Parliamentary budget officer says one minimum sentence costs $98 million per year

OTTAWA — A study by the parliamentary budget officer has found that one particular mandatory minimum sentence costs a total of $98 million each year.

Budget officer Yves Giroux’s report focused on costs related to the three-year minimum sentence for possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, in force since 2008.

People convicted of this crime are sentenced to a total of 1,162 more years in federal custody than before the current minimum was in place, the report said.

Giroux’s office said this translates into about 684 more people in federal custody and 467 more people on federal parole at any given time.

Mandatory minimum sentences require judges to impose a minimum penalty on those convicted of a specific crime.

His office said it based its calculations on the Correctional Service of Canada’s weighted average cost for maintaining an offender in custody and on parole.

The effect of this minimum on the total duration of sentences continues although it has been declared unconstitutional by appellate courts in 2013 and later by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2015, the report said. The minimum has not been repealed, and therefore remains in the Criminal Code.

Giroux’s office also said this minimum sentence disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous people.

While Black people make up 3.5 per cent of the Canadian population, they account for 24 per cent of the increase in sentenced time in federal custody.

Indigenous people make up 2.6 per cent of the population while receiving 22 per cent of the increase in sentenced time.

Comparatively, white people comprise 73 per cent of the population but get 37 per cent of the increase in sentences.

Giroux’s office noted it is difficult to draw conclusions about the effect of other minimum sentences, and what effect the repeal of a minimum sentence would have on the severity of sentencing.

In December 2021, Justice Minister David Lametti tabled a bill that would repeal certain mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offences and some gun-related crimes, including the offence mentioned in the parliamentary budget officer’s report.

It would allow a judge to exercise discretion in imposing sentences that relate to the facts of the case, including considerations of the individual’s experience with systemic racism and whether they pose a risk to public safety.

Repealing these mandatory minimum penalties are meant to address excessive incarceration of Black and Indigenous people, the Justice Department says.

The bill is currently at second reading in the House of Commons.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Erika Ibrahim, The Canadian Press