Note
"December, 2006".
Bill C-95: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (organized crime and protection of justice system participants).
Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2007.
Résumé
The law-making case under examination is the creation of Canada's first 'anti-gang' law passed in 1997, Bill C-95. This law reform was largely attributed to the influence of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) in government press releases, House of Commons Debates and in the Senate Review. Subsequent legal analysis of Bill C-95 concurred on the significance of the police to the resulting legislation. Empirical findings from this thesis, however, challenge this perspective and make a case for a more nuanced view of police power. It is argued that police can be at once politically important as a perceived government partner but practically impotent as a participant, in legal reform. The application of the symbolic power model to the case clearly reflects that police authority over certain crime threats can be an important legitimizing tool for politically expedient legislation created during a perceived crisis.