Bail reform will help, but not solve, ‘complex’ rising crime issue: minister
Global News
Justice Minister David Lametti pushed back against Pierre Poilievre, who says the reforms were necessary due to what he called the Liberals' "catch and release" policies.
Canada’s justice minister is defending the government’s new bail reform legislation against criticism it doesn’t go far enough or may fail a Charter challenge, saying the “targeted” measure addresses just one of the many factors behind rising crime.
Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block, David Lametti specifically pushed back against criticism from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has said the reforms were necessary due to what he called the Liberals’ “catch and release” policies.
“Criminal justice policy doesn’t devolve down to a simple, silly slogan as Mr. Poilievre seems to want to lead people to believe,” he said.
“This is a complex problem, and it goes to a number of different factors, (such as) society coming out of a very, very unprecedented pandemic which brought fault lines of mental health and other challenges to the fore. And so we’re dealing with all of that.”
The legislation tabled last week introduces reverse-onus bail conditions for people charged with serious violent offences involving a weapon, in cases where the person was convicted of a similar violent offence within the past five years.
It will also add some firearms offences to existing reverse-onus provisions, and expand the provision of that measure in cases where the alleged crimes involve intimate partner violence.
While the burden of proof usually rests on prosecutors to convince judges why offenders should stay behind bars, a reverse onus means that in these kinds of cases, the offender will now be the one who has to prove in court why they should be released on bail.
The bill also directs judges and justices of the peace to consider the accused’s history of violence and the impact on the community “as a general matter” when considering bail, Lametti said.