A Waterloo region judge is speaking out against recent changes to Ottawa’s tough-on-crime law.
Like several judges across the county, Ontario Court Justice Colin Westman does not believe courts should impose the “victim services surcharge” on impoverished or mentally ill criminals.
“It’s unrealistic,” Justice Westman says. “So if it’s not unrealistic, aren’t you bringing disrespect on this court by imposing things that either aren’t going to be enforced or can’t be enforced?”
The newly-amended federal law states that, if someone is convicted of a crime, judges must impose an additional 30 per cent surcharge or a flat fee of $100 to $200.
Justice Westman says victims of crimes should be getting more help and services, but wonders how the government plans to collect fines from people who have no money.
Some judges in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. are refusing to apply the rule, while others are giving criminals who are poor up to 99 years to pay.
A spokesperson for Justice Minister Peter MacKay defends the surcharge, saying the government is committed to giving the victims of crime a stronger voice.
They say the surcharge will fund much-needed victim services
Kitchener criminal defence lawyer Hal Mattson sympathizes with the judges' frustrations.
“Most of these people that these judges are talking about, they don’t want to put a victim surcharge on, are on welfare and they can’t even afford a bus ticket to get to court," he says.
Justice Westman, for his part, says the tough-on-crime law took away judges' discretion, and that’s a mistake.
“It’s arbitrary, and arbitrary has no place in my view in the justice system," he notes. "You have to have the facts before you impose a sentence or you impose punishment so that it can be proportionate to the crime.”
Justice Westman calls the surcharge a “tax on broken souls.”
