The bail reform B.C. ministers want to see from the federal government

Provincial ministers fresh from meetings in Ottawa are outlining what bail reform may look like, as random, and repeat violent offenses are up across the country.

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth and Attorney General Nikki Sharma say they and their provincial cohorts are pushing for changes in response to "unintended consequences" from federal amendments to Bill C-75.

Through the legislation, the government changed bail provisions to strengthen an accused's "right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause."

Observers say an increase in repeat and random violent assaults is linked to the bail changes.

Now, the B.C. ministers say they're hoping to see a "reverse onus" for such cases.

Currently, the law is based on the principle that people are presumed innocent until they're found guilty.

For the most part, that means its up to crown prosecutors to prove a person should remain in custody. A reverse onus situation happens in serious offenses like murder or sexual assault with a weapon.

In those situations, the presumption is that the person should be detained unless there's reason to release them.

Provincial justice ministers are now looking for that reverse onus to be on a broader set of cases, said Sharma.

"We advocated for the broadest interpretation of repeat violent offenders. So whether that's random violence, random attacks with or without a weapon—that individuals that have been shown to make their communities unsafe to violence should have the onus of being held unless there's a good reason to release them before trial," Sharma added.

"So certainly, we expect that those would be one amongst the targeted changes that Ottawa will propose."

While the province has directed prosecutors to seek detention for those accused of violent, repeat attacks, the BC Prosecution Service said it didn't have any conclusive data about any trends.

Kyla Lee, a criminal lawyer in Vancouver, said she doesn’t believe more reforms will necessarily go as far as the province hopes.

"I don't think that we'll see violent repeat offenders like those that we see often in the Downtown Eastside with those sort of random attacks…I expect what we will see is this will apply to people who commit violent offenses involving firearms, because that has been sort of a target issue for the Liberal government," explained Lee.

Whether those changes could include broadening firearms to weapons is unclear.

Bill C-75 also sought to deal with the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Canada's jails.

Lee said tracking shows it's had little to no impact on that.

The province is also promising new steps this week to help keep those charged with repeat violent offenses off the streets, and instead connected to services to get them the help they need.