The past should not stop you from getting the employment you deserve. To recieve a pardon in Canada it now cost over $700 and could take up to a year. For a person on disabilty, welfare or even a fixed income this is a lot of money to come up with all at once! Does the government not want people working? In this day and age it is almost impossibly to recieve employment with a criminal record in Canada.  

With more individual's recieving a pardon on there past mistakes this would increase the amount of people working. Therfore would cause more taxes being paid and more individuals off of the system collecting government assistance!

Maybe even implement a system to help low income families to recieve a pardon. Wave the filing fee of $631 for low income families! Before 2011 the fileing fee was $50!

1 in 8 Canadians has a criminal record, hindering their ability to
find employment, travel, or even just coach their kids’ soccer games. 

For nearly 30 years, Canadians with a past criminal record, who were deemed by the Parole Board of Canada to have demonstrated good conduct, could apply for a record suspension for free, three or five years after they completed their sentence. In 2012 amendments to the Criminal Records Act made it significantly more difficult for ordinary Canadians to receive a record suspension. Eligibility wait times jumped from three years to five years for summary offences, and doubled from five years to 10 years for indictable offences. At the same time, Parole Board filing fees increased by a whopping 1200% from $50 to $631 over a period of two years.

Together, by signing and sharing my petition, we can lift the burden for over 4 million Canadians whose futures don’t have to be limited by their past. 

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I believe that a record suspension is the last—but crucial—step in a fair and smart justice system. For over 45 years, record suspensions have been an effective tool to provide deserving Canadians a chance to put their past behind them. In fact, of the Canadians who have received a record suspension since 1970, 96% have not re-offended. That’s why i want to help lift the burden of deserving Canadians by advocating for timely and affordable access to record suspensions. 

I want record suspensions to be free. I believe government should support the system as a societal benefit, as it did for nearly 30 years. Since 1970, record suspensions have proven to be a key tool in reducing crime, increasing employment and eliminating recidivism. 

Sign my petition today!