Critics warn federal government’s proposed bail reform, fails to address real problems

The newly introduced “reverse-onus” bail conditions will apply to 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 new firearms offences to existing reverse-onus provisions, and broaden the existing provisions in cases involving intimate partner violence. Quigley noted the real question is whether the amendments will comply with the charter.

“Of course, every accused person has the right not to be denied bail without just cause and when there’s a new reverse onus put in, there’s always that question if it runs counter to that right to reasonable bail because, at the fundamental level, bail is about the presumption of innocence so we don’t have people detained in custody without being convicted of a crime,” she said.

With respect to what she would offer as a better solution, Quigley said more resources need to be allocated for supportive housing, addictions, and mental health issues. She added that would also include resources for more effective supervision for people out on bail, citing discussions in recent months about the GPS monitoring for people accused of domestic violence crimes.

“I think that is something the government should be looking at, rather than creating more reverse onus provisions that really have the potential to further marginalize minority communities like Indigenous people in Saskatchewan,” she said.

Response from Inmate Advocate

Sherri Maier, Founder of Beyond Prison Walls Canada, believes this bail reform is going to affect Indigenous people the most, reiterating Quigley’s concerns relating to the current over-representation of Indigenous People in the criminal justice and prison system.

“My concern with this is if a person on bail gets charged, if the offence was not violent but they have violent past will their past still be used? I can almost answer that question myself, of course, it will because Indigenous people always have their past used against them,” she said.

Maier also noted there are cases of people who are not able to change, due to the fact they can not get needed programs. She cited one example of an inmate she helped, and learned through the psych file, it was stated two decades ago he should be at the psych centre.

“That was his first federal sentence. Now two decades later he is where the psychologist then suggested. Some have violent past due to being slipped through the cracks and not getting help to rehabilitate,” she said.

Kim Beaudin, national vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), said he fears the reforms will cast a larger net over indigenous peoples, and expressed further concern over the millions of dollars being spent currently by the provinces to build new jails.

“To me, their answer to homelessness is let’s just fill up the jails,” he said.

Noting it was the Harper government who first introduced the tough-on-crime agenda, Beaudin said the issue of repeat offenders getting released is a fault of the system and not the process.

“In my opinion, they probably never should have gotten out and again that was the system that failed,” he said. “The process was tightened up, it worked.”

Agreeing with Quigley’s suggestions that the government needs to be addressing homelessness and mental health, Beaudin called the federal government’s claim to being tough on crime, an illusion.

– with files from the Canadian Press

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

Critics warn federal government’s proposed bail reform, fails to address real problems

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