all throughout 2023, the trudeau government faced a barrage of complaints from police and provincial governments saying that lax federal bail policies had single-handedly caused a spike in violent crimes committed by recidivist offenders.
“i really can’t express the level of urgency that people feel about this in communities. it’s non-negotiable,” b.c. premier david eby — one of the loudest advocates for bail reform — said last june.
“the basic requirement of our justice system is that it keeps people safe, and it’s not meeting that standard right now.”
the issue of “catch and release” offenders had been exacerbated in large part by bill c-75, an omnibus bill introduced by the trudeau government in 2018 that, among other things, required judges to grant bail more readily to suspects from “vulnerable groups.”
in january 2023, a letter signed by all 13 provincial and territorial premiers said their police departments were being overwhelmed by “a small number of prolific and violent offenders.”
“the justice system fundamentally needs to keep anyone who poses a threat to public safety off the streets,” it added.
the letter followed on a similar plea by ontario provincial police commissioner thomas carrique, who called for bail reform after the shooting death of const. grzegorz (greg) pierzchala. just after christmas, pierzchala had been performing a routine checkstop when he was shot and killed by an alleged suspect who was out on bail for a prior violent crime.