Ontario calls for 'swift' action on bail reform from feds. Some experts urge caution

An Ontario Correctional Institute (OCI) in Brampton, Ont., on Monday, April 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

As Ontario continues to push for “swift” action on bail reform, experts are urging cautious, “evidence-based” solutions aimed at reducing the amount of incarcerated Canadians.

On Wednesday, the Ford government passed a motion calling on the federal government to reform the Criminal Code of Canada and “implement meaningful bail reform” immediately.

Solicitor General of Ontario, Michael Kerzner, said in a written statement Wednesday it is his hope the federal government listens to the motion and takes immediate action to strengthen bail reform.

"People in Ontario communities are afraid to walk the streets or take public transit for the first time in decades,” Kerzner said Monday. "Serious violent offenders [...] are being released back onto the streets due to the dysfunction of Canada’s bail system."

On Monday, just over a week after the Toronto stabbing of a 16-year-old boy allegedly committed by a man in violation of a probation order, Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned legislators that delays in reform are costing people their lives.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that people are now dying because of the failures of our justice system,” the premier said in the legislature.

“We need action and we need it now.”

The fatal stabbing follows a recent string of incidents committed by offenders out on bail, including the killing of Ontario Provincial Police officer Gregory Pierzchala near Hagersville, Ont., and the fatal pushing of an elderly woman in downtown Toronto in January.

The move towards swift reform has not been without opposition.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has spoken out against the proposed reforms. In a statement issued earlier this year, the association said any claims that Canada’s bail system is “unduly lenient” run counter to decades of research.

“We are detaining more people than ever before, with intensely negative outcomes for the individuals and communities that are most directly impacted by the criminal justice system,” the statement said.

The CCLA called for “evidence-based” solutions aimed at lowering the amount of people incarcerated in Canada.

“That means supporting people experiencing poverty, precarious housing, mental illness, and substance use; improving reintegration programs for people who have been incarcerated; enhancing social welfare supports; and investing in education and health care,” it said.

A report released by Ontario’s Chief Coroner in January shows that, for more than two decades, all growth in provincial custody numbers can be attributed to individuals incarcerated during pre-trial stages.

Currently, 70 per cent of people incarcerated in Ontario are awaiting preceedings.

Deaths in Ontario prisons have also risen dramatically in recent years, the report states – in 2014, 14 inmates died, in 2019, 25 died, and in 2021, 46 died.

The report specifically identified reducing the number of individuals in custody on remand as a recommendation towards lowering the number of inmates deaths in Ontario.