Should the sex offender registry be public? Where provinces stand

There are no plans yet to make a national sex offender registry public in Canada even as the federal government rolls out amendments to the current list.

Ottawa is proposing a series of updates to the registry, but making it public remains prohibited by law.

Currently, only Canadian police services have access to this database through their provincial and territorial sex offender registry centres.

Even though provinces cannot make the information from the national registry available to the public, “some provinces have explored creating separate registries or notification systems to address particular safety concerns within their jurisdiction,” said Diana Ebadi, a spokesperson for Justice Minister David Lametti.

“Police agencies must use the personal information in the database only for police purposes and as authorized by law,” she told Global News in an email Friday.

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In recent years, there have been calls in Canada to make the sex offender registry public, with proponents arguing they should have the right to know if they are living next to someone who has been convicted of a sexual crime.

A petition launched three years ago signed by more than 37,000 people made this demand, saying a public registry “would create a safer environment for all.”

“Unlike in the United States, we are unable to know if these adults have already been convicted of previous sex crimes,” the petition said.

The registry is a way for police to stay up to date with information on convicted sex offenders across the country, and it’s intended as a tool to prevent and help investigate crimes of a sexual nature.

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Dalya Israel, executive director at Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre, said any decision to make this list public should come with careful consideration so people know what to do with that information.

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“We have a crisis in this country where people don’t know… when they’re dealing with their mental health, who to call if they’re scared, how to increase that safety,” she told Global News.

Israel says there needs to be “surrounding supports available for people” who may become upset or anxious should they learn there are people on the registry living in their community.

“I think that if something like that was to happen, then it would need to be done with really clear intent.”

In the United States, a national sex offender public website has information from all 50 states, The District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and Native American lands.

Just like Canada, the U.K does not have a public sex offender list, but the police can disclose to parents, carers and guardians if someone has a record of child sexual offences.

On Wednesday, Canada’s Department of Justice laid out a series of updates for the sex offender registry in a new bill introduced before the Senate.

Several provinces told Global News they were reviewing those amendments included in Bill S-12 that still needs to pass through the federal parliamentary process before becoming law.

But where do provinces stand when it comes to sharing information about sex offenders with the public?

In Alberta, information from the sex offender registry can only be disclosed “where there is a risk of significant harm to the health or safety of the public,” according to a statement from the government to Global News.

The province has a publicly available “high-risk offender” website to support disclosure of information related to sex offenders.

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Meanwhile in British Columbia, police can only make information from the registry public when there’s a risk to public safety, B.C. Attorney General’s office said.

However, any public notifications by police or B.C. Corrections about sex offenders being released from custody and now living in a certain area will never mention that someone is on the sex offender registry.

“It may say they are a sex offender based on their actual convictions, or that they are under provincial supervision, but should not ever say they are on the National Sex Offender Registry as the SOIRA specifically prohibits that,” the ministry told Global News.

Manitoba said public access to the national registry will remain prohibited as per federal legislation.

“The proposed Bill S-12 amendments do not appear to change these limitations on disclosure/access, and disclosure of information to the public will remain prohibited,” a spokesperson for Manitoba Justice told Global News.

New Brunswick said it has yet to review the proposed legislation or examine provincial laws related to making a sex offender registry public.

Ontario did not comment on making the registry public to residents, but said the province was carefully reviewing the federal bill.