Library of Parliament Legislative Summary of Abolition of Early Parole Act

The Library of Parliament has published its Legislative summary of Bill C-59: An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (accelerated parole review):

"The objective of Bill C-59 is to tighten the rules governing eligibility dates for parole (that is, day parole and full parole) in the case of offenders serving their first sentence of imprisonment in a penitentiary and who have not been convicted of a violent offence or a serious drug-related offence where a court order has been made concerning parole eligibility. More specifically, the bill provides that these offenders may not be granted:

• day parole after serving one sixth of the sentence; or
• parole where the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) (also known as the National Parole Board) believes that they will commit a non-violent offence before the legal expiration of their sentence (at present, if the PBC is satisfied that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that they will commit an offence involving violence, it has no choice but to grant parole)."

It is possible to follow the status of the bill on the LEGISinfo website.