In March 2012, the Harper government’s massive crime bill, Bill C-10, became law. This bill severely limited the availability of house arrest, imposed mandatory minimum sentences, required harsher treatment of young offenders, and increased the waiting periods for pardons.
One of our clients was impacted by the retroactive pardon changes. Just before he was eligible under the old rules to apply for a pardon, he was told that he would have to wait another five years.
Abergel Goldstein & Partners is assisting M.C in his plan to challenge the retroactive pardon eligibility changes in Bill C-10.
Here is the slightly novel part. M.C. is crowdfunding to help cover the cost of the litigation.
We plan on doing much of the work pro bono but nonetheless challenging the constitutionality of a law can be expensive and litigation of this type can take years.
This is why M.C is seeking to raise $20,000 – to help pay for two of our lawyers, to collect expert evidence, and to demand fairness and hold the Conservative government to account.
The litigation will be spearheaded by Michael Spratt and Chelsea Moore.
More details are available on the crowd funding page we have set up to assist M.C. can be found here: www.gofundme.com/pardon
We will keep you up to date with news and updates.
