It’s clear that Bill C-48 hasn’t gone far enough.
The intent of the federal legislation, which came into effect at the beginning of the year, was to strengthen Canada's bail system when it comes to repeat offenders. Sadly, there’s still a long way to go.
Our justice system has quite rightly been criticized for its catch-and-release policies where repeat offenders, often of the violent variety, are let out to commit further crimes. These individuals put an inordinate strain on our policing resources and put the safety of all Canadians in jeopardy.
Case in point is the murder of Tori Dunn, the 30-year-old Surrey, B.C. woman who was stabbed to death in her own home in June of this year. The man charged with second-degree murder, a 40-year-old with an extensive criminal record in three provinces, was out on bail at the time.
It’s obvious this tragedy could have been prevented if Dunn’s alleged killer had been kept behind bars, but, sadly, he wasn’t, despite a string of violent offences dating back 15 years. How is it possible that someone with that history, someone who contravened his parole conditions by possessing knives, is granted bail?
It’s further mindboggling that the day after the Dunn murder, her alleged killer was charged with stabbing another woman three weeks earlier. His possible involvement in that crime presumably hadn’t come to light at the time of the bail hearing, but it’s not just hindsight that would have pointed to him being a risk to public safety.
As Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has repeatedly stated, keeping dangerous, repeat offenders off our streets shouldn’t be a controversial proposition. Our government owes us that much, yet here we are, still forced to call for such reforms.
Tori Dunn’s murder shows that we still have a long way to go.
