Addressing the Myths of Criminal Records and Those That Have Them

Myth #1: A Criminal Record Means Someone Committed A Crime

False. Incidents like complaints from a neighbour without prosecution, suicide attempts and charges which were withdrawn or acquitted are all incidents that show up on a person’s criminal record check. This information often shows up when an employer or landlord conducts a background or criminal record report.

Individuals who experience these types of incidents are still required to obtain a record suspension just so that it cannot be traced. Personal stories of this lived experience and the barriers that come with these non-crime incidents are documented by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA). Remove the myth and take a listen.

Myth #2: A Criminal Record Means A Person Will Commit a Crime in the Workplace

False. While many employers believe that a person with a criminal record determines their future actions, this is not always true. Research finds that a criminal record does not mean someone will repeat the offence. Evidence shows that past behaviours do not always determine future behaviours.

Criminal records are not reliable tools in predicting crime. Risks to crime are actually linked to a person’s familial ties, stability of income and housing, education, personal attitude and social networks. There are a wider range of supports that actually improve a person’s behaviour, but using the criminal record check as a litmus test is not one of them.

Myth #3: Pardoning a Person’s Record will Increase Social and Community Crime

False. Providing a pardon or suspension of someone’s criminal record actually decreases the risk of more crime being committed. A recent report by John Howard Society of Ontario indicated that there was a 43% reduction in repeat offences upon release when individuals are connected to “housing, mentoring, employment and therapy”.

Most reasons for crime are directly linked to lack of income, lack of social or familial connections and lack of housing. Of those released from correctional institutes in Ontario, an alarming 45% of them were homeless before being arrested. What decreases crime is equal and fair access to social, employment, mental and physical health supports and a criminal record suspension.

Myth #4: Indigenous People are Incarcerated less than
Non-Indigenous People

False. Indigenous People account for 4.1% of the overall population in Canada. However, they account for over 30% of the inmate population. The imbalance is staggering. Federally incarcerated women increased by 60% in the last decade, making Indigenous Women at risk of being incarcerated 12.5 times higher than non-Indigenous women. Indigenous people experience more use of force interventions, self-injury and longer periods of solitary confinement.

This isn’t because they are dangerous. This is because of the past and present results of systemic oppression and institutional colonialism. The affects of generational trauma from Residential Schools, hardship and grief, lack of self-autonomy, lack of access to clean water, and poverty are but a few of the many impacts Indigenous people face locally and nationally. Systemic and institutional change must happen in order to decrease the incarceration of Indigenous peoples.