OTTAWA—New legislation tabled last week by federal Justice Minister David Lametti that would make it harder for repeat violent offenders to be granted bail through targeted Criminal Code reforms is receiving support from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM).
“The OPP as well as the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the provincial and territorial premiers have been advocating for much needed bail-related changes,” said Robert Walsh, acting inspector detachment commander of the Manitoulin OPP. “Any legislative amendments and additional tools that will assist police in enhancing public safety in our community’s are a welcome change. Our organization will continue to work with all stakeholders to advocate for bail reform that best ensures public safety.”
“Yes, it is good news,” stated Danny Whalen executive director of FONOM. “It’s something that we at FONOM and the police have been working on and advocating for. It is not 100 percent what we want but it is positive news,” he said, noting property crimes need to be added to the list as well.
Various news agencies reported last week that the small package of legislative reform comes after months of renewed scrutiny on Canada’s bail system and calls for the federal government to implement tougher laws, in the face of a series of high-profile cases of violent crimes allegedly committed by individuals who were out on bail.
Bill C-48, as it’s been titled, seeks to strengthen Canada’ bail system’s response to repeat violent offenders, including cases involving firearms, knives, bear spray and other weapons. The government says it is also trying to enhance public confidence in the criminal justice system and affirm the principles of bail.
Through the bill, five specific Criminal Code changes are proposed: creating a new reverse onus for serious repeat violent offences involving weapons where the accused was previously convicted of an offence of the same criteria within the past five years, with both being punishable by 10 years imprisonment or more; adding certain firearms offences to the provisions that trigger a reverse onus to include other indictable offences such as unlawful possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, and break and enters or robbery to steal a firearm; expanding the current intimate partner violence (IPV) reverse onus to address the enhanced risk to also apply to accused persons previously discharged of an offence involving IPV; clarifying the meaning of ‘prohibition order’ in an existing reverse onus to state that an orders includes a courts release order from bail that imposed conditions around firearms possession and requiring courts to consider an accused person’s history of convictions for violence and other community safety concerns when making bail decisions.
Burden of proof or onus typically sees the prosecutor attempt to show why an accused person should be denied bail. A reverse onus is when the burden of proof shifts on presumption of innocence to the accused with the possibility that the accused would remain in detention while awaiting trial unless they can demonstrate to the court why they should be released.
“What we’re doing for certain violent offences is changing the default position and making sure that it is only in cases where there isn’t a threat to public security, that they will get bail,” Minister Lametti said. “We need to strike a balance. We think we’ve done that here, working in the range between the Charter right to bail, public security and public safety.” Under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms a person charged with an offence has the right not to be denied reasonable justice without just cause. This allow offenders to be released from custody while awaiting trial, under the principle of being presumed found guilty and with the condition that they appear in courts when required. Other conditions such as a no contact order, GPS ankle monitor, and curfews can also be imposed.
