'We're going after the offenders': Sask. to suspend welfare benefits for 'serious' offenders with warrants
The Government of Saskatchewan has introduced legislation to suspend social assistance benefits to prolific violent offenders with active warrants, and to use information from the Ministry of Social Services to find those evading the law.
“The people of this province do not want to see prolific, serious, violent offenders that are currently on warrant status being supplied financially by the taxpayers of this province,” said Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Christine Tell.
After tabling the Warrant Compliance Act in the legislature Thursday, Tell told reporters there are currently about 1,300 outstanding criminal code warrants in the province.
“I am certain that there are going to be, of those very serious code warrants outstanding, that there are going to be individuals that are on government assistance of some sort,” Tell said.
Tell says the proposed intelligence gathering team will consist of government, law enforcement and social services employees.
The program would focus on those with indictable offences. Entities like Social Services will be able to “use discretion” when providing information to the Warrant Intelligent Team.
“We’re not wanting to impact the families of these offenders. We are going after the offenders, the serious offenders, that are gathering or living off financial assistance to be out in the community at large on a criminal code warrant,” said Tell.
Myles Sanderson was receiving financial assistance from the province at the time of the massacre, according to Tell.
RCMP confirmed he had stopped meeting with his parole officer prior to the attack and was in violation of his release measures.
“Following events in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, it is imperative that we enhance our ability to collect information on violent offenders with outstanding warrants," said Tell in a news release on Thursday.
The Warrant Compliance Act will not impact people who have completed their sentence, says Tell.
A criminal defence lawyer says people wanted by police on charges are innocent until proven guilty in court.
“Most people with warrants out in this province and across Canada have not been convicted of that offense so the presumption of innocence is still alive at that point,” said Julia Quigley.
“People could be cut off without having any idea that they had a warrant out when they might have gone and dealt with that warrant and turned themselves into police. So that really raises concerns there.”
She says without including a definition of prolific violent offenders in the act, it could negatively impact women and children and potentially affect a “huge swath of people.”
“What most people need is some support from government. This is not going to have the effect of actually addressing the root cause of crime. If anything it’s going to further disenfranchise people, which might actually result in higher crime rates,” said Quigley.
She says suspending benefits and social housing, is an “extremely punitive measure” and it will disproportionately impact Indigenous people.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
B.C. judge orders shared dog custody for exes who both 'clearly love Stella'
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a B.C. judge has awarded a former couple joint custody of their dog.
Saskatoon police to search landfill for remains of woman missing since 2020
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.