Saskatchewan’s Justice Minister Calls for Reverse Onus System for Weapons Offences

Razor wire is seen at a prison in a file photo. (David McNew/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre reiterated calls for bail reform during a Justice Committee meeting on Monday, which included a request for a new reverse onus system for weapons offences.

“Police chiefs across the country are calling for reform. Sheriffs deployed to cities, downtowns, provinces are having to devote and deploy additional resources to community safety. States of emergency are on the rise on reserves,” Eyre said in her opening statement. “In Canada, there is no question that social disorder and crime are on the rise.”

Eyre highlighted that according to Statistics Canada, in Saskatchewan in 2021, there were over 15,274 incidents of bail violations, which was a 9 percent increase since 2020.

Saskatchewan has expressed concerns with federal bill C-75, passed in 2019, which established a principle of restraint that favours release on bail at the “earliest reasonable opportunity and on the least onerous conditions,” according to Eyre.

Bill C-75 modified bail provisions with a focus on addressing the “overrepresentation of Indigenous persons and accused from vulnerable groups who are traditionally disadvantaged in obtaining bail,” according to background information on the bill from the Department of Justice.

Earlier in 2023, following the murder of Ontario Provincial Police Const. Greg Pierzchala by a repeat offender who was released on bail, Canada’s premiers unanimously called on Ottawa to establish a “reverse onus” system for firearm offences, which would require the person seeking bail to show why they should not stay behind bars.

On March 10, Justice Minister David Lametti said the federal government would move forward quickly on a “targeted reform” of Canada’s bail system.

“The reforms will address the challenges posed by repeat violent offenders, as well as offences committed involving the use of firearms and other weapons,” Lametti said.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba recently called on the federal government to expand the reverse onus provisions in bail for crimes involving knives and bear spray, Eyre said.

Eyre also recommended strengthening the language in Bill C-75 around the importance of community safety, as well as requiring judges to provide written consideration of the impacts on public safety when releasing violent offenders on bail.

Criminal Lawyers Association: Bail Already Difficult to Obtain in Canada

Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, told the committee that bail reform is a complex issue, “and we do not claim to have all the answers.” But he made several recommendations to the committee, including establishing a specific definition of prolific or repeat violent offender, which would give judges a set of guidelines to work with when considering bail applications, “particularly in situations where reverse onus provisions already exist.”

He also recommended the increased use of technology—particularly in electronic monitoring of offenders on bail—to help “maintain public safety in our communities,” as well as better data collection to ensure that “any policies that are developed are evidence-based and that can and can be evaluated for effectiveness, and to better understand how frequently bail is breached.”

“I want to be absolutely clear here today; we’re not asking for a tough-on-crime solution,” Stamatakis said. “Instead, we ask for a more balanced approach that prioritizes prevention and rehabilitation as well.”

Stamatakis told the committee there are no police forces in Canada that currently have the capacity to track violent offenders released on bail to ensure they’re complying with their conditions. “And if we were to do that, it requires a significant allocation of resources and it has a significant impact on a budget. So you’re allocating resources that you now can’t use for some other important services,” he said.

Boris Bytensky, treasurer of the Criminal Lawyers Association (CLA), said bail courts in Canada are “not lenient” and it’s already difficult for people to obtain bail. He said increasing the number of offences that are subject to a reverse onus provision is “not likely to have any significant impact on any future case, and will not help to better protect the public.”

“Possession of handguns, for example, is already facing a de facto reversal in a situation even though the law may not call it that,” he said. “Every single lawyer that represents a client in bail court on these types of charges comes prepared to argue about why their client should be released, regardless of what the onus in the criminal code actually says.”

Bytensky said, from the perspective of the CLA, the best way to protect public safety is to release more people on bail with fewer conditions, in a quicker and more efficient manner.

“While this may seem counterintuitive ... studies show that the short-term gains realized by keeping an individual in custody without bail are outweighed by the increased risk to public safety that will relate to the very same individual when he or she is eventually released,” he said.

“To proceed efficiently and more quickly will allow judicial decision-makers to have more time to deal with the serious cases, to deal with them more appropriately and more fairly, and to deal with them based on better information.”