Major changes are coming to Canada's bail and sentencing laws, with the goal of curbing many of the major crimes that have plagued the Greater Toronto Area in recent years, including carjackings and violent home invasions. According to CityNews, it will now be up to cities and provinces to implement and enforce the new rules.
The changes, introduced under Bill C-14, are described as a long time coming. Police chiefs and mayors right across the GTA have been calling for them for several years now.
Ontario's attorney general said the province has been planning for these changes. If people should be behind bars, they will be behind bars, the attorney general said, signalling the province's intention to enforce the tougher rules.
As part of that preparation, the province recently announced plans to add more than 2,500 permanent jail beds within the next decade. The additional capacity is to come from building new facilities and reopening old ones that were closed by the previous government.
However, critics say Ontario jails are already overcrowded and do not have the capacity to potentially take in an influx of people awaiting their trial dates. They warn that the system could be strained as more accused are held before trial.
Critics also note that building thousands of additional jail beds years from now does nothing to address crowding today. The concern is that the new capacity will arrive long after the rules take effect.
Among those who have supported the move is Mayor Patrick Brown, who advocated for bail reform. As the federal changes move toward implementation, the focus now shifts to provinces such as Ontario, which is expanding its corrections capacity to match the new bail and sentencing framework.