Conservatives push for bail reform
Conservative MPS pressed the Liberal government to toughen up bail rules for repeat violent offenders Thursday, pointing to the killings of five police officers and a surge of violence on public transit.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre cited “staggering anecdotes of people being hit in the face with ice picks on transit stations or doused in flammable liquids and lit aflame” and “random attacks on strangers on the streets of Vancouver and Toronto.”
Poilievre said the five police officers killed in the past five months were “murdered in some cases by multiple offenders who were out on early bail.”
The Conservatives introduced an opposition motion Thursday calling for bail reform. In a debate in the House of Commons, they cited a January letter from provincial and territorial leaders asking the government to implement stricter rules.
Conservative MP Raquel Dancho said “Canadians across the country are growing increasingly alarmed by the violent crime wave impacting every major community and in rural communities across the country.”
Justice Minister David Lametti said he is in talks with the provinces and territories since October, but that he will be convening an emergency meeting shortly.
“In the coming days, I will be reaching out to justice and public safety counterparts to convene an urgent (federal-provincial-territorial) meeting to continue our important work on bail,” he said. “I'm hopeful that together we can review the product of months of joint work by federal and provincial officials and agree on a comprehensive path forward.”