OTTAWA — Justice Minister Peter MacKay says the government is considering expanding consecutive sentencing provisions for a slew of serious offences.
Sexual offences, aggravated sexual assault, certain violent criminal offences involving weapons or aggravating circumstances and child sex crimes are some of the offences that could eventually carry consecutive sentences for those convicted on multiple counts, he said Thursday following a meeting in Whitehorse with his provincial and territorial counterparts.
“We’ve already brought in consecutive sentencing provisions for certain violent offences, including murder, including manslaughter . . . We’re looking at other provisions where this should also attach,” he said a day earlier without elaborating.
“There should not be sentencing discounts when you have separate and distinct criminal offences in different victims.”
MacKay said wiretap evidence has shown that criminals have taken advantage of Canada’s tendency to sentence concurrently for multiple crimes and that it’s no longer acceptable.
“Criminals were overheard discussing the fact that you could kill someone in Canada and then kill another one free, that is that there was a discount because the time can be served concurrently,” he said.
“We think it should be served consecutively. That is back to back — one sentence on top of another.”
The Ending Sentence Discounts for Multiple Murders Act became law in March 2011. It allows judges to impose consecutive parole ineligibility periods on offenders convicted of more than one first- or second-degree murder charge but does not make it mandatory.
tcohen@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/tobicohen
