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By: Dylan Robertson
Jan. 27, 2021
DYLAN ROBERTSON / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES David Milgaard is pushing for a formal process for those who feel they've been wrongfully convicted to apply for a review.
OTTAWA — David Milgaard has lost patience with the Trudeau government over its stalled pledge to establish an independent body to rectify wrongful convictions.
"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal Justice Minister David Lametti are failing to act on this situation," Milgaard wrote in a statement to the Free Press.
He urged Canadians to pressure Ottawa to follow through on its promise to create a review panel that is independent from prosecutors.
Milgaard reached out Tuesday, 11 days after the Free Press reported that Trudeau had downgraded this promise to a secondary priority for his justice minister.
Shortly after the fall 2019 election, Trudeau’s marching orders for Lametti listed 21 priorities, the first of which sought to "establish an independent criminal case review commission to make it easier and faster for potentially wrongfully convicted people to have their applications reviewed."
Before the pandemic, Lametti met with advocates to discuss that pledge, including Milgaard, the Winnipeg man who served 23 years in prison for a 1969 murder in Saskatoon that he didn’t commit.
The idea is to put Canada in line with other countries that have independent commissions review cases in which a criminal argues they’ve been wrongfully convicted.
Under the current process, Justice Department officials, whose colleagues are often involved in the original prosecutions, are involved.
But on Jan. 15, Trudeau issued updated mandate letters, and Lametti’s priority list no longer included the wrongful-conviction panel.
Successive federal governments have promised to reform the system, and the Trudeau government appeared the most committed to following through.
Milgaard said Tuesday that only "limited consultations" have taken place, and that "what could have been accomplished in a matter of months, is almost at a standstill."
Milgaard stressed he spoke on his own behalf, and not any advocacy group that he helps to run.
He said pushing to get the federal review body up and running has taken away from work to support prisoners who say they have been wrongfully convicted.
"These men, women and in some cases children, need Canadians to stand up for them now. They are in immediate need of our help," he wrote, comparing the lives put on hold to the stalled promise to get the review panel launched.
He noted that prisons and jails have been hotbeds of coronavirus outbreaks.
"COVID-19 cannot be used as an excuse to slow progress. If anything, a pandemic should underscore exactly why it is critically important to act swiftly and effectively," Milgaard wrote.
Milgaard called Lametti "a compassionate person" but said he’s personally hurt to see the lack of progress, asking both the justice minister and Trudeau to expedite things.
"They have the power to do what is just and they have a legal and ethical responsibility to unlock the cages of those who need our help the most — the people who have done no wrong," he wrote.
Lametti’s office insisted Tuesday he will follow through with this promise, saying his government wants to make sure it tables appropriate legislation and conduct public consultations.
dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
DAVID MILGAARD'S REMARKS ON WRONGFUL-CONVICTION PLEDGE
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directed Federal Justice Minister David Lametti to establish an Independent Criminal Case Review Commission, over a year ago, in January 2020. It was not long after that I was in Brantford, Ontario speaking to the Laurier University Criminology Student Association, in an effort to inspire a new generation of legal minds. For me, the hope is that they will become responsible, caring citizens, who use their “service for others,” and as a catalyst for (much needed) legal reform. I would hold up caring as a priority. I encouraged them to always do what is right and just. I asked them to fuel their passion for helping others. I am an advocate for the wrongfully convicted. These men, women and in some cases children, need Canadians to stand up for them now. They are in immediate need of our help. We must free them from our prisons. Despite being mandated by Justin Trudeau to create an independent review commission, the Minister of Justice has made little progress. Limited consultations have occurred between the Independent Review Board (working group) and Minister Lametti.
Myself and Ron Dalton Co-President of Innocence Canada are the two wrongfully convicted advisors for this group. What could have been accomplished in a matter of months, is almost at a standstill, not unlike the futures of those seeking immediate justice and freedom. These wrongfully convicted men, women, and in some cases children have been failed once already and they are being failed a second time by those responsible for the effective administration of justice in Canada. Imagine you are a wrongfully convicted person and have spent years and years inside Canada’s worst prisons. Prison is a horrible place, both for the people kept there, it is also a terrible hardship for their families. Imagine you are fighting your wrongful conviction, and you can prove that you should be free. The present policy now in effect at the justice department will not even allow these people to get out of prison immediately when they have identified that there has been a miscarriage of justice that has taken place. That is the state of our current federal criminal justice system.
And that is the fate of people who have been wrongfully convicted. The truth is the government and our courts are the Gatekeepers still trying to use rules to keep themselves from embarrassment and shame for what they have done wrong to these good people. This makes me think of my mother's famous words ‘If I have learned anything through this battle is that Justice in the courts is something you are not guaranteed, it must be something that is fought for and won"! This is not justice, this is just wrong. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Federal Justice Minister David Lametti are failing to act on this situation. They have the power to do what is just and they have a legal and ethical responsibility to unlock the cages of those who need our help the most -- the people who have done no wrong. Whenever I close my talks at conferences and universities I take the time to thank each and every person who comes to listen to me speak about this important issue for those who are locked inside our prisons. Please join me, David Milgaard, in this fight
In all fairness to Prime Minister Trudeau and Justice Lametti there is a global pandemic to contend with. But Covid 19 cannot be used as an excuse to slow progress, and if anything a pandemic should underscore exactly why it is critically important to act swiftly and effectively. All prisoners inside prison are at a much greater risk to be exposed to the virus. I believe Justin Trudeau, our Prime Minister, is an ally. And when meeting with Justice Minister David Lametti, I saw a compassionate person who wants to make a difference for those who need our help the most. I know only too well, what it is like to wait for years and years while successive governments fail to act. I was wrongfully convicted and it hurts. IT HURTS ALOT For more than three decades, every wrongful conviction judicial review has recommended that an independent review board be created, in order to provide independent oversight of the Criminal Justice System. This has been recommended for many reasons. The one that stands out to me is that police investigating themselves does not work well at all.
Canadians believe in doing what is right and just! I know this first hand, because I watched them lobby and advocate for me, when my mother and family fought tirelessly for my freedom. I NEED THE HELP OF ALL CANADIANS to stand up for the wrongfully convicted people in our prisons. My mother Joyce and myself have spent our lives trying to help free these people. We must end the present policy that holds our wrongfully convicted hostage.