Leaders of Canada’s provinces and territories are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to consider changes to Canada’s bail system, particularly as it relates to certain firearms offences.
In a Jan. 13 letter to Trudeau, the 13 premiers said they want to see a specific change to make it more difficult for those accused of a felony charge of possessing a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm to be released on bail. They also called for a review of other firearms offences.
“There are a growing number of calls for changes to prevent defendants who have been released on bail from committing further criminal acts,” the letter said. “The justice system fundamentally needs to keep off the street anyone who poses a threat to public safety.
Increased calls for stricter bail reform have been linked to the deaths of several police officers across the country in recent months.
In particular, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrick called for changes following the death of Const. Grzegorz Pierczala. Randall McKenzie, who was out on bond and banned from possessing firearms for life, is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting.
McKenzie was initially denied bail in a separate case involving assault and weapons charges, but was released after a retrial, court documents show.
“The public safety of Canadians and our heroic first responders cannot wait.” The time to act is now,” the prime ministers concluded in the letter.
The Prime Ministers are specifically calling for the creation of “reverse liability” for those charged under Section 95 of the Criminal Code, which includes offenses of possessing a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm.
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This means that people accused of these crimes will have to show why their pretrial detention is not justified. In most cases, the burden is on the prosecution to prove why the detention is justified. Canadians have a right under the Charter “not to be denied reasonable care without reasonable cause.”
The premiers told Trudeau in the letter that “a review of other firearms offenses is also warranted to determine whether they should also attract a reverse bail burden.”
Some experts argue that the push for tougher bail reform is shifting energy away from a focus on structural issues.
“These issues are complex and deep and have very little to do with this moment at the beginning of what could be someone’s incarceration pending trial or to plead guilty,” Métis lawyer Patricia Barkaskas, Asst. at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law, told CBC News in December.
Conservatives are calling for an end to the “catch and release” policy.
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in late December that the Trudeau government should “reverse its arrest and bail policy,” referring to a law passed by the Liberals in 2019 that updated bail provisions in The Criminal Code.
The law codifies a “principle of limitation” that was reaffirmed in a 2017 Supreme Court case, which directs police and courts to prioritize the release of detainees at the “earliest reasonable opportunity” and “under the least onerous conditions “, based on the circumstances of the case.
It also gave police more powers to impose conditions on accused people in the community to streamline the bail process and reduce the number of unnecessary hearings, and required judges to take into account when granting bail the circumstances of people who indigenous population or come from a vulnerable population.
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Justice Minister David Lametty said last month that Bill C-75 was developed largely with the provinces and is still being implemented, and that it is “very sensitive” to concerns about bail reform challenges.
In response to the OPP officer’s death in December, Lametty said, “It is important to note that the bail laws are clear that the detention of an accused person is justified if necessary to protect the safety of the public.”
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesman for Lametti said his office was taking time to analyze the premiers’ proposal. David Taylor, Lametti’s director of communications, noted that work to examine Canada’s bail system continues after an agreement was reached in November to review the system at a federal-provincial meeting.
“These initiatives are a sign to Canadians that their government is working to ensure that our criminal laws, including bail law, effectively fulfill their purposes, keep all Canadians safe and are consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” “
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