Toronto Police Association Asks Carney, Poilievre to Provide Stance on Bail Reform, Gun Buyback

Police attend the scene of a shooting at a pub in Toronto on March 8, 2025. Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP

The Toronto Police Association has sent letters to the federal Liberal and Conservative leaders to find out their positions on “major” public safety issues such as bail reform and the federal gun buyback program.

Much of the electoral campaign has so far revolved around responding to U.S. tariffs and building the Canadian economy, while the police association said community safety remains a priority and “can never be an afterthought.”

The Toronto Police Association (TPA), the largest of its kind in Canada, sent letters to Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre this week, asking for replies before April 18.

TPA noted it would share the leaders’ responses with its membership and the communities it serves to “better inform their decision making at the ballot box.”

The police union said it has watched communities deteriorate in the last several years, blaming a lack of funding, support, and strong leadership around policing and public safety.

TPA said bail reform is a top priority, noting that individuals out on bail are getting arrested on a daily basis. This is especially the case for those arrested for gun-related crimes, the TPA said, adding one of the most commonly laid charges in these matters is failure to comply with bail rules.

“We support the notion of rehabilitation and the fundamental right to presumed innocence,” wrote the TPA in the letters. “However, stricter measures must be applied to the small number of repeat violent offenders.”

Poilievre is the only current federal party leader to make reducing crime in Canada a key part of his platform, and has continued to focus on the issue on the campaign trail. He said criminals should get “jail, not bail,” and pledged last week to repeal Liberal legislation which changed bail rules (Bill C-75) and removed mandatory minimum sentences for offences such as robbery with a firearm (Bill C-5).

Bill C-75, adopted in 2019, amended the Criminal Code to give direction to judges to first consider releasing accused individuals at the “earliest reasonable opportunity and on the least onerous conditions that are appropriate in the circumstances.”

Poilievre also pledged that major traffickers of people, guns, and fentanyl would receive life sentences under a Tory government.

Gun Violence

The second question raised by the police union is how the leaders would address gun violence, noting Toronto saw a large increase in shootings and gun-related homicides in 2024.

Toronto Police Service’s data on shootings and firearm discharges notes 103 events in 2024, up from 49 in 2023. The number of people killed or injured also went from 31 in 2023, to 39 in 2024.

The trend has not abated in 2025, with more people already killed or injured in the first three months of 2025 than in the entire year prior, at 41 cases. A mass shooting during a bar opening in Scarborough in early March contributed to the spike, with police saying seven people were injured by bullets after three gunmen indiscriminately opened fire on patrons.

The police association said there is “no evidence” the federal gun ban has helped stem the violence, and noted 85 percent of guns seized by Toronto police come from the United States.

The TPA asked whether Carney and Poilievre will turn the focus away from legal firearm owners and cancel the handgun ban and buyback program to instead “redirect the resources to all police agencies, not just the RCMP and CBSA, to address the influx of illegally smuggled firearms.”

Ottawa’s freeze on handgun transfers first came into force by way of regulations and was later enshrined in law through the passage of government Bill C-21 in December 2023. The bill established and reinforced a number of gun control measures, including updating the definition of a prohibited firearm to broadly include semi-automatic weapons.

The Liberal government has added hundreds of firearm models to the prohibited list since May 2020, immediately after the mass shooting in Portapique, N.S. Hundreds more were added in December 2024 and March of this year.

The buyback program for these firearms has started for businesses and is expected to start applying to individuals this spring.

Gun control and gun rights has not been a topic of debate during the election so far.

Conservatives have opposed Bill C-21 and have also been opposed to the gun buyback, saying it targets law-abiding citizens instead of criminals.

Liberals have favoured gun control and a candidate running under the Carney banner has been a leading advocate. Nathalie Provost, who is a survivor of the Polytechnique massacre and was active with gun control group PolyRemembers, is running in a Montreal-area riding.

Other Issues

The Toronto Police Association also asked Carney and Poilievre about their position on sentencing and parole, saying the existing system has made keeping offenders in custody a “lifelong struggle.”

The groups asked whether the Corrections and Conditional Release Act would be amended to include a “high risk” category for offenders who pose the greatest risk to the public, including those who have killed police officers.

The group also said the Toronto police force is facing a staffing crisis, with the ratio of one police officer to 171 residents being lower than the national average, despite Toronto being the largest city.

The police association asked the federal party leaders how they plan to address the issue and how it will provide support to the city for the hosting of major events.