A leading Conservative MP is calling for change after the accused rapist of a 13-year-old Ontario girl was given time to weigh how a guilty plea would affect his immigration status.
The case involves a 47-year-old Bradford resident, and non-citizen, who pleaded guilty last week to “two counts of sexual interference, one charge of child luring and another to breaching his release conditions,” local news outlet
.
The court heard that the man
met the girl at a convenience store, groomed her and later raped her, which led to two pregnancies, BarrieToday reported. The girl reportedly ended up carrying one of those pregnancies to term. A publication ban is in place to protect the identity of the girl and her child.
The man ignored court orders to stay away from the girl, whom he raped again while he was out on release, according to BarrieToday. After breaching the conditions of his release for a third time, he was arrested and has been in jail since, for more than two and a half years.
The court also heard that the man had earlier in the case been “permitted an adjournment to explore the effect his eventual guilty pleas would have on his immigration status,” BarrieToday reported. In Canada, a permanent resident or foreign national is
if they are convicted of a criminal offence that leads to jail time of more than six months.
The Crown told National Post it would be seeking a 10-year sentence. He is due back in court for sentencing on Jan. 29.
The case was brought up by Alberta Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner during question period on Nov. 27. She put forward
, a private member’s bill that is pushing for courts not to take into account the impact that a sentence would have on an offender’s immigration status.
“A senior Liberal (MP Kevin Lamoureux) debating my bill to stop leniency for serious crimes said this: ‘If someone is going out raping another individual, do we really believe they’ll get special treatment from a judge?’ The next day, there was a story of a non-Canadian raping a 13-year-old girl and impregnating her twice, and the rapist was given an adjournment to see the impact of a guilty plea on what? His immigration status,” said Rempel Garner during
.
“Will the liberals admit they were wrong?”
A video clip shared by Rempel Garner on social media shows Lamoureux speaking about the bill when it was
in the House of Commons.
“There are individuals who make bad decisions. Sometimes it does not necessarily justify a deportation,” Lamoureux said during the debate.
He added: “At the end of the day, with the types of crime that are being suggested, people are going to be deported anyway. If someone is going out there and raping another individual, do we really believe that they are going to get special treatment from a judge when they go before a court? It is nowhere near the degree to which the Conservatives are trying to put it on the record.”
Those opposing the bill said it would take away judicial independence and discretion, and it discriminates against non-citizens who are often trying to integrate into Canadian society.
During question period on Nov. 27, Liberal MP Ruby Sahota responded to Rempel Garner’s question of whether the Liberals would admit “they were wrong.”
“There are provisions in place if a non-citizen commits a crime and serves a sentence, they are removed from Canada,” she said. “CBSA works on these cases and they prioritize criminal cases, in fact, when making removals.”
“In recent years, there have been multiple instances of judges issuing sentences to non-citizens convicted of serious crimes that were designed to allow them to evade deportation,” said Rempel Garner on Nov. 25. This creates a “two-tiered justice system between non-citizens and those with Canadian citizenship.”
She called it “unfair” and listed seven examples of convicted non-citizens who received “lenient sentences in very recent history.” Included in that list was a case involving a 20-year-old Indian man residing in Canada on a student visa. He pleaded guilty to four counts of voyeurism,
in October.
“Despite the judge admitting that six to 12 months would have been a more appropriate sentence, this was to avoid deportation. The judge even said this,” Rempel Garner said.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has been outspoken about his
when it comes to repeat offenders, said it was an “unbelievable perversion of justice” that non-citizen criminals were receiving lower sentences “in order to allow them to stay.”
“It should be a stated policy of our system to get criminals out of Canada,” he said, while speaking in favour of Bill C-220. “If someone is not a citizen, not a Canadian, and commits a crime, then they should be shown the door.”
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