Tories propose tighter pardon rules

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews unveiled sweeping changesTuesday that he said are meant to tighten upCanada's system of criminal pardons.

Toewssaid the proposed changes would eliminate pardons and replace them with more narrowly defined criminal record suspensions.

The push for changes to the pardon system stemmed from the case of Graham James, whopleaded guilty in 1997 to sexual assault. Sheldon Kennedy, who went on to play in the NHL, and a second unnamed playerhad comeforward with accounts of the sexualabuse they suffered when James coached their Western Hockey League teams from 1984 to 1995.

"As all of you are aware, the pardon of convicted sex offender Graham James was deeply offensive to Canadians, to victims and to our government," Toews said during a news conference in Ottawa. "It demonstrated the need to take action to prevent such an outrage from happening again and to ensure our system of justice is not brought into disrepute."

Toews saidhisreform legislation would make it impossible for those convicted of sex offences against minorsto have their criminal records suspended, except in a case wherethe applicant can demonstrate he or she was "close in age," and that the offence did not involve a position of trust or authority, bodily harm or threat of violence or intimidation.

The changes would also preventthose convicted of more than three indictable offences from getting a record suspension.

Toews said the period of ineligibility for a record suspension would increase, from the current three years tofive years for summary conviction offences and from five years up to10 years for indictable offences.

'It doesn't erase what they've done'

The National Parole Board granted James a pardon in 2007 after he completed a 3-year prison sentence. But the news only came to light in April after a previously unknown accuser contacted Winnipeg police.

The National Parole Board said in an explanation issued April 5 that it could not refuse apardon based on the nature of a crime.

Craig Jones, theexecutive director of theJohn Howard Society, said thelegislation to revamp the pardon systemwas a"rush to judgment."

He said there may be a case for a review of pardons and parole, but it should by done slowly and carefully, by panels of experts not by what he calls "short-term-oriented, hair-on-fire opportunists."

Kennedy, however, in attendance at the announcement, applauded the proposed changes.

"This has been put together, yes, quickly, but with a lot of thought, and I think that it's going to be very beneficial to the organizations and the people that are going to be looking for background checks and so forth moving forward," he said.

"I think it just holds people accountable for what they've done and it doesn't erase what they've done."

In January of this year, Theoren Fleury,Kennedy's former WHL teammate who went on to have a stellar NHL career with the Calgary Flames and other teams, filed a police complaint against James.

Fleury alleged in his autobiography, Playing With Fire, that James repeatedly sexually abused him when he was a young player in the 1980s.

Winnipeg police have said they were investigating Fleury's complaint.