LILLEY: Carney passed bail reform, now it's up to Ford to enact change
· Toronto Sun
The federal government has passed its bail reform legislation, now it’s up to the provinces to make it work. Bill C-14 received Royal Assent late Monday night, the changes that it will bring to the national bail system will take effect 30 days after that.
That includes an expanded reverse onus where the accused needs to prove why they should be free in cases involving crimes such as vehicle thefts, extortion, and human trafficking. It also requires courts to consider the number or seriousness of any outstanding charges the accused is facing when considering bail.
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That this wasn’t a factor already shows how far we have fallen.
The problem the Liberals are solving was created by the Liberals
The need for this bail reform dates back to 2019 and Bill C-75, which instructed judges to release those charged with crimes “at the earliest reasonable opportunity and on the least onerous conditions that are appropriate.” That made bail the de facto position of the court even for repeat, violent offenders.
In 2023, under pressure from premiers across the country and from every party, the Trudeau Liberals offered some weak amendments under Bill C-48 that they said would fix the problem. It didn’t work, the parameters of the bill were too narrow and even someone picked up time and again for violent carjackings or home invasions would be getting out on bail.
This new legislation is far from perfect, in fact, it doesn’t go far enough, but it does improve things.
Top cops say this is a start
Stephen Tanner is Chief of Police in Halton. He’s been a cop since 1982. He says the new legislation is a step in the right direction.
“I think it’s good for the public. It does create some positive changes in the criminal code and in the legislation,” Tanner told me in an interview.
In his view, the federal government has passed a piece of legislation that sets the framework for the provinces to implement real changes.
“I think this is an opportunity for the province and all provinces to say, here’s the changes in the legislation. Now here’s some training to go along with that. Judges should not exist in a vacuum,” Tanner said.
What the chief was referring to is the training given to judges and also the procedure manuals given to police and prosecutors on how to proceed with certain cases. If for example, in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford wanted to change how justice is served, he could do that by changing the training for judges and the manuals given to Crown prosecutors and police.
Politicians do and should direct judges
As much as people like to claim that politicians don’t direct judges, they absolutely do.
Bill C-75 from the Trudeau Liberals included explicit instructions to judges. Bill C-14 that tries to correct the record also includes explicit instructions to judges.
Now that the feds have laid the groundwork, it’s up to Ford and his Attorney General Doug Downie to do the hard work and make these changes mean something.
On Tuesday, Ford went on a rant about judges giving people bail and not keeping bad guys behind bars. The federal government has moved on that, maybe not going as far as he would want, definitely not as far as I would want, but they have moved.
It’s now up to him and his government to make the regulatory changes, procedural changes, the changes to training, and the manuals given to cops and Crowns to make this a reality.
If he and his team won’t do that, then he’ll be telling us that this issue was nothing but theatre for him.