Parole Board dealing with massive pardon backlog after Ottawa tightens rules

Thousands of Canadians have had their lives hamstrung because of a bureaucratic backlog in processing pardon applications for criminal offences, The Canadian Press reports.

I can see some of you rubbing a thumb and forefinger together playing that tiny violin. But we're not talking about pardoning serial killers or child molesters, though a child molester does figure into this story. The vast majority are ordinary Canadians, some with only minor youthful transgressions on their records.

The lack of a pardon, or record suspension as the government now calls it, can severely limit a person's ability to work, travel outside Canada and obtain an education in several fields, according to a web site run by the law firm Cormier Simard.

According to CP, the Parole Board of Canada has a backlog of almost 22,000 pardon applications, some that have been in the works for years. The board began beefing up its staff late last year but it's still expected to take another two years to clear the backlog.

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The board told CP all the backlogged files have been screened up to the eligibility stage — meaning the applications are completely in order — but the process is still two to three years behind.

"Right now, the board is processing pardon applications accepted in March 2011 [for summary offences] and applications accepted in September 2010 [for indictable offences]," board spokeswoman Caroline Douglas told CP via email.

It takes about three months to pass judgment on each application and even longer for ones that are being rejected, CP was told.

The pardons backlog has its origins in the case of Graham James, the highly-regarded junior hockey coach convicted in 1997 and 1998 of sexually assaulting some of his players. In 2007, a few years after completing his prison sentence, James quietly obtained a pardon from the parole board.

James was convicted a third time in 2012 of abusing former NHL player Theo Fleury and his cousin Todd Holt when they played for him as juniors and sentenced to more prison time.

[ Related: Manitoba Appeal Court increases sentence for sex offender Graham James ]

A story by CP in 2010 revealing the pardon sparked outrage and spurred the Conservative government to crack down on the process. Among other things, Ottawa boosted the fee to apply for a pardon, raising it to $631 from $50, where it had been set on the principle that pardons were a benefit to society as well as the individual.

Pardon eligibility was also stiffened, with those convicted of child sexual abuse no longer eligible. The government also lengthened the waiting period for making a pardon application after a sentence was completed and imposed a three-strikes rule, making anyone with a record of three convictions for indictable offences requiring a two-year sentence ineligible for a pardon.

CP reported that those who applied under the higher fee were put at the front of the line for processing.

The reforms, aimed at ensuring the truly evil don't get a free pass, have snared others who're genuinely trying to rebuild their lives.

An applicant CP called Luc to protect his identity, told the news service he's been waiting since 2010 for his paperwork to be processed.

"It's been three years and I'm just stuck here," said Luc, a 39-year-old industrial mechanic and former drug addict whose longest jail sentence was three months for burglary 21 years ago.

"Yesterday, I had a job interview. And the guy told me clearly: 'As long as you have a record, I can't pay you full salary, you have to fix this.' He wants to see my pardon and all the papers so I can fit his hiring criteria."

Jonathan Graham, a 40-year-old equipment operator for the District of West Vancouver, told CP his criminal record consists of mischief and pot possession at age 21 that resulted in a $100 fine. He's been waiting two years to get a pardon so he can travel to the United States.

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The irony, he said, is that the drug conviction means he can't travel across the border into Washington state, where pot now is legal to possess and use.

"It really adds up to nothing more absurd," said Graham.