Canada's 'Catch and Release' Criminal Justice System

"Most thieves use one of three methods of vehicular theft."

"The first type is a relay attack, which involves "capturing" the signal of a key fob, then replicating it to enter and start a vehicle. Thieves used to hold a large antenna in front of a house door, scanning for keys left inside, but the technology has advanced in the past year, becoming smaller and easier to use at a distance."

"Then there is the onboard diagnostic port, accessible via a small door under the steering wheel in all vehicles. Typically used by a mechanic to connect a handheld computer that can diagnose a problem, the access point is being used by thieves to reprogram the car to understand a new key they've made for it."

CBC investigative theft expose 

"From our perspective, it's a lack of enforcement; [Canada has fallen behind in the fight against the organized theft of vehicles for export]."

"We've become a global donor in stolen vehicles. When you compare certain brands, there's more cars being stolen in Canada than there are in the U.S. … that gives you the sense of the magnitude of this issue."

Michael Rothe, Canadian Financing and Leasing Association (CFLA)

A screenshot of surveillance footage in July 2022 captured three people trying to steal a vehicle from a Toronto driveway in the early hours of the morning. (Submitted by Patricia Li)

A whopping and totally unprecedented $1.2 billion in vehicle value units were hijacked across Canada in 2022. A year later, over $1 billion was lost to vehicular theft in Ontario alone, according to the Équité Association, the national organization charged with reducing insurance fraud. Keyless and remote-start technologies have been a boon to the criminal gangs who value the opportunities they have been given through new technologies that vehicle manufacturers boasted of as upgrades not too long ago and vehicle purchasers took to gratefully.

Bryan Gast, of Équité Association points out thieves can "easily exploit these vulnerabilities, which has led to this significant increase in stolen vehicles across Canada." His organization Équité Association  emphasizes the dire need for updating federal vehicle theft prevention regulations -- rules that have gone unchanged since their 2007 implementation, before keyless and remote start technologies were introduced. It is their contention that manufacturers should be compelled to install effective anti-theft devices in every new vehicle. 

 

Bryan Gast, vice-president of investigative services at Équité Association, looks on as vehicles seized at the port of Malta and returned to Canada are offloaded in Montreal. (Michael Drapack/CBC)

 

"The rewards are very high and the risk is very low."

 "We have anecdotal stories of people who have stolen cars, walked out of court and stolen another car in the same parking lot."

Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich, Peel Regional Police

 

"It's much easier to sell 15 cars on the black market than it is to sell 15 kilos of cocaine or 15 illegal guns."

"[Criminal gangs] are seeing that profitability."

Det.-Sgt. Haywood 

This car was stolen from a Toronto driveway. Months later, the car was fund in Ghana. (David Common/CBC)

 

And then, six months ago, the federal government decided to "Strengthen Canada's bail system". And how successful has that been? This week the Toronto Police Service publicly announced 125 arrests were made in a carjacking crackdown. The Service made note that 44 percent of the arrested were on bail at the time of their arrest. So how did the new 'strengthened' bail system work out? Evidently, according to the police, 61 percent were once again given bail.

Policing, the Service pointed out in self-defence, is but one element of involvement in the skyrocketing rates of automobile theft. Bail judges and Crown prosecutors continue their generous use of bail, irrespective of evidence demonstrating the futility of arresting thieves, giving them bail, and quickly re-arresting and bailing them in an endless cycle of ongoing thefts. Deputy Toronto Police chief Rob Johnson pointed out the evidence of failure to prosecute and imprison emphasized the "crucial role of collaboration in tackling issues that affect our community".

Self-evidently the package of Trudeau Liberal bail reforms meant, the public is informed, to address Canada's problem with "catch and release" will be ineffectual as long as the justice system in soft court action undermines the critical element of police action to shut down crime's easy pickings. The amendments in Bill C-46 meant to address "serious repeat violent offending" was meant to be enforced from January 4. It has failed to make the slightest dent in the escalating incidents of car thefts.

This Ford F-150 truck was reported stolen from a Montreal suburb in late 2022. Within months, it was seized in West Africa by organized crime investigators.The Quebec licence plate was found discarded in the bed of the vehicle. (David Common/CBC)

 

The federal government received a barrage of complaints throughout 2023 from police and provincial governments complaining that lax federal bail policies in and of itself was the cause of a rise in violent crimes by recidivist offenders. "I really can't express the level of urgency that people feel about this in communities. It's non-negotiable. The basic requirement of our justice system is that it keeps people safe and it's not meeting that standard right now", stated British Columbia Premier David Eby. 

A letter signed by all 13 provincial and territorial premiers advised the federal government of their overwhelmed police departments by "a small number of prolific and violent offenders". The letter went on to charge that "The justice system fundamentally needs to keep anyone who poses a threat to public safety off the streets." Ontario Provincial Police commissioner Thomas Carrique called for bail reform following the shooting death of Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala who, performing a routine checkstop, was shot and killed by a suspect out on bail for a previous crime of violence.

 

The Criminal Code amendment meant to toughen bail for violent offenders failed to impose hard provisions to persuade judges that their generosity with bail was inimical to public safety. Accused criminals continue to be caught by police in the commission of violent crimes while they are out on bail, or with a release order. A week ago, a 15-year-old boy in Toronto was charged with failing to comply with a release order at the same time that he was being charged with armed robbery; he had been released recently from custody.

Three masked men broke into a home in Brampton and stole a set of car keys. Two of the three take off. The third man gets into a car in the driveway but cannot start it. He flees but is chased by family members, tackled and pinned down until police arrive. Video captured it all.