Canada to expunge records of people convicted under ‘unjust’ laws
The government of Canada announced on March 7 that new regulations were in place allowing people who had been convicted of historically unjust offenses that targeted queer people and women seeking abortions to have their criminal records expunged.
Under the new regulations, people who have been convicted of the offenses related to being found in a “bawdy house” or putting on an “indecent performance” or exhibition — offenses that had in the past been used to target queer people — as well as various offenses related to seeking or providing an abortion, can now apply to the Parole Board of Canada to have all records of their conviction destroyed.
Deceased persons can have their records expunged by a representative. There is no fee to apply for the expungement. The regulations are an expansion of the 2018 “Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions” law, which originally allowed men who were convicted under laws banning “gross indecency,” “buggery” and “anal sex” to have their records wiped. “We need to recognize the historic injustices that wrongly targeted vulnerable communities,” said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino of the new regulations in the House of Commons. “This is about recognizing the legacy of discrimination suffered by women and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community while protecting their right to choose and access safe reproductive health care.
This is one more step toward building a compassionate, inclusive and diverse country.” According to the government’s analysis included in the announcement of the new regulations, the RCMP National Repository of Criminal Records identified 18,579 records related to bawdy houses and indecent acts and 67 abortion-related convictions that may be eligible for
