Justice Minister Sean Fraser speaks during a press conference in Ottawa, on Thursday.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
The federal government is moving to toughen bail and sentencing laws, tabling a bill with more than 80 proposed Criminal Code changes on Thursday in response to political and public pressure around violent crime and public safety.
Ottawa described the changes as “sweeping reforms to make bail laws stricter and sentencing laws tougher for repeat and violent offending.” Critics who had called for such changes, from police to several conservative-led provinces, were generally welcoming of the proposals.
If passed, the bill’s key changes would include making it harder to get bail for a list of crimes, such as breaking and entering a home, and sexual assault involving choking. Bill C-14 would also require the courts to consider, when weighing bail or detention, whether an accused person engaged in random or unprovoked violence.
The government also proposed consecutive sentences for some convictions, which would mean more jail time for crimes such as violent auto theft and breaking and entering.
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Justice Minister Sean Fraser, at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, said the proposals are directly tied to public sentiment, arguing that the justice system has “failed to keep up” with how Canadians feel about public safety.
“Today is about stronger laws and safer communities,” Mr. Fraser said.
Bill C-14 is Ottawa’s third swing at changes to bail laws in seven years. It follows a Liberal promise during the federal election campaign this spring. Recent political calls for a toughened Criminal Code ranged from the NDP government in B.C. to the federal Conservatives. Polling indicates Canadians across the political spectrum, and of all ages, are strongly supportive of stricter bail rules.
Yet even as a political and public consensus wants more people to be denied bail before trial, national data show that more people than ever are in fact being denied bail. Advocacy groups insist much more detailed bail data are needed to better understand how the system is functioning but federal and provincial government plans on this front are currently vague at best.
The focus Thursday was on a more punitive Criminal Code. The Canadian Police Association, representing officers, called Ottawa’s proposals a critical step toward public safety. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said it was a landmark piece of proposed legislation.
Bill C-14 also includes a proposed crackdown on accused people younger than 18 by expanding the definition of crimes that can lead to detention.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act, passed in 2003, encourages police and judges to steer people younger than 18 away from criminal courts and custodial sentences. This has resulted in a dramatic decline in youth detention but, following recent killings alleged to have been committed by minors, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and others have called on Ottawa to amend the law.
On Thursday, Ottawa said a proposed amendment will clarify that offences that include bodily harm are considered a violent offence. This could lead to more youth custodial sentences for a range of crimes.
The Toronto Police Association worked with Ottawa and said its ideas were largely heard. Union president Clayton Campbell said parties in Parliament, with a minority Liberal government, should come together to turn the proposals into law.
“Let’s put politics aside and get something done here and put public safety first,” said Mr. Campbell.
Conservative-led provinces including Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia also expressed support. In Ontario, Mr. Ford’s office said the proposals are a “strong step forward in the right direction.”
Alberta, however, said it’s a step in the right direction but doesn’t seem to go far enough.
Among the changes is what’s called reverse-onus bail, where an accused person must prove why they should be released rather than prosecutors proving grounds for detention. This already applies to crimes such as murder, but the bill would broaden reverse-onus bail to include home invasions, violent car theft and sexual assault involving choking.
There is also a change in the potential revocation of bail after a conviction and before sentencing.
B.C. had advocated for such measures, after the murder in July of Bailey McCourt in Kelowna, in the province’s Interior. Ms. McCourt was allegedly killed by her estranged husband who was on bail after a conviction for assault in another case.
“It’ll help keep people safer,” Niki Sharma, B.C. Deputy Premier and Attorney-General, said of the new proposals.
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Bill C-14 tightens a fundamental legal approach to bail in the Criminal Code, Section 493.1, what’s called the “principle of restraint.” This principle responds to Supreme Court of Canada rulings in the late 2010s and concerns the Charter right to not be denied reasonable bail without just cause.
The principle has attracted a lot of political blame for an allegedly lenient bail system. Although Ottawa rejected calls to repeal it, the new wording directs police and courts on how to apply it. The bill adds a “clarification” that states the principle “does not require the accused to be released” – and adds five new elements for courts to weigh, which in general lean toward denial of bail rather than release.
Ottawa further proposed to add leeway to justifications for detention in the Criminal Code, Section 515(10). Currently, the courts must maintain public confidence in the administration of justice when deciding on release or detention during a bail hearing. The change would require courts to consider this factor more expansively.
The federal government said it is confident the bill’s many provisions are consistent with the Charter and said specific details on that issue would be forthcoming, but it didn’t say when.
“You don’t have to choose between public safety and the Constitution,” said Mr. Fraser.
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre panned the proposals and said Ottawa needs to scrap the principle of restraint, what he dubs “Liberal bail.”
“Today’s bill does not get rid of Liberal bail,” Mr. Poilievre told reporters on Parliament Hill. “And that means that there will be a lot of very serious and rampant offenders who will once again be released into our streets.”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association strongly opposes the changes, citing a lack of data to support them. Shakir Rahim, director of the association’s criminal justice program, said that while the Liberals maintained the principle of restraint, it was not a spirited defence.
He criticized the idea that the legislative changes are carefully targeted. “There’s a sleight of hand,” he said. “Nobody’s offering the numbers.”
The absence of detailed bail data remains a glaring hole. Mr. Fraser on Thursday spoke of the provinces needing time in a continuing process that would improve in future.
Mary Campbell, a lawyer and former senior civil servant at Public Safety Canada, said: “How do you know what you’re curing if you don’t know what the illness is?”
With reports from Laura Stone, Colin Freeze and Justine Hunter