The federal Liberal government announced changes to the justice system Thursday that are intended to keep some offenders locked up for longer as Ottawa tries to drive down crime rates.
The new legislation, C-14, makes dozens of targeted changes to the bail and sentencing framework in the federal Criminal Code, something victims' rights advocates, police unions and some provincial premiers have long been demanding.
Those demands came amid an uptick in violent crime over the last decade or so — although crime rates were down slightly last year as the country recovers from a post-COVID surge.
The changes announced by Justice Minister Sean Fraser are designed to make bail more difficult to get, especially for repeat and violent offenders. They include the creation of new so-called "reverse onuses," which means detention is the default option and it's up to a bail seeker to demonstrate why they should not remain behind bars while they await trial.
These new reverse onuses, if passed by Parliament, will apply to people charged with violent or organized crime-related car theft, break and entering, trafficking in persons or human smuggling, assault, sexual assault that involves choking, strangulation or suffocation and extortion involving violence.
Greater scrutinyThe government is directing the courts to carefully scrutinize the bail plans of people accused in these reverse onus cases to make sure their pitches to get out of jail are "reliable and credible," according to a backgrounder on the bill.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Fraser said the bill is designed to "restore public confidence in the justice system" and keep bad actors off the streets.
"Across the country, Canadians are feeling the strain of a justice system that has frankly failed to keep up with what they're feeling and and what they're seeing in their communities," Fraser said.
Fraser said a small number of offenders — many of them well-known to law enforcement — are perpetrating an outsized number of crimes, often "coming in and out of the justice system" as if it were a revolving door.
"We expect to see more dangerous people incarcerated as a result of their behaviour," Fraser said.
WATCH | Justice minister introduces bail reform, stricter sentencing laws :The federal government introduced new legislation, Bill C-14, which makes dozens of changes to the Criminal Code intending to keep some offenders locked up for longer.Fraser's bill also clarifies the "principle of restraint," which, under legislation passed by the last Liberal government, requires judges release some people charged with a crime on bail at the "earliest reasonable opportunity" and with the "least onerous conditions."
The B.C. NDP and the federal Conservatives have called for that principle to be repealed due to concerns its creates a more lenient bail system. The Liberals have not scrapped it entirely because of Charter rights concerns, but these legislative changes do sharpen it considerably.
Now, when considering bail, courts and the police are being directed to "not release an accused when it is against the public interest or when detention is needed to protect victims or witnesses," according to a government official who briefed reporters on C-14.
The bill directs courts to also consider some specific factors when deciding on whether to release someone, including whether the allegations involved random or unprovoked violence — a change designed to keep more of those offenders behind bars, given the higher risk to public safety.
While there is no hard data on just how many people released on bail go on to commit a crime — Statistics Canada does not maintain those figures — these proposed tighter laws come amid some high-profile criminal acts.
Earlier this year, Bailey McCourt, a Kelowna, B.C., woman, was allegedly murdered by her ex-husband just hours after he was released on bail for assault.
The man convicted of murdering Ontario Provincial Police Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala in December 2022 was also out on bail at the time of that crime, despite facing a long list of charges related to other incidents, including assaulting a peace officer.
Pallbearers carry the casket of Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala after his funeral service in 2023. The man convicted of murdering Pierzchala was out on bail at the time of that crime. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)Still, this bill is likely to face constitutional scrutiny given what the Supreme Court has said in the past about an offender's right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause.
Lawrence Greenspon, a criminal defence attorney in Ottawa, said while the government's changes are "likely to be popular" with the public, in his view, they violate Charter protections and could be struck down by the top court.
"It is irresponsible pandering to those who are understandably desperate to reduce crime," he said.
This Saturday, Just Asking wants to know: What questions do you have about tackling violent crime in Canada? Fill out this form and send us your questions.In a background briefing with reporters, a government official said Ottawa is confident these new measures will pass constitutional muster.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, said these bail changes don't go far enough to tamp down on what he called the "chaos" that past Liberal crime policies have "unleashed in our communities."
"There will be a lot of very serious and rampant offenders who will once again be released into our streets, often within hours of their most recent arrest," he said.
Harsher sentencesWhen it comes to sentencing convicted criminals, the government is asking courts to take a harder line for repeat and violent offenders so that the guilty spend more time in prison.
Plus, the bill introduces consecutive sentences — which would see people serve one sentence after another instead of serving sentences for multiple offences at the same time.
That means, for example, a defendant sentenced to two consecutive terms of three years will serve a total of six years in prison — the first three years for the first offense, followed by three more years for the second.
New aggravating factors would also apply to crimes against first responders, retail theft, and theft or mischief that harms essential infrastructure — changes designed to lead to harsher sentences. The bill also ends house arrest for certain sexual assault and child sexual offences.
In addition to the bail and sentencing changes, C-14 includes a proposed crackdown on accused people younger than 18 by expanding the definition of the kinds of crimes that can lead to their detention.
Since the passage of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in 2003, which generally discourages incarceration, relatively few young offenders are actually held in correctional facilities — there were just 600 or so in custody last year, according to Statistics Canada.
There has also been an uptick in youth crime in recent years.
'Holistic' approachFraser framed these changes as one part of a "holistic" approach to crime-fighting.
In addition to stronger laws to deter criminal behaviour, Fraser noted the government is investing more money to hire 1,000 more RCMP officers and 1,000 more border personnel.
There will also be "upstream investments," he said, like more money for housing, mental health care and programs to help at-risk youth avoid a life of crime.
"We have to make these investments so that fewer people and fewer communities see tragedies play out in their own backyards," Fraser said.
But on the question of whether Ottawa will come up with more money to help the provinces implement these proposed changes — as potentially more people in provincially run jails could be costly — Fraser said those conversations are ongoing, and it's up to the provinces to play their role on a file that has shared jurisdiction.