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5,700 people await criminal record pardons due to federal backlog
Backlogs at the federal level have left about 5,700 people hanging in limbo as they wait for pardons to clear their criminal records.
One of those ex-convicts is David Plante, who told the Journal de Montreal that the long wait for a pardon is hurting his chance at finding a job.
"I did everything to reintegrate to society," Plante, 26, said. "I don't understand how the government can evaluate the cost of constructing a replacement for the Champlain Bridge, but is incapable to give a date to 5,700 people who just want some hope."
When he was 19, Plante was sentenced to nine months probation and fined $1,000 for a non-violent breaking and entering.
"I had substance problems and my addiction led me to crime," he said.
Following his conviction, he voluntarily entered therapy and a reintegration program, which led him to seek work in the culinary field, earning a vocational diploma in 2014.
The Sherbrooke, Que., resident has been trying to find work snd applied for a pardon Dec. 5, 2011, but is still waiting for an answer.
"Whenever I am looking for work in hospitals, schools or nursing homes, they check for a criminal record and I'm blocked out," he said.
Plante currently works for minimum wage at a gas station.
In 2012, legislative changes were made to the pardon process, due to a backlog of 22,320 applications at the time. The current backlog is estimated at 5,700 and the parole board is currently processing applications from February 2011.
"It's inhuman and frustrating," said Plante said. "I received a letter from the government in February, telling me to continue to wait or to make a new application that would cost $631. It's so complicated,and all I want to do is work."
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