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| John L. Hill |
The feds are responsible for inaction in failing to toughen Canada’s bail provisions in the Criminal Code. This incident underscores the need for a more nuanced understanding of the factors contributing to community safety rather than a rush to simplistic solutions.
I had tried to point out that every time an administrator (whether it be a justice of the peace in bail court or a member of the Parole Board of Canada) fails to read a crystal ball correctly and a crime is committed by someone given a release, the public reaction is to say our criminal and correctional justice system does not work. The legitimacy of our institutions comes under attack; people believe our judicial system is ineffective in maintaining community safety.
When my MPP published his statement, I responded by sending him a message that there are numerous reasons why a judicial official can “err” in granting bail to a person later found to be undeserving of freedom. The simplistic solution would be to blame the feds for not tightening bail provisions and eliminate “catch and release” situations where police arrest a person only to find the individual released back into the community.
The blame should not be laid solely at the feet of the federal government. The provincial government should acknowledge its responsibility for overworked Crown attorneys, backlogs in our provincial courts and directives such as the one that emanated from the Attorney General urging judicial officials to avoid detention centre overcrowding during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The response I received shocked me. It read, “John, the Criminal Code is prosecuted by federal prosecutors.” Can it be that a member of Ontario’s cabinet has such a distorted view of how the Criminal Code is administered in the province by provincially appointed Crown attorneys and interpreted by provincially appointed justices of the peace? Or is it a situation of confirmation bias? Is my MPP telling me that rather than try to find workable solutions to perceived problems, blame another level of government or another political party?
The problem with this approach, especially when taken by a senior member of the Ontario government, is that people with an incomplete understanding of how our criminal justice system works will assume a cabinet minister must be taken at his word and that our judicial system is indeed broken and requires a partisan political fix.
Instead of taking a simplistic approach to dealing with public reaction when a person on bail is charged with another crime, why not emphasize positive steps being taken? The Ontario government is investing $112 million to establish new technologies, develop violent crime bail teams, expand the Ontario Provincial Police Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement Squad and provide prosecutors with the resources they need to conduct complex bail hearings.
It’s more politically advantageous to play the blame game and convince voters that the get-tough-on-crime agenda aims to protect public safety. All the blame should be levelled at another level of government or another political party. After all, taking responsibility and working to alleviate an existing problem does not confirm our bias that things will be better if only we vent our rage on someone else.
John L. Hill practised and taught prison law until his retirement. He holds a J.D. from Queen’s and an LL.M. in constitutional law from Osgoode Hall. He is also the author of Pine Box Parole: Terry Fitzsimmons and the Quest to End Solitary Confinement (Durvile & UpRoute Books) and The Rest of the [True Crime] Story (AOS Publishing.). Contact him at johnlornehill@hotmail.com.
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