PURGE PROPOSED

Plan would erase record of minor criminal charges

Canadians with past drug and booze convictions hanging over their heads
could see their records wiped clean under proposed new federal legislation.

The National Parole Board, along with the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities (FCM) and Corrections Canada, is asking for a federal purge
of old criminal charges, after it was shown more than two million people
have past records.

"That's nearly seven percent of the population, which is a substantial
amount of people," said Calgary Ald. John Schmal, third vice-president of
FCM.

"That two million includes a lot of people who made dumb mistakes as
youngsters, and are still being choked by that in their lives now."

The Parole Board and Corrections Canada recently won the support of FCM --
which federally represents 800 Canadian towns and cities -- in their motion
to erase minor criminal records after a decade of good behaviour.

The current system, where a pardon can be sought three years after
conviction, is not always recognized at foreign borders, or by employers
asking about past records.

"You might have someone with a wife and kids, who smoked the wrong kind of
cigarette years ago, and that information can still be obtained by employers
and customs," said Schmal.

The alderman is quick to point out the motion would apply only to crimes
where public safety is no longer an issue, like drinking and driving or drug
possession.

"Let me make it clear we're not looking to forgive sexual predators, or
anyone like that," said Schmal.

The issue is now under federal review, after FCM officials presented the
motion to the solicitor general's department in Ottawa.

Officials at Calgary's Elizabeth Fry Society, which defends the rights of
convicted criminals, said they hope the motion moves quickly through any
bureaucratic red tape.

"We support the idea -- criminal checks are an increasing barrier to
employment," said Jo-Anne Clarke, agency co-ordinator.

"We're starting to run across that all the time, and it's hard for a person
to get ahead of the game if they can't even get a foot in the door."