VICTIM SURCHARGE – It is a fee added to every conviction that Harper has made mandatory regardless of ability to pay. We will continue to fight it being mandatory. “The fines place an unnecessary and disproportionate burden on people who are poor. The reason why the judges, I think, are finding creative ways to try and bring fairness back into the system is because these are the people who hear and see the homeless individual who has no money, who is faced with what can be, for them, a back-breaking fine for minor offences.”
OTTAWA – Defence lawyers say mandatory victim surcharges being imposed on destitute offenders are destined for the Supreme Court of Canada as fierce legal battles play out in lower courts in British Columbia and Ontario.
Source: Victim surcharge challenged in B.C., Ontario | Metro