General

Ottawa: Parole is a privilege, not a right

Public safety minister vows to limit early releases

On Monday, the government introduced legislation aimed at reforming Canada’s parole system, making it harder for prisoners to get out of jail early. The effort is aimed at “fixing the problem of early parole” in Canada, says Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan. “Canadians are surprised to learn that unless the National Parole Board has reasonable grounds to believe these offenders will commit a violent offence, not another offence, but a violent offence once released, they must automatically release those prisoners into the community.” Van Loan points out that many prisoners in Canada are granted full parole after only one-third of their sentence is complete. That, he insists, is “a problem.” “The commitment I am announcing will move us one step closer to a system of earned parole in which release is a privilege, granted only to those who have shown they are committed to rehabilitation rather than a right granted to every criminal.”

The Gazette

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