Well today at the National Pardon Centre we are all very excited because for the past few years we have been waiting patiently for our AFIS accreditation from the RCMP and Public Works Canada. This has been an ongoing project that has taken more than a little bit longer than expected. But such is the norm in both technology projects and anything involving the government. At least that is my experience.
After waiting very patiently (I don’t allow myself to be pushy with the RCMP or the government as I wold sooner bang my head against the wall) it looks like we might just be moving forward. Today we have a representative from Government Services Canada coming to do a site inspection on our premises. And as far as I know getting approval on the site inspection is a big step forward in this process.
As frustrating as the long wait has been I have to say that all of the people I have dealt with along that way have been extremely pleasant. And I never felt for a moment that the delay was caused by imcompetence or indifference (as I have with some other projects in the private sector). It’s just that there is a process when you work with public funds and everything has to follow that process.
So as long as its been with a little luck its coming to an end. Who said it again? This might not be the beginning of the end, but at least it is the end of the beginning.
One of the statistics we deal with in the pardon business on a frequent basis is the percentage of Canadians with a criminal record. The most common number is 10% but I have numbers all the way up to 30% thrown around. All the time we hear that 10% of the population in Canada has a criminal record. But the issue is complicated by a few factors. We cannot just say that given a population of, say, 33 Million people we can safely assume that 3.3 million of us has a criminal record. We need to ask a few more question before we could hope to arrive at a reliable prediction.
Here are a few things to consider:
- Does 10% include people arrested but found not guilty?
- Does 10% include people who have obtained Canada pardons?
- Does 10% include people who were only questioned by police but never charged?
The problem is that there are criminal records and then there are criminal records? In the vague sense a criminal record is any type of documentation attesting to a confrontation with the law and subsequent police intervention. In the specific sense a criminal record is a documented guilty conviction with registration of the offenders name in CPIC (Canadian Police Information System). A criminal record is not just black and white.
The problem is that even if we answered all the questions above it would still be extremely difficult to assess the actual number of criminals, or people living with a criminal record, in Canada. But the 10% solution is a good compromise. And while it may seem like a relatively large percent of the population it really isn’t. One thing I like to tell people is that crime is not going anywhere. Put all the indivdual and societal blames aside for a moment and consider that policing is a job someone is paid to do. If that person isn’t making arrests there is no more job. This is not to imply the the police make arrests without due cause. It is just to point out that policing is a career.
Let’s face it. For all the good people do in the world we still haven’t found a way to stop people from doing bad. And so long as they do we will always have the police there to catch as many of them as they can. And besides, at least with the cases I deal with, it is mostly just people making mistakes. In other words, all those criminals out there are just a bunch of people being human.
I might sound like a broken record but I just have to say one more time how fair and just Canada’s pardon program seems in comparison to the ludicrous system of our neighbours to the South. If there was ever an example of political favouritism the American presidential pardon system must certainly lead the list.
I cannot understand how the President of a country can be expected to administer a pardon based on those who deserve it, rather than those who are owed a favour. I have always tried not to be a pessimist in life but I also try not to ignore the realites of human nature.
Imagine for a moment, say George W Bush, preparing a list of people deserving a pardon. Does anyone in their right mind think that list would be based on anything other than political favouritism? No of course not. Just saying so would be simple let alone trying to defend the position.
So as much as I dislike the inefficiency of government bureaucracy I have a stronger dislike for injustice. And although Canada’s pardon program can be along and tedious at times the fact that it is adminstered in a fair manner makes me happy because I am quite sure that if I ever needed an American pardon I don’t think my world populairty rank would get me onto the President’s list anytime soon.
