Week 6/7-11 (FINAL EXAM) Flashcards
Three main types of Corporate crime
environmental, financial, safety
Example of anti-public “disorder” crime policy
Safe Streets Act
Three difficulties or complexities of environental crime
- Jurisdiction
- Harm
- Enforcement
In Canadian Environmental Crime, “Juridisction” is
An umbrella term
Transnational
Canadian Federalism
Environmental racism in Canada is shown through the example of _________, specifically the ____________.
- First Nations Peoples
-Aamjiwnaang Peoples (CBC Youtube Video)
- Environmental Racism towards the Aamjiwnaang Peoples is because _____________________________
- This is proven through a study that included ___________, which found that in the air there was _____________, and ______________, compared to major cities like Toronto.
- The Aamjiwnaang reserve and land borders one of the largest concentrations of petrochemical plants and refineries, causing detriments to their land, air quality, etc.
- Air Monitors
10x the amount of Sulfur Dioxide
30x more benzenes
-compared to major cities like Toronto
In Canada, What is the definition of “Harm” in environmental crime, and why is it so important to focus on
Definitional debates
Ex b. Present Harms or Future Risk?
Requires strong environmental protection
regulations
In Canadian Environmental Crime Enforcement, there are 3 levels:
Administrate law
Civil law
Criminal law
2018: Operation
Thunderstorm, 92 countries
Seized illegal animal paraphernalia on a global scale including
43 tonnes of wild meat (including bear,
elephant, crocodile, whale, and zebra)
* 1.3 tonnes of raw and processed elephant ivory
* 27,000 reptiles (including 869
alligators/crocodiles, 9,590 turtles and
10,000 snakes)
* 4,000 birds, including pelicans, ostriches,
parrots and owls
* Several tonnes of wood and timber
* 48 live primates
* 14 big cats (tiger, lion, leopard, and jaguar)
2013 Quebec Environmental Crisis Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster
Who is to blame for this disaster?
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) found a chain of 18 contributing factors to the disaster:
The TSB harshly criticized the train company MMA:
3 people were charged:
Tom Harding (driver and engineer)
Richard Labrie (rail circulation operator)
Jean Demaitre (train operations)
- were charged in 2014 with criminal negligence causing death
2013 Quebec Environmental Crisis Lac-Mégantic Rail
Disaster General Facts
47 people were killed
Spilled 6 million litres of crude
oil
Approximately 100,000 litres of
oil ended up spilling into the
Chaudière River and was swept
downstream
Big impact on small organisms
By 2016, up to 45% of fish were
affected
2013 Quebec Environmental Crisis Harm: who is accountable?
Civil suits, incl. class-action lawsuit:
Plea deal from 24 defendants (gov incl.)
$460-million compensation fund
established: CP was the lone holdout
CP refuses to acknowledge any
responsibility, and still argues the disaster
was solely the locomotive engineer’s
fault for not properly setting the
handbrakes.
2013 Quebec Environmental Crisis Problems Continue: 2017
Government of Canada approved a $95-million plan to
clean up contaminated soil and water without a
proper environmental assessment.
Public Safety Canada failed to undertake – and pass on
– an environmental assessment of the plan for
government ministers.
“An illegal act committed by nonphysical means to obtain
money or property or to obtain business or personal advantage.”
Financial Crime
Financial Crime can usually be in two areas, but is not limited to these
- Occupational Crime:
- Organizational Crime
How has the gov justified their environmental policy in Ontario?
Ontario intends to allow municipalities and developers to pay a fee in lieu of taking certain actions to protect species at risk.
could pay a regulatory charge instead of completing “some of the more onerous and lengthy requirements of a permit.
Corporate crime is much more costly in
_________ than street crime.
dollar terms / financial crime
Corporate crime not only about lost
finances, but also _________. These fall into both
______________ , and ______________
physical harm
Workplace Injuries, Corporate Homicide
Criminal Corporations, Safety & Corporate Homicide:
Canadians are ______ more likely to die from unsafe
working conditions on the job than to be murdered on
the street.
6 times
Criminal Corporations, Safety & Corporate Homicide:
On-the-job death rates are __________ than the
homicide rate rates in Canada and the U.S. Yet, the
state does not define employer negligence as murder.
30 times higher
Criminal Corporations, Safety & Corporate Homicide:
General Facts
Between 1972 and 1981, more than 10,000 Canadians
died from work related injuries.
Canada has about 500 homicides per year, but about
15,000 die from corporate inaction.
Occupational deaths are the 3rd leading cause of death
after heart disease and cancer.
1/3 of workplace injuries are due to illegal working
conditions.
In Abbotsford British Columbia 2007, A fatal event of three and others injured occurred due to illegal working conditions and employer negligence, this was _________, and happened because _________________
The 16-passenger farm worker Van Crash
The van was illegally overloaded, had only two seat belts, was riding on mismatched and bald tires, had a wooden bench in the back, had a fraudulent safety permit, and was driven by someone who did not have the proper license. Thus resulting in a call to action for justice for farm workers and illegal labor
- Funding cuts to vehicle inspection regulations (relating to BC 2007 Van Crash)
In the year of the accident (2007),
there were ____ roadside inspections set
up and 522 vehicles were checked.
In 2018, only ____ roadside inspections (significantly less)
were set up with 133 vehicles
inspected.
- This could have contributed to _______________
In the year of the accident (2007),
there were 52 roadside inspections set
up and 522 vehicles were checked.
In 2018, only 12 roadside inspections (significantly less)
were set up with 133 vehicles
inspected.
In the ten years following the 2007 crash, 23 farm workers have died working in B.C.
Defensive design such as spikes on benches or other public areas can be viewed as causing __________, and detriments those that are disadvantaged such as ____________ or ______
Visual Violence (looks hostile)
The homeless or youth
Solicitation, panhandling or Curb activities such as squeegeeing car windshields led the Ontario Government to introduce the _________.
They did this because they felt ______________.
Safe Streets Act
It was seen as a safety risk and increase in urban ‘incivility’
- ignoring socio-economic and systemic issues
The Ontario Safe Streets Act (OSSA) calls for fines of up to ________________, and for imprisonment up to_______ + _______for any subsequent offence.
$500 for a first offence
6 months plus $1000
When someone has been issued an Ontario Safe Streets Act (OSSA) ticket they have three options:
If the recipient fails to enact any of the 3
options:
- 15 days to plead guilty and pay the fine.
- Plead not guilty and schedule a trial.
- Plead guilty with an explanation.
The recipient is issued a certificate with an order to pay the
fine, and other penalties include jail time.
A Victim of the Ontario Safe Streets Act (OSSA), a homeless individual named Gerry Williams racked up over ___________
When getting sober, he was forced to ______ , as the fines ___________.
$65,000 in fines.
Appeal, as the fines prevented him from addressing such banal modern concerns as improving his credit score and getting a driver’s licence, along with other appealed punsihments such as probation / community service.
1 .
People such as Gerry Williams prove that the OSSA is useless as, between 2000-2010 with over _________ tickets issued (an increase of 2147%), ____________ were unpaid by 2014.
2.
____ of the tickets were for _________________
and
____ of the tickets were for _________________
- 15,224 Tickets (an increase of 2147%)
- Ninety-nine percent of tickets were unpaid by 2014, the time of the study.
2.
20% of the tickets were for “aggressive solicitation”
and
80% of the tickets were for “non-aggressive acts of soliciting”
Significant case attrition
->
CJS does not respond to
every breach of the law
->
Most cases end with guilty
plea
->
Few cases go to trial
This is known as the “_____________”
Crime Funnel
- (pic on slide week 8)
Upon finishing their sentences, typically ‘high-risk’ offenders (small number) for up to 10 yrs will be assigned a _____________
usually with the inclusion of a residency condition, typically a ___________
- Long Term Supervision Order (LTSO)
- Halfway House
institution that allows people with
criminal backgrounds and s/other disabilities to re-
integrate into society
Halfway house
Practice whereby private negotiation takes place between the
accused (typically via defense council) and a Crown prosecutor.
Plea Bargaining
One complaint about Plea Bargains initally was that they _________, but a postive rebuttal was that they __________
- Undermine Justice
- Improve legal and court efficiency (time / resources)
In Canada, the vast majority of criminal charges, about _________,
are resolved through guilty pleas.
90%
An agreement whereby an accused pleads guilty in exchange for the promise of a benefit
Plea Bargaining (secondary / supplementary definition)