Tory leader says he’d deny bail for some criminals
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s promise to deny bail for violent repeat offenders has long been criticized for appearing to flout an accused’s Charter right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Poilievre has said his plan would be constitutional, without explaining how — until Monday, when he suggested he would use the Charter itself to exempt his laws from it if he became prime minister.
His reference to the Constitution’s “notwithstanding clause” during a speech to the Canadian Police Association marked a renewed foray into politically sensitive territory. The Liberals immediately accused him of being prepared to trample on people’s rights willy-nilly and undermine democracy in the process.
Bail reform is one element of Poilievre’s justice platform. Other ideas include consecutive rather than concurrent prison sentences for people convicted of multiple murders, as well as incarcerating those people in maximum-security prisons for their entire sentences.
His proposals are grounded in a belief that the current structure of the federal corrections system is too lenient to deter those who commit the most serious crimes, and prioritizes the rights of violent criminals over those of victims and their family members.
And he’ll do what it takes to make his plans law, Poilievre said during a speech in Ottawa that included an overview of what he wants to do.
“All of my proposals are constitutional, and we will make sure we will make them constitutional. We’re using whatever tools the Constitution allows me to use to make them constitutional,” he said Monday. “I think you know exactly what I mean.”
Initially, Poilievre’s office refused to answer questions about what exactly he did mean. That prompted one Liberal cabinet minister to accuse Poilievre of lacking the courage to be honest about his plans.
In response, a spokesperson clarified Tuesday morning that yes, Poilievre was indeed talking about using the notwithstanding clause to override Charter rights.
“Mr. Poilievre has openly spoken about using that section of Canada’s Constitution in the past … as he did again yesterday,” Sebastian Skamski said Tuesday in a written statement that was released after reporters pressed Poilievre to expand on his remarks following a speech at an unrelated event.
There, Poilievre noted he’d previously announced his position on the use of the notwithstanding clause, pointing to a statement he made during his party’s leadership race in 2022.
At the time, the Supreme Court had just struck down a sentencing provision introduced by the last Conservative government, which allowed judges to impose consecutive periods of parole ineligibility for people convicted of multiple murders. Poilievre said if he became prime minister, he’d use the notwithstanding clause to restore the law.
He wasn’t the only leadership candidate to do so, and it wasn’t the first time a Conservative had suggested using the constitutional override; it had also been raised in previous Tory leadership contests, largely in response to Canada’s top court striking down laws introduced by the last Conservative government.
That Poilievre resurfaced the idea was quickly seized upon by the Liberals as further evidence for the argument they’ve been trying to mount in recent weeks: that Poilievre is a danger to Canada.
Meanwhile, in response to those reading into his approach, Poilievre said the scope of what he’s actually proposing will be detailed — eventually.
“My platform will be clear.”