In reality, how many of us have done silly – albeit illegal – things, made rash decisions or even committed a more serious crime in a moment of fear or sudden desperation? Most of us have not always lived in perfect adherence to the rule of law. Many don’t get caught, but those that do may end up with a criminal record. The majority of offenders in our country are otherwise ordinary people who made a mistake. Escaping from such an error, however, is often a lot more difficult than most of us realize.
Anyone convicted of a crime in our society has a price to pay, but that price is not always limited to the sentence handed down by a court. When someone is charged with a crime in Canada, a criminal record is preserved through the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), a computer database maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The name and date of birth of the accused individual is kept on file, along with a fingerprint record. This database, which includes records of convictions and a breadth of additional information, is available to all local law enforcement agencies across the country. Moreover, U.S. officials have restricted access to the database when a Canadian seeks to enter the United States. Unless formal steps are taken to obtain a pardon/record suspension, the information contained in the database can have lifelong consequences.
All too often, the long-term repercussions of a criminal conviction are far worse than the actual sentence imposed by the court. A young person caught shoplifting a pair of gloves might face a fine of $500- and three-months’ probation.
Sadly, that’s hardly the end of the affair. Her ability to land a good paying job may be compromised, and she could face decades of embarrassment and stress.
Consider an individual who drank too much one night and got into a bar fight. Now, 10 years later, she can’t land a job, even though she learned from her mistake and has since led an exemplary life. Then there’s a young father who stole groceries to feed his family. As a result of being convicted, now he can’t find employment anyplace, not even in a factory or a call center, causing more detriment to his family.
People, in the throes of addiction, have stooped to selling drugs. They change their lives, live an honest, clean and sober life, but can’t go visit a dying relative in New York – because of their past mistake.
Unfortunately, these stories are all too common. Some of them arise from a moment of youthful indiscretion. Maybe a shy teenager in a drug store might have slipped a packet of condoms into his pocket and got caught. Now, he can’t get into a university program.
For the people in the above noted scenarios, promises of a bright future have been traded for raised eyebrows during interviews and awkward pauses when disclosure is necessary. Those affected appear destined to a lifetime of feeble excuses about why a job was given to another applicant, continual rejections from memberships and associations, ongoing anxiety and painful indecision about disclosing past convictions. They face proverbial kicks to the gut, over and over again.
Many criminalized people have long since satisfied their sentence and have struggled to reintegrate themselves into society in order to move forward with their lives. While a few have succeeded; many are stuck in an unending middle ground, having paid their debt to society but unable to get past the labels levied upon them. It is pretty well impossible to ‘reintegrate’ if one can’t get a job, it is extraordinarily difficult become rehabilitated if not given a meaningful chance to do better. Once a person has been criminalized, life can become a vicious cycle .
Many offenders can’t even rent a decent apartment, done in by the landlord’s insistence on a criminal background check. The father who stole groceries to feed his family still can’t find a job or get a modest apartment, even years after his conviction. He and others like him are stuck in a vicious cycle.
Realistically, it would make much more sense if convictions for most summary offences, especially in the case of first time offenders, were automatically sealed two or three years after the completion of a sentence, provided the offender kept the peace and behaved lawfully. This would save money, time, bureaucratic paperwork, and unnecessary emotional trauma. People would be restored to employable status again and, fueled by hope, would have greater incentive not to re-offend. Our current archaic, punitive system really only succeeds in creating despair and toxic shame.
Hopefully legislative reform will address this repressive measure in order to make second chances more accessible. In the meantime, the only real relief from the ordeal of living with a criminal record is to apply for a formal Record Suspension or Pardon. Notwithstanding the time required to track down all the required documents and the long, extended processing times, the freedom of never again having to sweat out a job interview or be disqualified from opportunities; and the freedom to go where any free person may go without restriction or rejection is well worth the investment of time and energy.
For more information and free consultation on Canadian Record Suspensions and Pardons please contact us at:
Tel: 905 239 3012
coveyparalegal@outlook.com