Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 39 Percentage drop in the overall crime rate in Canada since 1998. The percentage wage increase on average for major police forces in Ontario between 2003 and 2012. The percentage that Canada's incarceration rate is higher than Germany. Per cent of cases in adult criminal courts that are crimes of serious violence, including major assaults, sexual assaults, attempted murder, and homicide. Percentage of all cases in adult criminal courts that are administration of justice offences. Percentage increase in federal expenditures in corrections from 2002-03 to 2011-12 — to a total of $2.72 billion. The average annual cost of keeping an inmate incarcerated in a federal institution (in 2011-12). Annual cost of maintaining an offender in the community (on parole). Number of federal offenders incarcerated (as of April 2013). Number of people remanded in provincial jails, awaiting trial (as of 2012). Percentage increase of people held in custody awaiting trial, between 2004 and 2012. Percentage of people who are held in federal institutions, (over the age of 50) — SK 28 22 72 45 21 29 50 7 $35,101 14,745 13,369 Crime and punishment in Canada by the numbers SOURCES: Corrections and Conditional Release, 2013 Statistical Overview. Public Safety Canada, and Association of Municipalities of Ontario, "Policing Modernization Report,"-April 2015. "key component" of the crime agenda of the prime minister had been struck down. Despite such broad pronouncements, the decision in Nur is unlikely to result in reduced punishment for gun crimes. The flaw in the mandatory minimum was its "reach" wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and how it effectively gave more discretion to prosecutors than judges on an appropriate sentence. Nur though, was another example where media and some political commentators have again put forward the narrative of a constant battle between the judiciary and Stephen Harper. Benjamin Perrin, a professor at the University of British Columbia law school and a former legal adviser to Harper, invoked the phrase "cold war" in a 2014 research paper for the Macdonald-Laurier Insti- tute that described the Supreme Court as the "policy maker" of the year. Perrin suggested some of the court's decisions "affected tools" to fight terrorism and other crimes. One of the cases Perrin referred to was Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v. Harkat, where the court upheld the security certificate procedure in place, but did not extend a "class privilege" to Canadian Security Intelligence Service sources. Kent Roach, a law professor at the University of Toronto, notes that the federal government moved quickly to enact provisions that granted the broad privilege to CSIS sources. But he suggests it could have unintended consequences. "CSIS is not a law enforcement agency and now its sources can no longer be compelled to be witnesses or have any identifying information about them disclosed. CSIS' new powers and privilege may actually harm public safety by making terrorism prosecutions more difficult," says Roach. Clearly, the Supreme Court has ruled against the position of the federal government in a number of high-profile cases involving the country's prostitution laws, assisted suicide, the appointment of Justice Marc Nadon, and whether Parliament could unilaterally amend core aspects of the Senate. In the area of the criminal law though, in the nearly 10 years since Harper was first elected as prime minister, the country's top court has issued several decisions that in the balancing act between law enforcement and individual rights, have come down on the side of the state. Limited rights for accused during a police investiga- tion, deference to "good faith" Charter breaches by officers, and permitting seizures of smartphones without warrants, are just some examples. [see sidebar pg.40] h crime "key component" of the struck down Despite su $117,788

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