Thursday, April 06, 2023

Urgent: Amend Bill C-75, Prime Minister Trudeau!

"Over the last four years, we can track distinct spikes in the numbers of people released on bail and incidences of violent offences committed by those on bail."
"The number of murders of police officers has resulted in stark comparisons with countries like the United States, to which we have never before found reason to compare,"
"Policing is at a crossroad in our nation.The stresses and dangers of the job, combined with the intense politicization of policing we've witnessed at every level, threaten the integrity and trust in our profession and our ability to safely and ethically ensure public safety."
Danny Smyth, president, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police 
Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth speaks to media on March 26, 2021.
Winnipeg Police Chief, Danny Smyth, present, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police CTV

According to Statistics Canada data that tracks police-reported crime nationwide, violent crime in Canada is up some 30 per cent since 2015 — the year the federal Liberal government took office.

"The accused is indigenous, and it is a well-known fact that such individuals are over-represented in our prison system."
"[I could not] ignore [McKenzie's identity in the decision to grant  him release]."
Ontario Superior Court Justice Harrison Arrell
Justice Arrell stated his belief that Randall McKenzie, suspect in the December 27 shooting death of OPP Constable Grzegorz Pierzchala was likely to re-offend, but his Indigenous identity ultimately took precedence in his decision to grant the man release. This is the same man who had been granted bail a mere few months before, after a series of weapons charges.
 
A uniformed OPP officer talking to a little girl.
OPP Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala was killed in action two days after Christmas, around 2:30 p.m., while responding to a truck in a ditch near Hagersville, Ont. (Submitted by Bill Dickson)

The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau in 2018 passed Bill C-75, representing a package of Criminal Code amendments severely curtailing the ability of judges to hold violent offenders in pretrial detention. The Bill, in essence, overturned the updated Criminal Code amendments passed by the previous Conservative-led government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper who understood the failures in the criminal justice system and sought to give more impetus in law to the safety and security of the Canadian public.

Liberalizing criminal law and the penalties corresponding to the legalities of punishment of violent crime has had its consequences, and were predictable. 'Soft on crime' suited the progressive values of Canada's Liberal-left government, which spurned the 'regressive' policies of their predecessors, overturning all their public safety initiatives with the sanctimonious satisfaction of liberators. The result has been disastrous, with a steep rise in violent crime, random crimes, senseless violence. 

Members of the public attend a candlelight vigil on Dec. 21 for the victims of a mass shooting in Vaughan. Homicides and violent crimes have risen in Canada for three consecutive years, Jaime Watt writes.

The "criminal justice system that renders much of our work pointless", has spurred Canadian police chiefs to demand an "urgent" meeting with the country's premiers for the purpose of addressing an "intensive escalation" in criminal violence in the country. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police anticipate a summit with provincial and territorial leadership to discuss "urgent and emerging issues" threatening to permanently damage Canadian policing.

Canada has experienced the deaths of nine on-duty police officers in just the last six months, the highest rate of police killings by far in the history of the country. Almost all of those killings have been targeted. And nor has the general public been spared. A wave of random, unprovoked and violent attacks which data indicate that the violence is committed disproportionately from offenders out on bail or parole.

Last year, the British Columbia Urban Mayors Caucus compiled data that showed over 11,000 "negative police contacts" in their jurisdictions were committed by only 204 offenders. Offenders who rarely faced consequences for their crimes. The Vancouver Police last summer released data relating to 44 most recent "stranger attack" suspects that showed 78 percent had been charged in "a previous criminal incident".

Bill C-75 requires that at any bail hearing the top priority is "releasing the accused at the earliest reasonable opportunity and on the least onerous conditions". Justices are informed they are expected to set aside their usual considerations on public safety should the accused be from a "vulnerable population". This aspect of C-75's "modernized" bail provisions dramatically illustrated in the case of Randall McKenzie in the December 27 shooting death of OPP Constable Grzegorz Pierzchala.
 
RCMP officers in their red serge uniforms march in a procession for a slain officer.
Officers follow the hearse carrying the body of Pierzchala toward Sadlon Arena. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
 
Police agencies across Canada face critical recruitment shortfalls. There is a potential for Canadian law enforcement to shortly face the inability to ensure the base level of public safety. "Policing is at a crossroad in our nation" The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police open letter warns; if the judicial system remains unable to shield communities from "even the most violent offenders" the threats against police "cannot be indefinitely endured".

Recently a letter signed by all 13 premiers demanded "immediate action" to strengthen Canada's bail system, accentuating bail reform having attracted a growing political consensus. The new British Columbia government has criticized the slow pace of federal consultations on bail reform and within days of being sworn in as premier, David Eby issued a strict bail directive to B.C. Crown prosecutors, instructing them to seek detention of suspects even if they faced charges unlikely to "include incarceration".Statistics have since illustrated that the order appears to have had little practical effect.
 
The rise in the Canadian homicide rate can almost exclusively be blamed on gang-related killings, which represented 23 per cent of all murders.
The rise in the Canadian homicide rate can almost exclusively be blamed on gang-related killings, which represented 23 per cent of all murders. Photo by Gavin Young/Postmedia/File

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posted by Pieface @ Thursday, April 06, 2023

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