The Failed Canadian Justice System

"Where are the judges who make these decisions?"

"Our members are held accountable for the decisions they make and the actions they take."

"Why isn't anyone else?" 

Toronto Police Association

 

"What we expect from the Crown -- what you and the public should expect -- is that the Crown is a zealous advocate for justice."

"Unfortunately, so far, we have not seen that in this case."

Megan Hankeich, executive director, legal services, Edmonton Police Service

 

"This decision is not only profoundly disrespectful to Constable Scott's family and colleagues, it is a slap in the face to every police officer who puts their life on the line each and every shift to keep our communities safe."

National Police Federation 

 

"...This incident comes just days after RCMP Members in Nanaimo apprehended a subject who was threatening residents with a machete while also out on bail, as well as a drive-by shooting in Coquitlam last week believed to involve suspects known to police."

National Police Federation

 

"Catch and release" justice has infuriated Canadian police agencies for years, and the situation has more latterly become a full-blown crisis of crime and criminals being let off the hook of responsibility by a lenient system of justice. Police do their jobs, trying to protect the public from sociopaths, psychopaths and the criminal elements that invariably infect every society, only to see soft-on-crime judges rule that those committing serious crimes are still eligible for bail and release. While prison parole boards opt for parole and early release for those committing themselves to terrorizing whole communities.

 

Appeals by police services to the federal government to harden bail for repeat offenders have fallen on deaf ears. The previous Conservative government had imposed hard bail conditions for criminal offenders, only to see follow-up Liberal legislation reverse the decisions made by their predecessors. Rising crime rates led to the Conservative move in an effort to make sociopaths understand there are consequences to their violent actions. Since the Liberal softening of consequences crime rates have soared in Canada.

 

In the past decade, identity-based justice and a distaste for punishment has created a regime that allows chronic offenders to walk free  Tristin Hopper, National Post

 

The Toronto Police Association was infuriated in a case where a 12-year-old on a release order took part in the beating death of a homeless man in Toronto. In Edmonton, police slammed Crown prosecutors for their failure in pursuing murder charges for a woman who killed an eight-year-old Indigenous girl. The child's whereabouts were unknown in 2023, missing from her Alberta home until her body was discovered in the back of a pickup truck stuffed into a hockey bag.

 

Crown prosecutors agreed to a 'solution' where the accused killer of the girl would plead guilty to manslaughter thus avoiding a murder prosecution. Provincial officials were called by Edmonton police to annul the agreement; while details of the case had been placed under a publication ban shield, outraged police threatened to publicly disclose key details of the case if the plea agreement proceeded. 

 

Two months ago the Parole Board of Canada released a convicted police-killer 17 years into his 25-year capital sentence. Convicted of first-degree murder for the 2007 shooting death of RCMP Constable Douglas Scott in Kimmirut, Nunavut, Pingoatuk Kolola was given an early release. Constable Scott was the sole police officer in Kimmirut. His death resulted in eliminating single-member detachments in northern communities. The parole board can approve unescorted prison releases or day parole, despite first-degree mandatory 25-years incarceration.

 

In the face of rising crime rates, Canadian police have all but abandoned traditional agreement on Canadian justice policies; they are now more vocal in calling for measures to tighten bail and release conditions for chronic offenders; it is their job as professional defenders of the public weal to view public safety and security as society's first order of business. Their end of the justice system is rooting out crime, apprehending offenders and turning them over to the justice system. Closure cannot be found when the justice system simply releases chronic offenders with no imposed penalty, leading to re-offence.

 

OPP Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala was killed in action two days after Christmas, around 2:30 p.m., while responding to a black truck in the ditch near Hagersville, Ont. (Submitted by Bill Dickson)

 

The 2022 murder of Ontario Provincial Police constable Grzegorz Pierzchala and its outcome was the initial spur to Canadian police calling for justice reform in a loud, collective voice. Shot and killed during a routine roadside check by a chronic offender with a lengthy history of violent offences, Constable Pierzchala's murderer was given bail owing to his Indigenous background. Justice Harrison Arrell who presided over the case cited an "obligation" to consider that the accused was "a status Aboriginal". 

 

The response was police agencies calling out for tightened bail conditions; a reversal of Liberal changes that saw judges such as Arrell required to consider the "marginalized" identity of criminal defendants in their final judgements. According to OPP commissioner Thomas Carique, strict bail conditions would have resulted in victims like Constable Pierzchala being spared their lives.

 

A year ago, the National Police Federation addressed the "catch and release" format so regularly employed by the justice system, calling for its cessation following horrific stranger attacks in downtown Vancouver when a man with over 60 documented police interventions slashed two random pedestrians, killing one, severing another's hand.

 

"Over the last two years, we've seen serious incidents related to our bail system that have put the lives of police service members and our communities in danger", pointed out Mark Baxter, president, Police Association of Ontario, his statement co-signed by the Ontario Provincial Police Association. This, following a routine police check in Toronto where an all-out gang shootout occurred. Leading three Ontario police associations to call for "immediate action" on bail reform. 

 

Police unions in Toronto, Surrey, B.C., and Peel Region in Ontario accused the Liberal government of ignoring a deadly gun crime situation, driven by illegal firearms smuggled into Canada from the United States. "What difference does your handgun ban make when 85 percent of guns seized by our members can be sourced to the United States?" they asked, responding to then-prime minister Justin Trudeau self-congratulating the success of his government's gun bans, and a "freeze" on sale or transfer of legal handguns. 

 

Pallbearers carry the casket of OPP Const. Grzegorz “Greg” Pierzchala after his funeral in Barrie, Ont. on Jan. 4, 2022. Randall McKenzie, the man charged with first-degree murder in the young officer’s death, was deemed violent, unpredictable and likely to reoffend — yet was out on bail. Photo by Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press