Canadians will likely find out Friday how the government plans to speed up and lower the costs of pardons for pot possession crimes that took place before Canada legalized marijuana on Oct. 17.
A bill would fulfil a promise Public Security Minister Ralph Goodale and the Liberal government made last October and affect tens of thousands of Canadians.
According to a 2014 study more than 500,000 Canadians have a criminal record for having pot on their person.
Currently, the fee for a record suspension, or pardon, is $631 and the standard waiting period is five years for a summary offence and 10 years for an indictable offence.
A lot of things in Canada have changed since last October. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
Goodale has said before that new legislation would “shed the burden and stigma” of having a record and open doors to jobs, education, housing or volunteer work.
A record suspension keeps the record separate from any other crime a person may have committed but does not erase the fact that a person was convicted of a crime.
That does not sit well with the opposition NDP.
It wants criminal records for possession erased entirely.
With files from CBC, CTV, CP
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