Sarnia's mayor is welcoming news that anyone convicted of simple cannabis possession can now apply online for an expedited criminal pardon -- free of charge.
Federal Justice Minister David Lametti made the announcement in Montreal Thursday.
Mike Bradley said it's been a long journey to get the federal government to recognize if marijuana is legal, past history should be dealt with.
"I'm pleased on a number of fronts," said Bradley. "One is that they're waiving the fee on the pardon application and just making it a blanket pardon as it relates to simple possession. It makes it much simpler for people and the ramifications on peoples' lives because of a simple possession charge in the 60's, 70's, 80's and up until now has been huge in many cases... about travel, about employment... so this erases that part of their history."
Mayor Bradley first wrote to the prime minister in 2017 asking him to expunge the criminal records for people who had minor possession charges, then renewed his call with another letter to the PM in 2018.
He said many people, some who have contacted him over the years, will be relieved.
"I had one gentlemen in B.C., who's now in his 50's, a successful businessman, he couldn't go on school trips with his young daughter to the U.S. because you had to have a criminal record check and it would show up as negative. It's that sort of thing that I was hoping the government would address, and they have."
While a pardoned conviction will not appear on the Canadian Police Information Centre database -- which is used by United States border officials -- it will not erase information about Canadians already in American-controlled databases.
That means people with criminal records for cannabis possession could still face problems at the border.
Before recreational use was legalized last fall, a conviction for simple possession carried a sentence of up to six months in jail and a one-thousand-dollar fine.
The fee to apply for a pardon, eliminated Thursday, was $631.
