The National Pardon Centre™

An interesting development came out of a quick trip to Ottawa yesterday. I was invited by John Hutton of the John Howard society to attend a press conference denouncing the Conservative’s Omnibus Crime Bill C-10, specifically the section that deals with pardons.

Bill C-10 contains a measure to deny pardons to anybody convicted of more than three indictable offences. However, the way this particular section of the bill was written leaves it open to interpretation, although it is not quite as ambiguous as I originally thought.

Language is a tricky thing to manage. A simple comma can change the meaning of an entire paragraph.

See the section on three strikes below. When I originally read this measure online I could not see the comma preceding requirement that each offence be sentenced to more than 2 years in prison (printed in italics below). Without the comma the 2 years could apply to both the indictable offence criteria AND the service offence criteria, or to only the service offence. As it stands I now believe that the two years or more applies to both. But I could be wrong. Language is a tricky thing.

 Here is the clause. Have a read and make your own decision on its actual meaning:

(2) Subject to subsection (3), a person is ineligible to apply for a record suspension if he or she has been convicted of

• (b) more than three offences each of which either was prosecuted by indictment or is a service offence that is subject to a maximum punishment of imprisonment for life, and for each of which the person was sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more.

Three strikes is still a remarkably short sighted social policy. But I can personally confirm that hundreds of our clients we thought would be ineligible for a pardon will remain eligible. And it’s all because of a comma in a paragraph.

Of course that is how I am interpreting the bill. It could probably be debated. Perhaps it’s a conversation to be saved for a Charter challenge.  

With a Conservative majority government the crime bill is certain to be one of the first measures to be pushed through parliament. Although the pardons issue is not at the forefront of the crime issue it is still important. I have been following Bill C23 since it first appeared in the house so here are my expectations on what we can expect to see in the Tory crime bill. They have pledged to pass this legislation within 100 days of achieving a majority.

The chances are good that the pardons side of the new bill will read exactly as Bill C23-B currently does. If so we know exactly what to expect. This will not mean the end of pardons but it will exclude a fair number of people from the program.

But there is an alternative possibility. With a Conservative majority it is possible that Harper could soften his approach slightly and make some amendments to the crime legislation. If that is the case the following is what I would expect from the new crime bill regarding pardons.

I am fairly confident about the following changes to the pardon program will take place even if the details of Bill C23-B are amended.

*The term pardon will be replaced with record suspension (this is purely symbolic and not very important, people will continue using the term pardon)

*Sexual offences involving children will be ineligible for a pardon

*Serious criminals will be ineligible for a pardon (how they will define serious criminal is still up for grabs but the 3 strikes rule might remain and that would be the definition)

*Fee increase is certain to happen. The fee is currently $150 but will be increased to $631 (so if you need a pardon get going NOW!)

The following are some items that could perhaps be amended if theTories decide to take a more moderate approach.

*Changing the waiting periods from what they are now to 5 and 10 years (it is remotely possible that the waiting periods will be left alone, but I am not confident about this)

*The 3 strikes rule (it is possible this will be amended as there were even Conservatives who opposed this measure)

With a little luck we might see a softer approach now that Harper doesn’t have anything to prove. He is PM, for the next four years with no risk of a hasty election.

The bottom line about the Tory majority is that if you need a pardon get it started ASAP. Nothing is guaranteed anymore and there is a decent chance that if you start a pardon today we could get it into the Parole Board before the changes take place.

I would like to advise my clients and the general public that the National Pardon Centre is committed to maintaining a level of service and commitment to our clients and their needs which is not offered by other institutions. Our clients and the general public should be aware that the website referred to in the image below is in no way affiliated or associated with the National Pardon Centre. This website may be in violation of federal trademark laws and we are currently exploring all legal remedies to have it removed.

continued below….

Mr. Peter Dimakos is the owner of the URL attached to this website. Mr. Dimakos works with Canadian Pardon Services, a small company operating in Toronto. I can only speculate into Mr. Dimakos’ motives, but it is our resolve that all remedies will be pursued to ensure our trademark is respected and to ensure that our clients and the public are not confused between the National Pardon Center and any other entity.  

I apologize if anyone has exprienced any trouble with this site and would like to add that if you are looking for a trustworthy company to handle your case please contact us at the  National Pardon Centre. We provide free consulations and we give honest trustworthy counsel.

Sincerely,

Michael Ashby
Communications Director
http://www.nationalpardon.org/

Over The Road is a series of three articles written for the national trucking publication by the same name. The articles cover the issues surrounding criminal records and the United States border as they relate to Canadians who work in the trucking industry.

The other day I was talking to a nice guy about his criminal record. He was a trucker. He had been a trucker for years. He had crossed the border regularly since starting his career back in ‘82. He was an upstanding man. He was a family man. He owned a home. He owned his rig. He loved his children. He was an all around solid guy and he was actually a pleasure to talk to on the phone (I get a few of the other sort in my line of work). He also happened to have a criminal record and the week prior to our conversation he had been stopped at the US border. It was the same US border he’d been crossing for decades. Only this time they wouldn’t let him, or his truck full of goods, into the country.

“So what the heck happened” he asked me?

The thing I realized is that this guy had no idea his criminal record even existed. He just thought it was so old it must have evaporated or disappeared all on its own. He also didn’t realize that crossing the border is illegal if you have ever been arrested, which presents a particular problem to those of you whose livelihood depends on it. As far as trucking is concerned, for the long routes south in particular, a criminal record is the kiss of death. It will end a trip faster than 18 flats at once and it is actually a fairly easy problem to take care of.

If you are in a situation like this it means a few things. It means you have an active criminal record you never dealt with. It means the American border guards are aware of your criminal record. And it means you have been deemed “inadmissible” by the Department of Homeland Security or DHS. It also means you have only one option. You need an I-192 USA entry waiver and you will need one for the rest of your life so long as you want to cross into the United States of America.

As I explained to my trucker friend on line 1, an I-192 is an application made to the very department that doesn’t want you in the States. It is a long list of bureaucratic government paperwork and it takes a long time to complete. Expect the application to take anywhere from 10 – 18 months start to finish. And no, you cannot enter the United States while it is in process.

The successful completion of your application will grant you permission to cross the border for a period of 1, 2 or 5 years. It depends on a few things. It depends largely on the extent of the criminal record, the severity of the crimes committed and the length of time that has passed since you were last arrested. So, if you were just caught smuggling many kilos of contraband into Canada in the last few months there is a very good chance the Americans will refuse your application. If you haven’t been arrested since you were a kid pulling pranks there is about zero chance your application will not be granted. And it is likely to be granted for a period of 5 year, provided the paperwork is done properly of course.

You want to make sure that your application is done as well as possible because they cost in the area of $1000 – $1500 and the fee is applicable for each time you renew. I do suggest using a pardon and waiver service because they will know what needs to be done to ensure your best chance at a 5 year waiver.

I also suggest being extremely careful when choosing your service. In the past year I have seen the industry explode with about 9 new companies opening their doors all with next to zero experience and no guarantee they will be around long enough to finish your application. They all offer impossible discounts and care a lot more about securing your application fee than determining what your actual chances are of obtaining a waiver.

I signed up my trucker friend on the phone and began processing his waiver the same day. He is now a lot closer to getting back on his old long haul route but it is going to take some time to push through the bureaucracy and secure the waiver. So if you are in the same situation stop procrastinating and get things under way because a driver inadmissible at the border is not a very valuable driver. And even though it might seem expensive clearing your name is one thing I can assure you is worth the money.

I want to point out that all of the above applies if the Americans are aware of your criminal record. It would also apply if you have ever been deported from the United States. It would apply if you have ever been arrested in the United States. And it would also apply if you have ever been refused entry at the border for any reason at all, regardless of whether or not you have a criminal record. I have few dozen clients who have done no more than admit to smoking marijuana once in their life. Once you do that there is no discussion. You are not entering the United States of America.

And finally, if you have a criminal record but none of the conditions in the above paragraph apply to you there is another option for gaining entry to the States. It is a better, cheaper, faster and more affordable option. It is also permanent. So stay tuned to Over the Road and in my next article I will explain what to do with a criminal record that the Americans know nothing about.