Well I think the good news is that it is unlikely the three strikes rule would affect you. As it turns out you would need to have been charged with MORE than three indictable offences (minimum of four oviously) and each time you would have to have received more than two years in jail. So in total unless you have been sentence to a minimum of eight years in prison you should be okay as far as the 3 strikes rule. Any chance this helps?

As for your other questions there is very little leeway given by the Parole Board and by very little I mean none at all. So unfortunately you either meet the criteria or you do not. I hope this helps.

Michael

It sounds to me like you might be one of those cases where you are eligible for a pardon but if the new crime bill passes you may end up having to wait a much longer time. It would depend if the offence was summary or indictable. I would suggest getting a pardon going ASAP in the hopes it can be submitted to the Parole Board beofre the law changes in which case the new legislation would not affect you. Feel free to give me a call if you want to discuss things further.

Best regards,

Michael ext. 227

I was convicted of production of cannabis, but nothing else, the charges of intent to sell were dropped, I received a 3 month house arrest which ended in March 2007, so my 5 year waiting period is up March 2012, will I be eligible for a pardon, and upon getting a pardon, will I be able to safely travel to the US and other countries?

Thanks in advance

I think the three strike rule (indictables x 3) will prevent me from getting a pardon, the clock is ticking and time is running out for me under the 2010 rules.

I applied for Step 1 of my pardon (the criminal record part) 14 months ago, it arrived
last week. Is this a deliberate delay? Are other people hearing the same thing?

I have sent out Step 2 forms (Court documents requests) by express post. Step 3 is not applicable for me. Should I wait for the return of Step 2 forms before I proceed to Step 4 (Police checks) or just get Step 4 done now to get the ball rolling a bit quicker?

If the parole board know about the Step 1 delays (and they do), shouldn’t they show some mercy and count the day you officially started the process (Step 1) as the official date of application? I phoned the hotline they told me Step 9 will be the date they recognize…that seems pretty darn unfair given the delays of (in my case) in excess of a year for Step 1.

Isn’t there some legal rule regarding retroactive impositions, that people like me can cite so that are lives are not ruined forever?

Can I make the deadline before this thing is given Royal asent?

Sure hope you get back to me on this, as I say time is not on my side.

Thank you!

While it is true that the Parole Board can be quite difficult and meticulous the claim that a record suspension is any different from a pardon is sheer fraud. Most likely you spoke to a sales rep from one of our competitors who earns a commission for each sale. Unfortunately this provides an obvious incentive to bend the truth and we are receiving a lot of complaints of this nature lately. I would be curious to know what company it was you spoke to although I think I have a pretty good idea. The RCMP response time is quite long but not entirely unusual, especially if you submitted ink based fingerprints. As for doing the application on your own I can only suggest you follow the steps very closely, if so you should be fine.

Best regards,
Michael

I wasn’t aware of any delays with the Secure Certificate. Thanks for letting m eknow about that.
If you have a passport (and as long as you are sure to travel with the letter from your reserve attesting that you meet the blood quantum requirement), then you should have no trouble flying. Airport CBP officers are governed by the same rules as those at land crossings.

Birgit

Bill C-23 B was dead but has been resurrected as a part of the omnibus crime bill. The company you mention has something to gain by giving you false information which is that you will not be able to get a pardon. But even if the bill passes you will, by the sounds of it, still be eligible for a record suspension which is essentially the exact same thing.
Best regards,
Michael