Ontario’s Premier is renewing calls for bail reform.
Premier Doug Ford says he is frustrated with repeat offenders who are arrested by police and allowed back to the streets with days or hours later.
“With a newly elected federal government now in place, we are counting on them to bring in stronger penalties and more restrictive conditions for bail, so violent repeat offenders stay behind bars and off our streets,” says Ford.
Ford’s remark came while announcing the latest in a series of measures this week aimed at making Ontario’s communities safer.
Propose legislation will make permanent Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams (ISVCBTs) that work with law enforcement to ensure individuals comply with bail conditions.
It will also be easier to collect forfeited bail money from people who breached conditions and allow for a new user fee for people required to wear monitoring devices with the funds directed toward victim support programs.
But Ford says as much as the province does, action from the federal government is still necessary.
“We’re throwing everything in the kitchen sink at fighting crime,” says Ford.
“We need the federal government to do the same thing. We need mandatory sentencing that if someone commits a heinous crime. I’m not talking about stealing a chocolate bar. I’m talking about drugs and heinous crimes. They need to stay in jail.”
Ford also lashed out at the judicial system and judges who decide to release individuals or overturn government decisions.
The province earlier this week announced changes to how judges would be appointed.
While not part of the legislation, Ford suggests electing judges might be a better option to fix what he calls a broken system.
“We should do what the U.S. does. Let’s start electing our judges, holding them accountable,” says Ford.
“We get elected, move forward, and some judge, because of the ideology, decides, well, let’s put an injunction on bike lanes. You got to be kidding me.”
The Ford government’s tough-on-crime measures are expected to be introduced at Queen’s Park this week.
