John Hutton of the John Howard Society says changes to how pardons are given out won't make the public safer. (CBC)The Manitoba chapter of a Canadian prisoners' rights organization is attacking a proposed tightening of laws surrounding criminal pardons.

The John Howard Society held a press conference in Winnipeg Thursday to condemn sweeping changes to the pardon system proposed by the federal government.

Introduced in Parliament in May, Bill C-23 would eliminate pardons and replace them with more narrowly defined criminal record suspensions.

The most notable change the government is seeking is hiking the amount of time a criminal must wait before being able to apply for a pardon.

People who commit indictable — or serious — crimes would have to wait 10 years before being eligible, up from the current five years.

As well, offenders who have more than three convictions for serious crimes would be denied record suspensions, and some sex offenders would never be eligible.

But Manitoba's executive director of the prisoners' society said Thursday the changes would make society less safe by hampering an offender's ability to return to society.

'Someone has to point out that it does not serve public safety to make it harder for people to reintegrate after a prison sentence.'—John Hutton

"Someone has to point out that it does not serve public safety to make it harder for people to reintegrate after a prison sentence," said John Hutton.

"It's costly, because they will have to live on public assistance, and its counterproductive, because we should want them to find a job and go straight," he said.

96 per cent success

Hutton offered statistics from the National Parole Board showing out of 400,000 pardons granted in the last 40 years, only 4,000 have been revoked after an offender committed another crime.

"In other words, the current system enjoys a 96 per cent success rate," a statement from the society said. "That's an A-plus by any standard — why is any change needed at all?," the statement reads.

Outrage over sex-offender Graham James's pardon led the federal government to propose sweeping changes to the system. James is seen here in 1989. He now lives in Mexico. (Bill Becker/Canadian Press)The recent push for changes to the pardon system stemmed from public outrage over the case of Graham James, who pleaded guilty in 1997 to sexual assault.

Sheldon Kennedy, who went on to play in the NHL, and a second unnamed player had come forward with accounts of the sexual abuse they suffered when James coached their Western Hockey League teams from 1984 to 1995.

The parole board granted James a pardon in 2007 after he completed a 3½-year prison sentence — but the news only came to light in April after a previously unknown accuser contacted Winnipeg police.

The National Parole Board said in an explanation issued April 5 that it could not refuse a pardon based on the nature of a crime.

Aboriginal group wants bill quashed

Hutton was flanked at an afternoon news conference by representatives of eight other social-welfare agencies opposed to the changes, including the Mennonite Central Committee and Manitoba's Southern Chiefs organization.

The SCO's director of justice, Nahanni Fontaine said the changes would only further marginalize aboriginal criminals already disproportionately represented in prisons.

"Aboriginal citizens who have completed their programs and sentence will have to bear the stigma of a criminal past twice as long under the new rules, and in many cases permanently," Fontaine said.