Justice and Human Rights

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights met to study Bill C-238, a private member's bill introduced by MP Viviane Lapointe that proposes to amend the Criminal Code to allow courts to order restitution for community organizations that incur costs responding to drug trafficking and human trafficking offences. The committee heard from Aleksander Godlewski and Joanna Wells, counsel from the Department of Justice's Criminal Law Policy Section, and from MP Lapointe, the bill's sponsor.

MP Lapointe explained that Bill C-238 is intended to address a gap in the current restitution framework by providing clearer legislative direction for judges to order restitution to community organizations—such as shelters, recovery services, and victim support groups—that bear measurable costs from drug and human trafficking crimes. She emphasized that the bill does not create a mandatory penalty, does not replace restitution for individual victims, and preserves judicial discretion, but rather offers an additional tool when costs can be verified. She noted that while judges currently have the ability to order restitution to communities, they rarely do so due to a lack of definition around what constitutes a "community" and what costs are appropriate, and the bill aims to provide those definitions. In response to concerns about prioritizing victims, she stated she would bring forward amendments to make it clear that victim restitution comes first, and she expressed openness to expanding the bill's scope to include other offences like intimate partner violence.

Aleksander Godlewski clarified that restitution orders under the Criminal Code are intended to be based on readily ascertainable expenses directly linked to the offence, and that the bill's novelty lies in allowing organizations to be compensated for new types of expenses related to drug and human trafficking, which the current provisions do not specifically address. He noted that the courts have been clear that restitution is not meant to displace civil remedies, and that complex questions of damages may be better suited for civil courts. He also acknowledged that while restitution orders survive bankruptcy, enforcement falls to the provinces, and collection rates are low, though the department is working on this issue.

Joanna Wells provided data from Statistics Canada indicating that restitution is ordered in 4% to 5% of all cases, rising to about 28% for property crimes like fraud, but confirmed that collection rates are significantly lower and that enforcement is a provincial responsibility. She agreed to provide the committee with details on the Supreme Court's decision in *The Queen v. Zelensky* regarding the constitutional validity of restitution orders under section 738 of the Criminal Code, which was raised by MP Fortin in relation to jurisdictional concerns.

The meeting began with the resignation of Chair James Maloney and the election of MP Iqra Khalid as the new chair, with unanimous consent from the committee.