Notes for an address by
The Honourable Peter MacKay, PC, MP Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Economic Club of Canada
Westin Hotel
Ottawa, Ontario
February 6, 2015
Check against delivery
Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Natasha [Moreno, organizer and Vice President of the Economic Club of Canada], for that kind introduction.
I'm grateful to the Economic Club for the invitation to speak and for providing this forum.
I appreciate the invitation to share some of my views on the costs of crime over breakfast with you this morning. Truth be told, though, with a toddler at home, I've been up for a few hours already.
Like many Canadians, parenthood has had a huge and wonderful impact on my life. It has also caused me to pause and think about the justice system that protects my child.
I was out for a walk at the Winterlude site last night with my family. It was a beautiful scene. I thought about my good fortune and my luck to be born in Canada, a land of freedom. It was minus-25 - no one was forcing me to be out in that weather, just like no one forced you to be at a speech this early on a cold Friday.
While we are blessed to have the justice system we do in Canada - with a strong rule of law, an entrenched Constitution, a vigorous and vibrant judiciary, strong traditions of civil and common law, a diverse, well-educated bar - I have long felt that Canada's justice system was not as effective as it could be. That's one of the reasons I decided to study law, work in the criminal justice system, first as a counsel and later to become a Crown Attorney...
In fact, it was shortcomings in the Canadian justice system that motivated this small-town boy from Nova Scotia who always wanted to be a criminal lawyer to enter politics in 1997. Now, I'm truly in my dream job.
Of course, it has been an incredibly invigorating and often inspiring experience to see our justice system up close... to work in it, and to help identify and implement ways to improve it, make it stronger and more effective - to respond more fairly and more quickly, and hopefully to have a system that will ultimately serve more Canadians.
It is also a window on a world where many people sadly do feel left out and call out for greater access to justice. That's a clarion call for everyone - lawyers, police, judges, administrators and politicians; all participants in our justice system - to work harder and smarter to put the "just" in justice every day.
Like most parents, of course, I want a better world for my child - a world that's safer and more just for all. This gives me even more motivation to do my best as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
I thought I'd begin with perhaps one of the Government's most recent legislative initiatives: Bill C-51, the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015.
It's often said: "Without security, there can be no liberty." The Government's new proposed anti-terrorism legislation seeks to better protect Canadians while defending their freedoms.
There is no trade-off here. We will not sacrifice the freedoms that terrorists so eagerly want to take away from us. With this legislation, police will have the powers to prevent, detect, and respond to terrorist threats, thwarting plans to harm Canadians and wreak havoc on our peaceful country.
And let me stress there are a number of safeguards in this legislation to make sure these tools are used properly. Unfortunately, there has been selective reporting in some cases that does not mention the active role of the judiciary, Attorney General consent, and maintaining annual public reporting to Parliament on the use of recognizance with conditions.
There is already sunsetting on certain provisions, as well as sharing of information between federal departments when it enhances national security, better coordination to address terrorist travel, take-down provisions of terrorist propaganda used to recruit, promote, advise on or engage in dangerous activity. Most Canadians say "don't you do that already?"
In October of last year, the threat paradigm changed, and Canada was profoundly shaken. But let us not forget that there were terrorism plots against and in our country before those dark days ... the Toronto 18... the B.C. Legislature, Via Rail, to name a few, and before that the most horrible Air India bombing.
As a result, legislative changes to increase security measures were already in progress before terrorism visited St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa.
The tragic events in October targeting our honourable Canadian Armed Forces members were a huge wake-up call, from an often too complacent slumber, and they further reinforced the need to better protect Canadians. That's just part of the history of why we need this legislation.
I am motivated by my belief that Canadians intrinsically value justice. In fact, one of the characteristics that sets this country apart from most others is the expectation of justice - an abiding belief in the rule of law.
To meet this expectation, the justice system must evolve continually to keep pace with larger changes in society, so that it can respond appropriately to crime, and thus maintain the trust of Canadians. Guiding this evolution remains an important priority for the Government.
And while I would submit much has been accomplished, more remains to be done, because crime remains a problem in Canada.
While several studies indicate that crime rates are generally declining, in 2013 there were still about 1.8 million Criminal Code violations1 annually, according to Statistics Canada. And these numbers don't even include traffic violations.
Crime continues to take a major toll on Canadians. Along with the significant economic costs, crime also has damaging effects on society. The pain and suffering of a victim - the loss of security and self-worth, over and above any monetary loss - surely comes at a great cost. And one also has to consider the value of human lives that are lost to crime.
Although it's extremely difficult to accurately put a price on crime, a recent report from the Fraser Institute, titled The Cost of Crime in Canada, has made a valiant attempt. Not surprisingly, it concluded that crime is an incredibly expensive drain on society.
The report estimates that crime cost Canadians more than $85 billion in fiscal year 2009-2010. That's roughly five percent of GDP. Some recent estimates go as high as $100 billion per year. That's all-in justice costs and impact on lost productivity.
What's more, victims bear most of the costs associated with crime. Losses to victims account for more than half of the total - some $47 billion.
Within that figure, the study also estimates the financial losses to businesses and in productivity, the value of stolen property, and higher insurance premiums, at a total of nearly $10 billion. As business leaders, many of you are all too familiar with these costs.
And then there are the costs to taxpayers for law enforcement, the courts and the corrections system. Costs associated with the justice system - policing, courts and corrections - accounts for close to $20 billion.
These are all eye-watering numbers, and the intangible costs assigned to pain and suffering are likely greatly underestimated, but the study clearly shows that crime has enormous economic impacts.
And aside from any compensation that the courts may - or may not - allow for pain and suffering, there are costs associated with recovering from a crime. These can include lost wages due to absenteeism, lost jobs, replacing lost or stolen items, and fees for visits to mental-health professionals. There are even costs to preventing crime, such as installing alarm systems, building fences, and new measures to fortify a home or business.
In addition, the study found that while rates of crime have fallen over the last decade or so, the cost of dealing with crime - the hard costs of policing, corrections and the courts - has increased significantly. The study suggests that between 2002 and 2012, crime rates fell by about 27 percent, while the cost of dealing with crime increased by 35 percent.
One of the biggest changes in this country's legal history was the inclusion of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in our Constitution in 1982. Over the years, the Charter has had a sweeping impact on our legal system, particularly in terms of the length and complexity of criminal trials, and the degree to which the courts review the conduct of investigating police.
This, in turn, has required new techniques and protocols to successfully investigate and prosecute criminal offences. Some described the Charter at the time as the greatest make-work program for lawyers the country had ever seen.
Suffice it to say, the nature of crime has also changed significantly in recent decades. Internet crime, for instance, which today is rampant, didn't exist when many of us were growing up. The techniques police use to investigate offences also evolve continually. DNA evidence is a relatively recent tool, for example.
So part of the reason for the discrepancy between falling crime rates and increasing expenses associated with dealing with crime is that not all elements of our justice system have evolved at the same pace. I'll come back to this point in a moment.
Another finding of the study that stands out for me is only a fraction of all crimes are reported to police. The evidence suggests that for every crime reported to police, 10 go unreported.
The most common reason given for not reporting is that the victim considered the crime as relatively minor...petty theft and small-scale vandalism, for instance. More troubling are those victims who fear or mistrust the system to treat them fairly. Victims often complain of re-victimization. This costs Canadians.
The second study2 I want to touch on today was completed by officials in my department, focused on six types of violent crime: assault, criminal harassment, homicide, robbery, sexual assault, and other sexual offences.
The Department of Justice study reaches many of the same conclusions as the Fraser Institute study. It calls attention to the unacceptable numbers of violent offences committed in Canada - 400,000 each year, or more than 1,000 every day. And the rates of some particularly heinous crimes, such as child sexual offences, which are on the rise - up by 6 percent last year.
As I mentioned earlier, Canadians expect justice. And this is precisely why the Government continues to take real action to improve the justice system.
I am particularly proud of the progress we've made on victims' issues.
Today, victims play a larger role in our justice system than ever before. In 2007, the Government launched the Federal Victims Strategy, with the clear objective within the Strategy to give victims a more effective voice in the criminal justice system - to be more inclusive and sensitive of their needs. Some $120 million has been dedicated to that effort.
Under this Strategy is the Victims Fund, which invests in projects that promote access to justice and participation in the criminal justice system. This year alone, about $11.5 million has been designated for these types of projects. The price victims pay for the crimes committed against them is high enough, and we need to help them.
Perhaps the best example of this funding is Child Advocacy Centres. These Centres might just be the best addition to the criminal justice system in decades.
At each Centre, a team of professionals helps young victims and witnesses and families cope with the immense trauma they've experienced, and help them navigate through the sometimes very complex criminal justice system. The team coordinates its efforts to provide testimonial aids, videotaping of testimony, and medical and mental health counselling. There are more than 20 of these centres either operating or being created across Canada.
Along with launching the Federal Victim Strategy, the Office for the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, currently occupied by Sue O'Sullivan, was established to help meet the needs of victims of crime in matters of federal jurisdiction. It is an important practical place to turn - a clearing house of information and a source of support. It coordinates its work with the provinces and territories, and has been building capacity every year of its existence.
Crime costs victims a lot of things besides money - their trust, their pride, their confidence...and we need to make victims a priority so they can rebuild their lives and their happiness and an important though sometime overlooked goal - restore victims and public confidence in our system of justice.
Last year, the Government also took the step of introducing legislation to create a Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. If passed, this would be an historical first for victims. This would help ensure that victims have clear statutory rights at the federal level-rights to information, protection, participation, and restitution.
The Government has also completed a series of legislative reforms-amending existing laws and creating new ones-to strengthen the criminal justice system and make sure it meets the needs and expectations of Canadians.
The Government established tougher penalties for a wide range of crimes: fraud, street racing, identity theft, child sexual exploitation, trafficking in illicit drugs and tobacco, elder abuse and abusing service animals.
It is also now easier to keep dangerous, violent and repeat offenders behind bars... and the rules relating to citizen's arrest, and defence of property and persons have been clarified, in legislation that became known as the "Good Samaritan" bill.
As I mentioned a moment ago, an effective justice system is one that keeps pace with technological and societal change. A new law that will come into force next month, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, helps meet this goal.
The Act will enable police to use updated, judicially authorized powers to investigate crimes committed on or through the use of new technologies. Among other things, the law will empower a court to order the removal of intimate images from the Internet and to order the forfeiture of a computer, cell phone or other device used in committing the offence.
By ensuring that these images are no longer available for the world to see, victims will no longer have to live in fear of intimidation and ridicule - one less cost to pay.
These cyberbully cases can be devastating to young lives - Rehtaeh Parsons, Amanda Todd, Todd Loik and countless others have paid the cost. It will require much more of a holistic, coordinated approach for parents, schools, police and the justice system and young people themselves - and I have reason to be encouraged that this can succeed.
New legislation designed to combat prostitution is also now in effect as a result of the Bedford decision a year ago. The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act will protect and safeguard our communities from the dangers associated with prostitution, including violence, drug-related crime and organized crime. The Bill emphasizes criminal sanctions for those who exploit and degrade women - pimps and johns. It treats those who are exploited - the prostitutes - as victims.
The Act also addresses those who sell sexual services - those who are paying the costs to their physical and psychological well-being by engaging in this inherently dangerous activity. The Government is providing funding to help them leave prostitution - starting with $20 million to put more programming in place to help with general education, specific job training, housing, child care, the necessities of life - indeed, a new life.
These legislative reforms and those yet to be tabled - including family law reform, and changes to impaired driving legislation - have been put forward in part as a counterpoint to the idea that there are no meaningful consequences for criminal behaviour.
Most of you are likely familiar with the "broken windows" theory of crime. The theory was advanced in a study done in the United States in the early 1980s.
According to the theory, broken windows left unrepaired, graffiti, and signs of social disorder, instil a sense of lawlessness in passersby - a sense that no one cares about crime. For criminals, signs of social disorder inspire a sense of impunity.
If we are to fight back against that negative impression, then we have to repair those broken windows both literally and figuratively. It is a tried-and-true maxim that justice must not only be done, but also must be seen to be done, if we are to reduce the costs of crime.
Those costs are particularly and devastatingly high for the most vulnerable, such as children. And there is evidence to suggest that sexual offences against children are on the rise.
Police reported more than 4,200 sexual offences against children in 2013 - an increase of 6 percent from 2012. What's more, the number of offences involving luring a child via computer increased by 30 percent.
Think about that. Every day innocent, defenceless children are the victims of sexual abuse in Canada often in their own homes. What makes this even more disturbing is that the sexual exploitation of children is apparently becoming more and more violent, and the victims are younger than ever before.
In the past year alone, Cybertip.ca, an initiative of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection - located in Winnipeg and run by an incredible group of individuals led by Lianne MacDonald - assessed close to 25,000 images of child sexual abuse, more than 50 percent of which deal with children under 8 years of age. Those numbers defy comprehension.
I can think of few things more horrifying that the thought of someone defiling, abusing or harming children. Yet it is a crime that is on the rise.
The Government believes that more stringent measures are needed to protect these children.
Last year, I visited the Centre d'expertise Marie-Vincent in Montreal, one of the Child Advocacy Centres I mentioned earlier. The Centre provides services to child victims of sexual crimes. They told me that during 2011-2012, 22 percent of the child victims they helped were less than five years old. The year before, only 10 percent were that young.
Obviously, our criminal justice system has to evolve to combat these alarming trends - and thereby reduce the burden and cost of crime on society. The Government has worked to toughen the penalties and create new offences against the sexual predators who target children. In all, the Government has brought forward nine measures, including amendments to the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act and the Sex Offender Information Registration Act.
More also has to be done to protect vulnerable groups in society. That includes finding and punishing those responsible for heinous crimes against Aboriginal women and ensuring that they face the full force of the law. The RCMP have been diligent in these pursuit of these cases, solving about 90 percent of them - the same rate as non-Aboriginal cases - but more work can and must be done.
Clearly, crime continues to cost Canadians tens of billions of dollars each year. While studies try to quantify the economic impacts of crime, we all recognize that these impacts extend well beyond the cost of police, courts and corrections facilities.
Ultimately, crime affects much more than our pocketbooks. It's personal. It also affects our communities and our sense of wellbeing. Crime diminishes us all. And victims are often left physically and emotionally scarred for life.
Crime in Canada is a severe issue but as with so many other issues, it pales in comparison to other jurisdictions - there are few countries that have it better than we do.
I've had the remarkable experience of visiting many places in the Middle East, including Afghanistan. The story of Reyhaneh Jabbari is but one in a litany of miscarriages of justice in the brutal scheme in Iran.
Reyhaneh was a victim of rape by an Iranian regime member, and she was ultimately hanged for the murder of her alleged assailant. Incidents like these make us count our blessings here in Canada.
Reducing the steep toll exacted by crime requires the involvement of all Canadians. We must report crime and participate in initiatives to keep our communities safe and speak out and speak up when it comes to respect for the law.
I want to close by thanking Natasha once again - she is a person deeply committed to justice, in particular helping victims of human trafficking, working closely with my colleague Joy Smith, and informing the public and researching critical issues.
We must not tolerate criminal activities - nor the so-called "broken windows." We have to stand up for what we believe in - justice and fairness - and strive relentlessly to make Canada become an even greater country founded on the best justice system in the world.
Thank you.
