North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas and council want more action taken towards keeping repeat violent offenders off the streets.
At a recent council meeting, Douglas was given a green light from council to send a letter to the federal Justice Minister Arif Virani asking that changes be made to Canada’s criminal code to make the bail system more strict for some more serious offenders.
He said he would like to see the bail system changed to make it more difficult for those accused of certain offences, including those charged with a serious violent offence involving a weapon, released on bail.
Douglas said that earlier this year, in response to calls for bail reform from Canada’s provincial premiers and police chiefs, Virani introduced Bill C-48 which proposes a stricter bail system for some in the country.
“Unfortunately, these proposed changes stalled in Parliament before it was adjourned (in June) and will not be further debated and reviewed by both the House of Commons and the Senate until September,” he said.
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Douglas said the issue was raised during a meeting he and staff had last month with local RCMP and Cowichan/Malahat/Langford MP Alistair MacGregor on issues regarding homelessness, the drug crisis and street disorder in North Cowichan.
He said part of the discussion focused on the issue of repeat violent offenders who are impacting communities across the country, including the Cowichan Valley.
“These are individuals typically with lengthy criminal records who account for an out-sized proportion of the criminal activity in their given communities which are impacting local neighbourhoods, businesses and also the most vulnerable people who are experiencing homelessness,” Douglas said.
“Some of you [council members] may remember last fall when some mayors from B.C.’s urban centres sent a letter to the province criticizing the justice system for taking, what they referred to, a catch-and-release approach to some of these repeat violent offenders.”
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Douglas said that, since then, there have been several high-profile incidents in Canada involving individuals who committed serious crimes while out on bail.
He said in response, the province launched new coordinated response teams that include police, probation officers and prosecutors who monitor these type of cases while investigations are ongoing, and provide information that could lead to keeping these offenders in custody before their trials.
“However, further changes are needed at the federal level to keep these repeat violent offenders in jail while awaiting trial, including to the criminal code,” Douglas said.
“[MacGregor] has advised me that if we were able to send a letter [to the Ministry of Justice], it would put him in a strong position to raise the issue in the House of Commons and hopefully put some pressure on the federal government to act quickly on this file.”
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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