Poilievre isn’t interested in public safety; it’s all about stoking fear By: Tom Brodbeck Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, May. 18, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/05/2023 (891 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It seems everybody but Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is satisfied with the bail law changes proposed by the federal government this week.

The provinces are happy with it, even if some — including Manitoba Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen — would have liked to see Ottawa go a little further in some areas.

Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey praised Bill 48, introduced by federal Justice Minister David Lametti on Tuesday. Downey thanked Lametti for “listening to the provinces’ concerns.”

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police supports the proposed changes, saying they “align with the calls to action” of Canada’s police leaders.

“We commend the federal government for acting on the urgency for legislative change,” the organization said in a statement.

The Canadian Police Association is also happy with Bill 48, saying it will help address “the small number of repeat violent offenders who commit a disproportionate number of offences that put the safety of our communities at risk.”

Only Poilievre and his Conservative caucus are unhappy with it, claiming it would do nothing to help keep high-risk offenders off the streets.

Poilievre is proposing something far more drastic — and unconstitutional. He says if the Conservatives form government, he would introduce a bill banning bail hearings altogether for repeat, violent offenders charged with new crimes. They would be automatically denied bail, which would be a Charter of Rights and Freedoms violation.

“We will bring in laws that require repeat violent offenders who are newly arrested for violence to stay behind bars, with jail, not bail, until their trial is done and their sentence is complete,” he said Tuesday.

Under the Charter, anyone charged with a crime cannot be denied reasonable bail without just cause. It’s a fundamental principle of Canada’s justice system, which presumes that people charged with a crime are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. As such, bail should be the norm, not the exception, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.

That doesn’t mean everyone accused of a crime is guaranteed bail. Far from it. When just cause can be established — such as when an accused poses a threat to public safety or is unlikely to show up for a court date — that person can, and should, be kept behind bars. It’s up to a judge or a magistrate to weigh the relevant factors.

Those legal principles have been around for decades.

When the federal government updated bail laws in 2019, the changes were largely to codify a series of Supreme Court decisions on bail (while also making it more difficult for repeat domestic violence offenders to get bail).

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Poilievre claims, falsely, that the 2019 changes “unleashed a wave of violent crime across the country.” There is no evidence to support that. It’s a fabrication designed to fuel rage and generate fear.

Crime rates in Canada go through cycles. Violent crime rises and falls. The latest increase began several years before the federal government updated the bail laws. Even if it had coincided with the bail-law changes, there’s no evidence it was driven by codifying previously existing bail rules, which were binding on the courts long before Bill 75.

Facts and evidence don’t matter to Poilievre, though. His goal is to exploit fear and ignorance for political gain. Spreading falsehoods to create a political narrative he believes will help him win government is a critical part of his populist strategy. It’s a borrowed technique from like-minded politicians south of the border.

Facts and evidence don’t matter to Poilievre, though. His goal is to exploit fear and ignorance for political gain.

Neither the provinces, the chiefs of police nor police unions were calling for the kind of draconian, unconstitutional changes Poilievre is proposing. They understand that the justice system must adhere to the Charter and balance the rights of the accused with public safety and the broader interests of society. Those are difficult, complex tasks that require thoughtful, intelligent and evidence-based decision making — something Poilievre is incapable of.

The federal government’s proposed changes would expand the list of offences and circumstances where an accused would have to convince the court why they should not be held in custody — the so-called “reverse-onus” clause. That already exists for a long list of offences, including murder and many gun crimes. Under Bill 48, it would apply to a relatively narrow range of serious, repeat violent offenders and a broader list of weapons-related charges.

Those changes don’t satisfy Poilievre because he was never interested in improving bail laws. His sole objective is to manufacture fear through misinformation, a skill he’s become quite adept at.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca

Tom Brodbeck
Columnist

Tom Brodbeck is an award-winning author and columnist with over 30 years experience in print media. He joined the Free Press in 2019. Born and raised in Montreal, Tom graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and commerce. Read more about Tom.

Tom provides commentary and analysis on political and related issues at the municipal, provincial and federal level. His columns are built on research and coverage of local events. The Free Press’s editing team reviews Tom’s columns before they are 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.