Western Canada: New bail data from B.C. further suggest the need for reform

Good morning. Wendy Cox in Vancouver this morning.

British Columbia Premier David Eby was under fire last fall from mayors and Opposition politicians who charged the province wasn’t doing enough to ensure prolific, sometimes violent, offenders were kept off the streets. As part of the NDP government’s response, Mr. Eby issued a directive to Crown Counsel aimed at ensuring prosecutors consider a suite of factors before deciding whether bail should be granted.

Prosecutors should weigh if anyone charged with an “offence against the person” – assault or robbery, for example – is also facing similar, outstanding charges or whether they have offended using a weapon. Only if the prosecutor is satisfied that the risk to the public is acceptably low should the offender be released.

Preliminary data suggest not much is changing because of the directive, though the Prosecution Service suggests it’s too early to tell.

Still, the numbers released last Friday and on Monday are interesting.

As Justine Hunter writes, the figures show that in most of the cases studied, people who were charged with a violent crime while already under bail conditions for other matters were granted bail again.

In the seven weeks in late 2022 and early 2023 where results were tracked, the data show Crown Counsel asked for pretrial detention in roughly half the bail hearings they conducted for crimes of violence involving an accused who was already on bail.

Judges rejected pretrial detention in crimes of violence when the accused was already on bail in about 75 per cent of cases.

In considering cases overall – not just those involving a repeat offender – judges granted bail despite the recommendations of Crown prosecutors in more than half of cases.

“To have only half, or less than half of the cases in which Crown Counsel show cause for detention result in a detention order is deeply concerning,” B.C. Attorney-General Niki Sharma wrote in an April 21 letter to her federal counterpart. The letter was released last week.

“Crown prosecutors only seek pretrial detention of the accused at a bail hearing because they are not satisfied that the risk to public safety posed by the accused’s release can be reduced to an acceptable level by bail conditions.”

Mr. Eby said Friday that Ottawa urgently needs to follow through on its commitment to bail reform.

“Police and prosecutors in B.C. are doing their part within existing laws to keep people safe. The federal government must act on its promise to amend federal bail laws to address this national risk to public safety showing up in every province and territory,” he said.

Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog, whose city is struggling with civil disorder and random violence, said judges and prosecutors can’t fix this problem on their own.

“The judges are applying the law as it exists,” he said in an interview. “The law needs to be changed. It diminishes public safety and destroys public confidence in the justice system. This needs to be fixed, yesterday.”

In a statement from the BC Prosecution Service, spokesman Daniel McLaughlin noted that the changes to the bail policy for Crown lawyers in November did not change the rules around bail in the Criminal Code and he said it would “unreasonable to assume that a BCPS policy change alone could produce any particular outcome at a bail hearing.”

Federal Justice Minister David Lametti was asked about the B.C. data on Tuesday and responded that his government is working toward a solution.

“We’re working pretty quickly at the level of changes to the Criminal Code,” he said. “We’re also working with the provinces and we’re in pretty much constant dialogue. A lot of it will be undertaken at the level of the provinces in terms of the administration of the bail system.”

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.