Ontario police groups, legal advocates call for different approaches to proposed bail reform
Posted July 31, 2023 8:44 pm.
Last Updated July 31, 2023 9:36 pm.
Days after new federal Attorney General Arif Virani was sworn-in as part of a wide-ranging cabinet shuffle, police associations in Ontario are calling for legislation on bail reform to be strengthened while legal advocates are calling for an alternative approach.
Throughout the past several months, we’ve seen higher-profile instances of violent crime such as the death of 44-year-old Karolina Huebner-Makurat in Toronto’s Leslieville neighbourhood after she was struck by a stray bullet, the death of on-duty OPP Const. Grzegorz (Greg) Pierzchala south of Hamilton, a life-threatening stabbing onboard a TTC Line 1 train by Eglinton station and an arson at an apartment in Toronto’s east end.
Suspects in the cases were arrested and the charges haven’t been proven in court (two suspects are still outstanding in the Leslieville case), but all of the cases along with several others allegedly involved people out on bail. The body of incidents have been cited by many in the public safety sector as a need for bail reform.
Among those leading the charge locally is the Toronto Police Association. President Jon Reid said his organization has been involved since an incident where two officers were injured during a bank robbery and the accused were released on bail while they were in hospital.
“I’m concerned, our members are concerned about the level of violence that we’re experiencing, and the problem we’re running into it ends up being a small group of individuals causing the most violence and these individuals end up being a lot of them on bail for similar offences, on bail for firearms only to be caught with another firearm,” he said during an interview with CityNews.
“What we’re looking for are government to crack down on individuals who are caught with illegal firearms. Individuals that are repeat violent offenders, these individuals need to be kept in custody.”
Reid said the laws and practices governing bail in existence today aren’t strong enough and substantive changes need to be enacted quickly.
“We’re not suggesting everybody be held without bail, absolutely not. Bail is a right and everyone should have that opportunity to have bail granted,” he said.
“But what we’re talking about are the most serious criminal offenders here — the people that are bringing carnage to our city, carnage to communities with constant firearms, constant shootings — these are the people we’re targeting and these are the people that we believe should be held in custody.”
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It’s a sentiment echoed by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP).
“We certainly think that Bill C-48 is a step in the right direction. However, there are still a number of gaps that exist that cause the policing professionals across this country some concern,” Roger Wilkie, the OACP’s vice-president and the deputy chief of the Halton Region Police Service, told CityNews.
“When you look at the prevalence of car-jackings and home invasions … this is a national issue. I think small communities across this country are experiencing the same type of repeat violent offenders, impacting the public safety of their communities and it’s time for action.”
Former attorney general David Lametti introduced Bill C-48 in mid-May. The bill, if passed, would among other things require suspects with “serious” criminal convictions where violence and a weapon were used within five years of their arrest to prove to the court why they should be on bail (referred to as reverse onus). It would also apply to people in intimate partner violence cases where an accused “has been previously discharged for such an offence.” Currently it’s up to the Crown to prove why bail shouldn’t be granted.
Wilkie said while reverse onus would have a “massive impact on keeping violent offenders off the street,” there are holes in the legislation that need addressing.
“So if a person goes out and commits a violent crime with a weapon and they get convicted and they go to jail for more than five years, the day they get released they could come out and commit another violent crime,” he said.
“The reverse onus section wouldn’t kick in because of that five year gap and this comes down to language. I think through some further conversation with stakeholders we could identify those gaps and let’s just look at prior convictions for violent crime.”
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Wilkie said more needs to be done in the courts to better address bail concerns as well, adding greater education and potential role changes could help.
“We should always be learning and understanding current trends and emerging issues and understanding the application of the law.
“One of our resolutions as an association is that we’d like to see the amendment of the Criminal Code to require that bail hearings for designated serious firearm offences be heard by a provincial court judge and that alleged breaches of a judicial release order be heard by a judge of the same level of support that they granted initial release, so put it back to that court.
“It’s greater accountability, it’s greater awareness. I think our judges certainly have a higher level of education in this space.”
Reid echoed that idea.
“I think an educational component would be a great idea from the point of view of educating [justices of the peace] or even having specific judges assigned to actually deal with these gun cases … someone who’s actually kind of learned in the law, who has a lot of background is one of the critical pieces,” he said.
“Most important you know that they have to look at the victims and the general public and start putting those people’s rights ahead of the individual rights of the actual criminal committing the offence.”
Frontline officers CityNews spoke with also highlighted a lack of resources when it comes to making sure people released by the courts are complying with bail conditions. Reid and Wilkie both said there have been inroads with more recent provincial funding, but it remains a problem.
“Who’s making sure they’re actually abiding by their conditions? Toronto does have particular units doing some bail compliance checks on our most serious criminal offenders still, but it’d be good to expand that and make sure people are accountable,” Reid said, adding the use of extra technology for tracking could help as well.
“Adopting these new strategic ways of using technology to help inform our frontline makes us safer. It protects the interests of public safety and our officers safety, and it helps us become more effective in those compliance measures that we undertake,” Wilkie added.
Canadian Civil Liberties Association calls for more community supports, opposes C-48
Shakir Rahim, the criminal program director with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said his organization is opposed to C-18 in its current form.
“Making bail more difficult to access is not going to lead to an increase in public safety,” he told CityNews.
“Canada already leads the world in the proportion of its population that is in prison awaiting trial. In fact, 70 per cent of people in prison in provinces in Canada are those who are awaiting their trial and that have been denied bail. So there are other solutions we think that are more effective to address public safety concerns.”
Rahim said recent high-profile instances allegedly involving people out on bail all require examination to see where systemic improvements can be made, but generically speaking he pointed to a lack of mental health, housing and other social supports as potential contributing factors to instances of crime.
“Those are some of the evidence-based solutions that we think could make a difference. In addition, there are programs out there that assist with supervising those who are out on bail,” he said.
When it comes to tightening access to bail across the board, Rahim said that could have negative consequences.
“There are thousands and thousands of people who are regularly released on bail because they are of course, innocent until proven guilty, who do not commit any offenses while out on bail,” he said.
“I think it’s important to remember that if we were to deprive all of those people of bail it would mean that thousands of people who are factually innocent are held in prison and lose many years of their life before returning to freedom.
“Right now in Canada 50 per cent of criminal cases do not result in a finding of guilt and so I think it is really important when we think about why bail matters.”
Rahim said with an overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous people in Canadian jails and prisons, bail reform could disproportionately affect racialized individuals.
“Often where there is an intersection with different types of issues like poverty, it’s already less likely that individuals are going to get bail because they are seen as not having sufficient ties to the community or a place to stay or someone to vouch for them,” he said.
“Seriously caring about the overrepresentation of marginalized [people] in the criminal justice system means not resorting to policy that while well-intended, we know could make things worse for those same communities. So we hope to have a real constructive dialogue with [Attorney General Arif Virani and new Public Safety Minister Domenic LeBlanc] about C-48 and will be proposing in parliament informed constructive changes so this bill doesn’t have those types of effects.”
Meanwhile, Wilkie echoed the call for further dialogue on bail reform.
“The solution should be evidence-informed and what we need to do is we need to start looking at a national database and analysis of what’s happening when it comes to bail and reoffending so that we can understand the true issue and get to that and then create a system that is responsive to the needs of our broader community across this country,” he said.
What’s the status of C-48 and what will be done going forward?
Bill C-48 was introduced in the House of Commons on May 16, but nothing has happened since Parliament adjourned for summer recess. The second reading and a referral to a committee for further study has yet to occur. It’s not clear when that might happen.
CityNews asked Virani and his office about the current status of the bill, a potential timeline for the rest of the legislative process, and what kind of push he’ll make on the bill when Parliament resumes.
A statement received from Virani’s office didn’t directly address those questions. However, Virani’s press secretary said talks with other orders of government, Indigenous organizations and law enforcement officials have been occurring for months.
“Minister Virani has been pleased to see provincial governments, who are responsible for the administration of justice, step up and provide much needed resources to improve bail enforcement,” Chantalle Aubertin wrote in part.
“By targeting a small group of repeat violent offenders, as well as offences committed involving the use of firearms and other dangerous weapons, the proposed reforms will ensure the safety of Canadians while also respecting the right to reasonable bail.
“Minister Virani’s provincial and territorial counterparts have agreed that more work needs to be done on non-legislative solutions to tackle the root causes of crime, including better mental health services, access to safe housing and addictions treatment.”
Aubertin also took aim at the federal Conservatives and accused the party of engaging in delay tactics. She called for the party to help pass the legislation.
After Lametti introduced the bill in May, Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre accused the Liberals of continuing a policy of “catch and release” and said the proposed bail reform changes wouldn’t have prevented Pierzchala’s death. One of the accused in that case allegedly cut off an ankle monitor and was on bail for assault and weapons charges.
With files from Xiaoli Li
