Larochelle and Sniderman: End the mandatory victim surcharge

There is a long tradition of legislators leaving hard questions to judges. When convenient, politicians facing a problem can dodge or delay. By contrast, when a judge is thrown a hot potato, hands must burn – and, hopefully, justice gets done.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government stalled for 18 months after introducing a draft law to abolish the requirement of a so-called “victim fine surcharge” on those who commit any kind of criminal offence.
The mandatory surchar