‘People are upset about bail’: Kinew refuses to back down on judge comments

Premier Wab Kinew stands behind comments he made that were critical of a provincial judge’s decision to release a truck driver accused of causing the deaths of a mother and daughter in a crash.

“Speaking in general, I hear about catch and release all the time from Manitobans, and that’s what this issue is about… I’m giving voice to what a lot of people in the community are saying,” Kinew said Thursday.

“I can’t reach across that line separating me from the judiciary and call a meeting with the judges. So what is the alternative? I can go out in public and say people are upset about bail, people are sick of catch and release, and let’s work together to find a way to address public safety.”

Kinew was responding to a question from Opposition Leader Obby Khan regarding the bail of Navjeet Singh during question period Tuesday, when he urged judges to reflect on the impact their decisions will have when learned of by the public.

“(Judges) have an important role to play in ensuring the impartiality and the fairness of our justice system, but I would remind those sitting on the bench that you have to make your decisions based on the world as it is, not as you would like it to be,” the premier said inside the chamber on Tuesday.

Singh, a 26-year-old truck driver from Brampton, Ont. is accused of causing a highway collision that killed Sara Unger, 35, and her eight-year-old daughter, Alexa, near Altona last November. Singh left the country after the crash and was not arrested until Aug. 21, when he returned to Canada aboard an international flight.

He was released under a surety bond and a slate of conditions during a bail hearing on Aug. 28.

The Manitoba Bar Association and the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association each released statements in response to the premier’s comments, saying it was inappropriate to politicize the Singh’s case in the legislative chamber.

Kinew stressed he respects the line separating the legislative and executive branches of government from the judiciary, but said “this is a democracy, and every arm of government needs to have a way to listen to the voice of the people.”

Royce Koop, a professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said he agrees with that position.

“He’s allowed to have an opinion, he’s allowed to criticize,” Koop said of Kinew. “You expect politicians to give voice to public sentiment, to public frustration and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, we’d be concerned if politicians weren’t doing that.”

“He’s allowed to have an opinion, he’s allowed to criticize.”

Koop argued Kinew’s comments were not overly critical of the release, when compared to comments made by other politicians at various levels of government aimed at the legal system.

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He described the response from the legal associations as a possible overreaction.

The political studies professor also pushed back against the idea that Khan should not have raised the case to begin with, saying it exemplifies a perceived issue with the justice system that has captured public interest.

“When individual incidents illustrate problems that the government needs to address, not only should the leader of the Opposition point to those things, he has an obligation to. That’s his job: to hold the government accountable,” Koop said.

“Kinew’s comments were not unreasonable, in my view. Neither were Khan’s questions.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.