Winnipeg mayor expresses support for federal bail reform

A proposed law to reform bail is receiving cautious optimism in Manitoba. CTV’s Danton Unger has the story.

Winnipeg’s mayor is praising Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announced plans for bail reform in Canada.

Carney announced Thursday that next week, the government will bring forward a new bill next week with the goal of cracking down on violent and repeat offenders. The bill will target crimes such as violent auto thefts, breaking and entering, human trafficking, as well as sexual and violent assaults.

It would also introduce “reverse onus” for major crimes, where the accused will have to convince the court why they can be trusted to be released. Carney said an accused’s risk of reoffending and their history over the past 10 years will be taken into consideration.

“I think this announcement out of Ottawa today is a response to the outcry of the public, of Canadians, and certainly the outcry of mayors like myself and others who say things need to change,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said Thursday.

Gillingham has been calling for bail reform federally in the past several months, taking to releasing weekly bulletins highlighting crimes committed by people out on bail.

“The small things matter, the seemingly small things matter. And when you let individuals away with seemingly smaller crimes, they become big problems, and big crimes later on,” he said.

Brandon Trask, a University of Manitoba law professor said the reverse onus proposal for bail could lead to potential violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“From my perspective as a law professor, I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding amongst members of the public about reverse onus provisions,” he said. “They’re not really, and probably shouldn’t be seen as like the silver bullet dealing with all issues that have been raised pertaining to bail, because at the end of the day, even though the starting point changes, the judge still goes through and considers all the same factors.”

The bill also includes harsher penalties for “organized retail theft,” a necessary step, says business owner Michael Paille. He said in the past five years, his store Cobra Collectables has seen a significant increase in crime and shoplifting.

“We’ve had people arrested, and the same day we saw them out again,” he said.

Paille said he also wants to see targeted support to address root causes of crime, such as addiction.

“We need to aim at the cause,” he said. “Look at the people buying the stolen goods, the people that are feeding the drugs to our young people, harsher crime to the drug dealers, harsher crimes to the people buying stolen goods, aim at the root and focus on that.”

-With files from CTV’s Danton Unger and Rachel Aiello