The term Record Suspension was introduced in Bill C23 by the Conservative government to replace the term pardon. The Conservatives feel that the word pardon implies the government is forgiving offenders for their crimes and that only the victim should be able to do that. There has been both positive and negative reaction surrounding the proposal to rename pardons to record suspensions.
The Pardon Association of Canada prefers to continue with the term pardon as the word has a long history and a clear meaning. On the other hand a record suspension is ambiguous and is clearly not a term understood by the the majority of the public.
However, despite opposition to renaming pardons to record suspensions the Pardon Association of Canada also recognizes that a symbolic gesture like a name change does not affect the lives or the rights of Canadians in any real sense and is therefore inconsequential. There are other measures from Bill C23 that have a very real impact on the rights of Canadians. It is these measures which we actively oppose.
