During the Harper era (2006–2015), the Canadian government actively pursued criminal justice policy reform. Many of its efforts focused on reforming the Canadian sentencing regime by increasing the severity of penalties, including expanding mandatory minimums. Yet, Canada's rate of incarceration remains stable. The inconsistency between the considerable focus on sentencing policy by the Harper government and the lack of significant change in incarceration rates merits further scrutiny. This contrast between policy effort and policy impact also presents an opportunity to examine how the context of criminal justice policy in Canada influences the nature of policy reform. Taking up this focus, this article articulates the context of Canadian criminal justice policy and considers how this context shapes the policymaking process and policy reform.

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加拿大量刑体系如何影响政策改革：对哈珀时代的考察

在哈珀时代（2006–2015），加拿大政府积极推行刑事司法政策改革。它的许多努力集中在通过增加处罚的严厉程度，包括扩大强制性的最低限度，来改革加拿大的判刑制度。但是，加拿大的监禁率保持稳定。哈珀政府对判刑政策的高度重视与监禁率缺乏重大变化之间的矛盾之处值得进一步审查。政策努力与政策影响之间的这种对比也为研究加拿大刑事司法政策的背景如何影响政策改革的性质提供了机会。本文着眼于这一点，阐明了加拿大刑事司法政策的背景，并考虑了这种背景如何影响决策过程和政策改革。