Cost of moving on from criminal past is too high, advocates say

Denise Durette got out of prison in 2002. She tried to work at a call centre, a burger restaurant, anywhere to stay off social assistance. 

But her criminal record got in the way, and she could not afford the $1,000 cost of a record suspension.

"For many years I was on social assistance," she said. 

Now, she's advocating a more affordable record suspension application, so people don't have to keep paying for a crime after they're paid their dues by serving time in jail or prison.

"Employers should give people a chance," she said. 

People who have been convicted of crimes can apply for a record suspension, previously called a pardon, 10 years after they're released if they committed an indictable offence, and five years if it was a lesser, summary, conviction.

The application costs about $1,000, and the final decision is up to the Parole Board of Canada. The wait time for this process is six months to more than a year. The criminal record is restored if a person commits a crime again.

The Elizabeth Fry Society has been trying to raise awareness about the economic and psychological impact on people, women in particular, who have difficulty getting their records put aside. 

The society is raising money to help cover the cost of record suspensions for women in need of help, including the $657 base fee, and the cost of fingerprinting, obtaining record checks, court information sheets, local police checks, identification and postage. 

These costs are prohibitive for people who are coming out of incarceration, unable to get a job, and relying on social assistance, said Judy Murphy, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saint John.

"These women and gender diverse people we work with are really tenacious and committed to moving on with their lives," she said. "It just saddens us that this whole situation has to happen."

Murphy said the cost of a record suspension used to be $25.

"I would like to see this whole system changed and looked at and made accessible for people who have a record," she said. 

Murphy said housing and employment are the two main factors required for reintegration to society, and a criminal record is a barrier to both.

"Even now, landlords are asking for criminal record checks. So it's even more difficult to get housing. And, of course, the cost and the availability is another factor."

'Everybody's issue'

Murphy said she wants people to be aware of the impact on society when people who get out of jail or prison are forever followed by a record.

"It's everybody's issue," she said.

Durette said she never wanted to be on social assistance but was forced into relying on it because of her inability to get a job. If she could work, she said, she could have stayed off assistance and saved taxpayers thousands of dollars.

"We want to get out of that circle. It's really hurtful," she said.