BY SIMONE J. SMITH
On April 27th, 2023, the Ontario government announced that they would be investing $112 million to immediately strengthen the province’s bail system and ensure that high-risk and repeat violent offenders comply with their bail conditions.
The funding will be used to: support new technology, establish violent crime bail teams, expand the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement Squad and provide prosecutors with the resources they need to conduct complex bail hearings.
“As the country and our province face rising crime rates and people are feeling increasingly unsafe in their communities, this funding will help ensure anyone out on bail is following the rules and high-risk, repeat offenders are kept in jail,” said Premier Doug Ford. “We can’t have a justice system where violent criminals are arrested one day and back out on the streets the next. We’re doing our part to fix a broken bail system and look forward to working with our federal partners to finish the job.”
Specifics of the investment include:
The creation of a new bail compliance and warrant apprehension grant
$24 million will be made available over three years to help the OPP and municipal and First Nations police services establish dedicated bail compliance teams. Teams will also assist prosecutors with gathering evidence and assessing public safety risk during the bail hearing stage.
Grant funding may also be used to acquire bail compliance technology or support a network that police services could use to share bail offender information.
Expansion of the OPP Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad
$48 million to create a dedicated Bail Compliance Unit within the OPP’s Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement Squad. This new dedicated, provincewide, Bail Compliance Unit will apprehend high-risk provincial offenders who have broken their bail conditions or are unlawfully at large.
Establishment of intensive serious violent crime bail teams
$26 million to create Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams within the courts system to ensure that there are dedicated prosecutors and subject matter experts to prepare for and properly conduct the often lengthy and complex bail hearings.
Rollout of the bail compliance dashboard
A new provincewide bail monitoring system to allow police services to monitor high-risk offenders with the most accurate data possible.
One mayoral candidate was not convinced about this proposal and released his feeling about the announced bail system reform.
Black people in Canada have historically been impacted by the courts in various ways and continue to face systemic discrimination within the justice system. There have been numerous cases in which Black Canadians have been unfairly targeted, overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and faced harsher sentences compared to non-Black Canadians.
For example, studies have shown that Black Canadians are more likely to be stopped, searched, and arrested by police, and are overrepresented in the prison population. They are also less likely to be granted bail, more likely to receive longer prison sentences, and more likely to be placed in solitary confinement.
Furthermore, the courts have not always been a reliable means of seeking justice for Black Canadians who have experienced discrimination and racial profiling. There have been cases in which Black Canadians have been wrongfully convicted and have had to fight for years to have their names cleared.
It is why mayoral candidate Knia Singh released a letter snapping back at Premier Ford, and the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper has that letter here for you.
“This week Premier Doug Ford announced $112 million towards bail reform under the premise of making the Province of Ontario Safer. It has been said that our bail system is broken, and as a practicing lawyer in the courts daily, I can assure you it is not.
Judge’s, JP’s, Crown Attorneys and Defense lawyers all diligently evaluate the allegations, evidence supporting the allegations and the sureties proposed to determine the risk to the community if the accused were to be released. The principles of bail are enshrined in the Constitution of the country and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
You cannot reform bail without tearing apart the Constitution and setting the new standard as guilty until proven innocent. s.11(d) of the _Charter_ states: 11 Any person charged with an offence has the right (d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal; (e) not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause; Any potential risk associated with the release of an accused is balanced by the terms of release, how many sureties are provided and what the financial amount pledged is.
Overcrowding in Ontario jails suggests that the bail system is not broken. Using millions of dollars to create special bail conditions that target serious violent repeat offenders, will be subject to the frailties of human bias that have been the deficiency in this Province’s exercise of authority since its inception.
To scapegoat the justice system as the cause of repeat offences is to ignore the failures of the Solicitor General and Attorney General when it comes to rehabilitation in our Province’s Detention Centers.
Ontario jails are a breeding ground for criminality and violence that has failed to address the smuggling of contraband inside Ontario’s prisons by Detention Centre employees and fails to address the lack of social support while those denied bail are detained.
If you house people in cages and treat them like animals and fail to address the root cause of the alleged criminal behavior, then you have demonstrated you have no desire to correct the problem, and you have a vested interest in ensuring the problem remains.
Premier Ford, the $112 million dollars you have pledged for resources that already exist can be better used to address safety in the province, specifically Toronto, by providing funding for mental health supports, to subsidize housing, and to create career opportunities so criminal activity is averted.
The initiative announced seems like an attempt to secure votes, rather than provide solutions.”
Sincerely, Knia Singh,
What are your thoughts, community; is this just an attempt by Premier Ford to secure votes?
