Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday the fact that convicted killer Karla Homolka will be eligible to apply for a pardon this year is one of many reasons his government plans to overhaul the system.
At two separate events, Harper and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced the government will table legislation to amend the pardon system by fall at the latest. According to Harper, it's the Homolka case, as well as the pardon three years ago of disgraced hockey coach Graham James, that inspired the move.
Harper said changes are necessary for a system that grants pardons to 99 per cent of applicants.
"For many years, the vast majority of Canadians have found this deeply offensive. Now, they find it unacceptable," Harper told a victims' rights conference.
He also said that under the current law, Homolka, who in 1993 pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the sex slayings of two Ontario teen girls, can "apply for a pardon this year."
Tim Danson, a lawyer for the victims' families, said Homolka should not be granted a pardon if she applies for one.
"I think it's definitely exposing a serious problem with the pardon system, and someone like Karla Homolka exemplifies it," Danson told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Toews said legislation is preferable to regulatory changes to fix all of the systems' ills.
"I think that simply looking at it by way of making administrative changes doesn't appear to be sufficient," Toews said.
Nearly any criminal can apply for a pardon, either three or five years after his or her sentence is completed, depending on the nature of the crime. Currently, the law gives the parole board only a few reasons for rejecting pardon applications.
Under Canadian human rights law, a person cannot be denied access to services or employment with a federal agency due to a pardoned conviction.
Liberal Whip Rodger Cuzner said Monday his party supports a review of the pardon system.
"Certainly the official opposition would be willing to look at legislation when it comes forward and take a review into the system," Cuzner told CTV's Power Play.
Toews' parliamentary secretary, Dave MacKenzie, said the legislation has not yet been drafted, but may include exceptions for those convicted of specific crimes.
"I believe that certainly it could be made for exceptions for those convicted of what we deem sex offences," MacKenzie told Power Play. "It could be eliminated for a whole raft of things that would be of interest to Canadians in particular."
Harper said that while some changes were made to the pardon system in 2007, James was still able to receive a pardon despite his crimes against young boys. James was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for sexually abusing two of his former players.
"Even though he ruined the lives of boys who just wanted to play hockey, he can travel without having to admit his criminal record," Harper said. "That, too, is offensive."
