Conservative Motion to Reform Bail System Defeated

Conservative member of Parliament Raquel Dancho holds a press conference in Ottawa on July 25, 2022. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

A motion for bail reform put forward by the federal Conservatives (CPC) has been defeated in a vote of 205–116 in the House of Commons on Feb. 6.

The motion was first brought forward on Feb. 2 by Conservative MP Raquel Dancho, the party’s public safety critic, following the first-degree murder charges laid in the death of Ontario Provincial Police Constable Greg Pierzchala. The new constable was allegedly killed by a suspect already on bail for previous assault and weapons charges.

The CPC motion demanded the federal government fix Canada’s broken bail system by immediately repealing elements enacted by Bill C-75—which in 2019 amended the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and other Acts—to make it easier for violent repeat offenders to obtain bail.

The motion also called on the government to strengthen bail laws so that convicted criminals prohibited from possessing firearms, who are subsequently accused of serious firearms offences, do not easily get bail.

“Canadians across the country are growing increasingly alarmed by the violent crime wave impacting every major community and in rural communities across the country,” Dancho said in the House of Commons as she presented the motion.

“Canadians are waking up every day to headlines of violent crime, police officers being murdered, people being murdered on public transit every single day,” she said.

Dancho, who could not be reached for comment, cited Statistics Canada figures that indicate crime went down 26 percent when Conservative leader Stephen Harper was prime minister, and has increased 32 percent since Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party were elected.

The justice system needs to “put the rights of law-abiding Canadians ahead of the rights of violent, repeat offenders,” said Dancho.

Opposition

On Feb. 2, the NDP and Bloc Quebecois said they would not support the Conservatives in pushing the Liberal government for a tougher policy on bail.

Federal Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti said on Feb. 5, “We’ll look at Criminal Code amendments to the bail regime. The provinces have asked us to do it, the Justice ministers have asked us to do it, and we have been doing that work.”

Lametti said the government had to ensure that “any measures taken will not exacerbate the over representation of indigenous peoples, black, and racialized Canadians in our jails.”

He also suggested that the Conservatives were trying “to score political points” with the motion.

Bill C-5, which passed last fall, removed 20 mandatory minimum sentences on the books for drug and firearms offences, including armed robbery.

The government’s background information on Bill C-5 suggested there is “systemic racism in Canada’s criminal justice system,” which the new legislation aimed to address.

The motion noted that after eight years of the Liberal government’s “soft on crime policies,” violent crime had increased by 32 percent. Gang-related homicides increased by 92 percent, and five Canadian police officers have been killed in the line of duty in just one year.

The Conservatives’ motion indicated “violent, repeat offenders are obtaining bail much more easily,” which is putting Canadians at risk.

In a January letter to the government, the country’s premiers unanimously called on Ottawa to reform bail. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police also demanded bail reform.

“As we mourn the tragic passing of Constable Pierzchala, the criminal justice system’s limitations and ineffective management of chronic and prolific offenders is painfully obvious,” the association said in a statement.

The Canadian Press, Peter Wilson, and Noé Chartier contributed to this report.