Tory says he regrets bail remarks
Former mayor says he’s ‘learned from this experience’
Former Toronto mayor John Tory — who was among several politicians to controversially denounce a 2021 decision to release Umar Zameer on bail without knowing the reasons for it — said Monday that he’s “learned from this experience” and should have held off on commenting.
On Sunday, Zameer was acquitted of all charges after his jury ultimately rejected the theory he intentionally killed Toronto police Const. Jeffrey Northrup in a parking garage beneath Nathan Phillips Square on July 2, 2021.
Soon after Zameer was released on bail in September 2021, Tory tweeted, “It is almost impossible to imagine a circumstance in which an accused in a case of first-degree murder would be granted bail.”
In doing so, he joined Premier Doug Ford and Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown in condemning Justice Jill Copeland’s decision — political reactions that critics have argued may have added pressure on the Crown to take the first-degree murder charge to trial.
Ford tweeted at the time “it’s completely unacceptable that the person charged for this heinous crime is now out on bail”; Brown described Copeland’s decision as “disgusting” and “very disturbing.”
Evidence and reasons at bail hearings are covered by a temporary publication ban until the conclusion of a criminal case, to protect the accused person’s right to a fair trial.
With the case now over, that publication ban has now lifted, allowing the public to know for the first time that Copeland granted Zameer bail after finding the case for murder was weak.
“There are many learnings. The first for me would be, despite pressure from the media and the public to comment on these kinds of matters, one should wait until significantly important information is available, including judicial reasons,” Tory told the Star in an emailed statement.
“The second equally important learning for me comes from my own strong continued belief, which I believe to be shared by many, that the judicial system owes it to the public, public officials and the media to do a better job of ensuring some of that significant information surrounding bail decisions is made widely known. A first-degree murder charge is arguably the most serious charge of all, and everyone needs to know in an open, transparent and timely way the basic reasons behind any decision to grant bail in such a case.”
(A publication ban does not prevent a member of the public — including politicians, their staff or journalists — from going to the courthouse and reading a decision before deciding whether to comment on it.)
In a later decision to maintain the publication ban, Copeland was harshly critical of the politicians’ comments. (Zameer’s lawyers had requested that parts of the ban be lifted, given the inflammatory comments from Tory and others.)
Responding Monday to the Star’s questions about his initial comments, Brown said that the verdict “does not alter the reality” for Northrup’s family.
His passing was “not only a tragedy for his family, but also a profound loss for our city,” Brown said in a statement that did not name Zameer.
Ford’s office did not return the Star’s request for comment.