A federal government bill designed to toughen up bail rules to keep many more serious offenders behind bars has cleared a key House of Commons committee after a deal with the Conservatives to speed its passage into law.
In a marathon committee hearing that ended at 1 a.m. on Thursday morning, MPs voted to send Bill C-14 to the Senate, the next stage in the parliamentary process.
The bill would make obtaining bail more difficult, particularly for violent and repeat offenders. For example, it would require that a judge, before issuing a release or detention order, consider whether the accused is charged with an offence involving random and unprovoked violence.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser’s bill was considered line by line by MPs on the Commons justice committee on Wednesday and early into Thursday morning.
In a social-media post on Thursday, Mr. Fraser said that law enforcement, mayors and premiers had called for the bill to move forward swiftly.
Consideration of amendments were fast-tracked after the Conservatives said they would not oppose it. In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney in December, Leader Pierre Poilievre offered to support the bail bill and other measures.
In return for that co-operation, the government agreed to park temporarily its anti-hate bill, which the Conservatives oppose. Tory MPs held up the anti-hate bill with lengthy filibustering tactics in the Commons justice committee before MPs’ winter break. The two main parties agreed to switch the committee’s attention for three meetings to the bail bill instead.
The bill, backed by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, would expand what are known as reverse onuses, making continuing detention the default option for more people accused of serious crimes. It would then be the responsibility of the prisoner seeking bail to show why they should not stay behind bars while they await their trial.
A reverse onus is already applied to bail for some serious offences, including those involving violence with a weapon if the accused has a conviction for a similar offence within the past five years.
But the new bail regime would extend how often it is used. The tougher rules would apply to those accused of serious and organized-crime offences such as human trafficking, car theft, home invasions and sexual assault. The reverse onus would also apply to breaking and entering a home, offences where the accused is alleged to have choked, suffocated or strangled someone and human smuggling.
In addition, the bill would require courts to impose weapons prohibitions at bail for people accused of extortion and organized crime.
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Conservatives on the committee proposed a slew of amendments to toughen the bail bill further, including for foreign nationals accused of committing serious crimes.
They proposed that foreign nationals should not be given a more-lenient sentence, for example below six months, that would prevent them facing deportation. But their amendment, which would mean courts would not be able to consider the immigration consequences of a sentence, was defeated.
The bill would tighten bail for violent and repeat offenders by clarifying use of the “principle of restraint” – that the police and courts release an accused person at the earliest opportunity, with incarceration ordered as a last resort. It also makes courts prioritize rehabilitation and alternatives to custody.
C-14 would bring in changes ensuring that an accused person is not released if their detention is justified, including for the protection and safety of the public.
The Conservatives tabled an amendment, which was rejected in committee, to repeal the principle of restraint entirely.
However, a Tory amendment preventing convicted criminals from vouching as a surety for people applying for bail passed with Liberal support.
The committee backed a proposal by Bloc Québécois justice critic Rhéal Fortin to insert a clause into the bill so that in five years’ time its impact be considered by a parliamentary committee. It also supported a Conservative amendment requiring annual reporting to Parliament, providing yearly data including on recidivism rates.
Larry Brock, the Conservative justice critic, said the bail bill was not tough enough.
“This amounts to a band aid to the overall problem with our criminal-justice system, particularly bail court. It doesn’t go far enough,” Mr. Brock, a former Crown attorney, told The Globe and Mail. “They should go back to the balanced justice system before the imposition by the Liberal government of the principle of restraint in 2019.”
The justice committee is now due to return to consideration of the anti-hate bill.
In the committee on Wednesday, Conservative MP Andrew Lawton argued against Liberal plans to fast-track the anti-hate bill through the committee, saying it needed more consideration.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the bill had cleared the House of Commons and is moving to the Senate. It has cleared a key committee but has not yet cleared the House.