Violent, repeat offenders being released on bail due to 'unintended consequences': B.C. attorney general

B.C.'s attorney general says unintended consequences of bail reform in Canada are leading to more repeat offenders, some of them accused of random violence, ending up on the streets.

Murray Rankin made the comments to CTV News while attending a national conference of justice and public safety ministers in Nova Scotia, where every province and territory will highlight their priorities. In B.C., the issue of repeat offenders and random crime is a hot topic.

Rankin said recent reforms to bail provisions through Bill C-75 mean bail is essentially the rule, and keeping an accused offender behind bars is the exception.

"That's what we're going to ask the federal government: Are there things that we can do?" Rankin explained. "This was an unintended consequence of the reform, and now we need to see if we can get them to fix the Criminal Code part of it."

The attorney general said he believed this was an issue for provinces across the country. He said while the law needed changing, Ottawa also needed to step up with funding to help with substance abuse, mental health, and other issues that are leading to a spike in random crime.

The issue of whether B.C.'s attorney general could issue a directive to Crown counsel on bail considerations is the subject of heated debate in the legislature.

The opposition Liberals believe that should be done, and could quickly make a difference in the violence many people and businesses face. The minister insists it may not be that easy.

"We've been looking at that in the past and will continue to is whether or not it would be held up in the courts as legal. What's the sense of doing something that you know, like, but that you that you are advised will not work?" Rankin added.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees every person accused of a crime "not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause."

Bill C-75 was meant to "modernize" bail conditions, and to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous People in Canadian jails.