Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu moved second reading of Bill S-206, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (disclosure of information by jurors).

He said: Honourable senators, I am proud to rise today to speak at second reading to Bill S-206, An Act to amend the Criminal Code regarding disclosure of information by jurors, which I introduced in the Senate last week.

This bill is close to my heart, much like Bill S-212, which I introduced in the previous Parliament. This bill seeks to implement an important recommendation made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

In its report entitled Improving Support for Jurors in Canada, which was released in May 2018, the committee issued a number of recommendations, including recommendation number 4 regarding a more lenient secrecy rule for jury deliberations. It states, and I quote:

That the Government of Canada amend section 649 of the Criminal Code so that jurors are permitted to discuss jury deliberations with designated mental health professionals once the trial is over.

It is important to remember that that recommendation was supported by all committee members during the Forty-second Parliament, regardless of political affiliation. The report was based on an eight-day study of the issue.

On October 29, 2018, the member for St. Albert—Edmonton, Michael Cooper, introduced Bill C-417 in the other place. That bill was unanimously passed and sent to the Senate, but it died on the Order Paper when Parliament was dissolved in September 2019.

Bill S-206 is exactly the same as Mr. Cooper’s Bill C-417. I would like to remind you that this bill amends the Criminal Code to provide that:

 . . . the prohibition against the disclosure of information relating to jury proceedings does not apply, in certain circumstances, in respect of disclosure by jurors to health care professionals.

It is unfortunate that has taken nearly four years and four attempts for a bill to be introduced that would prevent law-abiding citizens, who sacrifice their time and often put their health at risk to fulfill a major role in our justice system, from becoming victims of that system because the system prevents them from getting help. Criminal charges could even be brought against them if they were to do so. That is a strange way of thanking those who are simply fulfilling a duty required of them by our country.

Section 649 of the Criminal Code states that any juror who discloses any information relating the proceedings of the jury in their lifetime, even to a mental health professional, is committing a criminal offence.

That section must be made more lenient in order to protect the health of those who often come out of that experience traumatized by what they have read, heard or seen.

We all know that protecting the mental health of jurors is a matter that transcends political allegiances. This bill will help build a more humane justice system, and it is our duty to move it forward so as to limit the suffering of these men and women who are simply doing their civic duty.

Colleagues, I ask you to vote to refer Bill S-206 to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs immediately after Senator Moncion’s speech, so that we can study it as soon as possible and send it to the House of Commons to be passed.

This bill deals with an important, non-partisan issue, and it has already been studied extensively in the other place. There is no need to waste any more time before passing it.

As Mark Farrant, a former juror and CEO of the Canadian Juries Commission who now advocates for the rights of jurors in Canada, said:

Jury duty is the cornerstone of our justice system. Jurors are often exposed to disturbing and graphic evidence. It is fair to say that jury duty has not kept pace with the increasing demands of our modern world, and it has been my mission to ask for change. This bill, which is a simple amendment to the Criminal Code, will make an enormous difference to jurors seeking support long after their trials have concluded.

Several former jurors have become what I would call victims of our justice system. It is unacceptable that this same justice system sentences them to suffer in silence from a mental health perspective. It is absolutely immoral.

Being a juror in a criminal trial can be one of the most stressful experiences in a juror’s life. I met with Tina Daenzer, a juror who served on Paul Bernardo’s murder trial. She told me about the post-traumatic stress suffered by those who wanted to serve justice by becoming a juror.

Consider the women and men who have to review the evidence at criminal trials for very violent crimes against women or children, heinous murders committed in domestic disputes, violent sexual assaults, organized crime settling scores and so forth.

There is no training that adequately prepares these women and men for jury duty. You may be called by chance to fulfill this very demanding duty, and it will make you a victim of the justice system.

Jurors go through these troubling and devastating experiences without any psychological support and, even worse, with an obligation to remain silent and live with the trauma without having the right to ask for help. Silence is the prison of victims.

Jurors are left to fend for themselves, plunged into the macabre world of crime for the length of a trial. They are sequestered and must deliberate for days, and then they are sent home with no support or assistance to resume their normal lives, as if nothing had happened.

That is exactly what this bill seeks to change by establishing a limited exception to the secrecy rule so that former jurors who suffer from mental health issues resulting from their jury duty can speak about all aspects of these responsibilities to a health professional with peace of mind.

The integrity of the secrecy rule will be protected because, once again, the juror will be disclosing information in a strictly confidential setting after the trial, to a health care professional who is also bound by professional secrecy. This exemption would allow former jurors to discuss essential topics with a health care professional to get the support they need and deserve. I don’t see how anyone could be against this amendment to the Criminal Code.

I am confident that there will be unanimous support for the amendment proposed in the bill to finally allow jurors to legally access the care they need.

I also want to point out that crime is steadily rising in Canada, which means the justice system needs more and more jurors. Statistics Canada’s report on homicide in Canada shows that there were 743 homicides in 2020, an increase of 56 homicides over the previous year, and that there were 864 attempted murders. Trials for murder and attempted murder are not the only crimes that require juries. Anyone charged with a criminal offence in Canada may be tried by a jury.

As a result, because of the increase in the number of trials in this country, we need to do everything we can to ensure that the bill moves forward quickly in the Senate. This is a national emergency for all those who will do their civic duty and for all former jurors who are watching right now and are anxious for the Senate of Canada to do its part by passing this bill and quickly sending it to the other place.

I would like to once again thank Senator Moncion for her unwavering support and especially for her contribution to this important cause, which affects her personally because of her experience as a juror. Even though 30 years have passed since that difficult experience, it still affects her life. We are privileged to be able to pass such a bill, which is endorsed by one of our own. That is proof that there is a reason for this bill. Senator Moncion said, and I quote:

During the last Parliament, legal experts, mental health professionals and members on both sides of the House of Commons supported this bill because its merits transcend partisanship. In view of the interest generated by the proposed change, I believe it is vital that this legislation move through the Senate in the spirit of cooperation.

I would like to thank Senator Moncion for humbly sharing her experience with us so that we can better understand how important and urgent it is for us to take action.

Esteemed colleagues, it’s with that same awareness and sense of urgency that I ask you to pass this bill at second reading so it can go to committee as soon as possible.

Thank you very much.