Background

Bill C-10 was introduced in the House of Commons in September 2011. This legislation groups together nine bills that were dealt with separately during the previous session of Parliament. The bill passed and received Royal Assent in March 2012, officially becoming the Safe Streets and Communities Act.

The Safe Streets and Communities Act consists of five parts:

• Part 1 creates a new act entitled the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act;
• Part 2 amends the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) and the Criminal Code;
• Part 3 amends the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), the International Transfer of Offenders Act and the Criminal Records Act;
• Part 4 amends the Youth Criminal Justice Act; and
• Part 5 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Part 3 has the greatest impact on CSC. It contains reforms in four main areas of the CCRA: enhancing sharing of information with victims; increasing offender responsibility and accountability; strengthening the management of offenders and their reintegration; and modernizing disciplinary actions. This part also amends the Criminal Records Act to substitute the term "record suspension" for the term "pardon", and changes eligibility periods to apply for record suspensions. In addition, Part 3 amends the International Transfer of Offenders Act to emphasize public safety and add new considerations for approving transfers of Canadian offenders back to Canada.