The Supreme Court Of Canada: Permanent Residents

Supreme Court Dept: Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada heard a case that will decide how criminal courts should treat permanent residents who break the law. The question the Supreme Court will decide is how the possibility of deportation should be considered when a permanent resident is being sentenced, according to Winnipeg Free Press. It might seem unfair to treat non-Canadians differently than Canadians. Since Canadians cannot be deported from Canada, however, judges need to take this additional penalty into account and when Canadian citizens are convicted of a crime, they can face penalties that include jail time. When permanent residents are convicted of a crime, they also can face the possibility of deportation because they are not Canadian citizens. If deported, non-Canadians can face permanent removal from Canada. Because deportation is an additional penalty for permanent residents, they should be treated differently when being sentenced. This does not mean, however, that permanent residents should always be treated more leniently. In certain cases, judges should sentence permanent residents more harshly to increase the possibility of deportation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.