Mental health support for jury members is one step closer to a reality after a bill put forward by St. Albert MP Michael Cooper passed second reading, but time is short for the private member's bill to pass into law.
Last week, Cooper – the conservative deputy justice critic who sits on the justice committee – had his bill unanimously pass second reading, which is a rare feat for an opposition member. He introduced the bill in November to allow jurors who are traumatized by evidence they see at trials to talk to mental health professionals.
The MP said he believes the bill passed unanimously because it’s a “no brainer”.
“This is something that is a totally non-partisan issue. It's about doing the right thing to ensure that jurors who are suffering from mental health issues for doing nothing more than their civic duty can get the help they need,” Cooper said.
The bill would allow jurors to get mental health support after trials have wrapped up. Right now, jury members are not able to talk about anything they see while performing their civic duty because of rules to swear them to secrecy.
Cooper’s private member's bill would provide a “narrow” exception to the jury secrecy rule and allow jurors to speak with mental health professionals – who are subject to their own confidentially rules – after a trial has concluded.
The bill had the unanimous support of the all-party justice committee. Cooper had the support of the NDP, including MP Murray Rankin who is the justice critic for the party, and members the Liberal Party.
The bill was born out of a key recommendation by the justice committee to help provide more support to jurors, who may suffer long after a trial has wrapped up.
“What I decided to do was rather than letting that good report sit on a shelf, that here was a practical amendment to the Criminal Code that could be made that will have a real impact and make a real difference on people's lives,” Cooper said.
Now Cooper is in a race against the clock to get his bill passed.
“The key thing is ... time, because we have an election coming up and we need to get it through not only the house but it's got to go through the same process in the Senate,” Cooper said.
The MP has taken measures to expedite his bill, including swapping dates to debate the private member's bill. The bill was originally slated to be debated on Feb. 26, but Cooper was able to switch with an NDP member and get the bill debated last week.
Cooper also secured a voice vote rather than a standing vote, which can take more time and would need to happen later. If the bill had gone to a standing vote, it wouldn’t have been done until Feb. 21 or 22.
Now, the bill is headed off to committee and will be reviewed before making its way to the Senate, where Cooper will have no control over the pace of the bill.
