Bail hearings will no longer be a “get out of jail free card,’ Canada’s Minister of Justice told Breakfast Television during an interview on Friday — a day after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government introduced sweeping reforms on the contentious topic.
The Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, introduced on Thursday morning, would make it harder to obtain bail for a broader range of crimes, including vehicle theft, organized crime, extortion, retail theft, and break-and-enters.
“We are adjusting the language in the criminal code significantly to say that bail hearings are not a get-out-of-jail-free card; they don’t mandate a person’s release,” Fraser said.
Fraser, who is also the Attorney General of Canada, defended the legislation despite Crime Severity Index statistics showing a 4 per cent drop in police-reported crime in 2024.
That dip, however, followed three consecutive years of increases, something Fraser was quick to note.
“We have seen a downward trend in the last full year that we have statistics, but this follows several years of increasing crime across Canada,” he said.
“When we hear from the police that they are frustrated with the same people that they are arresting, who are committing crimes time and time again after they are released, and we see people receiving sentences that aren’t necessarily proportionate to the severity of the crime they commit, particularly with violent and serious repeat offenders, we know that we have to take action.”
Some critics, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, say the bill undermines the Charter right to reasonable bail.
Fraser said the reforms come after extensive consultations with police and community leaders.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from Canadians that the justice system hasn’t kept up with their lived reality,” he said. “We undertook an extensive series of engagements with law enforcement, with provincial governments, the people who work within the system and manage the system, to understand what more we can do to keep communities safe.”
Fraser stressed that the bail and sentencing reforms are “part of a broader strategy that’s going to have tougher penalties for serious crime, but it’s also going to have more support on the front line and more investment upstream in things like affordable housing, mental health and addiction, and supports for at-risk youth.”
When asked why it took the Liberal government so long to enact change, Fraser replied: “I think there are actions we could’ve taken or perhaps we should have done at a previous point, but it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing.”
With files from The Canadian Press
