Alberta's government has raised the idea of creating its own sex offender registry after a Supreme Court of Canada (SCOS) decision was made to forego adding repeat sex offenders..On Monday, Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro said the decision by the SCOS will make the country more dangerous..READ MORE: Shandro says SCOC decision on sex offender registry will make Canada more dangerous."The decision to end automatic registration on the sex offender registry will make it harder to ensure these crimes are not repeated," Shandro said in a statement..On October 28, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a 2011 change to the Criminal Code and called it unconstitutional to require the automatic addition of sex offenders' names to a registry..The change in Canada's Criminal Code came during former prime minister Stephen Harper's leadership and took the decision away from judges making it mandatory that all offenders have their names added to the National Sex Offender Registry. Those with two or more offences would remain on the registry for life..Friday's five-to-four ruling now permits anyone who has been added to the registry since 2011 to apply to have their status changed..READ MORE: Supreme Court overturns law requiring sex offenders to be added to registry.However, it appears Alberta's government may not agree with this decision and has discussed creating its own registry for the province..Ministry of Justice Press Secretary Ethan Lecavalier-Kidney told the Western Standard via email, "In the interest of protecting Albertans, this idea has been raised and is being discussed."."A sex offenders registry is a key tool for law enforcement to prevent sexual violence," Lecavalier-Kidney said..Shandro said he believes an automatic listing on the sex offender registry helped build a comprehensive database for law enforcement and acted as an important tool in helping monitor sexual offenders in our communities.."Every Albertan deserves to feel safe from those who would cause them harm," Shandro said..“This decision will have an outsized impact on women, who are overwhelmingly the victims of sex crimes. We are calling on the House of Commons to reconvene immediately and invoke the notwithstanding clause to restore automatic registration to the sex offender registry.”.Lecavalier-Kidney said Alberta's government hopes the federal Liberal government will do the "right thing" and have the House of Commons invoke the notwithstanding clause to restore the automatic registration to the sex offender registry.
