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The Prime Minister said Friday that he’s been working with provincial and territorial leaders on bail changes and will be proposing legislation this month when the House of Commons returns after summer break.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will introduce legislation next month to tighten Canada’s bail system, making it harder for those accused of serious crimes to be released, after a series of violent incidents including assaults and home invasions.
Mr. Carney, who wrapped up two days of meetings with his cabinet in Toronto this week, said at a press conference Friday in Mississauga that his government is committed to fixing the Criminal Code.
He said the goal is to make sure that people who are accused of violent crimes such as gun offences, home invasions and auto thefts “pay the price they should” with consecutive sentences. He said those individuals should not be in a position “where they commit a crime one day and they’re arrested and then out of jail, out on bail the next.”
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Reports of violent crimes, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, have dominated headlines in recent days, including a fatal home invasion in Vaughan, where a father of four was killed, and the sexual assault of a toddler in Welland, Ont. The accused in that case was previously convicted of a sex crime against a child.
Premiers, police and the families of crime victims have been calling for changes to the criminal justice system for years, arguing that the current rules around bail act as a revolving door for repeat offenders.
But some criminal-defence lawyers have said that legislation in recent decades has already made it more difficult for people − accused but not yet convicted of crimes, and so presumed innocent − to be released pending their trials.
The Prime Minister said Friday that he’s been working with provincial and territorial leaders on bail changes and will be proposing legislation this month when the House of Commons returns after summer break.
He said he met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Friday, at the Premier’s home, where they discussed “what the federal government needs to do on the Criminal Code.”
“I agree with Premier Ford on these issues, and that’s why we’re moving on them,” including what provinces and municipalities can do to police more effectively.
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Mr. Ford told reporters Friday at Queen’s Park that he and Mr. Carney discussed denying bail to more people charged with crimes. The Premier also said he called for the tightening of the Young Offenders Act and for more mandatory minimum sentences.
Mr. Ford said the Prime Minister promised he would make “appropriate changes” to the bail system this fall but would not spell out what changes were coming.
“I said it can’t be this wishy-washy [changes], people are at a fever pitch right now” over crimes being committed by those on bail, Mr. Ford said.
The Premier said society feels the judicial system is failing, and he listed a string of serious crimes in recent weeks, including shootings involving young teenagers.
“We have to change the Young Offenders Act,” Mr. Ford told reporters. “We have to make sure we have bail reform. And we need mandatory sentences, so when someone gets charged with a heinous crime, they need to stay in jail, they can’t be released.”
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Earlier, Mr. Ford appeared alongside the family of Andrew Cristillo, 35, who was killed in a head-on collision in Whitchurch-Stouffville, north of Toronto, last month, in an incident that left his wife and three daughters injured.
The 18-year-old driver facing charges after the crash had also allegedly been involved in a high-speed collision with the Premier’s own car on Highway 401 in January. The Premier vowed to bring in legislation this fall that would immediately suspend the licences of people charged with dangerous-driving offences.
Mr. Carney’s two-day cabinet confab at a hotel in north Toronto was focused primarily on the economy and Canada-U.S. relations, but tackling crime was also on the agenda.
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Friday accused Mr. Carney of failing to make changes to the justice system fast enough.
“He’s done absolutely nothing and crime rages out of control,” he said, referring to a deadly mass stabbing attack at a Manitoba First Nation on Thursday. The suspect in that attack was out on bail, court records show.
Clayton Campbell, president of the Toronto Police Association, said he met with four members of the Carney government this week, including Justice Minister Sean Fraser and Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree. He said it was the first time his union had ever been consulted on criminal justice issues in the seven years he’s been with the association.
Mr. Campbell declined to go into specifics of the meeting but said he told the government it needs to do more to keep repeat violent offenders in custody, increase sentences for certain offences and fix the parole system, as well as provide additional funding for municipal forces. He said he felt his association’s concerns were being heard.
“There is no doubt they’re going to make some changes,” he said.
With a report from Stephanie Levitz in Ottawa
