Ontario’s Ford Backs ‘Castle Law’ After Car Owner Charged for Shooting at Thieves

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at an event in Toronto on Jan. 13, 2025. The Canadian Press/Chris Young

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he supports self-defence in cases of car theft or home invasion, following an incident in the city of Vaughan in which a car theft victim was charged with discharging a firearm.

“I gotta find out this guy’s name and number, and I gotta hold a fundraiser for lawyer fees for him,” Ford said regarding the victim at an unrelated June 17 press conference. “He should get a medal for standing up.”

York Regional Police laid multiple charges against the suspects and victim involved in an attempted vehicle theft on June 12 in the city of Vaughan.

Officers were called to a Vaughan residence around 4 a.m. on June 12, and the 911 dispatcher reported hearing a firearm being discharged while taking the call, police says.

Police say they arrested four suspects who were attempting to steal a vehicle upon arrival as well as the resident, who police say discharged a firearm during the attempted theft. There were no injuries as a result of the incident.

The 35-year-old Vaughan resident faces numerous charges including discharging a firearm, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, carelessly storing a firearm, and unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm.

“We want to make clear that discharging a firearm in a residential area is extremely dangerous,” the police says in a news release. “You risk hurting innocent people, including neighbours, your own family, or responding officers. Taking justice into your own hands is not the answer.”

However, Ford said that Canada should have “castle law,” also known as castle doctrine, like the United States does. The provision gives individuals the right to “use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect themselves against an intruder in their home,” the U.S. National Conference of State Legislatures says.

“Someone breaks into your house and they’re coming after your kids and they’re coming after your spouse, you’re going to fight like you’ve never fought before,” Ford said at the press conference. “You’re going to use anything that you have, be it weapons, baseball bats, knives. You’re protecting your family. These thugs shouldn’t be coming in there.”

‘Surprise, Surprise’

Ford added that four criminals tried to steal a vehicle from his driveway the night before; however, two Toronto police cars patrolling the area arrested the alleged thieves.

“So four thugs come racing down my street, masks on, ready to take the car out of the driveway,” Ford said. “Surprise, surprise. At 12:30, the two police cars are there. The chase is on.”

Toronto police say that officers observed suspects wearing masks in a vehicle that slowed down as it approached a driveway in the Lawrence Avenue West and Royal York Road area around 12:30 a.m. on June 17. Police initiated a vehicle stop, investigated the suspects, and found a car key programming device and a programmable master key inside the vehicle, a June 17 news release says.

Two adults and two youth were arrested and charged with possessing an electronic device for motor vehicle theft and unlawfully purchasing an automobile master key, police say. One of the youths was also charged with resisting arrest and failing to comply with an undertaking, the release says.

Toronto police told The Epoch Times that the police force has “designated officers who supplement the Premier’s security detail in Toronto,” but would not confirm what the intended target in this incident was.

‘A Lawless Society’

Ford said that although the alleged car thieves were arrested, “they’re going to be back out.”

“I’m sick and tired of the weak justice system that we have,” Ford said. “They have to get a backbone and we need to start throwing these people in jail. This is turning into a lawless society.”

The premier referenced multiple instances of individuals being released soon after they were charged with criminal offences including drug related offences and violent crimes. He said that he will continue to urge Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal government to change the bail system to ensure criminals remain in jail instead of “running amok and terrorizing our neighbourhoods.”

Last month, Ford urged Carney in a May 5 letter to enact bail reforms, and he proposed legislation aimed at strengthening Ontario’s bail system.

“The federal government needs to put in place mandatory minimum sentences for serious crimes, a mandatory three strike rule requiring pretrial detention for repeat offenders and stricter bail and sentencing laws to better respond to the severity of a range of violent offences,” Ford said to Carney in his letter.

The Liberal Party platform pledged to strengthen Canada’s criminal code and make bail laws stricter for violent and organized crime, home invasion, car theft, and human trafficking.

The party’s platform said its government will make it “harder to get bail” for those charged with violent car theft, car theft for a criminal organization, home invasion, and certain human trafficking and smuggling offences “by establishing a reverse onus for these crimes.”

“Tougher sentencing guidelines” for repeat offenders would also be implemented, the platform says, by directing courts to primarily consider denunciation and deterrence when sentencing repeat offenders and by allowing consecutive sentencing.

Jennifer Cowan contributed to this report.