Response to Proposed Corrections and Conditional Release Act

Source: (1992) John Howard Society of Alberta. Dowloaded 20 January 2005.

In 1992 the Canadian federal government proposed a Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA). The CCRA was to provide a framework to guide the Correctional Service of Canada, the National Parole Board, and the Office of the Correctional Investigator. In this paper, the John Howard Society of Alberta comments on the proposed CCRA. The Society supports and promotes restorative justice as a foundation for fundamental reform of the justice system in Canada. From this perspective then, the Society criticizes the proposed CCRA as not reflective of the restorative justice paradigm. While the Society finds merit in some aspects of the Act, it fundamentally characterizes the proposal as a further entrenchment of retribution as the focus of justice.