Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner said Canada operates a two-tier justice system that gives harsher sentences to citizens than to non-citizens [1, 2].
The proposal to change the Criminal Code highlights a growing political debate over whether immigration status creates an unfair advantage in Canadian courts.
Rempel Garner, the MP for Calgary Nose Hill, urged the Liberal government to amend the Criminal Code to prevent immigration status from influencing sentencing [1, 2]. She said the current system creates an anti-Canadian reality, one where non-citizens receive more lenient treatment for the same offenses committed by citizens [1, 2].
The MP said this disparity is unfair to Canadian citizens [1, 2]. By calling for legislative changes, Rempel Garner seeks to ensure that the justice system applies the same standards to all individuals regardless of their legal status in the country [1, 2].
This critique targets the discretion currently afforded to judges when considering the potential for deportation or the impact of a sentence on a non-citizen's residency status. Rempel Garner said these factors should not result in lighter sentences for those who are not citizens [1, 2].
The Conservative MP's call for reform positions the issue as a matter of fundamental fairness and national identity [1, 2]. She said the current practice of granting more lenient sentences to non-citizens is disgusting [1].
“Canada operates a two-tier justice system that hands lighter sentences to non-citizens.”
This push for legislative reform reflects a broader Conservative strategy to link judicial outcomes with immigration policy. If the Criminal Code were amended to limit the weight of immigration status in sentencing, it would reduce judicial discretion and potentially increase the incarceration rates for non-citizens who previously received leniency based on their residency precariousness.
