chrismas, R. (2013). Canadian policing in the 21st century. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s
University Press.
Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP. (2018). Annual report 2017–2018.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Clark, M., Davidson, R., Hanrahan, V., & Taylor, N. (2017). Public trust in policing: A global
search for the genetic code to inform policy and practice in Canada. Journal of Community
Safety & Well-Being, 2(3), 101–111.
Conor, P. (2018). Police resources in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Conor, P., Robson, J., Marcellus, S. (2019). Police resources in Canada, 2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Cordner, G. (2017). Police culture: Individual and organizational differences in police officer
perspectives. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 40(1),
11–25.
Cordner, G. W. (2019). Police administration. New York: Routledge.
Cordner, G., & Cordner, A. M. (2011). Stuck on a plateau? Obstacles to recruitment, selection,
and retention of women police. Police Quarterly, 14(3), 207–226.
Corsianos, M. (2009). Policing and gendered justice: Examining the possibilities. Toronto, ON:
University of Toronto Press.
Cotter, A. (2015). Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey: Public
confidence in Canadian institutions. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada. (2014). Backgrounder on organized crime. Retrieved from
http://www.cisc.gc.ca/media/2014/2014-08-22-eng.htm
CTV News Vancouver. (2017, February 10). 10-year sentence for the last man convicted in
Dudley, McKay murders. Retrieved from https://bc.ctvnews.ca/10-year-sentence-for-last-man-
convicted-in-dudley-mckay-murders-1.3280104
Davis, S. (2018, January 10). Hundreds of police misconduct cases dealt with in secret.
CityNews. Retrieved from https://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/01/10/hundreds-police-misconduct-
cases-dealt-secret/
DeAngelo, G. (2018). Combined traffic services Saskatchewan (CTSS): Preliminary quantitative
results of phase I. Regina, SK: Collaborative Centre for Justice & Safety.
Dion, A. (2017, September 29). RCMP found guilty of negligence in Moncton shootings. Ottawa
Life Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.ottawalife.com/article/rcmp-found-guilty-of-
negligence-in-moncton-shootings
Duxbury, L., & Bennell, C. (2018). Assigning value to Peel Regional Police’s school resource
officer program. Ottawa, ON: Carleton University.
Duxbury, L., Bennell, C., Halinski, M., & Murphy, S. (2018). Change or be changed: Diagnosing
the readiness to change in the Canadian policing sector. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice
and Principles, 91(4), 316–338. doi: 10.1177/0032258X17740317
Duxbury, L., & Higgins, C. (2012). Caring for and about those who serve: Work-life conflict and
employee well-being within Canada’s police departments. Ottawa, ON: Sprott School of
Business.
Fasman, J. (2018). More data and surveillance are transforming justice systems. The Economist.
Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2018-05-02/justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2017). Crime in the United States, 2016. Washington, DC:
Author.
Ferdik, F., Rojek, J., & Alpert, G. P. (2013). Civilian oversight in the United States and Canada:
An overview. Police Practice and Research, 14(2), 104–116.
Germano, D. (2018, July 13). Ontario court doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear proposed class-
action lawsuit against Waterloo police. Retrieved from
https://globalnews.ca/news/4331634/ontario-superior-court-class-action-lawsuit-waterloo-
police/
Hall, C., Votova, K., & Wood, D. (2013). Prospective analysis of police use of force in four
Canadian cities: Nature of events and their outcomes. Ottawa, ON: Defence Research and
Development Canada.
Hall, R. G. (2002). A brief discussion of police culture and how it affects police responses to
internal investigations and civilian oversight. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Association for Civilian
Oversight of Law Enforcement.
Hayes, M. (2017, November 13). Police seize illicit drugs in four-year investigation as opioid
crisis grows in Canada. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rcmp-announce-major-drug-bust-with-links-
to-organized-crime-in-canada-us/article36893016/
Hogan, J., Bennell, C., & Taylor, A. (2011). The challenges of moving into middle management:
Responses from police officers. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 26(2), 100–111.
Houlihan, R., & Seglins, D. (2018a, January 31). RCMP harassment claims could hit 4,000 in
wake of #MeToo, lawyers say. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/rcmp-harassment-claims-could-hit-4-000-in-wake-of-
metoo-lawyers-say-1.4510891
Houlihan, R., & Seglins, D. (2018b, June 25). RCMP faces $1.1B lawsuit over bullying,
harassment claims dating back decades. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/rcmp-bullying-harassment-claims-lawsuit-1.4720126
Huey, L., Cyr, K., & Ricciardelli, R. (2016). Austerity policing’s imperative. International
Journal of Police Science & Management, 18(2), 133–139.
Iacobucci, F. (2014). Police encounters with people in crisis. Toronto, ON: Toronto Police
Service.
Insight West. (2016). Nurses and farmers seen as Canada’s most respected professions. Retrieved
from https://insightswest.com/news/nurses-and-farmers-seen-as-canadas-most-respected-
professions/
Insight West. (2017). Nurses, doctors and scientists are Canada’s most respected professionals.
Retrieved from https://insightswest.com/news/nurses-doctors-and-scientists-are-canadas-most-
respected-professionals/
Ipsos Reid. (2012). Life-savers, medical professionals top the list of most trusted professionals.
Retrieved from http://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/life-savers-medical-professionals-top-
list-most-trusted-professionals
Jain, H. C. (1987). Recruitment of racial minorities in Canadian police forces. Industrial
Relations, 42(4), 790–805.
Jain, H. C., Singh, P., & Agocs, C. (2000). Recruitment, selection and promotion of visible-
minority and aboriginal police officers in selected Canadian police services. Canadian Public
Administration, 42(3), 46–74.
Karp, A. (2018). Estimating global civilian-held firearms numbers. Geneva, Switzerland: Small
Arms Survey.
Khenti, A. (2014). The Canadian war on drugs: Structural violence and unequal treatment of
Black Canadians. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25(2), 190–195.
Kiedrowski, J., Ruddell, R., & Petrunik, M. (2017). Police civilianization in Canada: A mixed
methods investigation. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy,
9(2), 204–222. doi: 10.1080/10439463.2017.1281925
Langan, D., Sanders, C.B., & Gouweloos, J. (2018). Policing women’s bodies: Pregnancy,
embodiment, and gender relations in Canadian police work. Feminist Criminology. Published
online ahead of print. doi:10.1177/1557085118763083
Lord, V. (2014). Police responses in officer-involved violent deaths: Comparison of suicide by
cop and non-suicide by cop incidents. Police Quarterly, 17(1), 79–100.
Lott, J. R. (2017). Concealed carry permit holders across the United States: 2017. Crime
Prevention Research Center. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?
abstract_id=3004915
Lum, C., & Nagin, D. (2017). Reinventing American policing. Crime and Justice, 46(1), 339–
393.
McGuckin, A. (2018, April 26). Winnipeg police service working to recruit next round of cadets.
Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4169682/winnipeg-police-service-
working-to-recruit-next-round-of-cadets/
Marcoux, J., & Nicholson, K. (2018). Deadly force: Fatal encounters with police in Canada:
2000–2017. CBC News. Retrieved from https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform-
custom/deadly-force
Mays, G. L., & Ruddell, R. (2019). Making sense of criminal justice: Policies and Practices (3rd
ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Meares, T. L. (2017, August 1). Policing: A public good gone bad. Boston Review. Retrieved
from https://bostonreview.net/law-justice/tracey-l-meares-policing-public-good-gone-bad
Millie, A. (2013). The policing task and the expansion (and contraction) of British policing.
Criminology & Criminal Justice, 13(2), 143–160.
Mills, K. (2019, June 24). “I feel free” says mother of BC murder victim after daughter’s
belongings returned. Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News. Retrieved from
https://www.mapleridgenews.com/news/i-feel-free-says-mother-of-bc-murder-victim-after-
daughters-belongings-returned/
Mohandie, K., Meloy, J. R., & Collins, P. I. (2009). Suicide by cop among officer-involved
shooting cases. Journal of Forensic Science, 54(2), 456–462.
Montgomery, R., & Griffiths, C. T. (2015). The use of private security services for policing.
Ottawa, ON: Public Safety Canada.
Murphy, C., & McKenna, C. (2007). Rethinking police governance, culture and management.
Halifax, NS: Dalhousie University.
Nasser, S. (2017, November 22). Canada’s largest school board votes to end armed police
presence in schools. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/school-resource-officers-toronto-board-police-
1.4415064
National Post. (2014, October 23). Masked gunman killed after Canadian solider, Cpl. Nathan
Cirillo, fatally shot at National War Memorial. National Post. Retrieved from
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/soldier-shot-outside-of-parliament-at-national-war-
memorial-active-shooter-believed-to-be-on-the-loose
Office of the Independent Police Review Director. (2018). Annual report 2017–2018. Toronto,
ON: Author.
Oriola, T. B., Rollwagen, H., Neverson, N., & Adeyanju, C. T. (2016). Public support for
conducted energy weapons: Evidence from the 2014 Alberta survey, 58(4), 530–564.
Police Association of Ontario. (2018, March 8). Ontario’s police associations: Bill 175
disappoints police with changes that do not reflect the reality of policing in Ontario. Press
Release: Author.
Police Executive Research Forum. (2018). The changing nature of crime and criminal
investigations. Washington, DC: Author.
Police Sector Council. (2013). A guide to competency-based management in police services.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Police Sector Council. (2018). Constable competency profile. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Prenzler, T., Mihinjac, M., & Porter, L. E. (2013). Reconciling stakeholder interests in police
complaints and discipline systems. Police Practice and Research, 14(2), 155–168.
Public Safety Canada. (2012, January 25). Economics of policing. Presentation delivered to the
ministers responsible for justice and public safety. Charlottetown, PEI.
Reiner, R. (2010). The politics of the police (4th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Reuters. (2019). Factbox: U.S. communities rethinking taser use after deaths. Retrieved from
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-taser-deaths-factbox/factbox-u-s-communities-
rethinking-taser-use-after-deaths-idUSKCN1PT0ZN
Robertson, N. (2012). Policing: Fundamental principles in a Canadian context. Canadian Public
Administration, 55(3), 343–363.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2018a). Canadians’ views of RCMP policing services 2017–
2018. Retrieved from http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/canadians-views-rcmp-policing-services-
2016
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2018b). Commissioner’s mandate letter. Retrieved from
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/about-ausujet/mand-eng.htm
Roziere, B., & Walby, K. (2018). The expansion and normalization of police militarization in
Canada. Critical Criminology, 26(1), 29–48.
Ruddell, R., & Eaton, J. (2015). Reviewer’s report on the proposed honours B.A. program in
policing at Wilfrid Laurier University. Unpublished report.
Saskatchewan Police Commission. (2018). Annual report for 2017–18. Regina, SK: Author.
Sawa, T., Ivany, K., & Kelley, M. (2019, March 10). Officer down. The Fifth Estate. Retrieved
from https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/ontario-provincial-police-suicide
Schafer, J. A. & Varano, S. P. (2017). Change in police organizations: Perceptions, experiences,
and the failure to launch. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 33(4), 392–410.
Schneider, S. (2018). Canadian organized crime. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars Press.
Special Investigations Unit. (2018). Annual Report, 2017. Toronto, ON: Author.
Sprott, J. B., & Doob, A. N. (2014). Confidence in the police: Variation across groups classified
as visible minorities. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 56(3), 367–379.
Statistics Canada. (2018a). Aboriginal peoples highlight tables, 2016 census. Retrieved from
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/abo-aut/index-eng.cfm
Statistics Canada. (2018b). Homicide victims and persons accused of homicide by age group and
sex [Table 35-10-0070-01]. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?
pid=3510007001
Statistics Canada. (2018c). Immigration and ethnocultural diversity highlight tables, 2016.
Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-
fst/imm/index-eng.cfm
Statistics Canada. (2018d). Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, Canada,
provinces, territories and census metropolitan areas [(Table 35-10-0177-01)]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017701
Statistics Canada. (2018e). Labour statistics consistent with the system of national accounts by
job category and industry [Table 36-10-0489-01]. Retrieved from
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610048901
Stone, L. (2017, June 30). RCMP’s Bob Paulson sounds alarm on organized crime in exit
interview. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/rcmps-bob-paulson-sounds-alarm-on-
organized-crime-in-exit-interview/article35507580/
Tonry, M. (2017). From policing to parole: Reconfiguring American criminal justice. Crime and
Justice, 46(1), 1–25.
Toronto Police Service. (2016). Aboriginal Peacekeeping Unit. Retrieved from
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/community/aboriginal.php
Transport Canada. (2019). Canadian motor vehicle traffic collision statistics, 2017. Retrieved
from https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/canadian-motor-vehicle-traffic-collision-
statistics-2017.html
Tutton, M. (2017, July 10). Single Atlantic police watchdog proposed, though questions raised
on mandate. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/single-atlantic-police-watchdog-proposed-
though-questions-raised-on-mandate/article35648698/
Tyler, T. R. (2006). Why people obey the law. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Underwood, C. (2018, November 21). Calgary’s 1st female police chief says same problems
plague force 23 years later. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/christine-silverberg-calgary-police-1.4914068
Valiante, G. (2019, February 10). “Not ready for prime time”: Montreal rejects body cameras for
police officers. The National Post. Retrieved from https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-
pmn/canada-news-pmn/not-ready-for-prime-time-montreal-rejects-body-cameras-for-police-
officers
Waby, M. (2016). Scenes from the life of a police officer. In J. V. Roberts & M. G. Grossman
(Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 41–50). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Washington Post. (2018). Fatal force [2017 database of police shootings]. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2017/
Wilson, J. Q. (1968). Varieties of police behavior: The management of law and order in eight
communities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Winnipeg Police Service. (2019). Salary level. Retrieved from
https://www.winnipeg.ca/police/policerecruiting/officer/benefits.aspx
Wittmann, N. (2018). Independent review of use of force in the Calgary police service. Retrieved
from http://www.calgary.ca/cps/Pages/Use-of-Force-Review.aspx
Woodward, J. (2016, September 6). Guilty plea in 2008 murders of Dudley, McKay in Mission.
CTV News Vancouver. Retrieved from https://bc.ctvnews.ca/guilty-plea-in-2008-murders-of-
dudley-mckay-in-mission-1.3060196
Zhao, J., & Hassell, K. D. (2005). Policing styles and organizational priorities: Retesting Wilson’s
theory of local political culture. Police Quarterly, 8(4), 411–430.

Chapter 6
Allen, M. (2018). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Armstrong, A. (2019). Police-reported hate crime in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics.
Azpiri, J., & Daya, R. (2018, January 16). RCMP spent almost $1 million in overtime on
undercover anti-terrorism operation. Global News. Retrieved from
https://globalnews.ca/news/3969463/rcmp-spent-1m-on-victoria-terror-plot-investigation-
including-90k-on-nuttall-and-korody/
Baehre, R. (1981). Pauper emigration to Upper Canada in the 1830s. Histoire sociale/Social
History, 14(28), 339–367.
Boudreau, D. (2016). How big are Jian Ghomeshi’s legal bills going to be? Retrieved from
http://www.danielleboudreau.ca/recent-work/2016/2/9/how-big-are-jian-ghomeshis-legal-bills-
going-to-be
Boyce, J., Rotenberg, C., & Karam, M. (2015). Mental health and contact with the police in
Canada, 2012. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Breay, C., & Harrison, J. (2015). Magna Carta: Law, liberty, legacy. London: British Library.
Bresge, A., & Tutton, M. (2016). Charges in “sexting” ring a quandary for Nova Scotia town,
and for experts. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/charges-in-sexting-ring-a-quandary-for-nova-
scotia-town-and-for-experts/article31400376/
Bruineman, M. (2018). The right price. Canadian Lawyer Magazine, April, 20–25. Retrieved
from
https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/staticcontent/AttachedDocs/CL_Apr_18_LegalFeesSurv
ey.pdf
Burczycka, M. (2018). Violent victimization of Canadians with mental health-related disabilities,
2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Campbell, H. (2018, March 6). Killers with dementia: Canada’s overlooked criminal defendants.
The Lawyer’s Daily. Retrieved from https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6010/killers-with-
dementia-canada-s-overlooked-criminal-defendants
Canadian Bar Association. (2015, July 14). Legal aid in Canada: The costs of inadequate legal
aid services. Retrieved from http://www.cba.org/Sections/Legal-Aid-
Liaison/Resources/Resources/Legal-Aid-in-Canada
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2012, May 22). Greyhound killer believed man he
beheaded was an alien. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/greyhound-killer-believed-man-he-beheaded-was-
an-alien-1.1131575
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2015, May 26). John Nuttall, Amanda Korody, accused BC
terrorists, were manipulated by undercover cops: Defence lawyer. The Canadian Press.
Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/john-nuttall-amanda-korody-
accused-b-c-terrorists-were-manipulated-by-undercover-cops-defence-lawyer-1.3088771
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2017, December 17). Beverley McLachlin on her
controversies, activism, supreme court legacy. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/beverley-mclachlin-supreme-court-chief-justice-
interview-1.4446434
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018, March 23). More Canadians are acting as their own
lawyer because they don’t have a choice. CBC Radio. Retrieved from
 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-march-25-2018-
1.4589621/more-canadians-are-acting-as-their-own-lawyer-because-they-don-t-have-a-choice-
1.4589633
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018, January 29). One year later: Anniversary of mosque
attack marked by events, vigils across Canada. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-mosque-shooting-anniversary-events-
1.4507943
Canadian Judicial Council. (2006). Statement of principles on self-represented litigants and
accused persons. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Canadian Press. (2018, December 19). B.C. Appeal Court upholds stay in terror case over alleged
bomb plot. Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/b-c-appeal-court-upholds-stay-in-
terror-case-over-alleged-bomb-plot-1.4223861
Chaster, S. (2018). Cruel, unusual, and constitutionally infirm: Mandatory minimum sentences in
Canada. Appeal, 23(1), 89–119.
Cotter, A. (2015). Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey: Public
confidence in Canadian institutions. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
Cotton, D., & Coleman, T. (2010). Canadian police agencies and their interactions with persons
with a mental illness: a systems approach. Police Practice and Research: An International
Journal, 11(4), 301–314.
Coughlan, S., Yogis, J. A., & Cotter, C. (2013). Canadian law dictionary (7th ed.). Hauppauge,
NY: Barron’s.
Death Penalty Information Center. (2019, March 12). Facts about the death penalty. Washington,
DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf
Defence Group. (2018). What is an alibi? Retrieved from
http://www.defencegroup.ca/blog/court-process/what-is-an-alibi/
Department of Justice. (2019). Legal aid in Canada, 2017–18. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Duhaime’s Law Dictionary. (2018). Battered woman syndrome definition. Retrieved from
http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/B/BatteredWomanSyndrome.aspx
Dunn, T. (2017, December 13). Laura Babcock’s dad asked that he not be questioned by
daughter’s accused killer, but judge allowed it. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/babcock-witnesses-millard-self-represent-1.4442636
Dupuis, M. D. (2015). Legal aid in Canada, 2013/2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Edwards, P. (2017, October 31). Second man charged in Vaughan café explosion. Toronto Star.
Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/10/31/second-man-charged-in-
vaughan-caf-explosion.html
Ellwood Evidence Inc. (2014). How the Canadian legal system differs from American. Retrieved
from http://ellwoodevidence.com/articles/2014/3/14/how-the-canadian-legal-system-differs-
from-american
Forsey, E. A. (1980/2012). How Canadians govern themselves (8th ed.). Ottawa, ON: Library of
Parliament.
Friesen, E. S. (2012). We live and move and have our being. Victoria, BC: Friesen Press.
Government of Canada. (2017). Guide to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/how-rights-
protected/guide-canadian-charter-rights-freedoms.html
Hann, R. G., Nuffield, J., Meredith, C., & Svoboda, M. (2002). Court site study of adult
unrepresented accused in the provincial criminal courts, part I: Overview report. Legal Aid
Research Series. Department of Justice Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/ccs-ajc/rr03_la2-rr03_aj2/rr03_la2.pdf
Harris, K. (2019, February 27). Wilson-Raybould says she faced pressure, “veiled threats” on
SNC-Lavalin; Scheer calls on PM to resign. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wilson-raybould-testifies-justice-committee-1.5035219
Herault, C. (2019, July 18). Largest mafia bust in Ontario history: 15 arrests, $35 million worth of
homes seized. CTV News. Retrieved from https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/largest-mafia-bust-in-
ontario-history-15-arrests-35-million-worth-of-homes-seized-1.4513261
Innocence Project. (2019). Eyewitness misidentification. Retrieved from
https://www.innocenceproject.org/causes/eyewitness-misidentification/
McCann, K. (2013). Policing and the mentally ill: A review of issues related to mental health
apprehensions by police in British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: International Centre for
Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy
McLachlin, B. (2013, May 27). Administrative tribunals and the courts: An evolutionary
relationship. Sixth annual conference of the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals,
Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved from http://www.scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/spe-dis/bm-2013-05-27-
eng.aspx
Miladinovic, Z. & Lukassen, J. (2014). Verdicts of not criminally responsible on account of
mental disorder in adult criminal courts, 2005/2006–2011/2012. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Mok, T. (2013). Saskatchewan woman who was fleeing for her life acquitted of “necessary”
drunk driving in “unusual” case. National Post. Retrieved from
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/14/saskatchewan-woman-who-was-fleeing-for-her-life-
acquitted-of-necessary-drunk-driving-in-unusual-case/
Myrah, J. (2012). Criminal law: Final outline. Retrieved from
http://uviclss.ca/outlines/Myrah%20-%20LAW%20102%20-%20Final.pdf
National Self-Represented Litigants Project. (2015, June 23). Incarcerating self-represented
litigants for overzealous advocacy. Retrieved from
https://representingyourselfcanada.com/incarcerating-self-represented-litigants-for-
overzealous-advocacy/
Nowlin, C. (2018). Canada’s provocation reform and the need to revisit culpability in “loss of
control” cases. Canadian Criminal Law Review, 23(1), 43–75.
Office of the Correctional Investigator. (2017). Annual report, 2016–2017. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Packer, H. (1968). The limits of the criminal sanction. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Palmer, A. (2019). Mental health care in extended care facilities. Personal communication.
Pernanen, K., Cousineau, M., Brochu, S., & Sun, F. (2002). Proportions of crimes associated with
alcohol and other drugs in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.
Perreault, S. (2015). Criminal victimization in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada,
Minister of Industry. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-
 x/2015001/article/14241-eng.pdf
Perry, B. (2011). Diversity, crime, and justice in Canada. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University
Press.
Pfaff, J. (2017). Locked in: The true causes of mass incarceration and how to achieve real
reform. New York: Basic Books.
Plucknett, T. F. T. (2010). A concise history of the common law (5th ed.). Clark, NJ: Lawbook
Exchange.
Provincial Court of British Columbia. (2018a). Do Canadian judges use gavels? Retrieved from
http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/enews/enews-08-05-2018
Provincial Court of British Columbia. (2018b). Provincial court of BC annual report 2016/2017.
Vancouver, BC: Author.
Ruby, C., & Enenajor, A. (2017, November 22). Self-represented defendants in murder cases.
The Lawyer’s Daily. Retrieved from https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/5235/self-
represented-defendants-in-murder-cases-clayton-ruby-and-annamaria-enenajor
Sentis. (2015). Legal services society: 2015 public opinion poll. Vancouver, BC: Author.
Sheehy, E., Stubbs, J., & Tolmie, J. (2017). When self-defence fails. University of New South
Wales Law Research Series. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?
abstract_id=3047141
Stewart, H. (2012). Fundamental justice: Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms. Toronto, ON: Irwin Law.
Tyler, T. R. (2006). Why people obey the law. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Walker, S. (2015). Sense and nonsense about crime and drugs (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson
Wadsworth.
Warren, J. (2018, January 28). Betting on the Super Bowl in Canada shouldn’t be illegal. Toronto
Sun. Retrieved from https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/warren-betting-on-the-super-
bowl-in-canada-shouldnt-be-illegal
Zakreski, D. (2018, June 29). Need a legal aid lawyer in Saskatoon? Get ready to phone a Regina
call centre. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/need-a-
legal-aid-lawyer-in-saskatoon-get-ready-to-phone-a-regina-call-centre-1.4729417

Chapter 7
Addario, F. (2015, February 16). Role of defence counsel poorly understood. Toronto Star.
Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/02/16/role-of-defence-
counsel-poorly-understood.html
Alberta Justice and Solicitor General. (2013). Best practices for investigating and prosecuting
sexual assault. Edmonton, AB: Author.
Alberta Justice and Solicitor General. (2018). Defence counsel roles and responsibilities.
Edmonton, AB: Author.
Angus Reid Institute. (2018). Confidence in the justice system: Visible minorities have less faith in
courts than other Canadians. Retrieved from http://angusreid.org/wp-
content/uploads/2018/02/2018.02.20_justice-system.pdf
Baxter, J., & Yoon, A. (2014). No lawyer for a hundred miles: Mapping the new geography of
access to justice in Canada. Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 52(1), 9–57.
Bellin, J. (2015). Justice for the 1 percent: A corrupt governor stays free, those who should have
never been jailed die there. Popular media. Retrieved from
http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/popular_media/390/
Bernard, R. (2018, March 13). Anonymous and the new ace of hacktivisim: What to look out for
in 2018. Digital Shadows blog. Retrieved from https://www.digitalshadows.com/blog-and-
research/anonymous-and-the-new-face-of-hacktivism-what-to-look-out-for-in-2018/
British Columbia Ministry of Justice. (2016). Role of crown counsel. Retrieved from
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/prosecution-
service/information-sheets/infosheet_role-crowncounsel.pdf
British Columbia Ministry of Justice. (2018). Court registry services. Retrieved from
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/courthouse-services/courthouse-roles/court-
registry-services
British Columbia Prosecution Service. (2017). Bail (conditional release). Retrieved from
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/prosecution-
service/information-sheets/infosheet_bail_conditional_release.pdf
Campbell, K. M., & Denov, M. (2016). Wrongful convictions in Canada: Causes, consequences,
and responses. In J. V. Roberts & M G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A
reader (5th ed.) (pp. 225–242). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Canadian Bar Association. (2013). The future of legal services in Canada: Trends and issues.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2010a, August 31). Choosing judges in Canada. CBC
News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/choosing-judges-in-canada-1.866668
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2010b, December 6). “Compassionate homicide”: The law
and Robert Latimer. CBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/compassionate-homicide-the-law-and-robert-latimer-1.972561
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018, April 12). “I have a right to be named”: Child
pornography survivor fails to lift publication ban. CBC Radio. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-11-2018-1.4613272/i-have-a-right-to-
be-named-child-pornography-survivor-fails-to-lift-publication-ban-1.4613443
Canadian Civil Liberties Association. (2014). Set up to fail: Bail and the revolving door of pre-
trial detention. Toronto, ON: Author.
Canadian Press. (2016, April 21). Mike Duffy leaves an Ottawacourt a free man. The Guardian
(Charlottetown). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/Mike-Duffy-
leaves-an-Ottawa-court-a-free-man-101518/
Canadian Press. (2018, April 6). N.S. justice minister says province is still fine-tuning
cyberbullying law. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4128343/n-s-
cyberbullying-law/
Canales, D., Campbell, M. A., & McTague, J. (2017). Problem solving court evaluation: Survey
results addendum. St. John, NB: Centre for Criminal Justice Studies.
Carling, A. (2018, May 23). Pleading guilty when innocent: A truth for too many Indigenous
people. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-pleading-guilty-when-innocent-a-truth-for-
too-many-indigenous-people/
Casper, J., & Brereton, D. (1984). Evaluating criminal justice reforms. Law & Society Review,
18(1), 121–144.
Cole, D. P. (2016). A day in the life of a judge. In J. V. Roberts & M G. Grossman (Eds.),
Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 75–90). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Cotter, A. (2015). Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey: Public
confidence in Canadian institutions. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
Davis, K. M., Peterson-Badali, M., Weagant, B., & Skilling, T. A. (2015). A process evaluation of
Toronto’s first youth mental health court. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal
Justice, 57(2), 159–187.
DePalma, A. (1997). Father’s killing of Canadian girl: Mercy or murder? New York Times.
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/01/world/father-s-killing-of-canadian-girl-
mercy-or-murder.html
Department of Justice. (2016). How does Canada’s court system work? Retrieved from
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/ccs-ajc/01.html
Department of Justice. (2017). Indigenous courtwork program. Retrieved from
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fund-fina/gov-gouv/acp-apc/index.html
Department of Justice and Public Safety, Newfoundland and Labrador. (2007). Guide book of
policies and procedures for the conduct of criminal prosecutions in Newfoundland and
Labrador. St John’s, NL: Author.
Doob, A. N. (2014, January). Research on public confidence in the criminal justice system: A
compendium of research findings from Criminological Highlights. Ottawa, ON: Sixth Annual
Reinventing Criminal Justice Symposium.
Fennario, T. (2015, March 18). Imported justice: A look inside Quebec’s travelling court in
Nunavik. APTN National News. Retrieved from http://aptn.ca/news/2015/03/18/imported-
justice-a-look-inside-quebecs-travelling-court-in-nunavik/
Ferrazzi, P., & Krupa, T. (2016). “Symptoms of something all around us”: Mental health, Inuit
culture, and criminal justice in Arctic communities in Nunavut, Canada. Social Science &
Medicine, 165 (September), 159–167.
Fine, S. (2017, April 13). New advisory committees could-change the face of Canada’s judiciary.
The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/new-
advisory-committees-could-change-the-face-of-canadas-judiciary/article33699039/
Fraser, K. (2018, January 2). Ivan Henry files response to lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted 5
women. Vancouver Sun. Retrieved from https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/henry-
files-response-to-lawsuit-alleging-he-sexually-assaulted-5-women
Grech, D. C. (2017). Culture before law? Comparing bail decision-making in England and
Canada. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Leeds.
Griffiths, C. T., Murphy, J. J., & Tatz, M. (2015). Improving police efficiency: Challenges and
opportunities. Ottawa, ON: Public Safety Canada.
Hannah-Moffat, K., & Maurutto, P. (2012). Shifting and targeted forms of penal governance:
Bail, punishment and specialized courts. Theoretical Criminology, 16(2), 201–219.
Ipsos Reid. (1999). Three quarters (73%) of Canadians believe Robert Latimer ended his
daughter’s life out of compassion. Retrieved from https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/three-quarters-
73-canadians-believe-robert-latimer-ended-his-daughters-life-out-compassion
Irish, D. (2017, April 28). Opioid court celebrates ‘incredible progress’ of 1st female graduate.
CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/special-opioid-court-
danielle-macpherson-follow-1.4089789
Lutze, F. E. (2014). Professional lives of community corrections officers. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
McKnight, P. (2016). The funhouse mirror: Media misrepresentations of crime and justice. In J. V.
Roberts & M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 28–38).
Toronto, ON: Nelson.
MacPherson, A. (2017, October 31). “What I did was right”: Robert Latimer steadfast 24 years
after daughter’s death. StarPhoenix (Saskatoon). Retrieved from
https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/robert-latimer-mclachlin
Malakieh, J. (2019). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Manitoba Justice. (2018). The criminal case: Step-by-step. Retrieved from
https://www.gov.mb.ca/justice/prosecutions/stepbystep.html
Medwick, H., & Chudley, A. E. (2018). A global research collaboration on fetal alcohol spectrum
disorder. Biochemistry and Cell Biology, 96(2), vii–viii.
Michalski, J. H. (2017). Mental health issues and the Canadian criminal justice system.
Contemporary Justice Review, 20(1), 2–25.
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult criminal and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Moch, J. (2018, July 9). Open court principle: ABCA agrees with less than full disclosure in
some cases. ABlawg. Retrieved from http://ablawg.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2018/07/Blog_JM_APTN_July2018.pdf
Mulgrew, I. (2016, Nov. 21). Provincial stubbornness rewarded in Ivan Henry case. Vancouver
Sun. Retrieved from https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/ian-mulgrew-provincial-
stubbornness-rewarded-in-ivan-henry-case
Murchison, M. J. (2013). Law, morality and social discourse: Jury nullification in a Canadian
context (Research Paper No. 21). Belfast, Ireland: Queen’s University Belfast Law.
National Institute of Justice, United States. (2017, August 23). Drug courts (number and types of
drug courts). Retrieved from http://www.nij.gov/topics/courts/drug-courts/Pages/welcome.aspx
Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada. (2019). Number of federally
appointed judges as of March 1, 2019. Retrieved from http://www.fja.gc.ca/appointments-
nominations/judges-juges-eng.aspx
Omand, G. (2015, August 3). Rehtaeh Parsons’ father says Anonymous hackers needed for
“broken” justice system. Toronto Star. Retrieved from
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/08/03/rehtaeh-parsons-father-says-anonymous-
hackers-needed-for-broken-justice-system.html
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. (2015). The criminal appeal process in Ontario.
Retrieved from
http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/criminal_appeal.php
Pfaff, J. (2017). Locked in: The true causes of mass incarceration and how to achieve real
reform. New York: Basic Books.
Postmedia News. (2017, January 14). Small-town justice: In rural Saskatchewan, a curling rink
doubles as a courtroom. National Post. Retrieved from
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/small-town-justice-in-rural-saskatchewan-a-curling-rink-
doubles-as-a-courtroom
Previl, S. (2019, June 23). Jurors with PTSD advocate for greater mental health support during,
after trials. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/5363654/jury-duty-ptsd-
mental-health-support-canada/
Quirouette, M., Hannah-Moffat, K., & Maurutto, P. (2016). “A precarious place”: Housing and
clients of specialized courts. British Journal of Criminology, 56(1), 370–388.
Renaud, G. (2016). The decision to detain or release: The nuts and bolts of bail. In J. V. Roberts
& M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal Justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 157–167).
Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Roach, K. (2017). Reforming and resisting criminal law: Criminal justice and the tragically hip.
Manitoba Law Journal, 40(3), 1–51.
Roach, K. (2018, February 28). The urgent need to reform jury selection after the Gerald Stanley
and Colten Boushie case. University of Toronto Faculty of Law Faculty Blog. Retrieved from
https://www.law.utoronto.ca/blog/faculty/urgent-need-reform-jury-selection-after-gerald-
stanley-and-colten-boushie-case
Roberts, J. V. (2016). Criminal justice in Canada: An overview. In J. V. Roberts and M. G.
Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 2–15). Toronto, ON:
Nelson.
Saskatchewan Provincial Court Judges Association. (2011). Submission to the Saskatchewan
Provincial Court Association. Regina, SK: Author.
Scassa, T. (2018, May 1). Ontario court rules that open courts principle trumps privacy; finds part
of Ontario’s access to information law unconstitutional. Teresa Scassa blog. Retrieved from
http://www.teresascassa.ca/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=275:ontario-court-
rules-that-open-courts-principle-trumps-privacy-finds-part-of-ontarios-access-to-information-
law-unconstitutional
Senate of Canada. (2019). Perspectives – February 19–21, 2019. Retrieved from
https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/opinion/perspectives-february-19-21-2019/
Somers, J. M., Rezansoff, S. N., & Moniruzzaman, A. (2014). Comparative analysis of recidivism
outcomes following drug treatment court in Vancouver, Canada. International Journal of
Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(6), 655–671.
Strong, S. M., Rantala, R. R., Kyckelhahn, T. (2016). Census of problem-solving courts, 2012.
Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Supreme Court of Canada. (2018). Applications for leave submitted. Retrieved from
https://www.scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/stat/cat2-eng.aspx#cat2a
Sylvestre, M., Damon, W., Blomley, N., & Bellot, C. (2015). Spatial tactics in criminal courts and
the politics of legal technicalities. Antipode, 47(5), 1346–1366.
Verdun-Jones, S. N. (2016). Plea bargaining. In J. V. Roberts & M G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal
justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 168–184). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2018). Benefit-cost results. Olympia, WA: Author.
World Justice Project. (2019). World justice project rule of law index 2019. Washington, DC:
Author.

Chapter 8
Allen, M. (2017). Mandatory minimum penalties: An analysis of criminal justice system outcomes
for selected offences. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Allen, M. (2018). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Amoud, T. C. (2014, Summer). From east to north: A perspective on the application of Gladue in
the Northwest Territories. Arctic Obiter, 13–15.
April, S., & Orsi, M. M. (2013). Gladue practices in the provinces and territories. Ottawa, ON:
Department of Justice Canada.
BC Laws. (2017). Correction Act Regulation: Division 4 – Performance appraisal and earned
remission. Retrieved from
http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/ID/freeside/10_58_2005#division_d2e3311
Beattie, S., David, J. D., & Roy, J. (2018). Homicide in Canada, 2017. Ottawa: ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Berglund, N. (2017). Norway may stop sending prisoners to the Netherlands. News in English.no.
Retrieved from http://www.newsinenglish.no/2017/12/24/norway-may-stop-sending-prisoners-
to-the-netherlands/
Bonta, J., Bourgon, G., Jesseman, R., & Yessine, A. K. (2005). Presentence reports in Canada.
Ottawa, ON: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.
Bowal, P., Callbeck, S., & Lines, B. (2014, September 5). Absolute and conditional discharges in
Canadian criminal law. LawNow. Retrieved from http://www.lawnow.org/absolute-conditional-
discharges-canadian-criminal-law/
Boyce, J. (2015). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre
for Justice Statistics.
Burczycka, M. (2018). Police-reported intimate partner violence in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Burczycka, M., & Conroy, S. (2017). Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2015.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Burczycka, M., & Munch, C. (2015). Trends in offences against the administration of justice.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Burgess, S. (2018, January 22). Family of Cornwall crash victim denied chance to face man
responsible. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/cornwall-
careless-driving-victim-impact-1.4494602
Burke Scott, Z. L. (2018). An inconvenient bargain: The ethical implications of plea bargaining
in Canada. Saskatchewan Law Review, 81(1), 53–85.
Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch. (2015). Conditional sentences, probation
and discharges. Retrieved from http://cbabc.org/For-the-Public/Dial-A-Law/Scripts/Criminal-
Law/203
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. (2016). Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile,
2014. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Caylor, L., & Beaulne, G. G. (2014). A defence of mandatory minimum sentences. Ottawa, ON:
MacDonald-Laurier Institute.
Cole, D. P. (2016). A day in the life of a judge. In J. V. Roberts & M G. Grossman (Eds.),
Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 75–90). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Conroy, S. (2018). Police-reported family violence against children and youth. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Cotter, A. (2014). Homicide in Canada, 2013. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Criminal Justice
Statistics.
Coughlan, S., Yogis, J. A., & Cotter, C. (2013). Canadian law dictionary (7th ed.). Hauppauge,
NY: Barron’s.
Cuthand, D. (2018, August 11). Cuthand: Gladue reports need to be implemented in
Saskatchewan. StarPhoenix (Saskatoon). Retrieved from
https://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/columnists/cuthand-gladue-reports-need-to-be-
implemented-in-saskatchewan
Dale, D. (2015, January 2). Serious offenders among dozens mistakenly released from Ontario
jails. Toronto Star. Retrieved from
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/01/02/serious_offenders_among_dozensmistakenly
_released_from_ontario_jails.html
Death Penalty Information Center. (2019, March 12). Facts about the death penalty. Retrieved
from https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf
Doob, A. N., Webster, C. M., & Gartner, R. (2014). Issues related to harsh sentences and
mandatory minimum sentences: General deterrence and incapacitation. Toronto, ON: Centre
for Criminology & Sociological Studies, University of Toronto.
Doucette, K. (2018, June 21). How weekend-only jail sentences can cause security risks,
overcrowding. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-
scotia/weekend-only-jail-sentence-can-cause-security-risks-overcrowding-1.4715648
Drelsinger, B. (2018, July 19). I toured prisons around the world—and the system that seems the
most relaxed is also one that works. Business Insider. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/norways-prisons-are-better-than-the-american-prisons-2018-
6
Egan, K. (2018a, January 31). Fatal crash court case “an insult to my family.” Ottawa Citizen, p.
1.
Egan, K. (2018b, April 4). Egan: Sorry was a hard word – life without mom a harder sentence.
Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved from https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-sorry-was-a-
hard-word-life-without-mom-a-harder-sentence
Faris, N. (2019, February 8). Why McArthur, Bissonnette and Millard got wildly different
sentences for killing multiple people. National Post. Retrieved from
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/why-mcarthur-bissonnette-and-millard-got-wildly-
different-sentences-for-killing-multiple-people
Feld, B., & Schaefer, S. (2010). The right to counsel in juvenile court: Law reform to deliver legal
services and reduce justice by geography. Criminology & Public Policy, 9(2), 327–336.
Fine, S. (2018, March 6). Mandatory-minimum sentencing rules unravelling into patchwork. The
Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mandatory-
minimum-sentencing-rules-unravelling-into-patchwork/article38205652/
Guyot, B. (2018, August 23). Majority of provinces, territories lack “indispensable” Gladue
writing programs. Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Retrieved from
https://aptnnews.ca/2018/08/23/majority-of-provinces-territories-lack-indispensable-gladue-
report-writing-programs
Hannah-Moffat, K., & Maurutto, P. (2010). Re-contextualizing pre-sentence reports, risk and
race. Punishment & Society, 12(3), 262–286.
Johnson, C. (2019, March 15). Seriously ill federal prisoners freed as compassionate release law
takes effect. National Public Radio. Retrieved from
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/15/703784886/seriously-ill-federal-prisoners-freed-as-
compassionate-release-law-takes-effect
Kaeble, D., & Cowhig, M. (2018). Correctional populations in the United States, 2016.
Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Karstens-Smith, G. (2018, May 13). Nearly 20 years after the Gladue decision, lawyers say
national standards lacking. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nearly-20-years-after-the-gladue-decision-
lawyers-say-national/
Kelly, J. B., & Puddister, K. (2017). Criminal justice policy during the Harper era: Private
member’s bills, penal populism, and the Criminal Code of Canada. Canadian Journal of Law
and Society, 32(3), 391–415.
Kornhauser, R. (2015). Economic individualism and punitive attitudes: A cross-national analysis.
Punishment & Society, 17(1), 27–53.
Legal Aid Ontario. (2019). Circumstances LAO may consider before making a decision.
Retrieved from http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/getting/eligibility_circumstances.asp
Legal Services Society of British Columbia. (2018). Gladue report guide. Retrieved from
https://api.lss.bc.ca/resources/pdfs/pubs/Gladue-Report-Guide-eng.pdf.
Lincoln County Law Association. (2015). Adult probation conditions. Retrieved from
http://thelcla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ADULT-PROBATION-ORDER-CONDITIONS-
Nov-2015.pdf
MacLean, J., Verrelli, N., & Chambers, L. (2016). Battered women under duress: The Supreme
Court of Canada’s abandonment of context and purpose in R v Ryan. Canadian Journal of
Women and the Law, 29(1), 60–82.
Malakieh, J. (2019). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Manson, A. (2013). Some thoughts on multiple sentences and the totality principle: Can we get it
right? Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 55(4), 481–494.
Maxwell, A. (2017). Adult criminal court statistics in Canada, 2014/2015. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Menart, R. (2018). California sentencing institute now shows 2016 trends. Center on Juvenile and
Criminal Justice. Retrieved from http://www.cjcj.org/news/12040
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult criminal and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Milward, D., & Parkes, D. (2011). Gladue: Beyond myth and towards implementation in
Manitoba. Manitoba Law Journal, 35(1), 84–110.
Mohsin, S. (2014, September 18). To solve prison crowding, Norway goes Dutch. Bloomberg
Businessweek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-18/norway-
exports-inmates-to-netherlands-to-solve-prison-crowding
Moore, H. (2015, January 21). Manitoba woman in hiding feels “betrayed” by plea bargain for
gun-stashing ex. CBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-woman-in-hiding-feels-betrayed-by-plea-
bargain-for-gun-stashing-ex-1.2920183
Neil, R., & Carmichael, J. T. (2015). The use of incarceration in Canada: A test of political and
social threat explanations on the variation in prison admissions across Canadian provinces,
2001–2010. Sociological Inquiry, 85(2), 309–332.
Norman, M. D., & Wadman, R. C. (2000). Probation department sentencing recommendations in
two Utah counties. Federal Probation, 64(2), 47–51.
Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. (2018). Correctional services:
Earned remission. Retrieved from
http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/corr_serv/earned_rem/earned_rem.html
Palacios, M., & Lammam, C. (2018). Taxes versus the necessities of life: The Canadian consumer
tax index, 2018 edition. Vancouver, BC: The Fraser Institute.
Parsons, P. (2018, October 5). That’s the wound: Reports detailing offenders’ Indigenous
backgrounds are surging in Alberta’s courts. Edmonton Journal. Retrieved from
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/insight/albertas-gladue-report-writers-speak-out-about-
their-unique-role-in-the-justice-system
Penal Reform International. (2018). Life imprisonment: A policy briefing. Retrieved from
https://www.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/PRI_Life-Imprisonment-
Briefing.pdf
Perkel, C. (2015, July 15). “Cultural gap” not a reason for lighter sentence for Iranian immigrant
guilty of raping wife, beating children: court. National Post. Retrieved from
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/cultural-gap-not-a-reason-for-lighter-sentence-for-
iranian-immigrant-guilt-of-raping-wife-beating-children-court
Pew Charitable Trusts (2018). 35 states reform criminal justice policies through justice
reinvestment. Washington, DC: Author.
Piccinato, M. P. (2004). Plea bargaining. Ottawa, ON: Department of Justice Canada.
Porter, L., & Calverley, D. (2011). Trends in the use of remand in Canada. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Provincial Court of British Columbia. (2018). Annual report 2016/2017. Victoria, BC: Author.
Public Safety Canada. (2018). Corrections and conditional release statistical overview, 2017.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Rakoff, J. S. (2014, November 20). Why innocent people plead guilty. The New York Review of
Books. Retrieved from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/why-innocent-
people-plead-guilty/
Reckdenwald, A., & Parker, K. F. (2011). Understanding the change in male and female intimate
partner homicide over time: A policy-and theory-relevant investigation. Feminist Criminology,
7(3), 167–195.
Roach, K. (2019). Plan B for implementing Gladue: The need to apply background factors to the
punitive sentencing purposes. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?
abstract_id=3367159
Roberts, J. V., Stalans, L. J., Indermaur, D., & Hough, M. (2003). Penal populism and public
opinion: Lessons from five countries. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ruddell, R., & Jones, N. A. (2017). Cross-national imprisonment. In K. R. Kerley, H. Copes, S.
Li, J. Lane, & S. Sharpe (Eds.), The encyclopedia of corrections (pp. 169–176). New York:
Wiley Blackwell.
Savage, L. (2018). Police-reported family violence against seniors in Canada, 2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Sheehy, E. (2014). Defending battered women on trial: Lessons from transcripts. Vancouver, BC:
UBC Press.
Sheehy, E. (2018). Expert evidence on coercive control in support of self-defence: The trial of
Teresa Craig. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 18(1), 100–114.
Sheehy, E., Stubbs, J., & Tolmie, J. (2012). Battered women charged with homicide in Australia,
Canada and New Zealand: How do they fare? Australian & New Zealand Journal of
Criminology, 45(3), 383–399.
Sprott, J. B., & Doob, A. N. (1998). Understanding provincial variation in incarceration rates.
Canadian Journal of Criminology, 40(3), 305–322.
Statistics Canada. (2019a). Adult criminal courts, guilty cases by type of sentence [Table 35-10-
0030-01]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510003001
Statistics Canada. (2019b). Adult criminal courts, guilty cases by mean and median length of
custody [Table 35-10-0033-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510003301
Statistics Canada. (2019c). Adult criminal courts, number of cases and charges by type of
decision. [Table 35-10-0027-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510002701
Storey, J. E., Watt, K. A, & Hart, S. D. (2015). An examination of violence risk communication in
practice using a structured professional judgment framework. Behavioral Sciences & the Law,
33(1), 39–55.
University of Saskatchewan. (2018, May 15). U of S Gladue rights research database first of its
kind in Canada. Retrieved from https://news.usask.ca/articles/colleges/2018/u-of-s-gladue-
rights-research-database-first-of-its-kind-in-canada.php
Verdun-Jones, S. N. (2016). Plea bargaining. In J. V. Roberts & M G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal
justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 168–184). Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Wilson, R. (2012, June 16). So you want to be a judge? National Magazine. Retrieved from
http://www.nationalmagazine.ca/Articles/January-February/So-you-want-to-be-a-judge.aspx

Chapter 9
Archambault, K., Joubert, D., & Brown, G. (2013). Gender, psychiatric symptomatology,
problem behaviors and mental health treatment in a Canadian provincial correctional
population: Disentangling the associations between care and institutional control. International
Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 12(1), 93–106.
Beijersbergen, K. A., Dirkzwager, A. J. E., van der Laan, P. H., & Nieuwbeerta, P. (2016). A
social building? Prison architecture and staff-prisoner relationships. Crime & Delinquency,
62(7), 843–874.
Blanchfield, M. (2018, July 24). Canada to use voice recognition, monitoring technology to keep
migrants out of detention. Global News. Retrieved from W
Bonta, J., & Andrews, D. A. (2017). The psychology of criminal conduct (6th ed.). New York:
Routledge.
Bonta, J., Bourgon, G., & Rugge, T. (2018). From evidence-informed to evidence-based: the
strategic training initiative in community supervision. In P. Ugwudike, P. Raynor, & J. Annison
(Eds.), Evidence-based skills in criminal justice: International research on supporting
rehabilitation and desistance (pp. 169–192). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
Bonta, J., Rugge, T., Scott, T. L., Bourgon, G., & Yessine, A. K. (2008). Exploring the black box
of community supervision. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 47(3), 248–270.
British Columbia Justice and Public Safety Council. (2018). Strategic plan for the justice and
public safety sector 2018–21. Victoria, BC: Author.
Brown, G. P., Hirdes, J. P., & Fries, B. E. (2015). Measuring the prevalence of current, severe
symptoms of mental health problems in a Canadian correctional population: Implications for
delivery of mental health services for inmates. International Journal of Offender Therapy and
Comparative Criminology, 59(1), 27–50.
Cabeldue, M., Blackburn, A., & Mullings, J. L. (2019). Mental health among incarcerated
women: An examination of factors impacting depression and PTSD symptomology. Women &
Criminal Justice, 29(1), pp. 52–72.
Calverley, D. (2010). Adult correctional services in Canada, 2008/2009. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Calverley, D., & Beattie, K. (2005). Community corrections in Canada, 2004. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2008, August 8). Prison guard gets 3 years for aiding
escape. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prison-
guard-gets-3-years-for-aiding-escape-1.750285
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2009, March 12). Brazen escape from Regina jail shouldn’t
have happened: report. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/brazen-escape-from-regina-jail-shouldn-t-
have-happened-report-1.824611
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2015, Oct. 15). Probation system set up for failure, former
inmates say. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/probation-
system-set-up-for-failure-former-inmates-say-1.3273523
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018a, June 13). Horse therapy program expanding to
women’s prison. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-
labrador/spirit-horse-program-womens-prison-clarenville-1.4704406
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018b, May 3). Special advisor to probe ‘disturbing’ rise in
jail violence. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lalonde-
corrections-officers-segregation-review-1.4646400
Canadian Press. (2010, September 9). Two N.L. inmates captured by police after escape. CTV
News. Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/two-n-l-inmates-captured-by-police-after-
 escape-1.550981
Carleton, R. N., Afifi, T. O., Turner, S., Taillieu, T., Duranceau, S., LeBouthillier, D., M., …
Asmundson, G. J. G. (2018). Mental disorder symptoms among public safety personnel in
Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 63(1), 54–--64.
Chamberlain, A. W., Gricius, M., Wallace, D. M., Borjas, D., & Ware, V. M. (2017). Parolee-
parole officer rapport: Does it impact recidivism? International Journal of Offender Therapy
and Comparative Criminology, 62(11), 3581–3602.
Collins, J. (2018, July 26). Prisons aim to jam phones, detect drones carrying contraband.
Associated Press. Retrieved from W
Damon, W. (2014). Failure to comply: How administration of justice offences are growing BC’s
prison population. The Tyee. Retrieved from https://thetyee.ca/News/2014/04/05/Failure-to-
Comply/
Department of Justice. (2018). Community-based sentencing. Research at a Glance. Retrieved
from http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/rg-rco/2018/mar07.pdf
Doob, A., Hunter, A., Rachamalla, T., Sprott, J., & Webster, C. (2017). Corrections in Ontario:
Directions for reform. Toronto, ON: Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
Ekstedt, J. W., & Griffiths, C. T. (1988). Corrections in Canada: Policy and practice (2nd ed.).
Toronto, ON: Butterworths Canada.
Feith, J. (2016, January 11). Two men plead guilty to hijacking helicopter in 2013 prison escape.
Montreal Gazette. Retrieved from https://montrealgazette.com/news/two-men-plead-guilty-to-
hijacking-helicopter-in-2013-prison-escape
Fyson, D. (2006). Magistrates, police, and people: Everyday criminal justice in Quebec and
Lower Canada, 1764–1837. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
Fyson, D., & Fenchel, F. (2015). Prison registers, their possibilities and their pitfalls: the case of
local prisons in nineteenth-century Quebec. The History of the Family, 20(2), 163–188.
Gacek, J. (2016). Doing time differently: Imaginative mobilities to/from inmates’ inner/outer
spaces. In J. Turner & K. Peters (Eds.), Carceral mobilities: Interrogating movement in
Incarceration (pp. 73–84). London: Routledge.
Givetash, L. (2016, July 17). Jail program gives moms a new start, helps babies develop,
advocates say. CTV News. Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/jail-program-gives-
moms-a-new-start-helps-babies-develop-advocates-say-1.2990230
Global News. (2017, May 9). Who’s watching? Ontario’s probation system “a joke,” say
offenders. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3429225/ontarios-probation-system-a-
joke-say-offenders/
Godfrey, D. (2018a, April 13). More violence at B.C.’s newest jail than nearly any other. Salmon
Arm Observer. Retrieved from https://www.saobserver.net/news/more-violence-at-b-c-s-
newest-jail-than-nearly-any-other/
Godfrey, D. (2018b, April 24). Isolation likely factor in drugs, rule-breaking at Okanagan jail.
Salmon Arm Observer. Retrieved from https://www.saobserver.net/news/isolation-likely-
factor-in-drugs-rule-breaking-at-okanagan-jail/
Gossner, D., Simon, T., Rector, B., & Ruddell, R. (2016). Case planning and recidivism of high
risk and violent adult probationers. Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 1(1) 32–43.
Grant, M. (2017, Aug. 8), “A huge problem”: Correctional officers in Alberta hospitalized after
exposure to fentanyl during searches. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/prison-guards-alberta-overdosing-fentanyl-searches-
narcan-1.4235919
Hansard. (2018, March 5). Official report of debates. Retrieved from
https://www.leg.bc.ca/content/Hansard/41st3rd/20180305pm-Hansard-n94.html
Hassan, S. (2019). Nixing victim surcharges a good move. Law Times. Retrieved from
https://www.lawtimesnews.com/article/nixing-victim-surcharges-a-good-move-16993/
Human Rights Watch. (2018). “Set up to fail”: The impact of offender-funded private probation
on the poor. New York: Author.
Hyatt, J. M., & Barnes, G. C. (2017). An experimental evaluation of the impact of intensive
supervision on the recidivism of high-risk probationers. Crime & Delinquency, 63(1), 3–38.
Jackson, B. A., Russo, J., Hollywood, J. S., Woods, D., Silberglitt, R., Drake, G. B., Shaffer, J. S.,
Zaydman, M., & Chow, B. G. (2015). Fostering innovation in community and institutional
corrections. San Diego, CA: RAND Corporation.
Johnson, S. (2006). Outcomes of probation and conditional sentence supervision: An analysis of
Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Alberta,
2003/2004 to 2004/2005. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
Judd, A. (2018, January 12). Someone used a drone to drop $26,500 of drugs, tobacco over a
B.C. prison wall. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3961889/drone-
drugs-b-c-prison-wall/
Kaeble, D. (2018). Probation and parole in the United States, 2016. Washington, DC: Bureau of
Justice Statistics.
Kim, B., & Matz, A. (2018). The reality of partnership: formal collaborations between law
enforcement and community corrections agencies in Pennsylvania. Policing and Society: An
International Journal of Research and Policy, 28(8), 947–967.
Kouyoumdjian, F. G., Calzavara, L. M., Kiefer, L., Main, C., & Bondy, S. J. (2014). Drug use
prior to incarceration and associated socio-behavioural factors among males in a provincial
correctional facility in Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 105(3), 198–202.
Kouyoumdjian, F., Schuler, A., Matheson, F I., & Hwang, S. W. (2016). Health status of prisoners
in Canada. Canadian Family Physician, 62(3), 215–222.
Macdonald, D. (2018). Born to win: Wealth concentration in Canada since 1999. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
McDonald, S., Northcott, M., & Raguparen, M. (2014). The federal victim surcharge in
Saskatchewan. Ottawa, ON: Department of Justice, Canada.
McKenna, J. (2018). In Finland, speeding tickets are linked to your income. World Economic
Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/in-finland-speeding-tickets-
are-linked-to-your-income/
McQuigge, M. (2015, September 24). Suspect in Ottawa Valley homicides was known to
women’s shelters. Toronto Star. Retrieved from
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/09/24/suspect-in-ottawa-valley-homicides-was-
known-to-womens-shelters.html
Malakieh, J. (2018). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Malakieh, J. (2019). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Mandel, M. (2017). Ontario’s probation system is a joke. Toronto Sun. Retrieved from
https://torontosun.com/2017/05/20/ontarios-probation-system-is-a-joke/wcm/c0927464-b592-
47a0-ab7c-4c7ce4c00746
Maxwell, A. (2017). Adult criminal court statistics in Canada, 2014/2015. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Mayor, L., & Culbert, A. (2016, January 15). Basil Borutski, charged with 3 Wilno, Ont.
murders, blames police harassment. CBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/borutski-wilno-murders-fifth-estate-1.3404238
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult criminal and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Miller, J. (2015). Contemporary modes of probation officer supervision: The triumph of the
“synthetic” officer? Justice Quarterly, 32(2), 314–336.
Miller, J., Copeland, K., & Sullivan, M. L. (2014). How probation officers leverage “third
parties” in offender supervision. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 53(8), 641–657.
Morash, M., Kashy, D. A., Smith, S. W., & Cobbina, J. E. (2016). The connection of
probation/parole officer actions to women offenders’ recidivism. Criminal Justice and
Behavior, 43(4), 506–524.
Murray, A. (2017, April 21). Speeding fines rise to 175pc of weekly wages from Monday. The
Telegraph. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/speeding-
fines-rise-175pc-weekly-wages-monday/
Nagin, D. S., Cullen, F. T., & Lero Jonson, C. (2016). Deterrence, choice, and crime. London:
Routledge.
Nease, K. (2017, December 6). Basil Borutski will die in prison for “vicious, cold-blooded”
murder of 3 women. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/basil-
borutski-sentencing-life-prison-1.4435066
Nova Scotia Corrections. (2013). Offender programs. Retrieved from
https://novascotia.ca/just/Corrections/offender_programs.asp
Nunavut Justice. (2018). Fine option program. Retrieved from
https://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/en/fine-option-program/
Office of the Auditor General, Manitoba. (2014). Annual report to the legislature. Winnipeg, MB:
Author.
Ombudsman Ontario. (2013). The code: Investigation into the Ministry of Community Safety and
Correctional Service in response to allegations of excessive use of force against inmates.
Toronto, ON: Author.
Ombudsman Ontario. (2018). 2017–2018 Annual report. Toronto, ON: Author.
Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General. (2019). Becoming a correctional services officer.
Retrieved from
https://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/corr_serv/careers_in_corr/become_corr_off/COTraini
ng/cs_cotraining.html
Paynter, M. J. (2018). Policy and legal protection for breastfeeding and incarcerated women in
Canada. Journal of Human Lactation, 34(2), 276–281.
Public Safety Canada. (2018). Corrections and conditional release statistical overview, 2017.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Quebec Ombudsman. (2018). Assessment of follow-up to the recommendations from the special
report by the Quebec Ombudsman: Detention conditions, administration of justice and crime
prevention in Nunavut, 2016. Retrieved from
https://protecteurducitoyen.qc.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/rapports_speciaux/assessment-follow-
up-special-report-detention-condition-nunavik.pdf
Ramsay, C. (2018, June 29). Last of 4 inmates who escaped Red Deer remand centre arrested in
Rocky Mountain House. Global News. Retrieved from
https://globalnews.ca/news/4305948/red-deer-escaped-inmates-arrested/
Raynor, P., Ugwudike, P., & Vanstone, M. (2014). The impact of skills in probation work: A
reconviction study. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 14(2), 235–249.
Reevely, D. (2014, December 12). Ontario’s probation system in shambles, auditor reports.
Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved from http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/reevely-ontarios-
probation-system-in-shambles-auditor-reports
Ricciardelli, R., Power, N., & Simas Medeiros, D. (2019). Correctional officers in Canada:
Interpreting workplace violence. Criminal Justice Review, 43(4), 458–476.
Schierenbeck, A. (2018, March 15). A billionaire and a nurse shouldn’t pay the same fine for
speeding. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/opinion/flat-
fines-wealthy-poor.html
Seymour, A. (2014, July 31). Prominent Ottawa judge strikes down mandatory victim surcharge.
Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved from http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/prominent-ottawa-
judge-strikes-down-mandatory-victim-surcharge
Shingler, B. (2014, June 8). Helicopter escape from Quebec jail has police hunting for three
inmates. National Post. Retrieved from http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/08/helicopter-
escape-from-quebec-jail-has-police-hunting-for-three-inmates/
Sibley, R. (2015, Sept. 24). Third woman identified in Wilno area slayings; suspect to appear in
court. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved from http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/manhunt-for-
in-wilno-following-shooting-death
Statistics Canada. (2018a). Average counts of adults in provincial and territorial correctional
programs [Table 35-10-0154-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510015401
Statistics Canada. (2018b). National occupation classification. Correctional service officers.
Retrieved from http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3VD.pl?
Function=getVD&TVD=314243&CVD=314247&CPV=4422&CST=01012016&CLV=4&ML
V=4
Statistics Canada. (2019a). Adult admissions to correctional services [Table 35-10-0014-01].
Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510001401
Statistics Canada. (2019b). Adult criminal courts, guilty cases by mean and median amount of
fine [Table 35-10-0037-01]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?
pid=3510003701
Statistics Canada. (2019c). Adult criminal courts, guilty cases by mean and median length of
probation [Table 35-10-00350-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510003501
Statistics Canada. (2019d) Adult sentenced custody admissions to correctional services by sex
and sentence length ordered [Table 35-10-0018-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510001801
Steiner, B., Travis, L. F., Makarios, M. D., & Brickley, T. (2011). The influence of parole officers’
attitudes on supervision practices. Justice Quarterly, 28(6), 903–927.
Still, W. S. (2016). A practitioner’s perspective on realignment: A giant win in San Francisco. The
ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 664(1), 221–235.
Wakefield, J. (2018, March 26). Former Alberta inmate carried stillborn baby for weeks after
seeking help from staff. Edmonton Journal. Retrieved from
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/former-alberta-inmate-carried-stillborn-baby-
for-weeks-after-seeking-help-from-staff
Wallace-Capretta, S., & Roberts, J. V. (2013). The evolution of electronic monitoring in Canada:
From corrections to sentencing and beyond. In M. Nellis, K. Beyens, & D. Kaminski (Eds.),
Electronically monitored punishment: International and critical perspectives (pp. 44–62).
New York: Routledge.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2018). Benefit-cost results, adult criminal justice.
Olympia, WA: Author.
Weinrath, M., Doerksen, M., & Watts, J. (2015). The impact of an intensive supervision program
on high-risk offenders: Manitoba’s COHROU program. Canadian Journal of Criminology and
Criminal Justice, 57(2), 253–288.
Wener, R. E. (2012). The environmental psychology of prisons and jails: Creating humane
spaces in secure settings. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Western, B., & Schiraldi, V. (2017). Want to shrink our prisons? Fix probation and parole. The
Crime Report. Retrieved from https://thecrimereport.org/2017/07/20/want-to-end-mass-
incarceration-fix-probation-and-parole/
Winterdyk, J. A., & Antonowicz, D. (2016). Deaths in custody. In J. V. Roberts & M. G.
Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 364–375). Toronto, ON:
Nelson.
Woo, A. (2018, May 16). Vancouver subset struggling to escape corrections system’s ‘revolving
door’ study says. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouver-subset-struggling-to-
escape-corrections-systems-revolving-door-study-says/article28046243/
Young, D. W., Farrell, J. L., & Taxman, F. S. (2013). Impacts of juvenile probation training
models on youth recidivism. Justice Quarterly, 30(6), 1068–1089
Zinger, I. (2017). Annual report: Office of the correctional investigator. Ottawa, ON: Office of
the Correctional Investigator.

Chapter 10
Adams, E. B., Chen, E. Y., & Chapman, R. (2017). Erasing the mark of a criminal past: Ex-
offenders’ expectations and experiences with record clearance. Punishment & Society, 19(1),
23–52.
Angus Reid Global. (2014). Six-in-ten Canadians support legalizing marijuana, but say it’s not a
top justice priority. Retrieved from http://angusreid.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ARG-
 Marijuana-Opinions2.pdf
Barnowski, R. (2004). Outcome evaluation of Washington State’s research-based programs for
juvenile offenders. Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
Beaudette, J. N., Power, J., & Stewart, L. A. (2015). National prevalence of mental disorders
among incoming federally-sentenced men offenders. Correctional Service of Canada Research
at a Glance. Retrieved from https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/005/008/092/005008-0357-eng.pdf
Bell, D. (2019, Mar. 4). “Smallest of steps”: Cannabis legal expert says pardon changes not
enough. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cannabis-legal-
expert-pardon-changes-bill-c-93-jack-lloyd-1.5042476
Bonta, J., & Andrews, D. A. (2017). The psychology of criminal conduct (6th ed.). New York:
Routledge.
Brown, G., Barker, J., McMillan, K., Norman, R., Derkzen, D., & Stewart, L. (2018). National
prevalence of mental disorders among federally sentenced women offenders: In custody
sample. Ottawa, ON: Correctional Service of Canada.
Brown, J. (2018, August 20). Enforcement lacking in anti-money-laundering efforts. Canadian
Lawyer. Retrieved from https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/author/jennifer-
brown/enforcement-lacking-in-anti-money-laundering-efforts-16110/
Bumiller, K. (2015). Bad jobs and good workers: The hiring of ex-prisoners in a segmented
economy. Theoretical Criminology, 19(3), 336–354.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2014, July 11). Edward Snowshoe spent 162 days in
segregation before suicide. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/edward-snowshoe-spent-162-days-in-segregation-
before-suicide-1.2703542
Canadian Press. (2016, May 24). Appeal court cuts man’s assault sentence by a day to avoid
risking his permanent resident status. National Post. Retrieved from
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/appeal-court-cuts-mans-assault-sentence-by-a-day-
to-avoid-risking-his-permanent-resident-status
Carson, E. A. (2018). Prisoners in 2016. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Chouinard, J. A., & Riddick, C. (2015). An evaluation of the circles of support and
accountability demonstration project. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Church Council on Justice and Corrections. (2011). Circles of Support and Accountability: Cosa
in Canada, 2011 gathering report. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Coletto, D., & Anderson, B. (2019). Has the SNC-Lavalin/Wilson-Raybould controversy
impacted public opinion? Abacus Data. Retrieved from https://abacusdata.ca/has-the-snc-
lavalin-wilson-raybould-controversy-impacted-public-opinion/
Correctional Service of Canada. (2014a). Correctional programs. Retrieved from
https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/correctional-process/002001-2001-eng.shtml
Correctional Service of Canada. (2014b). History of penitentiaries in Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/about-us/006-1006-eng.shtml
Correctional Service of Canada. (2018a). Audit of offender redress. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Correctional Service of Canada. (2018b). CORCAN advisory board. Retrieved from
https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/corcan/002005-0007-en.shtml
Correctional Service of Canada. (2019a). Aboriginal healing lodges. Retrieved from
https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/aboriginal/002003-2000-en.shtml
Correctional Service of Canada. (2019b). Commissioner’s Directive 715-1 community
supervision. Retrieved from https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/politiques-et-lois/715-1-cd-en.shtml
Correctional Service of Canada. (2019c). Community corrections. Retrieved from
https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/publications/005007-3008-en.shtml
Correctional Service of Canada. (2019d). CORCAN. Employment and employability. Retrieved
from https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/publications/092/005007-3016-en.pdf
Correctional Service of Canada. (2019e). Women offenders Retrieved from s://www.csc-
scc.gc.ca/publications/092/005007-3012-en.pdf
Decker, S. H., Ortiz, N., Spohn, C., & Hedberg, E. (2015). Criminal stigma, race, and ethnicity:
The consequences of imprisonment for employment. Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(2), 108–
121.
Deschene, S. (2017). Fraser Valley Institution for Women. Journal of Prisoners on Prisons,
26(1&2), 40–42.
Doran, L. (2018). Finding common ground on a journey from pain to hope: CoSA as restorative
justice. Honours thesis, Saint Mary’s University (Halifax).
Duwe, G. (2018). Can circles of support and accountability (CoSA) significantly reduce sexual
recidivism? Results from a randomized controlled trial in Minnesota. Journal of Experimental
Criminology, 14(4), 463–484.
Ekos Research Associates Inc. (2017). Public consultation on the records suspension program.
Ottawa, ON: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
Flannigan, K., Unsworth, K., & Harding, K. (2018). FASD prevalence in special populations.
Canada FASD Research Network. Retrieved from https://canfasd.ca/wp-
content/uploads/sites/35/2018/08/Prevalence-2-Issue-Paper-FINAL.pdf
Global News. (2018, July 6). Analysis: A gang member’s perspective on Canada’s gang
violence. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4313201/analysis-gang-member-
perspective-canada-gun-violence/
Gossner, D., Simon, T., Rector, B., & Ruddell, R. (2016). Case planning and recidivism of high
risk and violent adult probationers. Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 1(2), 32–43.
Haney, C. (2018). The psychological effects of solitary confinement: A systematic critique.
Crime & Justice, 47(1), 365–416.
Harper, C. A. (2018). The role of the media in shaping responses to sexual offending. In H.
Elliott, K. Hocken, R. Lievesley, N. Blagden, B. Winder, & P. Banyard (Eds.), Sexual crime
and circles of support and accountability (pp. 127–150). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Harris, K. (2018a, March 25). Diverse mix of gangs a growing security challenge for federal
prisons. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/prison-gangs-diverse-
csc-1.4590649
Harris, K. (2018b, July 2). A handful of prison inmates floods grievance system, filing more than
8,000 complaints. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/prisoner-
complaints-csc-grievances-1.4721039
Harris. K. (2019, January 7). Court orders new rules for holding prisoners in solitary
confinement. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/court-ruling-
 solitary-confinement-goodale-1.4968577
James, N. (2018). Risk and needs assessment in the federal prison system. Washington, DC:
Congressional Research Service.
John Howard Society of Ontario. (2018). The invisible burden: Police records and the barriers to
employment in Toronto. Toronto, ON: Author.
Keung, N. (2018, June 11). Tougher impaired driving penalty “a double whammy” for
immigrants. Toronto Star. Retrieved from
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/06/08/tougher-impaired-driving-penalty-a-double-
whammy-for-immigrants.html
Kidman, J. (1938). Prison reform in Canada: The report of Royal Commission on Penal System.
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 5(2), 112–115.
Kim, B., Benekos, P. J., & Merlo, A. V. (2016). Sex offender recidivism revisited: Review of
recent meta-analyses on the effects of sex offender treatment. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
17(1), 105–117.
Latessa, E. J. (2018). Does treatment quality matter? Of course it does, and there is growing
evidence to support it. Criminology & Public Policy, 17(1), 181–187.
McCoy, T. (2012). Hard time: reforming the penitentiary in nineteenth-century Canada.
Edmonton, AB: Athabasca Press.
Makarios, M., Lovins, L., Latessa, E., & Smith, P. (2016). Staff quality and treatment
effectiveness: An examination of the relationship between staff factors and the effectiveness of
correctional programs. Justice Quarterly, 33(2), 348–367.
Malakieh, J. (2018). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Malakieh, J. (2019). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult criminal and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Noonan, M. E. (2016). Mortality in local jails and state prisons, 2002–2014—Statistical tables.
Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Office of the Correctional Investigator. (2013). Summary of issues and challenges in the
management of prison self-injury. Retrieved from https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/comm/presen-
tations/presentationsAR-RA1112Info-eng.aspx
Office of the Correctional Investigator. (2017). Annual report, 2016–2017. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Office of the Correctional Investigator. (2018). Annual report, 2017–2018. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Office of the Correctional Investigator. (2019). Aging and dying in prison: An investigation into
the experiences of older individuals in federal custody. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Parole Board of Canada. (2018a). History of parole in Canada. Retrieved from
https://www.canada.ca/en/parole-board/corporate/history-of-parole-in-canada.html
Parole Board of Canada. (2018b). Parole decision-making: Myths and realities. Retrieved from
https://www.canada.ca/en/parole-board/corporate/publications-and-forms/parole-decision-
making-myths-and-realities.html
Parole Board of Canada. (2019a). Timeline for conditional release. Retrieved from
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/canada/parole-board/migration/001/093/timeline-eng.PDF
Parole Board of Canada. (2019b). 2017–2018 report to parliament, record suspension program.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Parole Board of Canada. (2019c). Performance monitoring report, 2017–2018. Ottawa, ON:
Author.
Perkel, C. (2018). Women want memorial at notorious former Kingston prison. CTV News.
Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/women-want-memorial-at-notorious-former-
kingston-prison-1.4047489
Public Safety Canada. (2017a). Corrections and conditional release statistical overview, 2016.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Public Safety Canada. (2017b, October 10). Results released from the criminal records act and
record suspension user consultations. News Release. Retrieved from
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-
canada/news/2017/10/results_releasedfromthecriminalrecordsactandrecordsuspensionuser.htm
l
Public Safety Canada. (2018). Corrections and conditional release statistical overview, 2017.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Report to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. (2014). Public fatality inquiry. Retrieved
from https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/d8bedb35-398a-4e24-befa-
bef1d49531de/resource/2736fe62-60e2-4179-b919-eb4febbb93ed/download/2014-fatality-
report-snowshoe.pdf
Rhodes, W., Gaes, G., Luallen, J., Kling, R., Rich, T., & Shively, M. (2016). Following
incarceration, most offenders never return to prison. Crime & Delinquency, 62(8), 1003–1025.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2016). Terrorism and violent extremism awareness guide.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Ruddell, R. (2017). Pioneers in corrections. In J. Winterdyk (Ed.), Pioneers in Canadian
criminology (pp. 267–286). Oakville, ON: Rock’s Mills Press.
Schwartz, S. (2016). The professional life of a federal parole officer. In J. V. Roberts & M. G.
Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A Reader (5th ed.) (pp. 105–116). Toronto, ON:
Nelson.
Stewart, L. A., Wardrop, K., Wilton, G., Thompson, J., Dzekzen, D., & Motiuk, L. (2017).
Reliability and validity of the dynamic factors identification and analysis—revised. Ottawa,
ON: Correctional Service of Canada.
Stys, Y., McEachran, R., & Axford, M. (2016). Ways forward: Applying lessons learned in the
management of radicalized offenders to Canadian federal corrections. Ottawa, ON:
Correctional Service of Canada.
Sykes, G. M. (1958/2007) The society of captives: A study of a maximum security prison.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Townson, D. (1960, September 24). Kingston’s sadistic warden Smith. Maclean’s. Retrieved from
http://archive.macleans.ca/article/1960/9/24/kingstons-sadistic-warden-smith
Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. (2015). A critical review of the practice of double
bunking within corrections. Montreal, QC: Author.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2018). Benefit-cost results. Retrieved from
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/BenefitCost?topicId=2
White, P. (2014, December 5). Confined: The death of Eddie Snowshoe. The Globe and Mail.
Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/confined-the-death-of-eddie-
snowshoe/article21815548/
White, P. (2017, September 28). Prisons more dangerous for inmates as use of solitary
confinement drops: Ombudsman. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/inmates-released-from-solitary-confinement-
must-be-monitored-ombudsman/article36417079/
White, P. (2019, April 10). Landmark ruling in Ontario caps solitary confinement at 15 days. The
Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-solitary-
confinement-for-more-than-15-days-constitutes-cruel-and/
Wilson, C. (2018). The history of the development of circles of support and accountability. In H.
Elliott, K. Hocken, R. Lievesley, N. Blagden, B. Winder, & P. Banyard (Eds.). Sexual crime
and circles of support and accountability (pp. 1–23). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wilson, R. J., & McWhinnie, A. J. (2013). Putting the “community” back in community risk
management of persons who have sexually abused. International Journal of Behavioural
Consultation and Therapy, 8(3–4), 72–79.
Wilson, R. J., & McWhinnie, A. J. (2016). Circles of support & accountability: The role of the
community in effective sexual offender risk management. In A. Phenix & H. M. Hoberman
(Eds.), Sexual offending (pp. 745–754). New York: Springer.
Wilson, R. J., McWhinnie, A., Picheca, J. E., Prinzo, M., & Cortoni, F. (2007). Circles of support
and accountability: Engaging community volunteers in the management of high-risk sexual
offenders. The Howard Journal, 46(1), 1–15.
Winterdyk, J. A., & Ruddell, R. (2010). Managing prison gangs: Results from a survey of US
prison systems. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38(4), 730–736.
Wright, J. P., & Cullen, F. T. (2012). The future of biosocial criminology: Beyond scholars’
professional ideology. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 28(3), 237–253.
Zinger, I. (2017). Annual report: Office of the correctional investigator. Ottawa, ON: Office of
the Correctional Investigator.

Chapter 11
Aguiar, W., Halseth, R. (2015). Aboriginal peoples and historical trauma. Prince George, BC:
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health.
Alam, S. (2015). Youth court statistics in Canada, 2013/2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics.
Allen, M. (2018). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Allen, M., & Superle, T. (2016). Youth crime in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics.
Bala, N. (2003). Youth criminal justice law. Concord, ON: Irwin Law.
Bala, N. (2013, September 5). When a child kills in Canada, there’s no sense of justice. The
Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/when-a-child-
kills-in-canada-theres-no-sense-of-justice/article14119129/
Bala, N., & Lilles, H. (1984). The Young Offenders Act annotated. Don Mills, ON: Richard De
Boo Publishers.
Beattie, S., David, J. D., & Roy, J. (2018). Homicide in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Bernard, T., & Kurlychek, M. (2010). The cycle of juvenile justice (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford
University Press.
Bonta, J., & Andrews, D. A. (2017). The psychology of criminal conduct (6th ed.). New York:
Routledge.
Boppre, B., Salisbury, E. J., & Parker, J. (2018). Pathways to crime: Criminal Behavior,
Criminological Theory, Women, Crime, and Justice. Retrieved from
http://criminology.oxfordre.com/abstract/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore
-9780190264079-e-99
Branson, C. E., Baetz, C. L., Horwitz, S. M., & Hoagwood, K. E. (2017). Trauma-informed
juvenile justice systems: A systematic review of definitions and core components.
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9(6), 635–646.
Brennan, T. (2015). A women’s typology of pathways to serious crime with custody and treatment
implications. Retrieved from http://go.volarisgroup.com/rs/volarisgroup/images/Women-
Typology-Descriptions-Gender-Responsive-4-15.pdf
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2015, January 13). Brett Wiese’s friends share emotional
impact statements at murder trial. CBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/brett-wiese-s-friends-share-emotional-impact-
statements-at-murder-trial-1.2899195
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018, July 12). Police identify 16-year-old suspect wanted
for brazen Queen and Peter double homicide. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/keyshawn-jones-wanted-1.4744955
Carrington, P. J., Brennan, S., Matarazzo, A., & Radulescu, M. (2013). Co-offending in Canada,
2011. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Carrington, P. J., & Schulenberg, J. L. (2004). Introduction: The Youth Criminal Justice Act—A
new era in Canadian juvenile justice? Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice,
46(3), 219–224.
Cauffman, E., Fine, A., Mahler, A., & Simmons, C. (2018). How developmental science
influences juvenile justice reform. UC Irvine Law Review, 8(1), 21–40.
Cesaroni, C., Grol, C., & Fredericks, K. (2019). Overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in
Canada’s criminal justice system: Perspectives of Indigenous young people. Australian & New
Zealand Journal of Criminology, 52(1), 111–128.
Chalas, D. M., & Grekul, J. (2017). I’ve had enough: Exploring gang life from the perspective of
(Ex) members in Alberta. The Prison Journal, 97(3), 364–386.
Cherry, P. (2018, October 17). Man who killed prison guards for Hells Angels gets closer to
parole. Montreal Gazette. Retrieved from https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/man-
who-killed-prison-guards-for-hells-angels-goes-before-parole-board
Child Rights International Network. (2018). Minimum ages of criminal responsibility around the
world. Retrieved from https://archive.crin.org/en/home/what-we-do/policy/minimum-ages.html
Cohen, A. O., & Casey, B. J. (2014). Rewiring juvenile justice: The intersection of
developmental neuroscience and legal policy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(2), 63–65.
Cohen, M. A., & Piquero, A. R. (2009). New evidence on the monetary value of saving a high
risk youth. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 25(1), 25–49.
Comack, E. (2012). Racialized policing: Aboriginal people’s encounters with the police.
Winnipeg, MB: Fernwood Publishing.
Community Legal Education Ontario. (2015). Steps in a youth case. Retrieved from
http://youth.cleo.on.ca/en/steps-youth-case/if-charged/
Corrado, R. R., Kuehn, S., & Margaritescu, I. (2014). Policy issues regarding the
overrepresentation of incarcerated Aboriginal young offenders in a Canadian context. Youth
Justice, 14(1), 40–62.
David, J., (2017). Homicide in Canada, 2016. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Davie, E. (2019, July 16). Atlantic Canada has an enviable problem: its youth jails are emptying
out. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/youth-jails-
vacant-atlantic-canada-1.5207035
DeHart, D., Lynch, S., Belknap, J., Dass-Brailsford, P., & Green, B. (2014). Life history models
of female offending: The roles of serious mental illness and trauma in women’s pathways to
jail. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 38(1), 138–151.
DeHart, D. (2018). Women’s pathways to crime: A heuristic typology of offenders. Criminal
Justice and Behavior, 45(10), 1461–1482.
Department of Justice. (2004). The evolution of juvenile justice in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Department of Justice. (2013). The Youth Criminal Justice Act: Summary and background.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Department of Justice. (2015). Extrajudicial measures. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Dufour, I., Villeneuve, M., & Lafortune, D. (2018). Does the “last chance” sentence work? Ten
years of failures and successes under a juvenile intermediate sanction in Canada. Punishment
& Society, 20(5), 539–561.
Dunbar, L. (2017). Youth gangs in Canada: A review of current topics and issues. Ottawa, ON:
Public Safety Canada.
Ference and Company Consulting. (2018). Mayor’s task force on gang violence prevention.
Findings and action steps. Vancouver, BC: Author.
Gomez del Prado, G. (2011). Outlaw motorcycle gangs’ attempted intimidation of Quebec’s
police forces. Police Practice and Research, 12(1), 66–80.
Grant, M. (2019a, June 27). “It’s taking a toll and we’re tired,” murder victim’s family says after
Calgary killer sentenced again. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/mitchell-harkes-brett-wiese-murder-sentence-
1.5192423
Grant, M. (2019b, July 25). Killer who stabbed student over hurt feelings at party appeals his
sentence again. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/mitchell-
harkes-brett-wiese-murder-appeal-1.5224818
Houston, S. E. (1972). Victorian origins of juvenile delinquency: A Canadian experience. History
of Education Quarterly, 12(3), 254–280.
Jones, N. J., Brown, S. L., Wanamaker, K. A., & Greiner, L. E. (2014). A quantitative exploration
of gendered pathways to crime in a sample of male and female juvenile offenders. Feminist
Criminology, 9(2), 113–136.
Karpoff, J. C., & Vaughan, J. S. (1962). Legal aid for juveniles in Canada. Master’s thesis, School
of Social Work, University of British Columbia.
Kuehn, S., & Corrado, R. R. (2011). Youth probation officers’ interpretation and implementation
of the Youth Criminal Justice Act: A case study of youth justice in Canada. International
Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 35(3), 221–241.
Leamon, S. E. (2016). Criminal offenders under 12 should not walk free in Canada. Huffington
Post. Leon, J. S. (1977). The development of Canadian juvenile justice: A background for
reform. Osgood Hall Law Journal, 15(1), 71–106.
Leone, P. E., Lockwood, S., & Gagnon, J. C. (2017). Creating and sustaining safe environments
in juvenile corrections. In P. Sturmey (Ed.), The Wiley handbook of violence and aggression.
Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119057574.whbva115
Loughran, T. A., & Reid, J. (2018). A longitudinal investigation of trauma exposure,
retraumatization, and post-traumatic stress of justice-involved adolescents. Washington, DC:
Office of Justice Programs.
Malakieh, J. (2019). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Marshall, B. D. L., DeBeck, K., Simo, A., Kerr, T., & Wood, E. (2015). Gang involvement among
street-involved youth in a Canadian setting: A gender-based analysis. Public Health, 129(1),
74–77.
Martin, K. (2015, May 19). Woman, 19, gets life for group murder. Toronto Sun. Retrieved from
https://torontosun.com/2015/05/19/woman-19-gets-life-for-group-revenge-
murder/wcm/7c0264f2-1885-4122-9690-61d7f145c0e9
Martin, K. (2018, August 21). Plan to kill ex-wife and her boyfriend failed because man botched
firing of shotgun: court. Calgary Sun. Retrieved from https://calgarysun.com/news/crime/plan-
to-kill-ex-wife-and-her-boyfriend-failed-because-man-botched-firing-of-shotgun-court
Mays, G. L., & Ruddell, R. (2019). Making sense of criminal justice: Policies and practices (3rd
ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Meissner, D. (2019, March 4). Federal government targets B.C. guns and gang violence with
$5.3 M fund. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-federal-government-targets-bc-guns-and-
gang-violence-with-53-m-2/
Miladinovic, Z. (2016). Youth court statistics in Canada, 2014/2015. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (2014). Wraparound process. Retrieved
from https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Wraparound_Process.pdf
Office of the Correctional Investigator. (2014). A case study of diversity in corrections: The Black
inmate experience in federal penitentiaries. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Oudshoorn, J. (2015). Trauma-informed youth justice in Canada. Toronto, ON: Canadian
Scholars Press.
Perreault, S. (2014). Admissions to youth correctional services in Canada, 2011/2012. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Pfeifer, J., & Leyton-Brown, K. (2007). Death by rope: Volume One, 1867 to 1923. Regina, SK:
Centax Books.
Public Safety Canada. (2007). Youth gangs in Canada: What do we know? Ottawa, ON: Author.
Public Safety Canada. (2018a). Crime prevention funding programs: Youth gang prevention
fund. Retrieved from https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crm-prvntn/fndng-
prgrms/index-en.aspx
Public Safety Canada. (2018b). Criminal gun and gang violence in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Ruddell, R., & Gileno, J. (2013). Lifers admitted as juveniles in the Canadian prison population.
Youth Justice, 13(3), 234–248.
Ryerson, E., & Hodgins, J. G. (Eds.). (1859). The reformatory prisons and kindred institutions for
Upper and Lower Canada. Journal of Education for Upper Canada, 12(1), 1–2.
Savage, L. (2019). Female offenders in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Schneider, S. (2018). Canadian organized crime. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholar’s Press.
Scott, E. S., Duell, N., & Steinberg, L. (2018). Brain development, social context and justice
policy. Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, 57, 13–74.
Smandych, R. C., & Corrado, R. R. (2018). “Too bad, so sad”: Observations on key outstanding
policy challenges of twenty years of youth justice reform in Canada, 1995–2015. Manitoba
Law Review, 41(3), 191–240.
Sprott, J. B., & Manson, A. (2017). YCJA bail conditions: “Treating” girls and boys differently.
Canadian Criminal Law Review, 22(1), 77–94.
Statistics Canada. (2014). Juveniles adjudged delinquent, Canada, 1927 to 1973. Retrieved from
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-516-x/sectionz/4147446-eng.htm#4
Statistics Canada. (2019a). Average counts of young persons in provincial and territorial
correctional services [Table 35-10-0003-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=3510000301
Statistics Canada. (2019b). Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, Canada,
provinces, territories and census metropolitan areas [Table 35-10-0026-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510002601
Statistics Canada. (2019c). Youth courts, cases by median elapsed time in days [Table 35-10-
0040-01]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510004001
Statistics Canada. (2019d). Youth courts, number of cases and charges by type of decision [Table
35-10-0038-01]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?
pid=3510003801
Steele, A. (2015, February 27). Deal with youth trauma to deal with gang problems, says social
worker. CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/deal-with-youth-
trauma-to-deal-with-gang-problems-says-social-worker-1.2976479
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the truth, reconciling for
the future. Winnipeg, MB: Author.
Umamaheswar, J. (2012). Bringing hope and change: A study of youth probation officers in
Toronto. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 57(9),
1158–1182.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2018a). Benefit-cost results. Retrieved from
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/BenefitCost
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2018b). Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for
youth in the juvenile justice system. Retrieved from
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/BenefitCost/Program/264
Woloschuk, T. (2006, February). A promise of redemption: The Soeurs du Bon Pasteur and
delinquent girls in Winnipeg, 1911–1948. Manitoba History, 51. Retrieved from
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/51/marymound.shtml
Zahn, M., Hawkins, S. R., Chiancone, J., & Whitworth, A. (2008). The girls study group:
Charting the way to delinquency prevention for girls. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Chapter 12
Allen, M. (2014). Victim services in Canada, 2011/2012. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Allen, M., & Perreault, S. (2015). Police-reported crime in Canada’s provincial north and
territories, 2013. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Anderson, B., & Coletto, D. (2017). What keeps us awake: Top national issues. Abacus Data.
Retrieved from http://abacusdata.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Abacus-Release-National-4-
Nov-2017.pdf
Angus Reid Institute. (2018). Confidence in the justice system: Visible minorities have less faith in
courts than other Canadians. Vancouver, BC: Author.
Armstrong, P. (2019, July 2). Despite a strong economy, cost of living still top of mind for
Canadians. CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/anxiety-cost-of-
living-canada-economic-data-1.5192401
Barker, A. J. (2015). “A direct act of resurgence, a direct act of sovereignty”: Reflections on Idle
No More, Indigenous activism, and Canadian settler colonialism. Globalizations, 12(1), 43–
65.
Barrett, J. (2018, March 29). Red Deer weathers “perfect storm” of recession, crime and
addiction to find its way forward. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/red-deer-perfect-storm-recession-crime-addiction-
1.4598301
Baxter, M. (2018, February 2). Small towns can’t afford independent policing, but don’t know
where to turn. TVO. Retrieved from https://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/small-towns-cant-
afford-independent-policing-but-dont-know-where-to-turn
Beare, M. E., Des Rosiers, N., & Deshman, A. C. (Eds.). (2014). Putting the State on Trial: The
Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Beattie, S., David, J. D., & Roy, J. (2018). Homicide in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Beattie, S., & Hutchins, H. (2015). Shelters for abused women in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Beirne, P., & South, N. (2012). Greening criminology. In S. D. Fassbinder, A. J. Nocella, & R.
Kahn (Eds.), Greening the academy: Ecopedagogy through the liberal arts (pp. 23–32).
 Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishing.
Bell, K. (2015, March 17). Elon Musk: In the future, human-driven cars may be illegal.
Mashable. Retrieved from https://mashable.com/2015/03/17/elon-musk-nvidia/
Bernard, T., & Kurlychek, M. (2010). The cycle of juvenile justice (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford
University Press.
Black, J. (2018). Autonomous vehicles: Terrorist threat or security opportunity? RAND
Corporation. Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/blog/2018/01/autonomous-vehicles-
terrorist-threat-or-security-opportunity.html
Boccio, R., Chan, J., & Sicora, R. (2017). A world without prisons: Bringing restorative justice to
The Leap. The Leap. Retrieved from https://theleap.org/portfolio-items/a-world-without-
prisons-bringing-restorative-justice-to-the-leap/
Brennan, S., & Mazowita, B. (2019). Prior contact with the criminal justice system among people
who fatally overdosed on illicit drugs in Surrey and in British Columbia, 2011 to 2016.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
British Columbia Coroners Service. (2019). Illicit drug toxicity deaths in BC, January 1, 2009 –
May 31, 2019. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-
marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/statistical/illicit-drug.pdf
Brock University. (2017). Prison abolition symposium. Retrieved from https://brocku.ca/prison-
abolition/
Bronson, J., & Carson, E. A. (2019). Prisoners in 2017. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice
Statistics.
Burczycka, M. (2018). Police-reported intimate partner violence in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
California Department of Motor Vehicles. (2019, March 19). Report of traffic collision involving
an autonomous vehicle. Retrieved from
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/autonomous/autonomousveh_ol316+
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2016). Stingray surveillance device questions prompt
federal privacy complaint. CBC News. Retrieved from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/stingray-open-media-1.3533417
Canadian Judicial Council. (2018). Canadian Judicial Council annual report, 2017/2018.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Canadian Press. (2017, March 9). A look at previous Canadian Judicial Council conduct cases.
CTV News. Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/a-look-at-previous-canadian-
judicial-council-conduct-cases-1.3318423
Charron, M., Nemr, R., & Vaillancourt, R. (2009). Aging of justice personnel. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Chen, K. (2014, May 6). 7 mass surveillance tools your local police might be using. Reveal (The
Center for Investigative Reporting). Retrieved from https://www.revealnews.org/article/7-
mass-surveillance-tools-your-local-police-might-be-using/
Chettiar, I. M., & Ofer, U. (2018, January 16). The “tough on crime” wave is finally cresting.
Brennan Center for Justice. Retrieved from https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/tough-crime-
wave-finally-cresting
City News. (2018 July 4). Influx of smuggled guns make it easy to get one in Toronto: crime
specialist. Retrieved from https://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/07/04/guns-toronto-border/
Cole, A. (2019, March 21). Volvo’s in-car cameras will spot, slow or stop drunk or distracted
drivers. KPIC. Retrieved from https://kpic.com/news/auto-matters/volvos-in-car-cameras-will-
spot-slow-or-stop-drunk-or-distracted-drivers
Connolly, A. (2019, March 22). Jody Wilson-Raybould to offer more details on her testimony in
SNC-Lavalin scandal. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/5084553/jody-
wilson-raybould-more-testimony-snc-lavalin-scandal/
Conor, P. (2018). Police resources in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Conroy, S. (2018). Police-reported family violence against children and youth in Canada, 2017.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Correctional Service of Canada. (2015). Abolition of corporal punishment, 1972. Retrieved from
http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/pblct/rht-drt/05-eng.shtml
Cotter, A. (2015). Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey: Public
confidence in Canadian institutions. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
The Crime Report. (2018, September 7) Prediction: Every police patrol car will have a drone.
Retrieved from https://thecrimereport.org/2018/09/07/prediction-every-police-patrol-car-will-
have-a-drone/
Csanady, A. (2015, March 6). NP explainer: Tough-on-crime and the Tories, a brief history by the
numbers. National Post. Retrieved from http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/06/np-
explainer-tough-on-crime-and-the-tories-a-brief-history-by-the-numbers-video/
CTV News Montreal. (2018, April 23). Firearm-free police? Green Party calls for patrollers to give
up guns. Retrieved from https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/firearm-free-police-green-party-calls-for-
patrollers-to-give-up-guns-1.3898112
Cutean, A. (2018). Autonomous vehicles and the future of work in Canada. Ottawa, ON:
Information and Communications Technology Council.
Denver, M., Best, J., & Haas, K. C. (2008). Methods of execution as institutional fads.
Punishment & Society, 10(3), 227–252.
Department of Justice. (2018). Victims’ roles and rights in the criminal justice system. Retrieved
from http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/victims-victimes/rights-droits/
Doob, A. N., & Webster, C. M. (2015). The Harper revolution in criminal justice policy … and
what comes next. Policy Options. Retrieved from http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/is-it-
the-best-of-times-or-the-worst/doob-webster/
Duxbury, L., Bennell, C., Halinski, M., & Murphy, S. (2017). Change or be changed: Diagnosing
the readiness to change in the Canadian police sector. Police Journal: Theory, Practice and
Principles, 91(4), 316–338.
The Economist. (2018). Why driverless cars will mostly be shared, not owned. Retrieved from
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/03/05/why-driverless-cars-will-
mostly-be-shared-not-owned
Elliot, J. K. (2018, August 1). Ready or not: U.S. unleashing 3D-printed ‘ghost guns’ for the
entire internet. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4356869/3d-printed-
gun-liberator-plans-online/
Environics Research Group (2015). Canadian attitudes toward animal issues – June 2015.
Toronto, ON: Author.
Fotheringham, S. (2016). Social impacts of an economic downturn: Considerations for the city of
Calgary. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary.
Freeze, C. (2017, September 17). RCMP shelved hundreds of organized-crime cases after terror
attacks. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mounties-put-hundreds-of-files-on-hold-in-
shift-toward-anti-terrorism/article36285597/
Gascon, G., & Foglesong, T. (2010). Making policing more affordable: Managing costs and
measuring value in policing. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
Gawdin, S. (2018, July 27). Chilliwack residents complain about drones spying on backyards.
The Chilliwack Progress. Retrieved from https://www.theprogress.com/news/chilliwack-
residents-complain-about-drones-spying-on-backyards/
Global News. (2017, March 16). Amanda Todd’s accused cyberbully sentenced to 11 years in
Dutch prison. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3313729/amanda-todd-
cyberbullying-aydin-coban-sentenced/
Goodman, M. (2015). Future crimes. Toronto, ON: Doubleday.
Government of Canada. (2018). Departmental plan 2018 to 2019 report. Ottawa, ON:
Environment Change and Climate Change Canada.
Gray, J., & Stone, L. (2019, March 20. Ford did not break rules in hiring Taverner, integrity
commissioner rules, but calls process “flawed.” The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ford-did-not-break-rules-in-hiring-taverner-
integrity-commissioner/
Greenland, J., & Cotter, A. (2018). Unfounded criminal incidents in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Griffiths, C. T., Pollard, N., & Stamatakis, T. (2015). Assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of
a police service: the analytics of operational reviews. Police Practice and Research: An
International Journal, 16(2), 175–187.
Hafner, J. (2018, August 1). What is a 3D printed gun, and how is it legal? Your questions,
answered. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-
now/2018/08/01/3-d-guns-how-3-d-printed-gun-parts-made-and-how-theyre-legal/879349002/
Hamilton Police Service. (2018). Business plan. Retrieved from
https://hamiltonpolice.on.ca/about/business-plan
Harris, K. (2018). Liberals propose major criminal justice changes to unclog Canada’s courts.
CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-crime-justice-reform-
1.4598480
Holt, T. (2018, October 15). Why hackers hack. Dr. Gordon Wicijowski Law Foundation of
Saskatchewan Lecture, University of Regina.
Institute of Health Economics. (2014). Criminal justice and forensic psychiatry costs in Alberta.
Edmonton, AB: Author.
Ipsos Reid. (2012). Three in five (62%) Canadians say the federal government is doing too little
to protect species at risk. Retrieved from https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/three-five-62-
canadians-say-federal-government-doing-too-little-protect-species-risk
Judd, A. (2018, January 12). Someone used a drone to drop $26,500 of drugs, tobacco over a
B.C. prison wall. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3961889/drone-
drugs-b-c-prison-wall/
Lazatin, E. (2018, October 22). Appeal case to be begin in Netherlands for Amanda Todd’s
alleged tormentor. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4581300/amanda-
todd-dutch-accused-criminal-appeal/
Ling, J. (2015, December 14). Someone used a drone to deliver a handgun into a notorious
Canadian prison. Vice News. Retrieved from
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gy9wnj/someone-used-a-drone-to-deliver-a-handgun-into-
a-notorious-canadian-prison
Logan, N. (2014, December 29). Canadians say Michael Brown, Eric Garner protests top U.S.
news story: poll. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/1747176/canadians-
say-michael-brown-eric-garner-protests-top-u-s-story-poll/
Lundrigan, K. (2018). R v Jordan: A ticking time bomb. Manitoba Law Journal, 41(4), 113–147.
McCune, J. L., Carlsson, A. M., Colla, S., Davy, C., Favaro, B., Ford, A. T., … Martins, E. G.
(2017). Assessing public commitment to endangered species protection: A Canadian case
study. FACETS, 2, 178–194.
McKnight, P. (2016). The funhouse mirror: Media misrepresentations of crime and justice. In J. V.
Roberts & M. G. Grossman (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed.) (pp. 28–38).
Toronto, ON: Nelson.
Macpherson, A. (2019, March 11). Carbon tax, rural crime top of mind for SARM residents.
StarPhoenix (Saskatoon). Retrieved from https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/carbon-
tax-rural-crime-top-of-mind-for-sarm-delegates
Malakieh, J. (2019). Adult and youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2017/2018. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Mark, A. (2018). Big data policing: Exploring some strengths and concerns. Canadian Society of
Evidence-Based Policing. Retrieved from http://www.can-sebp.net/single-
post/2018/03/17/Big-Data-Policing-%E2%80%93-exploring-some-strengths-and-concerns
Meares. T. (2017, August 1). Policing: A public good gone bad. Boston Review. Retrieved from
https://bostonreview.net/law-justice/tracey-l-meares-policing-public-good-gone-bad
Michael, D. (2018). Understanding legal aid Ontario. Retrieved from
http://mycriminaldefence.ca/legal-aid.html
Mikelionis, L. (2018, January 3). Drug cartels using drones to smuggle drugs at border. Fox
News. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/us/drug-cartels-using-drones-to-smuggle-
drugs-at-border
Miladinovic, Z. (2019). Adult and youth court statistics in Canada, 2016/2017. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2018). Critical reasons for crashes
investigated in the national motor vehicle crash causation survey. Washington, DC: Author.
Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. (2018). Annual report, 2016–2017.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
O’Sullivan, D. (2018, October 4). Facebook just had its worst hack ever – and it could get worse.
CNN Business. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/04/tech/facebook-hack-
explainer/index.html
Owusu-Bempah, A., & Wortley, S. (2014). Race, crime, and criminal justice in Canada. In S. M.
Bucerius & M. Tonry (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of ethnicity, crime, and immigration (pp.
281–320). Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.
Parkes, D. (2018, September 25). Mandatory minimum sentences for murder should be
abolished. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-mandatory-minimum-sentences-for-murder-
should-be-abolished/
Perreault, S. (2013). Impaired driving in Canada, 2011. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Perreault, S. (2015). Criminal victimization in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada,
Minister of Industry. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-
x/2015001/article/14241-eng.pdf
Perreault, S. (2019). Police-reported crime in rural and urban areas in the Canadian provinces,
2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Perreault, S., & Simpson, L. (2016). Criminal victimization in the territories, 2014. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Perrin, B., Audas, R., & Peloquin-Ladany, S. (2016). Canada’s justice deficit: The case for a
justice system report card. Ottawa, ON: Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Pfaff, J. (2017). Locked in: the true causes of mass incarceration and how to achieve real
reform. New York: Basic Books.
Police Executive Research Forum. (2018). The changing nature of crime and criminal
investigations. Washington, DC: Author.
Province of Ontario. (2019). Public sector salary disclosure. Retrieved from
https://www.ontario.ca/page/public-sector-salary-disclosure
Public Safety Canada. (2018). The Canadian disaster database. Retrieved from:
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/cndn-dsstr-dtbs/index-en.aspx
RoadSafetyBC. (2019). Administrative alcohol and drug related driving prohibitions (May 31,
2019). Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/driving-and-
transportation/driving/publications/drinking-driving-report-May-2019.pdf
Roberts, J. V., Stalans, L. J., Indermaur, D., & Hough, M. (2003). Penal populism and public
opinion: Lessons from five countries. New York: Oxford University Press.
Robertson, N. (2012). Policing: Fundamental principles in a Canadian context. Canadian Public
Administration, 55(3), 343–363.
Rotenberg, C. (2019). Police-reported violent crimes against young women and girls in Canada’s
provincial north and territories. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Ruddell, R. (2017). Policing rural Canada. Whitby, ON: deSitter Publications.
Savage, L. (2018). Police-reported family violence against seniors in Canada, 2017. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Scribner, M. (2018, February 1). Uber wants to make it illegal to operate your own self-driving
car in cities. Competitive Enterprise Institute. Retrieved from W
Smith, M. (2018, September 26). Calgary police to ban recreational cannabis use for officers –
even off-duty. Toronto Star. Retrieved from
 https://www.thestar.com/news/cannabis/2018/09/26/calgary-police-to-ban-recreational-
cannabis-use-for-officers-even-off-duty.html
Southey, T. (2015, November 13). Justice Robin Camp: Canada’s toughest sensitivity training
student. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-
debate/justice-robin-camp-the-toughest-sensitivity-training-student-possible/article27250702/
Spratt, M. (2019, January 28). Don’t expect new justice minister to deliver on progressive
criminal justice reform. Canadian Lawyer. Retrieved from
https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/author/michael-spratt/dont-expect-new-justice-minister-
to-deliver-on-progressive-criminal-justice-reform-16772/
Statistics Canada. (2017a). Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Key results from the 2016 census.
Ottawa, ON: Author.
Statistics Canada. (2017b). Immigration and ethnocultural diversity: Key results from the 2016
census. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Statistics Canada. (2018a). Impact of cybercrime on Canadian businesses, 2017. Ottawa, ON:
Author.
Statistics Canada. (2018b). Operating expenditures for adult correctional services [Table 35-10-
0013-01]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510001301
Statistics Canada. (2019). Data tables (National occupational classification). 2016 Census.
Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm
Supreme Court of Canada. (2018). Applications for leave submitted. Retrieved from
https://www.scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/stat/cat2-eng.aspx#cat2a
Tencer, D. (2015, February 27). Bought electronics in Canada from ’99 to ’02? You have $20 (or
more) coming. Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/02/26/dram-price-fixing-reimbursement_n_6764070.html
Toews, V. (2013, January 16). Speech for the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, at
the Summit on the Economics of Policing. Retrieved from
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/nws/spchs/2013/20130116-en.aspx
Tonry, M. H. (2013). “Nothing” works: Sentencing “reform” in Canada and the United States.
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 55(4), 465–480.
Toronto Star Editorial Board. (2018, August 13). Solutions to gun crime don’t boil down to
Ford’s “good guys and bad guys” rhetoric. Toronto Star. Retrieved from
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2018/08/13/solutions-to-gun-crime-dont-boil-
down-to-fords-good-guys-and-bad-guys-rhetoric.html
Transport Canada. (2019). Canadian motor vehicle traffic collision statistics, 2017. Ottawa, ON:
Author.
Tunney, C. (2018, September 24). RCMP’s ability to police digital realm “rapidly declining,”
commissioner warned. CBC News. Retrievedfrom https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lucki-
briefing-binde-cybercrime-1.4831340
Tyler, T. R. (2006). Why people obey the law. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
van den Born, A. (2013). Policing opportunities and threats in Europe. Journal of Organizational
Change, 26(5), 811–829.
Vitale, A. S. (2017). The end of policing. New York: Verso Books.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2018). Benefit-cost results, adult criminal justice.
Olympia, WA: Author.
Webster, C. M., & Doob, A. N. (2015). US punitiveness “Canadian style”? Cultural values and
Canadian punishment policy. Punishment & Society, 17(3), 299–321.
Woods, A. (2018). More than 90 deaths now linked to heat wave in Quebec. Toronto Star.
Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/07/18/89-deaths-now-linked-to-
heat-wave-in-quebec.html
Woods, M. (2012). Occupy Wall Street protests spreading to Canada. Toronto Star. Retrieved
from
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/10/02/occupy_wall_street_protests_spreading_to_can
ada.html
World Justice Project. (2019). Rule of law index, 2018–2019. New York: Author.
Wright, A. (2018, October 5). Police forces across the country should give up their weapons. The
Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-police-
forces-across-the-country-should-give-up-their-weapons/
Zeng, Z. (2019). Jail inmates in 2017. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Index

Note: Page numbers in bold indicate definitions, and those in italics indicate figures or captions.

Abbott, Rick, 140–1

Abdi, Abdirahman, 329
Aboriginal Justice Strategy, 79
Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto (ALST), 222, 223
Act to Provide for the Conditional Liberation of Convicts, 274
actus reus (criminal act), 151, 167, 347
Adam, B.A., 70
Addario, F., 183
administration of justice offences, 204, 347
adultery, 145, 347
advocacy, 74; inmate, 251–2; organizations, 167; prisoner, 270–2
African-Americans, African-Canadians, 76, 119, 309
age: of criminal responsibility, 298–9; defence, 158, 294, 347; rates of offending and, 293
age–crime curve, 293–4, 293, 294, 310, 347
Alam, S., 303
Alberta: costs of justice system in, 327; crime in, 54; Gladue reports and, 222, 223; superior
court in, 12
Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, 71
Alberta Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General, 186
alibis, 154–5, 154, 347
Allen, M., 54, 108, 215, 290
Allen, M. and K. McCarthy, 32
Allen, M. and T. Superle, 291
Alouette Correctional Centre for Women, 246
alternative measures programs, 17–18, 17, 17, 289, 290, 305, 347
Amoud, T.C., 221, 223
Anastakis, D., 95
Anderson, B. and D. Coletto, 329
Anderson, D.A., 83
Angus Reid Institute, 19, 174, 328, 330
animals, endangered, 336
Anonymous, 173; Parsons case and, 173, 174
Antic, R v, 190, 337
antisocial behaviour, 3, 43, 96, 347
Anwar, Hamad and Tiffany Harvey, 5
appeal, leave to, 179
appellate courts. See courts of appeal
April, S. and M.M. Orsi, 221
Archambault, Joseph, 261–2
Archambault, K., D. Joubert, and G. Brown, 246
Archibald, Walter, 274–5
Armstrong, A., 161
arrests: police discretion and, 105–6
Askov, R v, 152
assault, 34–5, 34, 347; consent as defence for, 155; of police officers, 139; of prisoners, 269–70;
see also sexual assault; violence
assembly-line justice, 22, 167, 182–4, 196, 347
Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, 72, 139
Auditor General of Canada, 102
automated license-plate readers, 334
automatism, 158, 347
autonomous (self-driving) vehicles, 150–1, 318–19
auto theft. See motor vehicle theft
aviation units, 120, 347

Babcock, Laura, 144

bail, 180, 189–90
bail supervision, 306, 347
Bakica, David, 343–4
Bala, N., 294, 298
Bala, N. and H. Lilles, 297, 305
Bala, N. and P.J. Carrington, 81
Balfour, Amy, 56–7
Balko, R., 4
banishment, 62, 91
Barghout, C., 88
Barnowski, R., 269
Barra, Mary, 41
Bartkow, R v, 219
battered woman syndrome/defence, 156, 210, 210–11, 347
Baxter, J. and A. Yoon, 187
Bayley, D.H. and C. Nixon, 140
Beattie, S. et al., 78
Beijersbergen, K.A., A.J.E. Dirkzwager, P.H. van der Laan, and P. Nieubeerta, 249
Bellamy, Denise, 202
Bellemare, A., 71
Bellin, J., 184
Bernard, T. and M. Kurlychek, 289
Bernardo, R v, 169
“beyond a reasonable doubt,” 12, 17, 22, 88, 147–8, 167, 186
“big data,” 334
Bikos, L.J., 135
Bissonnette, Alexandre, 64–5, 217
Bittle, S., 72
Black, J., 318
Black Lives Matter, 329, 341
Blackstone, William, Sir, 22
blaming the victim, 347
Boccio, R., J. Chan, and R. Sicora, 341
Boivin, R. and P. Obartel, 123
bomb disposal squads, 120
Boniface, Gwen, 136
Bonta, J. and D.A. Andrews, 259, 269
Bonta, J., G. Bourgon, R. Jesseman, and A.K. Yessine, 220
boot camps, 342
Boppre, B., E.J. Salisbury, and J. Parker, 310–11
Borowiec, R v, 33
Borutski, Basil, 229
Bosma, Tim, 144
Bourque, Justin, 227
Boushie, Colten, 194
Bowal, P., S. Callbeck, and B. Lines, 205
Boyce, J., 21
Braga, A. A., W.H. Sousa, J.R. Coldren, and D. Rodriguez, 131
Braithwaite, J., 71
break and enter, 35, 36, 203, 347
Brennan, S. and B. Mazowita, 334–5
British Columbia: Correction Act, 218; Gladue reports and, 222; incidents in correctional centres,
250; jury trials in, 167; probation caseloads in, 232; self-represented defendants in, 168, 169;
superior court in, 12
British Columbia Court of Appeal, 258
British Columbia Ministry of Justice, 185
British Columbia Prosecution Service, 189
British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), 30
Britto, S., R. Ruddell, and N.A. Jones, 26, 75
Broadbeck, T., 88
Brown, G. et al., 267
Brown, G.P., J.P. Hirdes, and B.E. Fries,
246
Brown, J., 272
Brzozowski, J., A. Taylor-Butts, and S. Johnson, 78
Bud, T.K., 131
Bueckert, K., 139
Burczycka, M., 160
Burczycka, M. and S. Conroy, 35, 48
burden of proof, 147
Burns, I., 30
Butterworth-Carr, Brenda, 137
bylaws, 7, 71; see also law(s)

Cadieux, Kristine, 201

Cadotte, Michel, 317
Calgary Police Service, 321; use of force, 123, 126
Calverley, D., 240
cameras: body-worn (BWCs), 130–1, 131; in courtrooms, 165; on UAVs, 333–4
Camp, Robin, 321
Campbell, Edith, 172
Campbell, H., 159
Campbell, K.M. and M. Denov, 25
Campeau, H., 137, 138
Canada (Attorney General) v Bedford, 4
Canada, Carter v, 337
Canada Border Services Agency, 7, 65, 101, 234, 332
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, 36
Canadian Bar Association, 148, 167, 187, 204
Canadian Centre for Child Protection, 33–4
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS), 28, 31, 43, 81, 158, 329, 347
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 148–51, 148, 167, 179, 298, 347
Canadian Civil Liberties Association, 167, 190
Canadian Community Health Survey, 10
Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, 136–7
Canadian Council of Academies, 66, 69
Canadian Judicial Council, 320, 321
Canadian Judicial Counsel, 169
Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), 65, 283, 347
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime (CRCVC), 27–8
Canadian Students Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs Survey (CSTADS), 50
Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, 8, 19, 66–7, 85, 323
canine (K9) officers, 120, 347
Carbonell, Marina, 112–13
carding, 105, 106, 347
Carleton, R.N. et al., 139
Carling, A., 181
Carmichael, J.T. and S.L. Kent, 98, 101
Carter v Canada, 337
cascading, 275, 347
caseload, 231, 232, 306, 347
case plan, 231, 347
case processing time, 63, 337, 347
Casper, J. and D. Brereton, 183
celerity, 63
cellular phones: as contraband, 249, 271, 333
Center for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research, 113
Cesaroni, C. and H. Pelvin, 81
Cesaroni, C., C. Grol, and K. Fredericks, 309
chain of command, 117–18, 117, 347
Chalas, D.M. and J. Grekul, 292
Chan, Jennifer, 148
charges, laying of, 179–80
children: crimes against, 33–4; see also youth
Child Rights International Network, 298
chivalry, 80, 347
Christmas, R., 123, 133
Chronicle Herald, The (Halifax), 173
Church Council on Justice and Corrections, 280
Circles of Support and Accountability (COSAs), 279–81, 279, 347
Cirillo, Nathan, 120
civil cases: in Canada vs US, 165
Civil Code of Quebec, 147
civilianization, 133–4, 133, 348
Clairmont, D., 102
Clarenville Correctional Centre, 240
Cleghorn, R v, 155
climate change, 335, 336
closed-circuit television (CCTV), 248
closed systems, 261, 348
Coban, Aydin, 332
Cohen, M.A. and A.R. Piquero, 314
Cole, D.P., 185, 202
Cole, G.F., C.E. Smith, and C. Dejong, 15
collateral consequences, 281, 348
colonization: impacts of, 78–9
Commissioner’s Directives, 276, 348
common law, 12, 147, 348
community-based sanctions, 305–7
community-based sentences, 230–1; see also probation
community correctional centres, 14, 18, 232, 237
community re-entry: barriers to, 281–3; youth and, 312–13
community service work, 70, 236, 348
community supervision, 235, 274, 276–9, 305
community youth workers, 306, 348
conducted energy devices, 123, 348
conflict perspective, 71–2
Conor, P., 110, 134
Conor, P. et al., 98
consent, 155, 155–6, 156, 348
conservation officers, 336, 336; career snapshot, 343–4
Conservative Party of Canada, 212, 213, 326
Constitution Act, 1867, 6, 148
contraband, 245, 252, 348
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, 8
convictions, wrongful, 24
CORCAN, 268
Cordner, G.W., 116, 118
Cormier, Raymond, 88
corporate (organizational) crime, 56, 72; price-fixing, 38, 332, 351
Corrado, R.R., S. Kuehn, and L. Margaritescu, 82, 309
correctional centres, 13, 348; assessment and classification in, 249–50; dynamic security, 249;
escapes from, 251–2, 263; facility design and safety, 247–9; violence and major incidents,
250–1
Correctional Investigator of Canada, 270–1, 272, 286
correctional officers, 252, 254, 283–4; career with, 254–5; misconduct and, 324; training and,
253; in youth facilities, 308
Correctional Service of Canada, 14, 62, 254, 259, 284; admissions process, 250; community
parole officer with, 285; correctional officer with, 254–5; facility youth worker with, 314–15;
see also federal corrections
corrections, 13–15; costs of, 327; individuals in, 15; see also federal corrections; provincial and
territorial corrections
Corrections and Conditional Release Act, 81, 262, 266, 274, 276
Corsianos, M., 98
cost-benefit analyses, 311, 343, 348; youth interventions and, 311–12
costs: of corrections, 327; of crime, 31, 314; of hiring a criminal defence lawyer, 168; of justice
system, 326–7
Cotter, A., 131–2, 330
Cotter, A. and P. Beaupre, 48
Coughlan, S. et al., 154, 156
Coughlan, S., J.A. Yogis, and C. Cotter, 5, 36, 40, 145, 204
counterfeit items, 40
court clerks, 187, 348
courtroom work group, 182–3, 182, 184–7, 348; Crown prosecutors, 185–6; defence counsel,
186; judges, 184–5; rural areas and, 188; support personnel, 187
courts, 12–13, 179; adversarial nature of, 12, 69, 147, 166, 182; confidence and trust in, 174–5;
differences between Canadian and US, 164–6; drug treatment, 190–1; federal, 179; four levels
of, 176–8; for Indigenous people, 80–1; inferior, 12, 176, 350; mental health, 192; military
(courts martial), 13, 179; organization and structure of, 12, 175–9; provincial/territorial, 12,
175, 176–7; public perception of, 20, 175; representing oneself in, 144, 168–9; rural, 187–9;
specialized, 12, 190–4, 190, 197, 353; superior (provincial/territorial), 12–13, 176, 177;
transparency in, 173, 174, 320; youth, 306
courts of appeal, 13, 177–8, 177, 323; Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada, 13; decisions of,
340; legal citations and, 146; provincial/territorial, 12, 13, 25, 146, 177–8, 177
crime(s): against the environment, 38, 335–6, 338; against humanity, 40, 348; against the person,
32–5; in Canada, 31–56; classifying, 7–8; of commission, 151, 154; controlling, 61–84; costs
of, 31, 314; dark figure of, 48, 348; distribution, 54; elements of a, 151–4; financial, 272; five
types of, 32–43; hate, 161–2, 162, 161, 349; impacts of, 3, 31; internet-based, 331–2; law
and, 4–8; measuring, 43–50; occupational, 36–7, 37, 38, 351; of omission, 151, 348;
organizational (corporate), 37, 37–40, 56, 72, 332, 351; organized, 41–3, 119; of the
powerful, 36–41; prevention, 18, 103–4, 120; property, 35–6; rates of, 20, 43, 44–5, 45–7,
83, 207; rural, 54–5, 100, 338; self-reported, 49–50; state or political, 36–7; street, 30, 36, 37,
353; traffic offences, 50–3; victimless, 151, 353; violent, 44, 46, 105, 161, 162; white-collar,
36, 37, 39, 354; see also youth crime
crime control model, 22, 23, 25, 61, 64, 82, 196, 348; policing and, 138; sentencing and, 214
crime control philosophies, 61–73, 82; conflict perspective, 71–2; deterrence, 61, 63–4, 82, 207;
incapacitation, 61, 64–5, 82; reforming offenders, 65–71; rehabilitation, 61, 65–6, 66, 67–9,
 82, 352; restitution, 61, 65, 66–7, 82, 352; restoration or restorative justice, 61, 66, 69–71, 69,
80, 82, 91, 280, 352; retribution, 61, 62, 82, 352; “tough on crime,” 25, 62–5, 74, 83, 212,
213, 225, 326, 342
crime labs, 76–7
Crime Report, The, 334
Crime Severity Index (CSI), 43, 45–7, 45, 54, 348; Canada and provinces, 46; most frequent
offences, 47; non-violent, 46, 351; PEI and, 207; policing and corrections costs and, 327;
selected cities in Canada and, 45; total and violent, 47; violent, 46, 293, 354; youth, 46, 290,
291, 293, 354
Criminal Code of Canada, 2, 4, 5–6, 348; amendments to, 6; antisocial behaviour in, 43;
classification of crimes in, 7–8; crimes defined in, 151; cultural values in, 211; dangerous
offenders in, 65; detention in, 180, 189; driving-related acts in, 50; duress as defence in, 156;
hate crimes in, 162; homicide in, 32; Indigenous people and, 81; infanticide in, 33; jurisdiction
and, 7; marijuana legalization and, 8; minor offences, 3; police use of force in, 122; pre-
sentence reports in, 219; provocation in, 157; publication bans in, 173; reforms to, 324;
restitution in, 66; sentencing in, 61, 202, 209–10, 212, 217; sequential order of criminal cases
in, 179; sexting in, 145; on totality, 212
criminal codes: in Canada vs US, 164
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, 42, 42, 119
criminal investigation and trial, steps in, 179–82
criminal justice funnel, 16
criminal justice system: Canadian vs US, 76–7, 84, 324–5, 326; common elements in, 15–18;
confidence in, 174–5, 328, 328; cultural factors, 328; developing a more effective, 324–5;
development of formal, 24–5; discretion in, 15–16; environmental factors and, 335–6;
external forces shaping, 325–40; filtering in, 16–18; future of urban and rural, 338–9; goals
of, 18–22, 24; history and traditions, 82; legal factors and, 336–40; PESTEL analysis of, 325–
40; political changes and, 325–6; positive changes in, 320–4; reforms to, 341, 342;
revolutionary change and, 341; social factors and, 328–30; structure of, 8–15; technological
factors and, 331–5; in twenty-first century, 319–43; victimization by, 21; wedding cake
model, 163, 163–7
Criminal Records Act, 8
critical criminologists, 41, 56, 71, 145, 239, 348
cronyism, 96, 348
Crown prosecutors, 12, 181, 182, 185–6; career as, 197–8; young offenders and, 302
Cryderman, K., 21
Csanady, A., 322
CSI effect, 75, 76–7, 76, 348
Cuciz, S., 5
cultural factors, 328
custody: deferred, 306, 348; open, 307,
308, 309
custody rating scale, 266, 267, 348
Cuthand, D., 221
cyberbullying, 49, 332; Parsons case and, 173, 174
cybercrimes, 36, 37, 133, 331–2, 333
Cypress Hills Massacre, 93
Dale, D., 218
Dangerfield, K., 40
David, J., 292
Davis, S., 127
Dawson, M. and T. Hotton, 106
“Deadly Statistics” (Globe and Mail), 21
DeAngelo, G., 51
DeAngelo, G. and B. Hansen, 51
death penalty, 20, 320
Death Penalty Information Center, 86
decency, 157
decentralization, 96
defences, 154–63, 167; alibis, 154; excuse, 154, 158–63, 158, 349; justification, 154, 155–8,
350; mental disorder defence, 158–60, 159, 350; mistake defence, 160–3, 160, 350
defendants, self-represented, 144, 168–9
deferred prosecution agreements, 40
delinquents, 289, 296, 348; see also youth
De Lint, W., 108
dementia, as defence, 159
DePalma, A., 195
Department of Justice; on community-based sanctions, 230, 306; on courts, 176; on courts of
appeal, 178; on extrajudicial measures, 305; Indigenous courtwork services and, 187; on
juvenile crime, 295; on laws, 4; wrongful conviction and, 25; on young offenders, 297; on
youth justice conferences, 70
Department of Justice and Public Safety of Newfoundland and Labrador, 195
Deschene, S., 264
detention, grounds for, 189
detention centres, 13, 14, 348; young offenders and, 302–3
deterrence, 18, 62, 82, 83, 207, 239, 348; general, 62; specific (individual), 62
direct supervision, 249, 348
discharge: absolute, 204–5, 236, 347; conditional, 204, 205, 236, 348
discretion, 15–16, 16–17, 105–7, 105, 349; prosecutorial, 180, 195, 352; sexual assault claims
and, 106
discrimination: carding and, 106; police discretion and, 107; against women and girls, 80–1
district attorneys (US), 164
diversity: in Canadian population, 330; in police workforce, 134–6
docket, 187, 349
Dolski, M., 109
Doob, A.N., C.M. Webster, and R. Gartner, 213
Doob, Anthony, 64, 175
Doob, Anthony and Cheryl Webster, 341
Doolittle, R., 106
Drelsinger, B., 207
driving: dangerous, 7, 52–3; impaired, 51–2, 56, 337–40
drones, 249, 333, 334, 349; see also unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
drugs: inmates and, 245–6; overdoses in British Columbia, 334–5, 335; police and suppression
of, 118–19; smuggling with drones, 334; war on, 84, 119; youth and, 50
Dudley, Lisa, 115
due process model, 22–3, 22, 25, 61, 82, 197, 336–7, 349; policing and, 138; probation and,
230; procedural law and, 148; sentencing and, 214–15
Duffy, Mike, 181
Duhaime’s Law Dictionary, 156
Dunbar, L., 292
Duncan, Suzanne, 172
duress, 156, 349
Duxbury, L. and C. Higgins, 136
Duxbury, L., C. Bennell, M. Halinski, and S. Murphy, 137–8
Duxbury, Linda and Craig Bennell, 120–1
dynamic needs, 266, 267, 349
dynamic security, 249, 349
Dziekanski, Robert, 123

earned remission, 218, 349

Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP), 260
economic factors, 322–3, 326–8; of rural and urban justice systems, 339
economic recessions, 41, 325, 327–8, 342; economic factors and, 326–7
Economist, The, 318–19
Edmonton Institution, 258
Edmonton Remand Centre, 240, 248
Egan, K., 201
electronic monitoring (EM), 234–5, 234, 349
Elizabeth Fry Society, 272
emergency response teams, 119–20, 119, 353
Engel, Elizabeth, 225–6
England: common-law system in, 147
entrapment, 157
environmental factors, 323, 335–6; of rural and urban justice systems, 340
equality before the law, 168–9
escapes, 251–2, 263
escorted temporary absences, 276–7
Evans, Jennifer, 106
evidence: availability of, 76; presented at trial, 181
evidence-based practices, 74, 342–3, 349
evil woman hypothesis, 80, 349
Ewanchuk, R v, 152
executions, 62, 320
executive protection, 120, 349
extrajudicial sanctions, 17, 305, 349
extralegal factors, 208, 349
eyewitness testimony, 154

Facebook: cyberattacks and, 333

facial recognition software, 334
facility youth worker: career as, 314–15
Fagan, L., 70
failure to comply, 203–4, 203, 349
Fair Change Community Legal Clinic, 107
fair play, 157
“fake news,” 26
family group conferencing, 80
Fanning, S., 93
Faris, N., 217
fear, 67, 75
Fearon, R v, 340
federal corrections, 18, 253–4, 259–84; assessing risks and needs, 266–7; gangs and, 265–6,
271; inmate complaints and grievances in, 271–2; major incidents in, 263; medium-security
facilities, 274; prisoner advocacy, 270–2; special needs populations in, 68, 264–8; violence
reduction in, 269–70; see also prisoners
Federal Court of Appeal, 179
federal government, 6–7
Feeney, R v, 152
Feld, B. and S. Schaefer, 208
fentanyl, 253, 334–5
Ferdik, F., J. Rojek, and G.P. Alpert, 126
Ference and Company Consulting, 292
Ferrazzi, P. and T. Krupa, 193
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), 192, 265
field training officers, 125, 349
filtering, 16–18
Fine, S., 184, 216
Finegan, S., 104
fine option programs, 233, 349
fines, 233, 234
First Nations, 91, 349; see also Indigenous people
First Nations Policing Program (FNPP), 79, 102, 349
first responders, 108, 349
Fitzgerald, R.T. and P.J. Carrington, 50
flagging system, 65
Fleiter, J., A. Watson, B. Watson, and V. Siskind, 53
Fontaine, Tina, 88
force, use of, 116, 122–3, 128–9; in Canada and US, 128–9
Ford, Doug, 325
forensic awareness, 76
Forsey, E.A., 145
France: police in, 92
fraud, 37, 41; internet, 331–2; mandatory sentences for, 272; trade, 38–9
Freeze, C., 342
Future Crimes (Goodman), 345
Fyson, D., 241
Fyson, D. and F. Fenchel, 241
gambling, 151
Gamson, W.A., D. Croteau, W. Hoynes, and T. Sasson, 75
gangs, 41–3; in federal corrections, 265–6, 271; police and, 119; women and girls in, 292, 311;
youth crime and, 292–3
gaols, 241, 349
Gatlen, Kerry, 85–6
gender, 80–1; gangs and, 292; media and, 75–6; pathways to female youth crime and, 310–11;
rates of offending and, 293, 294, 295; see also men and boys; women and girls
General Motors, 39–40, 41, 71–2
General Social Survey (GSS), 9, 9–12, 31, 43, 48, 161, 330, 349; trust and confidence in justice
system and courts, 20; trust and confidence in police and, 131
genocide, 21, 40–1, 40, 349
Ghomeshi, Jian, 168
Gladue, R v, 81–2, 152, 221–3, 225
Gladue courts, 70
going rate, 183, 349
Goldlist, Jordana H., 170
Goodman, M., 332, 345
Goodwin v British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles), 337–40
Gossner, D., T.Simon, B. Rector, and R. Ruddell, 235
graduated sanctions, 191, 349
Grech, D.C., 183, 190
green criminology, 335–6, 335, 349
Greenland, J. and A. Cotter, 329
Griffiths, C.T., J.J. Murphy, and M. Tatz,
189
Griffiths, C.T., N. Pollard, and T. Stamatakis, 322
guns: 3D printing and, 332–3; ownership in Canada vs US, 128; smuggling of, 332; youth gangs
and, 293

habeas corpus, 150, 349

Hafner, J., 333
halfway houses, 14, 68, 277, 349
Halifax, 44, 45; assault hot spots in, 53,
54
Hall, C., K. Votova, and D. Wood, 123
Hall, R.G., 137
Halton Regional Police Service, 99
Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre, 248
Hann, R.G., J. Nuffield, C. Meredith, and M. Svoboda, 168
Hannah-Moffatt, K. and P. Maurutto, 191, 193–4, 223
Harris, K., 271, 324
Harris, Lurancy, 98
Hart, R v, 337
hate crimes, 161–2, 162, 161, 349
healing lodges, 14, 264
Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, 42–3, 42, 293, 337
Henein, Marie, 39
Henry, Ivan, 186
Henry II, King of England, 147
hockey: consent as defence for assault in, 155, 156
Hodgkinson, T., M.A. Andresen, and G. Farrell, 37
Holden, Tom, 115, 155
Holfeld, B. and B.J. Leadbeater, 49
Holt, T., 332
home confinement, 234, 349
homelessness, 71, 107, 194, 236
homicide, 32, 349; accused–victim relationship and, 34–5; culpable and non-culpable, 32;
Indigenous people and, 78, 102, 331; intimate-partner, 210–11; in the media, 75; police
officers and, 139; rates of, 20, 32, 44, 44, 55, 83, 216; in rural areas, 100; sentencing and,
208–9; youth, 291, 292, 293
hot spots, 37, 349
Houston, S.E., 296
Hu, Y., S.Y. Huang, R. Hanner, J. Levin, and X. Lu, 40
Huey, L., 71, 76
humanity, crimes against, 40, 348
Human Rights Watch, 237

identity theft, 36, 349

Idle No More, 341
ignorance of the law, as no excuse, 160
Illingworth, Heidi, 27–8
immediate roadside prohibition (IRP), 337–40
immigrants, 330; see also visible minorities
impaired driving, 51–2, 56; immediate roadside prohibition and, 337–40
imprisonment: comparative rates of, 72; iron law of, 68, 350; life, 20, 34, 158, 164, 203, 217,
306; mass, 84, 350
incapacitation, 64, 64–5, 82, 239, 349; selective, 64, 352
incarceration: costs of, 213, 214; evolution of, 241, 241–2; rates of, 205, 206, 225, 231; short-
term, 230; waiting lists and, 207; youth and, 299; see also prisoners
indentured servants, 295, 349
Indigenous courtworkers, 187, 350
Indigenous people, 77–82, 330; carding and, 105; circle sentencing and, 70; colonization and,
78–9; confidence in police and, 131; crime rates and, 102; in federal corrections, 264; Gladue
reports and, 221, 222; justice systems of, 91; laws of, 4; over-policing of, 107;
overrepresentation in criminal justice system, 78, 79–82, 222–3, 225, 309–10, 313, 330–1;
parole and, 278–9; as police officers, 98, 99; policing and, 10, 102, 121; protests and, 341;
residential schools and, 79; sentencing and, 221–3; specialty courts for, 80–1; victimization
and, 76; young, 302, 309–10, 313, 330, 331
Indigenous women and girls, 21, 78, 264, 309
individualized justice, 215, 350; pre-sentence reports and, 219–23
inequality, 71
infanticide, 33
informal social control, 4, 25, 350
in loco parentis, 299
inmates. See prisoners
innocence, presumption of, 17, 22, 147
Innocence Canada, 24–5
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), 37
intensive supervision probation (ISP), 233–4, 233, 350
intensive support and supervision, 306, 350
intent, 154, 350
International Association of Chiefs of Police, 96
International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD), 50
internet-based crimes, 331–2
intimate partners, 210, 350; violence and, 106
investigation, 179
Investigation Discovery, 26

jails, 13, 350

Jain, H.C., 135
Jain, H.C., P. Singh, and C. Agocs, 135
John Howard Society, 272, 283, 307
Johnson, R v, 212
Johnson, S., 235
Jones, N.A., R. Ruddell, and J. Winterdyck, 72
Jones, N.A., R. Ruddell, R. Nestor, K. Quinn, and B. Phillis, 91
Jordan, R v, 323, 337
judges, 12, 184–5; in Canada vs US, 164, 165; habitual offenders and, 214; misconduct and,
320–1; number of, 184; sentencing and, 182, 202, 203, 208; in superior courts, 13; trial and,
181; workloads of, 202
Judicial Advisory Committees (JACs), 184
Junkert, R v, 220
jurisdiction, 6–7, 7, 350; policing and, 10
Juristat publication, 28
jury/juries, 181, 196; in Canada vs US, 165; hung, 181–2; representative, 194
jury nullification, 184, 350
jury rolls, 194, 350
just deserts, 62, 350
justice: fundamental, 150, 349; by geography, 208, 350; individualized, 215, 350; street, 96,
320, 353; vigilante, 60, 353
justice of the peace, 180, 350
justification defences, 154, 155–8, 350
Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA), 296–7, 301, 313

Kaeble, D. and M. Cowhig, 214

Kang, J.H., 104
Kappeler, V.E. and G.W. Potter, 75
Karp, A., 128
Karpoff, J.C. and J.S. Vaughan, 297
Kauzlarich, D. and D.L. Rothe, 36
Kay, B., 33
Keighley, K., 33, 45
Kelly, J.B. and K. Puddister, 74
Kennedy, J.L.D. et al., 70
Kerbel, M.R., 26
Khenti, A., 119
Kiedrowski, J., N.A. Jones, and R. Ruddell, 102
Kingston Penitentiary, 67, 68, 260
Kingston’s Penitentiary for Women (P4W), 262
Kirkey, S., 8
Kokopenace, R v, 194
Korody, Amanda, 157
Kouyoumdjian, F.G., L.M. Calzavara, L. Kiefer, C. Main, and S.J. Bondy, 245–6
Kramer, K., 33
Kuehn, S. and R.R. Corrado, 300
Kugluktuk Ilavut Centre, 240

Lac-Mégantic train disaster, 109

Laframboise, Felix, 201
Lam, Ken, 129
Lathigee, Michael, 30
Latimer, Robert, 195
Latimer, Tracy, 195
Lavalee, R v, 156, 210
law(s): civil, 5; crime and, 4–8; criminal,
145–69; defining, 4; evolution of Canadian criminal, 146–8; federal, provincial, and
municipal, 6–7; Indigenous, 4; private, 5, 351; procedural, 148, 351; prostitution, 4–5; public,
5, 352; regional differences in, 4; rule of, 145, 192–3, 193, 352; substantive, 148, 353; top 10
cases in Canada, 152–3; see also Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; Criminal Code
of Canada
law enforcement, 104–7
law societies, 167
lawsuits: in Canada vs US, 165; class action, 130
lawyers: in Canada vs US, 165; career as, 170; defence, 12, 165, 168, 181, 186, 187; misconduct
and, 324; youth access to, 297; see also prosecutors
Leamon, S.E., 298
Legal Aid Ontario, 210–11
legal aid services, 23, 167, 169, 183–4; cuts and restrictions to services, 148, 186, 320; eligibility
for, 144
legal citation, 146
legal factors, 323, 336–40; of rural and urban justice systems, 340
legalistic style, of policing, 121, 122
Leighton, B.N., 96
Leon, J.S., 296, 299
Leone, P.E., S. Lockwood, and J.C. Gagnon, 308
lethal force, police use of, 128–9
lex talionis, 62
Li, Vince, 160
lifestyle exposure model of victimization, 350
Lightstone, M., 70
Lilly, J.R., F.T. Cullen, and R.A. Ball, 82–4
Linning, S.J., M.A. Andresen, A.H. Ghaseminejad, and P.J. Brantingham,
37
lip service, 96, 350
Lithopoulos, S., 78, 99
living units, 247–8, 248, 350
Lloyd, R v, 216
Loader, I., 95
London (UK): police in, 92–3
long-term supervision orders (LTSOs),
274, 350
Lott, J.R., 128
Loughran, T.A. and J. Reid, 312
Lucki, Brenda, 132, 136
Luloff, Wes, 102
Lutze, F.E., 191–2

McClearn, M., C. Freeze, and S. Dhillon, 111

MacDonald, R v, 340
Macdonald, N., 82
McDonald, S., 66, 67
Mack, R v, 157
McKay, Guthrie, 115
McKenna, J., 233
McKnight, P., 196
McLachlin, Beverley, 146, 168
Maconochie, Alexander, 274, 275
Malakieh, J., 13, 18, 190, 235, 302, 330
malum in se, 7, 350
malum prohibitum, 7, 63, 350
mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs), 215–16
Manitoba: Police Services Act, 96; restorative justice in, 70–1; superior court in, 12
Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, 88
Mann, R v, 152–3
manslaughter, 32; sentencing and, 67, 208, 209
Marakah, R v, 337
Marchand, G., 104
marijuana: legalization of, 7, 8–9, 118, 324; recreational use by police, 321; self-report and, 50,
51
marine units, 120, 350
Mark, A., 334
Marshall, Donald, Jr, 2, 319
Martineau, R v, 153
Mathieu, E., 107
Maxwell, A., 63, 203, 229
Mayor, L. and A. Culbert, 229
Mays, G.L. and R. Ruddell, 22, 41, 77, 138, 289
measurement, of crime, 43–50, 44–5; Crime Severity Index, 45–7; police-reported, 49; self-
reported crime, 49–50; Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 44–5; victimization surveys, 48–9
media: Canadian and US events and practices in, 76–7; crime represented in, 26; CSI effect, 76–
7; public opinion and, 75–7; see also news media; television and films
Medwick, H. and A.E. Chudley, 192
men and boys: crime rates and, 80, 293, 294, 295, 295; gangs and, 292
Menart, R., 208
mens rea (guilty mind), 154, 167, 350; people with mental health problems and, 159
mental disorder defence, 158–60, 159, 350
mental health problems, people with (P/MHP), 158–60, 190; in corrections, 246, 265; police and,
139; treatment centres for, 14
“Me Too” movement, 328–9
Miedema, A., 72
Mok, T., 157
Miladinovic, Z., 47, 63, 205
Miladinovic, Z. and J. Lukassen, 159
military: courts, 179; maintaining order and, 91–2
Millard, Dellen, 144, 200, 209, 217
Miller, J., 238
Miller, J., K. Copeland, and M.L. Sullivan, 237
Miller, Minnie, 98
Millie, A., 140
Minassian, Alek, 129
misconduct, 324; by court personnel,
320–2; police, 127–30, 137, 320, 324
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), 21, 41; see also Indigenous
women and girls
mission creep, 89–90, 89, 350
mistake defence, 160–3, 160, 350
mistakes, by court personnel, 320–2
Moch, J., 174
Molnar, A., C. Whelan, and P.J. Boyle, 108
Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic (MMA) railway, 109
Montreal Police Service, 98
Morin, R v, 153
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), 52, 74
motor vehicle theft, 35, 36, 36, 37, 350
Mounsef, Geo, 60
“Mr Big” investigations, 337, 350
municipal governments, 6, 7
municipal police services, 10, 94, 132; consolidation and, 99–100; decrease in, 99; funding for,
326; number of officers, 98
Murchison, M.J., 184
murder: first-degree, 32, 208–9, 349; prisoners and, 271; second-degree, 32, 208, 209, 352;
youth and, 301; see also homicide
Murphy, C. and C. McKenna, 138
Myette, François-Olivier, 29

Napolitano, Angelina, 210

National Academies of Sciences, 103
National DNA Data Bank, 77
National Flagging System, 65, 350
National Institute of Justice, 191
National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), 50
natural disasters, 108, 335
necessity, as defence, 157, 351
negligence, 154, 351; criminal, 32, 348
neighbourhood watch, 104, 351
Neil, R. and J.T. Carmichael, 207
nepotism, 96, 351
Neve, Lisa, 66
Newark, S., 49
Newfoundland and Labrador: superior court in, 12
new generation design, 247, 351
news media: crime covered by, 26; “fake news,” 26; public opinion and, 75
Ngo, H.V., K. Neote, C. Cala, M. Antonio, and J. Hickey, 107
Nigh, Harry, 279–80
Nixon, R v, 224
Norman, Mark, 39
norms, 4, 351
northern areas: court system in, 187–8, 197, 243; crime in, 46, 338; police in, 104
North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), 87, 93, 93, 94, 351
Northwest Territories: policing and, 10; superior court in, 12
Norway: prison waiting lists in, 207
“not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder,” 159, 160
Nova Scotia: corrections programs options, 244; Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act, 174;
Mental Health Court, 191; restorative justice in, 70; superior court in, 12
Nova Scotia Prosecution Service, 65
Nowlin, C., 157
Nunavut: courts in, 177; policing and, 10; superior court in, 13
Nur, R v, 215–16
Nuttall, John, 157

objective classification, 249–50, 250, 351

Occupy Toronto, 341
offences, 7, 20; dual, 7, 349; indictable, 7, 350; marijuana-related, 8; minor, 32, 166, 313; most
frequent, 47, 47; record suspension and, 282–3; reported to police, 31, 49; status, 289, 296,
353; summary, 7, 8, 353; youth, 12, 289, 290–1, 291, 300–1
offender classification, 249, 351
offender intake assessment, 266, 351
offenders: dangerous, 20, 65, 348; getting tough on, 213–17; habitual, 65, 213–14; holding
responsible, 20; Indigenous, 264; repeat, 244–5; sexual, 279–81; status, 296; white-collar, 30,
39, 56, 272, 354; see also youth
Office of the Auditor General Manitoba, 232
Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs, 184
Office of the Correctional Investigator, 265, 271, 281
Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, 27, 324
officer-involved shootings, 129, 351
O’Grady, B. et al., 107
Ogrodnik, L., 48
ombudsman, 251, 351
Ombudsman Ontario, 251
Ontario: adult correctional facilities in, 13; civilian oversight of police in, 126; complaints against
police in, 127, 130; legal system in, 4; Police Services Act, 11, 90, 103, 126, 137; Safe Streets
Act, 107; sentence calculation in, 218; superior court in, 12; Transportation Enforcement
Officers in, 118
Ontario Court of Appeal, 211, 215–16, 220, 258
Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Corrections, 253
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), 10, 98
On-to-Ottawa Trek, 94–5
open court principle, 173, 174, 351
open custody: facilities, 15, 308, 351; youth in, 307, 309
Operation Cold Start, 37
opioids, 119
order maintenance, 107, 351
organized crime, 41–3, 119
Ottawa Police Service, 100–1, 111
Oudshoorn, J., 312
over-policed, 92, 107, 119, 351

Packer, Herbert, 167; models of responses to crime, 22–3, 24, 61, 82

Page, J., 109
paralegals, 186, 351
paramilitary organizations, 117, 351
pardon. See record suspension
parens patriae, 299
Park, R v, 160–3
Parkes, D., 341
Parliamentary Protective Service, 120
parole, 14–15, 15, 351; community supervision and, 276–9; conditional and community releases,
275; day, 14, 20, 68, 278, 348; early, 261; eligibility for, 209, 217, 274; full, 275, 349; goals
of, 275–6; history of, 274–5; myths about, 273; federal, 273–81; provincial, 232, 352
Parole Board of Canada (PBC), 15, 65, 209, 261, 273, 274, 275; career with, 85–6
parole officers, 15, 275–6; institutional, 266, 350
Parrott, S. and C. Titcomb Parrott, 75
Parsons, P., 222
Parsons, Rehtaeh, 173–4
Pasquill, Earle, 30
paternalism, 80, 351
patrol zones, 122, 351
Paulson, Bob, 119
Paynter, M.J., 246
Peel, Robert, Sir, 92, 93, 122; principles of policing, 95, 97, 121, 134
penal populism, 74, 213, 326
penitentiaries, 14, 67–8; establishment of, 260–2; youth in, 302; see also federal corrections;
prisoners
Penitentiary Act, 261
Perrault, S., 31, 48, 52, 67, 78, 331, 338
Perrault, S. and L. Simpson, 338
Perrin, B., R. Audas, and S. Peloquin-Ladany, 337
Perry, B., 161
personal service order, 306, 351
PESTEL analysis, 322–3, 322, 351; of Canadian criminal justice, 325–40; of rural and urban
justice, 338–40
Pew Charitable Trusts, 214
Pfaff, J., 185
Pfeifer, J. and K. Leighton-Brown, 289
Phillion, Roméo, 25
Piccinato, M.P., 224
Pierson, P.B. and B.P. Bucy, 38–9
Pintea v Johns, 169
plea agreements, 18, 351
plea negotiation (bargaining), 180–1, 224
police, 9–12, 19; advisory boards, 96; allocation and, 116–17; alternatives to, 19; assistance to
victims of crime, 108–9; becoming an officer, 124–5; body-worn cameras and, 130–1; career
as, 140–1; in cities, 90, 100; competencies, 124; complaints and internal investigations, 126–
7; confidence and trust in, 131, 138; cross-national comparisons, 101, 101; dangers of work,
139; detectives, 118; discretion and, 15, 16–17, 105–7; emergency response, 108, 109; front-
line officers, 90, 97, 321, 349; independence of, 92, 132; Indigenous, 98, 99; levels of
education and, 135–6; litigation, 130; maintaining the public peace, 107–8; in media, 26;
misconduct and, 127–30, 137, 320, 324; mission creep and, 89–90, 89, 350; mission
statements of, 103, 121; municipal, 10, 94, 98, 99–100, 132, 326; number of officers, 10, 10,
89, 98,100, 101, 104, 110–11; officer ranks, 117–18; oversight and accountability, 123–32,
138; provincial, 94; public attitudes towards, 116, 131–2; railway, 91; in rural and remote
areas, 93, 104; salaries of, 134; school resource, 120, 120–1, 352; shootings, 128, 128–9;
social safety net and, 89–90 stand-alone police services, 90, 353; stop-and-question practices,
104–5; strength, 100, 101, 351; subculture, 116, 137–8, 351; sworn officers, 117, 353;
undercover roles, 119; unions, 96; use of force, 122–3, 128–9; values and priorities, 103;
visible minority officers, 98, 99, 135; women officers, 98, 99, 110, 134–5, 136; see also
municipal police services; police activities; policing; Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
police activities, 89, 90, 110–11; administrative, 116; auxiliary services, 116; community
policing, 121; contemporary challenges in, 132–8; crime prevention, 90, 103–4, 120; criminal
 investigation, 118; drug suppression, 118–19; law enforcement, 104–7; operational, 116,
118–21; organized crime and gangs, 119; patrol, 104, 118; specialized operations, 119–20;
traffic, 118; youth services, 120–1
Police Association of Ontario, 94, 96, 137
Police Executive Research Forum, 133,
331
police lock-ups, 241, 351
police militarization, 116, 117, 351
Police Sector Council, 124
policies, 23
policing, 136–7; in Canada, 98–101, 103–9; in cities, 99; civilianization and, 133–4; community-
oriented, 96–8, 96, 121, 348; community policing era, 91,
96–8; consolidation, 98–9; contemporary challenges in, 132–8; contract, 10, 100, 109–10,
348; costs and funding of, 99–100, 111, 326, 327, 328; current challenges and context for,
122–32; early professional, 94; evolution of Canadian, 90–8, 109; legal complexity, 132–3;
organization and structure, 89–111; political era, 91, 92–5; from political to professional
model, 92–5; pre-modern era, 91, 91–2; private, 136, 136–7, 351; professional era, 91, 95–6;
professional model of, 95–6, 95, 352; public order, 108, 352; representative workforce, 134–
6; rural, 100–1; styles, 121–2; technology and, 133, 334
political factors, 322, 325–6; of rural and urban justice systems, 339
political interference, 92, 132, 326, 351
politics and politicians: influence on justice system, 324, 325, 342; policing and, 92, 122, 132;
public opinion and, 74; see also tough-on-crime policies
Pontell, H.N., W.K. Black, and G. Geis, 41
Porter, L. and D. Calverley, 217
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 139, 247
power, 71
precedent, 147, 351
preliminary inquiry, 180
Prenzler, T., M. Mihinjac, and L.E. Porter, 127
pre-sentence reports (PSRs), 219–23, 219, 351; youth, 302
price-fixing, 38, 332, 351; bread scandal, 38, 332
Price Waterhouse Coopers, 37
Prince Edward Island: crime severity index for, 207; sentencing in, 64, 205–6; superior court in,
12
Prison Abolition Symposium, 341
prisoner advocacy, 251–2, 270–2
prisoners (inmates), 14; aging, 264–5; assessing risks and needs, 266–7; characteristics of, 262–
7; complaints and grievances, 271–2; cost of housing, 267, 268; in federal corrections, 259,
262–7; Indigenous, 264; managing long-term, 268–72; meaningful interventions and, 268–72;
with mental health problems, 264–5; murder and, 271; non-violent, 20, 64, 207, 279;
pregnant, 264; in provincial and territorial corrections, 244–6; radicalized, 264; return to
community, 14, 20–2, 281–3, 284; in segregation, 258, 269, 270, 352; special-needs
populations, 68, 264–8; suffering from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, 265; violence and
major incidents and, 250–1; women, 246, 246, 266–7
prison misconduct, 259, 351
prisons: “big house,” 247, 260, 347; as closed systems, 261; overcrowding and, 272; waiting
lists, 207; see also federal corrections; provincial and territorial corrections; penitentiaries
privacy violations: UAVs and, 333–4
probation, 14, 203–4, 254; average term of, 232; breach of, 203, 229, 236–7, 236, 347;
caseloads, 232; community service and, 236; high-risk probationers, 232–5; other conditions
of, 235–6; overview of, 230–8; parole vs, 273; rates of, 231; standard conditions, 231, 235,
353; statistics, 235; success and, 238–40; youth, 305
probation officers, 14, 231, 254, 351; career snapshot, 225–6; caseloads, 231, 232; case plan
and, 231; pre-sentence reports and, 219, 220–3; reducing recidivism and, 238–40; in US, 237;
young offenders and, 302
problem-solving/problem-oriented approach, 96
proof, burden of, 147
property crimes, 35–6
proportionality, 61, 62, 208–9, 208, 352
prosecutors, 19; in Canada vs US, 164, 165; Crown, 12, 181, 182, 185–6, 197–8, 302;
misconduct and, 320; provincial, 186, 352; special, 185–6, 185, 353
prostitution, 4–5
Protecting Canadians by Ending Sentence Discounts for Multiple Murders Act, 64, 217
protests, 108, 341
provincial and territorial corrections, 230–54; admissions to, 243, 243, 245; characteristics of
inmates, 244–6; cuts in, 240; evolution of, 241–2; institutional safety and security, 246–52;
time served in, 243, 244; today, 243–4; as workplaces, 254
provincial and territorial governments: jurisdiction and, 6, 7, 90; policing and, 10, 11, 90, 94
Provincial Court of British Columbia, 164, 168, 202
provocation, 157, 352
psychiatric facilities, 242
public: protecting the, 19; top concerns of Canadian, 329
publication bans, 173–4, 173, 352; young offenders and, 300–1
public interest groups, 74
public opinion: in Canada vs US, 164; punishment and, 73–7; tough-on-crime policies and, 167,
213
Public Safety Canada: on custody sentences, 20, 65, 264; on gangs, 292, 293; on high-risk
offenders, 213–14; on impaired driving, 133; on incidents reported to police, 16; on natural
disasters, 335; on parole, 69, 273, 274, 278, 279; on women in prison, 80
punishment: capital, 20, 62, 86, 217; corporal, 62, 261; deterrence and, 63–4; historical, 62;
public opinion and the media and, 73–7

Quebec: legal system in, 4, 147; policing and, 10, 99; superior court in, 12
Quebec City: mosque attack in, 161, 162, 217; police use of force in, 123
Quirouette, M., K. Hannah-Moffat, and P. Maurutto, 194

racial profiling, 107

racial stereotypes: media and, 75–6
radicalization, 264
Rakoff, J.S., 224
random preventative patrol, 104, 352
rates, of crime, 20, 31, 43, 44, 45; Crime Severity Index, 43, 45–7, 45, 54, 348; declining, 83;
non-violent Crime Severity Index, 46, 351; in northern Canada, 46; incarceration and, 207;
Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 44–5; urban and rural, 54–5; violent Crime Severity Index,
44, 46, 293, 354
R c Cleghorn, 155
RCMP. See Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Reale, K., E. Beauregard, and M. Martineau, 76
reception centre, 266, 352
recidivism, 66, 352; officers skills and reducing, 238–40
reckless behaviours, 154, 352
record suspension, 282–3
Red River Rebellion, 93
reformatories, 296, 297
reforms, 341, 342
regional police services, 10, 98
regulations, 7
rehabilitation, 65–6, 66, 67–9, 82, 238, 260, 284, 285, 352; young offenders and, 289, 296, 300
Reiman, J. and P. Leighton, 56, 71
releases: community, 275; conditional, 275, 278; judicial interim, 180, 350; statutory, 15, 275,
277–8, 284, 353; temporary, 218, 353
remand: being held on, 189, 216–17; facilities, 251
Renaud, G., 180
Report of the Royal Commission to Investigate the Penal System of Canada, 261
representativeness, 194, 352
representing oneself in court, 144, 168–9
restitution, 17, 65, 66–7, 82, 352; youth and, 306
restorative justice (restoration), 66, 69–71, 69, 82, 280, 352; Indigenous people and, 70, 80, 91;
youth and, 70
retribution, 62, 82, 69, 352
revolutionary change, 341
Richard, K. Peter, 72
Riddell, J., D. Pepler, and W. Craig, 49
ride-along, 124, 352
rights: in Charter, 148–50, 298; Supreme Court decisions and, 340
risk-need-responsivity (RNR) approach,
238
Roach, K., 194, 195, 222–3
robbery, 34, 36, 352
Roberts, J.V., 23, 74, 175
Roberts, J.V., L.J. Stalans, D. Indermaur, and M. Hough, 213, 326
Robertson, G. and T. Cardoso, 30
Robertson, N., 11–12, 96, 116, 122, 132
Robinson, Sid, 188–9
Rookie Blue (television program), 26
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), 93, 98; complaints and, 126–7; contracted services,
100, 101; forensic services and, 77; Gazette, 113; lawsuits against, 130; on missing and
murdered Indigenous women and girls, 21; murder of officers in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, 120;
 murder of officers in Moncton, New Brunswick, 120, 217; number of officers, 10; officer
ranks, 117; provinces and, 10; on radicalization, 264; rural policing and, 101; specialized
operations, 120
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, R v The, 117
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 78
Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), 93, 352
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC), 10, 11, 92, 103
Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP), 94, 352
Roziere, B. and K. Walby, 117, 120
Ruby, C. and A. Enanajor, 144
Ruddell, R. and M.O. Thomas, 100, 101
Ruddell, R. and J. Gileno, 302
rule of law, 145, 352; cross-national differences in, 192–3, 193
rural areas: courts and, 187–9; crime in, 54–5, 100, 338; future of justice system in, 338–9;
police and policing in, 93, 100–1, 104
Ryerson, E. and J.G. Hodgins, 296

Safe Streets and Communities Act, 6, 23, 215

salaries: of judges, 184; of justice personnel, 327; of police, 134
Salvation Army, 14, 277, 307
Samaroo v Canada Revenue Agency, 185
sanctions, 305–10; community-based, 305–7; extrajudicial, 17, 305, 349
Saskatchewan: boards of police commissioners, 126; circle sentencing in, 70; mental health court
for people afflicted with FASD, 192; RCMP occurrences in, 110; superior court in, 12;
treatment centres for convicted impaired drivers, 13–14
Saskatchewan Police College, 125
Savage, L., 80, 294
Sawa, T., K. Ivany, and M. Kelley, 139
“scared straight” programs, 342
Schierenbeck, A., 233
schools: police in, 120–1; residential, 79; training, 296–7, 296, 353
Scott, H., 48
Seaboyer, R v, 153
secure custody: facilities, 15, 352; youth in, 307–10
security: dynamic, 249, 349; static, 248
security intelligence officers (SIOs), 252
security officers, 19
segregation, 258, 269, 270, 352
Sekhon, R v, 340
self-defence, 157–8, 157, 352
self-determination, 102, 352
self-report surveys, 49–50, 49, 352; marijuana use and, 50, 51
senior citizens: in federal corrections, 264–5
sentence calculation, 218
sentences: absolute discharge, 204–5, 205, 347; appealing, 182; concurrent, 204, 348;
conditional, 204, 230, 348; conditional discharge, 205, 348; consecutive, 204, 348; custodial,
 204, 205, 206; determinate, 217, 348; indeterminate, 217, 349; intermittent, 67, 204, 350; life
imprisonment, 20, 34, 158, 164, 203, 217, 306; mandatory, 150, 214, 272; types in adult
criminal courts, 203; see also probation
sentencing, 182, 202–25; aggravating factors, 209–11, 211, 347; circle, 70, 71, 80, 347;
community-based, 209, 230, 254, 284, 305–7; getting tough on offenders, 213–17; goals of,
61; Indigenous, 221–3; interprovincial differences in, 205–8; intra-provincial differences in,
208; mandatory minimum penalties, 215–16; manslaughter and, 67, 208, 209; mitigating
factors, 209–11, 211, 350; options, 203–5; principles of, 208–13, 223; proportionality and,
208–9; totality and, 212–13; truth in, 214, 216–17, 353
Sentis, 167
sequencing, 17, 352
Serani, D., 75
service style, of policing, 122
sexting, 145, 352
sexual assault, 32–4, 32, 352; accusations against public figures, 328–9; Indigenous women and,
78; offenders, 279–81; police discretion and, 106; rates of reporting, 48; unfounded, 32
Seymour, A., 233
Sheehy, E., 210
Sheehy, E., J. Stubbs, and J. Tolmie, 156, 210
Shepard, Melissa Ann, 257
Sheptycki, James, 98
sheriffs, 187, 352
Sibley, R., 229
Siddiqui, Omar, 197–8
Sidime, Moussa, 62, 67
silent system, 260, 352
Silverberg, Christine, 136
Sinclair, Clint, 221
Sipos, R v, 146
slashing, 270, 352
Smickle, R v, 146
Smith, Henry, 260
Smith, Leslie, 64
SNC-Lavalin scandal, 38, 40, 40, 132, 146, 326
Snowshoe, Edward “Eddie,” 258
social factors, 323, 328–30; of rural and urban justice systems, 339
social media, 104, 133, 321, 323, 341
social movements, 341
social problems, 26, 239
solitary confinement, 260, 270; see also segregation
Somers, J.M., S.N. Rezansoff, and A. Moniruzzaman, 193
South Kesteven District Council, 43
sovereignty, 94, 352
special handling units, 14, 353
special needs populations: in federal corrections, 264–8
special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams, 119–20, 119, 353
Spratt, M., 322
Sprott, J.B. and A. Manson, 306
stand-alone police services, 90, 353
stand your ground laws, 158, 353
Stanley, Gerald, 194
stare decisis, 147, 353
static security, 248
Statistics Canada: on Canadian demographics, 330; on charge-processing time, 303; on duties of
correctional officers, 252; on Indigenous population, 331; on number of officers, 19; on
public confidence, 174; on sentencing, 206; on young female offenders, 81
status offences, 289, 296, 353
statutory release, 15, 275, 277–8, 284, 353
St Claude, Manitoba jail, 242
Steden R. van, E. Miltenburg, and H. Boutellier, 96
Steele, R v, 340
Steiner, B., L.F. Travis, M.D. Makarios, and T. Brickley, 238
Stewart, L.A. et al., 266
Stinchcombe, R v, 13, 153, 337
Stingray technology, 334
Stone, R v, 153, 158
“stranger danger” myth, 34–5
Strategic Training Initiative in Community Supervision (STICS), 238, 353
street checks, 105, 106, 353
street justice, 96, 320, 353
streetlights, enhanced, 334
strip searches, 248, 249, 353
subculture, police, 116, 137–8, 351
subjective classification, 249, 353
substance use and abuse: female youth crime and, 310–11; by inmates, 245–6
suicide: police and, 139; by cop, 129, 353
support personnel, 187
Supreme Court Act, 178
Supreme Court of Canada, 12, 13, 178, 178, 323, 353; on case processing times, 337; decisions
of, 337–40; on entrapment, 157; Gladue decision, 81–2, 221–3, 225; on “harsh punishment,”
150; on infanticide, 33; judges, 185; jurisdiction of, 13; legal citations and, 146; on mandatory
sentences, 150; number of cases heard by, 337; police due process and, 133; on prostitution,
4; on provocation, 157; public confidence in, 174; on “reasonable time” in Charter, 150; on
representativeness, 194; on self-represented defendants, 169; top 10 cases in Canada, 152–3;
on totality, 212
Sûreté du Québec (SQ), 10, 98, 109, 118
Surette, R., 26
surety, 180, 353
Suter, Richard, 60, 63
sworn officers, 117, 353
Sylvestre, M., W. Damon, M. Blomley, and C. Bellot, 183

tasers, 123, 123

Taverner, Ron, 325
Tax Court of Canada, 179
Taylor, Charlie, 279–80
Taylor, R v, 337
technological factors, 323, 331–5; of rural and urban justice systems, 339–40
technology: autonomous vehicles, 150–1, 318–19; design of correctional centres and, 248–9;
drones, 249, 333, 334, 349; law and, 5, 145, 150–1; policing challenges and, 133; Stingray,
334; x-ray, 249
television and films: courts in, 196; homicide in, 34; police activities in, 110–11; prison life in,
259; public opinion and, 18, 75–7, 75
theft, 34, 35, 36, 353; identity, 36; see also robbery
theory/theories, 239
third degree, 320, 353
“three strikes” laws, 64, 84, 213
ticket of leave, 274, 353
Ticket of Leave Act, 274
“time served” credit, 216–17
Todd, Amanda, 332
Tomasi, Tara, 285
Tonry, M.H., 84
Toronto Police Service, 107, 327; Aboriginal Peacekeeping Unit, 121; internal discipline and, 127
totality, 212–13, 212, 353
tough-on-crime policies, 25, 62–5, 74, 83, 212, 213, 225, 326, 342; life and indeterminate
sentencing and, 217; mandatory minimum penalties, 215–16; in US, 214, 325; see also penal
populism
Townson, D., 260
traffic enforcement, 51, 52, 89, 104, 118
traffic offences, 50–3; fatalities, 51, 52, 53
Transport Canada, 51
trauma-informed care, 312, 353
treatment centres, 13–14
treatment programs: for federal prisoners, 268–9
Trembley, P. and N. Sauvetre, 37
trials, 181; television and film and, 18
Trudeau, Justin, 23, 146, 324, 326, 341
true crime stories, 26
Trump, Donald, 26
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 79, 309–10
Truth in Sentencing Act, 217
Tulloch, M.H., 105
Tutton, M., 127
Tyler, T.R., 131, 167

undercover roles, 119, 353

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey, 43, 44–5
Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, 272
United States: court operations different from Canadian, 164–6; First Step Act, 214; homicide and
incarceration rates in, 83; justice system different from Canadian, 76–7, 84, 324–5, 326;
juvenile justice system in, 299; offender rehabilitation vs surveillance, 237; Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 313, 316; penal populism in, 74–5, 213; prison murders
in, 271; rate of imprisonment, 72; self-defence in, 158; specialized courts in, 192; tough-on-
crime policies and, 214, 326
University of Saskatchewan, 222
unlawful act, 32, 353
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 333–4; use by police services, 334; see also drones
urban areas: crime in, 55; future of justice system in, 338–9

Vancouver Police, 98, 321

vehicles: autonomous (self-driving), 150–1, 318–19; fatalities and, 51, 52, 53; theft, 35, 36, 36,
37, 350
verdict, 181–2; appealing, 182
Verdun-Jones, S.N., 181
vicarious traumatization, 353
victim impact statements, 69, 108, 323
victimization: gender and racial stereotypes in the media, 75–6; Indigenous people and, 78; by
justice system, 21; measures of, 43; people with mental health problems and, 160; surveys,
48–9; visible minorities and, 161
victim–offender mediation, 70
victimology, 353
victims of crime, 3; goal of supporting,
19–20; rights of, 19, 323–4
victim surcharges, 233
vigilante justice, 60, 353
violence: in correctional centres, 247, 250–1; in federal corrections, 269–70; intimate-partner,
106
violent crimes: Crime Severity Index and, 46; rates of, 44; street checks and, 105; visible
minorities and, 161, 162
visible minorities, 81, 161, 330; in Canada, 78; carding and, 105; justice system and, 331; in
news media, 75; police and, 121, 131, 132; as police officers, 98, 99; violent crimes against,
161, 162
Volkswagen emissions scandal, 38
Vollrath, Steven, 60

Waby, M., 115

wait times: 77, 76–7; to analyze evidence, 76
Walker, S.: wedding cake model, 163–7, 163
Walker, Tom, 292
Wallace, M., J. Turner, A. Matarazzo, and C. Babyak, 44
Wallace-Capretta, S. and J.V. Roberts, 234
Waller, I., 108
Waller, Irving, 18
warehousing, 243, 354
war on drugs, 84, 119
warrant expiry date, 217, 354
warrants of committal, 218, 354
Washington State Institute for Public Policy: cost-benefit analyses, 70, 193, 234, 269, 311, 312
watchman style, policing, 121–2
Waterloo Regional Police, 130
weapons, less-than-lethal, 123, 123, 350; see also guns
weather, extreme, 335
wedding cake model, 163–7, 163
Weinrath, M., M. Doerksen, and J. Watts, 234
Wemmers, J.M., 19
Wener, R.E., 249
wergild, 66
“Westray Bill” (Bill C-45), 9, 72
Westray Mine disaster, 72
white-collar crimes, 36, 37, 39, 354; offenders, 30, 39, 56, 354; fine collection and, 30;
privileged treatment and, 272
“Why I Went to Law School” campaign,
199
Wil, S., S. Handelman, and D.C. Brotherton, 41
wilful blindness, 154, 354
Willett, T.C., 53
Wilson, C., 280
Wilson, J.Q., 121, 122
Wilson, R.J., A.J. McWhinnie, J.E. Picheca, M. Prinzo, and F. Cortoni, 279
Wilson-Raybould, Jody, 40, 40, 132, 146, 326
Wimmer, Catherine, 314–15
Windsor Jail, 247
Winnipeg Police Service: auxiliary cadets in, 134, 135
witnesses: goal of supporting, 19–20
Wittmann, N., 123
Wolfreys, Jennifer, 255
women and girls, 80–1; confidence in police and, 131; in federal corrections, 266–7; in gangs,
292; Indigenous, 21, 78, 264, 309; intimate-partner violence and, 210–11; parole and, 278,
281; pathways to crime and, 310–11; as police officers, 98, 99, 110, 136; in provincial and
territorial corrections, 240, 246, 246; in training schools, 297; victims of abuse, 19; as young
offenders, 80–1, 297
Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), 33, 167
workhouses, 242, 354
workplace injuries and deaths, 39, 72
World Justice Project, 192, 319
wraparound services, 313, 354
Wynn, David, 215

Young, D.W., J.L. Farrell, and F.S. Taxman, 238

Young Offenders Act (YOA), 297–9, 300, 301, 302, 313; girls and, 80
youth: access to lawyers, 297; accused of crime flowchart, 303; brain development and, 294;
carding and, 105; case flow through the system, 302–4; charged with crime flowchart, 304;
 community re-entry and, 312–13; in custody, 302–3; difference from adults, 289, 291–2, 294;
facilities for, 15, 307; female, 80–1, 297; as indentured servants, 295; Indigenous, 81, 302,
309–10, 330, 331; in open custody, 307; orphaned, 295, 296; police and, 120–1; pre-sentence
reports and, 302; in prison, 302; records and, 307; rehabilitation and, 296, 289, 300;
restorative justice and, 70; in secure custody, 307–10; transfer to adult courts, 297, 298, 302;
victimization and, 48
Youth Centre in Victoria, 307
youth crime: alternative measures programs and, 289, 290; in Canada, 290–5; Crime Severity
Index and, 46; cyberbullying and, 49; gang-related, 292–3; group nature of, 291–2; offences,
12, 289, 290–1, 291, 300–1; rates of crime, 290, 290, 293, 295, 313; self-reported, 50
Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), 80, 158, 299, 300–2, 301, 305–7, 313; amendments to, 300,
301; community-based sanctions in, 305–7; extrajudicial sanctions, 305
Youth Gang Prevention Fund, 293
youth justice, 289–314; comparison of federal laws in, 301; costs and impact of, 313–14;
development of separate, 298–9; evolution in Canada, 295–302; interventions, 310–13;
Juvenile Delinquents Act, 296–7, 301, 313; trauma-informed care and, 312; Young Offenders
Act, 297–9, 300, 301, 302, 313; Youth Criminal Justice Act, 299, 300–2, 301, 313
youth justice conference, 70, 354
Yukon: policing in, 10

Zhao, J. and K.D. Hassell, 121

 Online Chapter

Victimization

▲ Humboldt Broncos assistant coach Chris Beaudry (shown here in a

courtroom sketch) gave a victim impact statement following the collision that
killed sixteen people. What function do victim impact statements serve in the
Criminal justice System? (Photo by the Canadian press/Cloudesley Rook-
Hobbs)

LEARNING OUTLINE
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
• Describe the Canadian populations most at risk of victimization
• Explain the differences between criminology and victimology
• Describe how the lifestyle exposure model can predict victimization
• Provide a definition of a hate crime
• Describe the strengths and limitations of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights

CASE STUDY
A Family Mourns their Father
in a Seven-Year Wait for Justice
On March 31, 2011, Dr Christy Natsis, an Ottawa dentist, was involved in an impaired
driving collision when her sport utility vehicle crashed into Bryan Casey’s truck, killing the
father of three children. Natsis was charged with impaired driving causing death after tests
of her blood alcohol levels revealed they were over two times the legal limit. Natsis
pleaded not guilty and mounted an aggressive challenge to her prosecution. Crawford
(2018) notes how the case dragged through Ontario’s court system from 2012 to 2015 and
required 55 days of the court’s time. During those court appearances, Natsis’s lawyer was
able to have the blood alcohol level evidence ruled inadmissible, but despite that success,
Natsis was convicted in May 2015 of impaired and dangerous driving causing death.
Prior to sentencing, Casey’s wife, LeeEllen Carroll, presented a 12-page victim impact
statement (VIS) that described the family’s loss, the grief they experienced, and how they
coped with Bryan’s death in different ways, including their daughter’s tearful prayers for
just one more visit from her father seven months after the crash. Carroll expressed the
frustration of telling her children that the woman who had killed their father was living in
the community on bail while the family was suffering from their loss.
Natsis was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence and a driving ban, although she
filed an appeal claiming that the police investigators were biased, and she was released
from custody on bail awaiting the appeal. It took another three years before the case was
resolved; on May 7, 2018, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Natsis’s appeal
(Crawford, 2018). Seven years after the collision, Natsis was sent to prison, although she
will be eligible for day parole after serving 20 months, so there is a possibility of her
release by January 2020. Asked about the outcome of the appeal, Casey’s widow said that
 “the pain inflicted upon us continues to have a huge impact” (Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation, 2018).
We can learn more about this case by reviewing the judge’s decision and reason for
sentence, which summarizes the factual background of the case, Dr Natsis’s background,
the VIS, the applicable principles of sentencing, the aggravating and mitigating factors,
and the result.

Critical Questions
1. Natsis was able to delay her admission to prison for seven years after the collision.
How would this impact Bryan Casey’s family and friends?
2. Why is it difficult for the families of people killed in a crime to get closure until the
guilty person is sentenced?
3. How do victims or their families get closure if the guilty person(s) is never brought
before the courts?

INTRODUCTION
All of us are crime victims and in some cases we are unaware of our
victimization: Canadians are, for example, routinely defrauded by
unethical corporations that work together to keep prices of consumer items
artificially high, and most of us have driven in vehicles or used equipment
that was known by the manufacturers to be unsafe. Unless we learn about
these crimes on the news, however, we are unaware that they’ve occurred.
About one-tenth of us, by contrast, are victims of more serious crimes. In
his analysis of victimization data from the General Social Survey,
Perreault (2015, p. 30) found that 143 of every 1,000 households
experience break and enter, vehicle theft, vandalism, or theft of personal
property each year. About half as many households (76 of every 1,000
households) reported having experienced a violent crime in the previous
year, such as robberies, physical or sexual assaults.
Even though crime touches everybody’s lives, victims had traditionally
received very little attention from the criminal justice system until the
early 1980s. In fact, the police and courts did not really want victims
involved in the process, other than as witnesses. Although the system is
more responsive to the needs of crime victims today, the front-line
officials in health, educational, and social service organizations, as well as
police, can still lack sensitivity about the impacts of so-called minor
crimes on people’s lives. These feelings are shared by most members of
the public as well. But we are learning today that acts once considered
relatively harmless—or that most of us have experienced, such as bullying
—can have devastating and far-reaching impacts on a young person
(Wilkinson, 2017).
With respect to bullying, for example, while being harassed, belittled,
or subjected to simple assaults does not create any lasting physical injuries
and few bullies are ever arrested, these acts can reduce a victim’s self-
confidence, increase their need for mental health services, and push them
into substance abuse. Canadian youth in grades 7 to 12 who are bullied, for
example, have higher rates of self-reported drug use (Turner et al., 2018).
Research also shows that children who are bullied are less likely to be
employed later in life and have lower lifetime incomes than youth who
were not bullied (Brimblecombe et al., 2018). How common is bullying?
A summary of research shows that one-third of Canadian youth (33 per
cent) are victims of bullying, and 37 per cent are victims of cyberbullying
(Public Safety Canada, 2018a).
Given our knowledge about the long-term impacts of acts such as
bullying, a key question for us is whether we should involve the criminal
justice system to confront these behaviours, and whether the police and
youth courts should be used to manage young people who are bullying
others. Or will the involvement of these officials just make matters worse
by criminalizing the behaviours of bullies? We know, for instance, that
most of these young people were themselves victims of bullying. Is the
case of bullying an example of a crime that might better be managed
outside the justice system, and instead be addressed in schools? Although
many schools are implementing bullying-prevention programs, it won’t be
easy to eradicate practices that have existed for generations.
 Other changes in our way of understanding victimization relate to
social movements. In 2017 and 2018, the victimization of women became
a highly publicized issue after a series of allegations of harassment and
sexual assaults carried out by American celebrities and politicians were
made. The issue of violence toward women had already been a front-page
story with the 2016 acquittal of Canadian broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi on
charges of sexual assault. The #MeToo movement that started in the
United States in 2017 has become widely discussed in Canada, and while
our awareness of the issues of harassment and sexual violence has been
raised, we do not know whether attempts to make men more accountable
for their predatory behaviours will be successful.
We know that many women are subject to harassment (see Angus Reid
Institute, 2018) but not all those behaviours are considered crimes, and
only a small proportion of acts that are considered offences are ever
reported to the police. This lack of reporting might, however, be changing.
Research carried out by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
examined the number of sexual assaults after the #MeToo movement was
established, and they found a significant increase in reports to the police
after 2016 (Rotenberg & Cotter, 2018). It is possible that this movement
has made women less likely to suffer in silence and more apt to report
their victimization to the police.
In this chapter we take a closer look at the issue of victimization,
including groups in society that are at higher risks of being victimized.
One issue related to victimization is that some individuals are more
vulnerable to becoming victims of violent crimes, such as people with
disabilities or mental health problems, members of sexual minorities,
criminals such as drug dealers who are seen as attractive targets by other
offenders, and individuals involved in the sex trade. Another group of
people who may be vulnerable to violent victimization is female college
and university students, and in the “Closer Look” we take a closer look at
campus sexual assaults.
A Maclean’s survey of 23,000 college and university students revealed that about 10 per cent
of women and 3.5 per cent of males had been sexually assaulted during their student years,
suggesting that almost 145,000 Canadian students are survivors of these assaults (based on
an enrolment of two million students) (Schwartz, 2018).

THE CHANGING ROLE OF VICTIMS IN

CANADA’S JUSTICE SYSTEM
Crime victims are playing a more important role in the justice system
today, although many victim advocates say they are pushed to the sidelines
of the system, and promises about making their experiences more
tolerable often fall short. As noted in Chapter 1 of Exploring Criminal
Justice in Canada, until the early 1980s, victims often received shoddy
treatment by the police officers investigating crimes. Court officials often
dismissed victims after their testimony was finished, and correctional
officials were not required to advise victims (or their families) when the
offenders who had harmed them were being released from prison. These
shortcomings are being addressed. One significant step for victims’
advocacy occurred in 1988 when VISs were officially recognized in the
Criminal Code, although probation officers had included these statements
as part of predisposition and presentence reports for decades. Today, they
are commonly used, and victim services organizations assisted with the
preparation of about 8,500 of these reports in 2015/2016 (information
from Alberta and British Columbia was not available) (Allen & McCarthy,
2018). Other crime victims submitted VISs without the assistance of
advocacy organizations, or their comments were included in pre-sentence
reports written by probation officers prior to an individual’s sentencing.
All together, these results show that victims do have a voice in the
sentencing of people who have harmed them (or their loved ones),
although no research shows whether these reports have any influence on a
judge’s sentencing.
The Parole Board of Canada (PBC) and the Correctional Service of
Canada (CSC), as well as their provincial counterparts, have taken steps to
notify crime victims that perpetrators were being released from custody
and returning to the community. Figure 1 shows the number of victim
contacts with the CSC in 2015/2016 and PBC in 2017/2018, as well as the
number of victims who made statements at parole hearings in that year
(Parole Board of Canada, 2019; Public Safety Canada, 2018b). Those
figures do not include the efforts of provincial and territorial correctional
systems to notify crime victims. As with other victim services, however,
the victims must take steps to register with these agencies before they are
notified of changes to an offender’s circumstances, such as their return to
the community.
Allen and McCarthy (2018) report that almost 300,000 victims or their
family members were assisted by victim services agencies in 2016 (that
total does not include Nunavut); almost three-quarters of those victims
were women (72 per cent) and almost 80 per cent of the crimes involved
were violent offences. While these efforts to give victims a more
prominent role in the system have been positive, victims’ rights groups are
often critical that victims’ voices are often silenced in the administration
of justice, and even although victims want their needs to be considered,
the officials in the justice system give them only a place on the sidelines.
In some respects, the system has always overlooked the importance of
victims, as crimes in Canada are prosecuted as acts against the state and
not against an individual. The Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of
Crime (CRCVC) (n.d., p. 1) says that victims want a greater involvement
in the process and want to be informed of matters related to their case,
such as how the justice system works, upcoming court dates, what they can
expect, and their role in the process.

FIGURE 1 Contact with Victims: Correctional Service of Canada (2014/2015) and Parole
Board of Canada (2017/2018)
Author-generated based on Parole Board of Canada (2019), Public Safety Canada (2018b)

The CRCVC (2015, p. 2) identifies several milestones in the victims’

movement, some of which are highlighted in Figure 2:
FIGURE 2 Timeline of Key Milestones in the Victims’ Movement, Canada
Adapted from CRCVC (2015, p. 2)

A Closer Look
Campus Sexual Assaults
Since 2015 there has been growing awareness about the vulnerability of college and
university women to campus sexual assaults (CSA) and the impact of those crimes on
survivors, and this has led to debates over the best way to reduce the number of these
crimes. Some Canadian researchers have said there is a campus rape culture, where the
harassment and sexual violence toward women is perpetuated by some students and
these acts have been tolerated by the faculty and staff (see Crocker, 2018). In response
to those concerns, universities have been hiring individuals responsible for increasing
awareness of sexual misconduct and introducing educational and intervention
programs to prevent CSA.
Like other issues addressed throughout Exploring Criminal Justice in Canada,
there is a shortage of accurate information about how often CSA occur. Schwartz
(2018, para. 9) reports that:

More than one in five female students, 46.7 per cent of LGBTQ+ students and
6.9 per cent of male students have been sexually assaulted in their lives,
according to a Maclean’s survey of more than 23,000 undergraduate students
from 81 schools. About half those assaults happened during university.

This suggests that about 10 per cent of undergraduate female students and 3.5 per
cent of males were sexually assaulted since starting college or university; although the
authors of the survey did not say whether those attacks occurred on- or off-campus.
Neither did they reveal the definition of a sexual assault used in their report, which
limits our understanding of the problem as some researchers classify unwanted
attention (e.g., when someone tries to kiss another person at a party) the same as a
sexual assault, such as taking advantage of a person who is so intoxicated they cannot
give consent. Regardless of the way one looks at the problem, however, it is serious
and significant. If 10 per cent of women and 3.5 per cent of males were victims of
sexual assault it means that almost 145,000 students were assaulted (based on an
enrollment of over 2 million students — see Statistics Canada, 2018a). Phrased another
way, the number of survivors of CSA is about the same as the entire population of
Guelph or Moncton.
In order to reduce sexual violence on campus, a growing number of colleges and
universities are requiring students to attend information sessions that emphasize safety,
and many are developing protocols whereby survivors can access campus resources
for emotional support and information about the criminal justice system. Some
individuals, however, have questioned whether a better approach to this problem is to
have college or university personnel investigate these offences and punish the people
committing these crimes using college or university sanctions. One challenge for
campus administrators debating this possibility, however, is that their judicial systems
were set up to manage noncriminal acts such as cheating and were never intended to
investigate serious and violent crimes, establish guilt, and then punish the individuals
responsible.
In the United States, by contrast, most colleges and universities have their own
campus police services and their sworn officers can investigate these matters. Other US
campuses do not involve the justice system and instead manage accusations of
 harassment and CSA through their judicial affairs systems. This approach has been
criticized, as some campus sexual assault victims have reported being re-victimized by
the process, especially when no meaningful sanctions are imposed on their assailants.
Dozens of students accused or punished for committing these crimes, by contrast, have
sued US colleges and universities because they contend that their judicial systems
offered them inadequate due process protections.
Writing about the United States, Konradi (2017) asks whether justice can be served
on campus, and like many other issues we are confronting in our exploration of
criminal justice in Canada, there are no simple answers. While the criminal justice
system is set up to investigate crimes, determine the guilt of the accused, and punish
wrongdoers, many survivors of sexual violence are reluctant to formally report their
victimization to the police. Most people accused of serious crimes, by contrast, want
the protections of the justice system. There are no easy or short-term solutions to these
problems, and perhaps the best course of action is to raise everybody’s awareness
about the seriousness of the issue and change our values and beliefs, as we did to
reduce the social desirability of drunk driving (to make that crime unacceptable). These
changes in cultural values, however, sometimes take decades to achieve, and in the
meantime hundreds of thousands of young people will be victimized, and that is
unacceptable.

Many of these reforms were introduced after victims organized into

advocacy groups. Although Mothers Against Drunk Driving is the best-
known public interest group, the CRCVC has taken a leadership role in
victim advocacy. The CRCVC speaks on behalf of all Canadian victims of
crime, educates victims and the public about issues related to crime, acts
as a clearing house for resources and information for victims, and delivers
some individual services, such as providing advocacy organizing support
groups, and offering a hotline to support crime victims and their families
and supporters.

Concerns of Crime Victims

A review of the victim advocates’ literature shows that they have three
common concerns. First, crime victims often express frustration about
how long a case takes to work its way through the justice system. Second,
victims can be critical of the due process protections granted to people
accused of committing crimes and the treatment of these individuals once
they are convicted. Third, victims seldom receive much financial
compensation to enable them to financially recover the costs of restoring
their lives, or to support their efforts in attending court appearances. The
rights of the accused, for example, are clearly outlined in the Criminal
Code, and there is sometimes very little formal recognition of the victim’s
suffering and losses. Advocates remind us that victims “did not ask to be
harmed.” On the other hand, Canadians accused of committing crimes are
given their opportunity to answer to those charges before the courts. Let’s
take a brief look at these three issues.
First, with respect to case processing (also called charge processing)
time—the time it takes a case to work through the court system—almost
every case study starting the chapters in Exploring Criminal Justice
describes how it often takes years before matters are resolved. Many
victims, their families, and their supporters find it difficult to move
forward with their lives if there are more court dates to attend and appeals
to be heard. Victims can remain involved in cases for decades if they
choose to appear before parole boards after the offender has asked for their
release. The case processing time is often dictated by the seriousness of
the crimes; half of theft offences, for example, are resolved within five
appearances stretching over four months. Court appearances for violent
crimes, such as homicide, can continue for years and Maxwell (2018, p.
28) reports that the median number of appearances for this offence was
nine. The family of a Calgary university student killed by two offenders,
profiled in the Chapter 11 case study reported that they sat through 80
days of court appearances over a six-year period, and they were
anticipating spending even more time in court as one of the offenders had
filed another appeal (Grant, 2019). This can be frustrating and expensive
to victims and their families if they want to attend every court appearance
to learn what is happening, as they must often take time from work and
may have to travel to other communities to attend these court dates.
A second issue that frustrates victims’ advocates are the due process
protections granted to people accused of crimes; they point out that
victims have very few rights in comparison. The lengthy wait times for
cases to be resolved, for example, are important to ensure that the
accused’s due process rights guaranteed by the Charter have been
protected. After the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights (CVBR) was enacted
in 2015, it provided crime victims with four rights that are described by
the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (2017, p. 2);
they are summarized as follows:

• The right to information: Including information about the criminal

justice system, the roles victims can play, services available to
crime victims, and the ability to file complaints if their rights are
denied. Moreover, crime victims have some access to information
about their cases, including the status and outcome of an
investigation, when and where court dates will be held, and
information about an offender’s applications for releases from
prison and the outcomes of those applications, including the timing
of releases and the conditions placed on the ex-prisoner.
• The right to protection: These are actions taken to protect the safety
of crime victims, including guarding their privacy and protecting
them from intimidation or retaliation. Crime victims also have
several rights when called to testify, including having their identity
protected and the right to use aids that would help them deliver
their testimony.
• The right to participation: Victims are empowered to make
suggestions regarding decisions about their cases and to have those
views considered by the courts, as well as the right to present a
victim impact statement.
• The right to restitution: Courts can consider ordering an offender to
make restitution to the victim. Those restitution orders can be
entered as civil court judgments that allow the victim to seek
payment through the courts if the offender does not make payments
as directed.
 A third concern of crime victims is that they seldom receive enough
financial compensation to cover their losses. Being victimized is costly
and not all victims have insurance, and sometimes their losses are not
covered. In addition, attending court dates and appeals, and making
presentations to parole boards, often requires victims to take time off work
and travel. There are a number of provincial programs that provide
compensation for criminal injuries, although victims must apply for these
programs. There is a lack of consistency across the provinces; in New
Brunswick a crime victim can receive compensation up to $10,000, while
in Ontario an individual can receive a lifetime maximum of $365,000
(CVBR, 2019); this is shown in Figure 3. Those funds are intended to
replace lost salaries; to help victims attend counseling or receive medical
or dental services; and can cover some funeral expenses or travel in some
provinces. Information was not available for British Columbia, as that
province did not provide a maximum amount to the researchers, and the
crimes compensation program in Newfoundland and Labrador was
abolished, although victims can access some funds for counseling and
travel. These results show us that where you live determines the benefits
you can receive from the justice system, and a victim in Ontario may
receive a much greater amount of compensation than a victim in Atlantic
Canada, even though the individuals in Atlantic Canada received similar
injuries or losses.
FIGURE 3 Maximum Compensation in Dollars for Criminal Injuries Compensation
Programs
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime (2019)

Although almost everybody agrees that the CVBR is a step in a

positive direction, some have expressed concerns because benefits must
often be requested, and since the public has little awareness of these
rights, not all victims make such requests. Groups that are less aware of
these rights are people with disabilities and recent immigrants (Office of
the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, 2017). Others have been
critical that the CVBR does not cover incidents addressed by the military
justice system. The CVBR has also led to some unforeseen administrative
burdens. For instance, the CBC (2018) reported that 96 VISs were
presented to the court in the sentencing of the individual who murdered
17-year-old Cooper Nemeth, a popular Winnipeg hockey player.
Individuals were previously able to submit VISs only if they had a direct
relationship with the victim, but the changes in the CVBR enabled
anybody who had suffered an emotional harm to submit a statement.
Although 96 statements were submitted, the judge allowed only 16 to be
presented in court and the rest were filed (CBC, 2018b). A similar number
of VISs were submitted by individuals affected by the 2018 Humboldt
Broncos crash that claimed 16 lives and injured another 13 people; over 65
were read in court (Russell, 2019).

Victimology: The Study of Crime Victims and their

Experiences
The study of crime victims is called victimology and includes research
about the effects of crimes upon these people, their friends and family, the
relationships between a victim and the person(s) who harmed them, the
steps society has taken to give victims a voice (such as allowing VISs in
court), how victims interact with the officials from the police, courts, and
corrections, their portrayal in the media (e.g., as deserving or undeserving
of their victimization), and the treatment of crime victims by employers,
businesses, and other social groups. The offences committed might be
ordinary crimes, such as a dispute at a party that turns into an assault, but
some scholars extend the scope of victimology to include examining the
effects of state-sponsored crimes, such as violations of human rights and
crimes against humanity. The common theme underlying these issues is
the importance of understanding the impacts of crime on an individual,
which departs from the focus on the study of criminals. The differences
between the fields of victimology and criminology are identified by Scott
(2015, p. 98); her analysis is summarized in Table 1.

victimology The study of crime victims and their interactions with the justice system.

When comparing Scott’s (2015) two classifications, several key

differences become clear. While the orientation of criminology—and
Canada’s criminal justice system—focuses on the offender and responding
to their crimes, victimology focuses on the victim, their likelihood of re-
victimization, and who looks out for their interests. Some of these issues
deserve special attention. For example, most crime victims initiate the
actions of the justice system by reporting a crime to the police. But what
happens when both the victim and the offender are engaging in crime?
Between 2017 and 2019, there were several highly-publicized murders
carried out by gang members in British Columbia and Ontario. There were
also a series of less-publicized violent confrontations between the Hells
Angels and Outlaws motorcycle clubs and their associates in New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia during the same time frame (Donkin, 2018).
In the event that conflict between two rival outlaw motorcycle gangs ends
in a gang member being shot, should that person’s injuries warrant the
same type of attention from victims’ services agencies as a youngster who
is wounded after being caught in their crossfire?
TABLE 1 Differences between Victimology and Criminology

Victimology Criminology

• Focuses on the study of victims • Focuses on the study of criminals

• Emphasizes a victim-centred approach to • Emphasizes an offender-centred approach
analyzing crime to analyzing crime
• Emphasizes personal solutions to dealing • Emphasizes dealing with criminals via the
with victims justice system
• Victims initiate the criminal justice • The police apprehend suspects based on
response by reporting their victimization victim reports
to the police • A criminal lifestyle has been shown to
• Prior victimization has been found to increase the risk of being victimized
increase the likelihood of subsequent • Offenders are represented by their own
victimization, as can a criminal lifestyle personal attorney
• Victims are represented by a Crown • Criminal rehabilitation is often financially
counsel attrial supported by the provincial or federal
• Victim rehabilitation is rarely provided government

Adapted from Scott (2015)

In June 2018, for example, two sisters aged five and nine were shot in
a Toronto playground. Three gang-involved individuals drove up to the
playground in the middle of the day and two of them fired at least ten
shots at a rival gang member who was there with his child. The two sisters
were wounded by the gunfire: one was struck in the stomach and the other
hit in the leg. Although both children recovered from their wounds, the
impact of this crime extended beyond their injuries. The mother of the two
children said “her life was turned upside down” and she pledged to
advocate for reducing the root causes of gang violence such as poverty
(Yousif, 2018, para. 18). In addition to the two wounded youngsters, at
least ten other children witnessed the shooting and were traumatized by
these events; some had nightmares after the incident and few wanted to
return to the playground (Canadian Press, 2018). In fact, the mother of the
wounded children said that “nobody goes into the playground to play; the
area is like a ghost town” (Yousif, 2018, para. 11). This one incident had
ripples far beyond the children who were hurt; it impacted the victims’
family and the witnesses, and eroded the community’s feelings of safety.
Victimologists would consider all these factors in their studies of similar
crimes.
While all of us agree that children should be able to go to playgrounds
without fear of being shot, some choices we make place us at higher risk
of victimization. The lifestyle exposure model of victimization suggests
that the risks of victimization increase when we engage in risky activities
(Turanovic, Pratt, & Piquero, 2018). For example, going to a busy bar on
Friday or Saturday nights automatically places someone at much higher
risk of victimization than staying home alone and watching television.
Other activities, such as partying with members of a street gang, also place
one at greater risk of being victimized, either by the gang members at the
party or by a rival group. Figure 4 shows the risks of violent victimization
by lifestyle activity using data from the 2014 General Social Survey.
People who reported having used drugs, having had five or more drinks at
one sitting in the previous month, or who were homeless were at much
higher risk of victimization than those who did not use drugs or alcohol or
had never been homeless.

lifestyle exposure model of victimization The idea that certain activities, careers, places of
living, and lifestyles place individuals at higher risk of victimization.

Some jobs also place workers at higher risk of violence, such as

threatening and disruptive behaviours, harassment that includes
demeaning, embarrassing, or alarming comments, verbal abuse (such as
swearing and insults), and physical threats, including assaults. The
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (2019, p. 1) classifies
these jobs as high-risk occupations:
FIGURE 4 Lifestyle and Victimization Rates per 1,000 Residents, 2014
Adapted from Perreault (2015)

• health care employees or those dispensing pharmaceuticals

• veterinary practices
• police, security, or correctional officers
• social services employees, including crisis intervention and
counselling services
• teachers or education providers
• municipal housing inspectors
• public works employees
• retail employees
• sellers of alcohol (sale, or consumption on the premises)
• taxi or transit drivers

All of these workers interact with the public; some of the highest-risk jobs
involve confronting people in stressful situations or making unpopular
decisions, such as refusing to serve alcohol to an intoxicated person.
The time of day we work also shapes our risks, and employees working
evenings and nights are at a greater risk of victimization than working day
shifts. Furthermore, those working alone or in sparsely populated locations
maybe at higher risk. Occupational risk also relates to the populations the
worker interacts with; individuals working with people with mental health
problems, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, or in crisis may be at
higher risk. Last, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
(2019, p. 1) also reminds us that:

Workplace violence is not limited to incidents that occur within a traditional workplace.
Work-related violence can occur at off-site business-related functions (conferences, trade
shows), at social events related to work, in clients’ homes or away from work but resulting
from work (a threatening telephone call to your home or work from a client).

Thus, not only are we at risk in our workplaces but we can also be
victimized at work parties or other work functions by clients, customers,
or coworkers. Those risks increase when the participants are using alcohol
and drugs.
The work-related examples posted above all refer to legitimate
occupations, and individuals engaging in illegal work are at higher risk of
being victimized. In an influential study, Jacobs (2000) reported the
findings from his interviews of drug dealers in St. Louis, Missouri. Jacobs
found that drug dealers are a very attractive target for armed robbers
because they possess desirable items (drugs and money) and cannot report
their victimization to the police. Such offences also happen in Canada, and
in 2017 three men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for using
firearms to rob a Peterborough drug dealer (Vandonk, 2017).
While the lifestyle exposure model helps us understand the risks in our
careers and/or recreational activities, we must be careful to avoid blaming
the victim, which happens when we hold people responsible for their
victimization. We sometimes forget that offenders are responsible for
committing crimes and should be held accountable for their actions.
Victim blaming often happens with sexual offences, with some people
questioning whether the type of clothing the victim was wearing led to the
offence rather than asking why an offender committed the crime. A series
of protest marches called SlutWalks originated in Canada in 2011 to
protest the victim-blaming of women (GuelphToday, 2018). These walks
continue to occur, but their emphasis seems to have shifted to attempting
to reduce the cultural supports for sexual violence.

blaming the victim Occurs when the victim is held responsible for being harmed (instead of or
in addition to holding the offender responsible).

Researchers studying victimization remind us that the impacts of

crime can go beyond the individual harmed, and that onlookers can also be
traumatized after witnessing a crime. Moreover, we do not always
consider that friends and family members can also be psychologically
harmed by seeing the aftermath of a crime, such as a victim’s wounds.
Even counsellors are at some risk of vicarious traumatization after
listening to accounts of survivors of violence.

vicarious traumatization Occurs when an individual is subjected to disturbing content, such

as counsellors listening to stories of their clients’ victimization or jurors at a murder trial viewing
crime-scene photographs.

There is also a growing recognition that first responders such as police

officers, firefighters, and paramedics also witness the aftermath of
accidents and violence, and they are at very high risk of developing post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As noted in Chapter 5, Carleton et al.
(2018) received surveys from almost 6,000 Canadian public safety
personnel about their reactions to job-related stressors. These researchers
found that over one-third of municipal or provincial police officers and
half of RCMP officers report having one or more symptoms of mental
health disorders such as anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, or PTSD.
Although in the past we did not have a very good understanding of the
psychological impacts and after-effects of experiencing violence, human
service and public safety agencies are more aware of these harms today.

RISKS OF VICTIMIZATION: DEMOGRAPHIC

CHARACTERISTICS
While some criminal acts occur randomly—think about a car being
vandalized in a large parking lot—some individuals are at higher risk of
victimization. With respect to violent crime, for example, people aged 15
to 19 years are over 15 times more likely to be victimized than people 70
years of age or older (Perreault, 2015). Being a member of a marginalized
group also increases one’s risk of victimization, and Indigenous people
have the highest rate of violent victimization in Canada (Boyce, 2016), as
do members of vulnerable populations such as the homeless (Ellsworth,
2019), people with mental health problems (Burczycka, 2018; Swartz &
Bhattacharya, 2017), women in abusive relationships (Sinha, 2013), and
young people with mental health disorders (Boyce, Rotenberg, & Karam,
2015). Boyce (2016) reports that people who had been violently victimized
as children, who have a mental or psychological disability, or who have a
learning disability were several times more likely to report being violently
victimized in the previous year than people who did not have those
histories.
Figure 5 shows the violent victimization rate per 100,000 Canadians
using information about crimes reported to the police in 2016, and
reported by Statistics Canada (Allen & McCarthy, 2018). These results
reveal that when all ages are considered, women have higher rates of
victimization in nine of the provinces, and only in British Columbia were
the rates for males higher than for women. Both Manitoba and
Saskatchewan had victimization rates that were almost twice the national
average (that total includes both men and women). By contrast, rates of
violent victimization in Ontario were almost two-thirds lower than in
Manitoba or Saskatchewan.
FIGURE 5 Male and Female Violent Victimization Rates per 100,000 Residents, 2016
Allen and McCarthy (2018)

Figure 6 shows the ages of victims of violent crimes, as reported by

Public Safety Canada (2018b, p. 115); they observe that “more than half
(51.9 per cent) of all victims of violent crime reported in 2012 were under
the age of 30, whereas 36.9 per cent of the Canadian population is under
the age of 30.” Although elderly individuals are vulnerable to being
victimized, Canadians 70 years of age and older are the least likely to be
victims of violent crimes. Some of this reduction may be due to older
people engaging in fewer risky activities, which is consistent with the
lifestyle exposure model. In fact, this distribution of victims is almost
identical to the age-crime curve presented in Chapter 11, which shows that
arrests increase as one ages, peak in the teen years, and then decrease over
the rest of an individual’s life.
FIGURE 6 Victims of Violent Crime by Age Group, 2012
Public Safety Canada (2018b)

A COMPARATIVE VIEW
Victimization in Select Countries
To some extent, where one lives within Canada and in the world also affects one’s risk
of victimization. Chapter 2 in Exploring Criminal Justice described how rates of
property and violent crime varied across the provinces. There are also differences
between nations, and by looking at those differences we can determine whether risks in
Canada are similar to other wealthy, developed nations. Figures 7 and 8 show the
homicide and break-and-enter rates in similar countries. Figure 7 shows that homicide
rates in the United States are over four times greater than the average of the other six
nations, and that one would be the least likely to be murdered in Austria. Figure 8, by
contrast, shows the rates of break and enter (also called burglary) in the same nations
for 2016. This figure reveals that Canada and the United States have the lowest
burglary rates, and that rates in Europe and the United Kingdom tend to be higher, with
the highest burglary rate being in Austria. As a result, while we might be at the lowest
risk of being murdered in Austria, our property is at higher risk.
 FIGURE 7 Cross-National Homicide Rates per 100,000 Residents, 2016
Based on Allen (2018), Eurostat (2018), Federal Bureau of Investigation (2017)

FIGURE 8 Cross-National Burglary (Break and Enter) Rates per 100,000

Residents, 2016
Based on Allen (2018), Eurostat (2018), Federal Bureau of Investigation (2017)

Vulnerable Populations
Six vulnerable populations are at higher risk of violent victimization:
people with mental health problems, sexual minorities, people of non-
Christian religious affiliations, immigrants, women with disabilities, and
visible minority populations. All the information used in this section came
from the 2014 General Social Survey, and reveals self-reported violent
victimization, defined as being the victim of a robbery or a physical or
sexual assault, in the previous year. These questions were asked again in
2019, but the results will not be available for several years.

• Mental health problems: Burczycka (2018) reports that nearly one

million Canadians are suffering from mental health problems and
that they are about three times more likely to be victims of robbery
or physical or sexual assaults than people without these problems.
Burczycka found that many of these individuals are more
vulnerable due to substance abuse problems and homelessness.
• Sexual minorities: Simpson (2018a) found that gay and lesbian
respondents were about twice as likely to be robbed or assaulted as
heterosexuals, and that bisexuals were almost four times more
likely to be victimized. Of these sexual minority groups, women
were more likely to be victimized than men.
• Religious affiliation: About 70 per cent of Canadians identify as
Christian, while 20 per cent have no religious affiliation and less
than 10 per cent make up all other religious groups, such as
Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, or Jews. The victimization rate of
Christians and non-Christians was almost the same. People
reporting having no religious affiliation, however, were more likely
to be violently victimized than Christians (113 and 67 incidents per
1,000 adults); Ibrahim (2018a) suggests that difference could be
attributed to age, as people with no religious affiliation tend to be
younger, and young people have high rates of victimization
regardless of their religious affiliation.
 • Visible minority populations: Non-visible minorities—a category
that includes people who reported they were of two ethnicities or
races, such as White and Arab—were more likely to be violently
victimized (80 incidents per 1,000 residents) than visible
minorities, who were victimized at a rate of 55 people per 1,000
residents (Simpson, 2018b). Members of visible minority groups
who were born in Canada reported much higher rates of
victimization than immigrants to Canada. Wemmers (2017, p. 53)
attributes this finding to the fact that they are “often young (15–24
years), unmarried, and unemployed,” three factors that are
associated with a greater likelihood of victimization.
• Women with disabilities: Women with a physical or psychological
disability were about twice as likely to be robbed or assaulted as
women without a disability (Cotter, 2018). Cotter adds that women
with psychological disabilities were more likely to be victimized
than women with physical disabilities.
• Violent victimization of immigrants: Immigrants were about half as
likely to be victims of robbery or physical and sexual assaults (39
per 1,000 adults) than non-immigrants, who had a victimization
rate of 86 per 1,000 adults (Ibrahim, 2018b). Ibrahim also reports
that immigrants were less likely to be victimized in 2014 than they
were in 2004, and that they did not feel that the offences against
them were hate crimes.

VICTIM SERVICES
The Government of British Columbia (2018) says that one of the five
goals of the justice system is to provide supports for crime victims and
their families, and for witnesses. Many advocates for crime victims are
frustrated that these services can be stretched thin when cash-strapped
governments prioritize funding for the police, courts, and corrections.
While the federal government has extended the rights granted to crime
victims, the provinces and territories are responsible for meeting those
obligations. So, what types of services are offered to victims? Nine
categories emerged from an analysis of data returned by service providers
in the national-level study conducted by the Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics (Allen, 2014); they are presented in Figure 9.

FIGURE 9 Victims’ Services Provided in Canada

Allen (2014)

Allen (2014, pp. 3–4) defined these classifications:

• Protection includes providing safety training for victims and

teaching them how to determine and lower their risks.
• Participation includes accompanying victims and their supporters
to court, helping them prepare victim impact statements, and
preparing victims for court.
• Crisis-related services include responding to a victim’s immediate
needs after a crime occurs. Agencies provide supportive
counselling, such as critical-incident stress debriefing (where a
 counsellor helps an individual understand the psychological and
physical effects of a stressful event).
• Information is also given to victims, including descriptions about
what they can expect from the criminal justice system, where they
can access services, and their rights as a victim.
• Medical-related services typically involve accompanying the
victim to the hospital or other health care facility.
• Shelter-related services are often provided on a short-term
emergency basis, such as shelters for survivors of domestic
violence, although some service providers also provide long-term
housing.
• Compensation-related service providers help victims access
compensation for medical expenses (e.g., ambulance or prescription
fees), expenses for counselling, lost wages, funeral expenses, the
costs of obtaining documents or attending hearings, and damages to
property. Some provinces also provide compensation for pain and
suffering.
• Counselling is intended to restore the victim’s psychological well-
being, but might also include occupational counselling for victims
unable to return to their former jobs.
• Services related to restorative justice include delivering different
types of victim-offender mediation.

In addition to directly providing services, most victim services agencies

also make referrals to other organizations. For example, the staff members
at a domestic violence shelter might refer one of their clients to an agency
that provides counselling to crime victims.
Because providing victim services is a provincial responsibility,
several different arrangements have emerged throughout the country,
although the most common approach is to offer these supports through
police services. Figure 10 shows seven different service delivery options,
and these vary throughout the provinces. About two-thirds of these
agencies serve every type of victim, and one-third only serve victims of
sexual assaults. Allen’s (2014, p. 8) definitions of these services are
summarized as follows:

• Police services provide a diverse range of services to victims and in

small towns or rural locations they maybe the only agency available
24/7 to provide supports to victims; this approach is most common
in the four western provinces, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
• Court-based services provide information, assistance, and support
for witnesses and victims, and attempt to make the court process
less threatening to them.
• Community-based services to victims and witnesses are generally
delivered by non-government and non-profit organizations.
• Sexual assault centres (also called rape crisis centres) account for
about one-third of all victim services agencies and they only serve
victims of sexual violence. Because of their knowledge of these
cases, the staff working in these agencies are able to provide very
specialized supports. Some of these agencies provide crisis lines,
and these services are based in hospitals in some provinces.
• System-based approaches are independent of the police, courts, and
corrections although they provide help to victims throughout their
involvement in the justice system. These arrangements are funded
by provincial governments in Manitoba and Atlantic Canada.
• Victim crisis assistance and referral services are unique to Ontario.
These community-based non-government agencies work with the
police to deliver short-term assistance and supports, often at the
scene of the crime and shortly after the offence(s) have occurred.
These responders generally refer victims to other community
agencies for longer term services.
 Figures 9 and 10 show there is variation in the types of organizations
or personnel providing support to victims across the country. Moreover,
the information from each province is summarized in only a few
sentences, and the range of victim services throughout the nation is quite
extensive. The Department of Justice (2018) lists the actual types of
programs and services delivered for each province, the role of the
provincial and territorial governments, how these services are funded, and
the service-delivery models used in each jurisdiction (e.g., police-based or
community-based services). Most provinces offer a range of different
victim services delivered directly by the province, and most provinces also
fund various agencies to deliver these services. As a result, government
agencies staffed with highly paid professionals sometimes work alongside
individuals working for non-profit agencies that are staffed by well-
intentioned volunteers who might have very little formal training but are
nonetheless dedicated to helping individuals to overcome the effects of
their victimization.

FIGURE 10 Delivery Options for Victim Services Provided in Canada

Allen (2014)
SUMMARY
Crime touches everybody’s lives, and crime and victimization data shows
that some individuals and members of vulnerable populations are at higher
risk of victimization than others. For most of Canada’s history, the
individuals working within the justice systems paid very little attention to
the plight of victims, and it has only been since the early 1980s that their
struggles were formally recognized. An increasing awareness about the
treatment of victims by the justice system resulted in a series of reforms
that were introduced in the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights in 2015. That
law gave crime victims more rights, but victims’ advocacy groups have
identified the shortcomings of that legislation, including the fact that most
crime victims lack knowledge of those rights, which limits their ability to
pursue their interests. While the personnel working with the justice system
and victim services agencies are supposed to give that information to
crime victims, some victims never receive enough information, assistance,
or support to access those rights.
Although there is growing acknowledgement that providing services to
victims is important, there is less agreement on who should be responsible
for meeting these obligations. While the federal government has
developed some legislative guidelines to victim services in the Canadian
Victims Bill of Rights, each province meets those requirements in different
ways. The police are the primary method of delivering victim services in
six provinces, while a blend of non-government and government
organizations deliver services in the remaining provinces and the
territories. This lack of consistency means that victims in some provinces
are apt to receive better services than in others. Moreover, like other
issues in this book, there are fewer victim service agencies in rural
Canada, and individuals living in the countryside might find it very
difficult to obtain the support they need.

A Closer Look
Victims and Victim Impact Statements (VISs)
Pre-sentence reports are used by judges to make decisions prior to sentencing a person
convicted of committing a crime. One part of a pre-sentence report deserving of special
attention is the victim impact statement. These statements are authorized by section 722
of the Criminal Code, which states that “the court shall consider any statement of a
victim … describing the physical or emotional harm, property damage or economic
loss suffered by the victim as the result of the commission of the offence and the
impact of the offence on the victim.” Although these statements are included in the
written report, the Criminal Code also allows victims to read prepared statements to the
court. When victims cannot speak for themselves—if they are deceased, ill, or
incapacitated—a victim’s spouse or relative can read the statement on their behalf.
In October 1988, the Criminal Code was amended to enable crime victims to
describe the harms they suffered and the losses they experienced as part of an
offender’s sentencing. This was not a new practice, however, as these statements had
been considered by judges long before this change in the law. The formal recognition
of the victim’s role in sentencing came in response to a growing awareness that the
plight of these individuals was not given enough attention, and that some victims were
being dismissed altogether.
So what does a victim impact statement look like? These statements will vary in
length and content according to the nature of the offence, the individual who was
victimized, and the impact the crime(s) had on an individual or family. The VIS of
LeeEllen Carroll—whose case opened this chapter—is longer than most, and she goes
into considerable detail about the effects of her husband’s death on her family.
Section 722 of the Criminal Code also authorizes Community Impact Statements,
which are written statements that can be delivered on behalf of an entire community
when a crime or series of crimes impacts many individuals. Like a VIS, the judge must
take these statements into account when sentencing an offender. The Department of
Justice (2015, p. 1) explains that:

Each community chooses someone to prepare the community impact statement.

This can be any person from the community that has been harmed by an offence
or who has knowledge of the harm caused to the community. For example,
community organizations, cities, religious organizations, and Aboriginal bands
have prepared community impact statements.

For example, a community impact statement was presented at the sentencing of Basil
Borutski, whose crimes are described in the case study that starts Chapter 9 in
Exploring Criminal Justice in Canada. Borutski killed three Ontario women in one
day, and the impacts of his crimes were described by the End Violence Against Women
group from Renfrew County, Ontario. This community impact statement was
considered at Borutski’s sentencing in December 2017. (Renfrew Mercury, 2017)
 So, what will the future bring? Technology is changing the nature of
crime, and a growing number of Canadians every year are victims of
cybercrimes such as identity theft, having to pay “ransom” to regain
access to their internet accounts, and internet scams. While Canadian
crime statistics show the number of internet-based crimes more than
doubled between 2014 and 2018 (Statistics Canada, 2019), few of these
offences are ever reported to the police. A Statistics Canada (2018b) study
of businesses, for example, revealed that over one-fifth (21 per cent) of
Canadian businesses were victims of cybercrimes that impacted their
operations, yet only a fraction of these incidents was reported.

Race, Class, and Gender

Hate Crimes
Some offences are motivated by bias or hatred. There has been increased attention paid
to hate crimes (also called bias-motivated crimes) since the mid-1990s, and this
awareness reflects Canada’s growing diversity—as almost one in every four Canadians
is a member of a visible minority group or is an Indigenous person. Yet, hate crimes go
beyond attacks on our racial or ethnic identities, and Perry (2011, p. 367) notes that
offenders have also targeted individuals based on their “religion, sexual orientation,
disability, class, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation.” In a
study of hate crimes reported to the police, Armstrong (2019) found that 2,073 of these
crimes were reported in 2017; 43 per cent were based on race or ethnicity, almost the
same proportion (41 percent) was based on religion, and the remainder were based on
sexual orientation (10 per cent) or factors such as mental or physical disabilities,
occupation, language, or political beliefs (6 per cent).

hate crimes Offences intended to intimidate or harm a person or the group to which
they belong based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin,
disability, or other similar factors.

Allen (2018, p. 3) reports that about 1.9 million offences were reported to the
police in 2017, so if only 2,073 of them were considered hate crimes, that total
suggests these offences are rare. On the other hand, it is also likely that hate crimes are
under-reported and that a much larger number of individuals are victimized each year,
but without bias being established as a motivating factor. As many survivors of hate
crimes are members of ethnocultural groups that lack trust and may fear the police (see
Cotter, 2015), they may be reluctant to report their victimization, suggesting that the
number of police-reported crimes is lower than the true number of crimes committed.
The victimization statistics shown in Figure 11 indicate that some population groups
are at a higher risk of being a victim of a violent crime. Although the average violent
victimization rate in Canada is 76 incidents per 1,000 people aged 15 years and older,
as was noted earlier members of sexual minorities (e.g., bisexuals), people with a
disability, and women have higher rates of victimization.
Armstrong’s (2019, p. 3) study shows that almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of hate
crimes were non-violent and most were mischief offences, such as acts of vandalism.
When it came to violent crimes, most were uttering threats (14 per cent), level-1
assaults (10 per cent), and the remaining categories (harassment, assault with a
weapon, aggravated assault, and others) accounted for about 14 per cent of all hate
crimes, or about 100 offences in 2017 (Armstrong, 2019). Although these violent acts
are classified as minor offences, one act might have a harmful impact on an entire
population. When an Ottawa mosque was covered in posters containing white
supremacist messages in January 2018, this act would be considered mischief in the
Criminal Code (Gillis & Duffy, 2018). Although mischief is considered a minor crime,
this one offence might inspire fear throughout an entire community, especially after the
mosque shootings in New Zealand in 2019 that claimed 51 lives (Lau, 2019).

Hate crimes can have a devastating effect on victims and their communities as
most of these crimes are unprovoked attacks on individuals based on who they are,
rather than anything specific they have done. The impacts of these offences can be
felt in the future in unanticipated ways. For example, there is some evidence that
the hate crime of Alexandre Bissonnette, who murdered six worshippers at a
mosque in Quebec City in 2017, influenced the shooter who murdered 51
worshippers in two New Zealand mosques in March 2019 (Lau, 2019). The
magazine of the alleged shooter in Christchurch, New Zealand, is shown above,
covered in names of White supremacists, including Alexandre Bissonnette.

FIGURE 11 Violent Victimization Rate per 1,000 Population by Selected Groups,

Canada, 2014
Adapted from Perreault (2015)

Figure 12 shows the motivations for hate crimes reported to the police in Canada in
2017. The highest proportion of police-reported hate crimes was for acts directed at
racial or ethnic groups. Of those, the largest number of these offences was directed
toward African-Canadians, which was followed by members of East and Southeast
Asian, Arab, or West Asian and South Asian populations. With respect to religion, Jews
had the highest victimization rate, followed by Muslims and Catholics. In terms of the
“other” classification, this category included people with physical or mental disabilities
and people who spoke different languages, and it also included crimes based on factors
such as occupation or political beliefs.
Hate crimes have been included in the Criminal Code since 1970, but Section
718.2 was only amended in 1996 to allow for harsher sentences for these offences.
Even though hate crimes reported to the police are rare and most are relatively minor,
these acts are likely greatly under-reported. Moreover, unlike other assaults, hate
crimes may have a devastating effect on victims, as many of them are unprovoked
 attacks on individuals based on who they are rather than anything specific they have
done. Some hate-motivated assaults have resulted in serious injuries and deaths. The
murders of six worshipers at a Quebec City mosque in January 2017 led to vigils
across Canada on the anniversary of these killings, and the killer was sentenced to 40
years in February 2019, a sentence that he appealed (Enos, 2019).

FIGURE 12 Police-Reported Hate Crimes by Motivation, Canada, 2017

Armstrong (2019)

Recovering from these attacks on our identities is very disruptive to a

victim’s life and can be very expensive in terms of the time and effort it
takes to recover and restore one’s information. Given our dependence on
the internet, it is likely that all of us will experience some type of cyber-
victimization in the future; most of us will suffer in silence, as there is
little chance the police will ever apprehend the people responsible for
these crimes, many of whom are living outside Canada. Given our
increasing likelihood of being victims of cybercrimes, it is likely that
there will be growing demands for services that work with cybercrime
victims.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What factors make individuals more vulnerable to violent victimization?
2. Identify the differences between criminology and victimology.
3. Describe the main services delivered by victims’ services agencies; what types of
agencies deliver these services?
4. Identify some of the strengths and limitations of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights for
crime victims.
5. Explain why understanding the experiences of crime victims is so important for officials
in the justice system.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Provide some possible reasons why fewer than 2,100 hate crimes are reported out of 1.9
million crimes reported to the police. Why might that number of reported crimes be
inaccurate?
2. How can you use your knowledge of the lifestyle exposure model to reduce your risk of
becoming a crime victim?
3. How would civil libertarians explain the lengthy time it took to move Dr Natsis’s
impaired driving case through the justice system?
4. Crime statistics show that the number of people reporting being sexually assaulted has
increased since the #MeToo movement started: discuss why these elevated reporting
practices will or will not continue.
5. What steps should Canadian colleges and universities take to reduce sexual
victimization on campus?

INTERNET SITE
The Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime operates a website that provides
information about crime victims and their rights. Readers interested in checking out the
types of victim services delivered in their communities can access a list of programs
delivered in every province and territory. https://victimsfirst.gc.ca/index.html

REFERENCES
Allen, M. (2014). Victim services in Canada, 2011/2012. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics.
Allen, M. (2018) Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Allen, M., & McCarthy, K. (2018). Victims of police-reported violent crime in Canada:
National, provincial and territorial fact sheets, 2016. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for
 Justice Statistics.
Angus Reid Institute. (2018). #MeToo: Moment or movement? Retrieved from
http://angusreid.org/me-too/
Armstrong, A. (2019). Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Centre for Justice Statistics.
Brimblecombe, N., Evans-Lacko, S., Knapp, M., King, D., Takizawa, R., Maughan, B., &
Arseneault, L. (2018). Long term economic impact associated with childhood bullying
victimization. Social Science & Medicine, 208 (July), 134–141.
Boyce, J. (2016). Victimization of Aboriginal people in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Boyce, J., Rotenberg, C., & Karam, M. (2015). Mental health and contact with police.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Burczycka, M. (2018). Violent victimization of Canadians with mental health-related
disabilities, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018a, May 7). Christy Natsis loses appeal in fatal
2011 impaired driving case. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/christy-natsis-appeal-bryan-casey-impaired-
driving-fatal-1.4642485
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (2018b, January 22). Unusually high number of victim
impact statements in Cooper Nemeth case won’t set a precedent: judge. CBC News.
Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/16-victim-impact-statements-
cooper-nemeth-1.4498225
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. (2019). Violence in the workplace.
Retrieved from https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/violence.html
Canadian Press. (2018, June 29). Kids who saw Toronto playground shooting are having
nightmares: Police. Huffington Post. Retrieved from
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/06/29/kids-toronto-playground-shooting-
nightmares_a_23471549/
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime (n.d.). Advocacy for victims of crime.
Retrieved from https://crcvc.ca/docs/advocacy.pdf
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime. (2019). Summary of criminal injuries
compensation programs. Retrieved from https://crcvc.ca/for-victims/financial-
assistance/summary-of-criminal-injuries-compensation-programs/
Carleton, R. N., Afifi, T. O., Turner, S., Taillieu, T., Duranceau, S., LeBouthillier, D. M., …
Asmundson, G. J. G. (2018a). Mental health disorder symptoms among public safety
personnel in Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 63(1), 54–64.
Cotter, A. (2018). Violent victimization of women with disabilities, 2014. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Crawford, B. (2018, May 8). Christy Natsis loses appeal, ending seven-year legal battle over
drunk driving death. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved from https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-
news/christy-natsis-loses-appeal-ending-seven-year-legal-battle-over-drunk-driving-death
Crocker, D. (2018, March 1). Regulating campus “rape culture”: Lessons from complexity
theory. Inherently Human. Retrieved from
https://inherentlyhuman.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/regulating-campus-rape-culture-
lessons-from-complexity-theory/
Department of Justice. (2015). Victims’ rights in Canada. Retrieved from
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/victims-victimes/factsheets-fiches/pdf/community-
collectivite.pdf
Department of Justice. (2018). Victim services in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Donkin, K. (2018, July 24). Rivalry sparks biker-on-biker “violence” in New Brunswick.
CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/biker-
clashes-nb-1.4759146
Ellsworth, J. T. (2019). Street crime victimization among homeless adults: A review of the
literature. Victims & Offenders, 14(1), 96–118.
Enos, E. (2019, March 8). Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette appeals
sentence of 40 years without parole. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/alexandre-bissonnette-appealing-sentence-
1.5049548
Eurostat. (2018). Crime statistics: Recorded offences by offence category. Retrieved from
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/crim_off_cat_esms.htm
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2017). Crime in the United States, 2016 [Table 1].
Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-
u.s.-2016/tables/table-1
Gillis, M., & Duffy, A. (2018, January 30). Police probehate posters on Bells Corners
mosque. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved from https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-
news/police-probe-graffiti-at-bells-corners-mosque
Government of British Columbia. (2018). BC’s criminal justice system. Retrieved from
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/bcs-criminal-justice-system
Grant, M. (2019, June 27). “It’s taking a toll and we’re tired,” murder victim’s family says
after Calgary killer sentenced again. CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/mitchell-harkes-brett-wiese-murder-sentence-
1.5192423
GuelphToday. (2018, Mar. 24). SlutWalk Guelph returns to Market Square April 7.
GuelphToday. Retrieved from https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/slutwalk-guelph-
returns-to-market-square-april-7-872407
Ibrahim, D. (2018a). Violent victimization and discrimination, by religious affiliation in
Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Ibrahim, D. (2018b). Violent victimization, discrimination and perceptions of safety: An
immigrant perspective, Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Jacobs, B. A. (2000). Robbing drug dealers: Violence beyond the law. Hawthorne, NY:
Aldine de Gruyter.
Konradi, A. (2017). Can justice be served on campus? The examination of due process and
victim protection policies in the campus adjudication of sexual assault in Maryland.
Humanity & Society, 41(3), 373–404.
Lau, R. (2019, Mar. 15) Quebec City mosque shooter “very affected” by New Zealand
massacre: lawyers. Global News. Retrieved from
https://globalnews.ca/news/5060406/quebec-city-mosque-shooter-new-zealand-massacre/
Maxwell, A. (2018). Adult criminal court processing times, Canada, 2015/2016. Ottawa,
ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. (2017). Canadian Victims Bill of
Rights. Retrieved from http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2018/jus/J84-5-4-
2017-eng.pdf
Parole Board of Canada. (2019). Quick stats. Retrieved from
https://www.canada.ca/en/parole-board/corporate/publications-and-forms/statistics-parole-
pardons-and-clemency.html
Perreault, S. (2015). Criminal victimization in Canada, 2014. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre
for Justice Statistics.
Perry, B. (2011). Diversity, crime, and justice in Canada. Toronto, ON: Oxford University
Press.
Public Safety Canada. (2018a). Overview of approaches to address bullying and
cyberbullying. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Public Safety Canada. (2018b). Corrections and conditional release, Statistical overview
2017. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Renfrew Mercury. (2017, December 5). Community impact statement. Retrieved from
https://www.insideottawavalley.com/news-story/7981759-community-impact-statement/
Rotenberg, C., & Cotter, A. (2018). Police-reported sexual assaults in Canada before and
after #MeToo, 2016 and 2017. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Russell, A. (2019, January 28). “I can never escape the nightmare”: Families of Humboldt
Broncos crash victims share impact statements. Global News. Retrieved from
https://globalnews.ca/news/4898500/humboldt-broncos-sentencing-hearing-victims/
Scott (2015). Victims of Crime. In N. Boyd (Ed.) Understanding Crime in Canada (pp. 97–
114). Toronto, ON: Emond Montgomery.
Simpson, L. (2018a). Violent victimization of lesbians, gays and bisexuals in Canada, 2014.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice Statitics.
Simpson, L. (2018b). Violent victimization and discrimination amongvisible minority
populations, Canada, 2014: Highlights. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Justice
Statistics.
Statistics Canada. (2018a). Postsecondary enrolments, by registration status, institution type,
sex and student status [Table 37-10-0018-01]. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710001801
Statistics Canada. (2018b). Impact of cybercrime on Canadian businesses, 2017. Ottawa,
ON: Author.
Statistics Canada. (2019). Police reported cybercrime, by cyber-related violation, Canada
(selected police services)
[Table 35-10-0001-01]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?
pid=3510000101
Schwartz, Z. (2018, March 1). Canadian universities are failing students on sexual assault.
Maclean’s. Retrieved from https://www.macleans.ca/education/university/canadian-
universities-are-failing-students-on-sexual-assault/
Swartz, M. S., & Bhattacharya, S. (2017). Victimization of people with severe mental illness:
a pressing global health problem. World Psychiatry, 16(1), 26–27.
Turanovic, J. J., Pratt, T. C., & Piquero, A. R. (2018). Structural constraints, risky lifestyles,
and repeat victimization. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 34(1), 251–274
Turner, S., Taillieu, T., Fortier, J., Salmon, S., Cheung, K., & Afif, T. O. (2018). Bullying
victimization and illicit drug use among students in grades 7 to 12 in Manitoba, Canada: a
cross-sectional analysis. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 109(2), 183–194.
Vandonk, T. (2017, August 8). Peterborough man gets lengthy prison sentence for robbing
drug dealer. MyKawartha.com. Retrieved from https://www.mykawartha.com/news-
story/7491417-peterborough-man-gets-lengthy-prison-sentence-for-robbing-drug-dealer/
Wemmers, J. M. (2017). Victimology: A Canadian perspective. Toronto, ON: University of
Toronto Press.
Wilkinson, I. G. (2017). Bullying in Canada in the 21st century: The moral obligations of
parents, teachers, schools, and governments. The International Journal of Children’s
 Rights, 25(1), 231–260.
Yousif, N. (2018, July 16). Mother of two children shot in Toronto playground vows to fight
gun violence. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-mother-of-two-children-shot-in-
toronto-playground-vows-to-fight-gun/