Ottawa’s revival of mandatory minimums likely adheres to Charter, legal experts say

The federal government’s proposal to revive mandatory minimum punishments that courts had ruled unconstitutional will likely insulate the changes from future challenges, legal experts say.

But widespread criticism remains over the use of such required minimum punishments for people convicted of specific offences, with those against the changes citing negative impacts on Indigenous people and other marginalized communities, as well as research that shows harsher sentences often do not deter crime.