Ontario is making some changes to how the province handles bail.
On Monday, it was announced that Ontario would be making some significant changes to how bail is administered, with the goals of improving bail compliance and keeping violent offenders behind bars. Quinte News spoke to Ontario’s Attorney General, Doug Downey, about the changes to the bail system. He outlined the main changes they’re putting in place.
“There are a couple of changes, and one in particular is the cash will actually have to be put up if it’s required, as opposed to just a promise to at some point in the future,” said the Attorney General. “The second piece is that we’re collecting different information for sureties to make sure that we have the information to collect bail more quickly and easily, and adding tools to the toolkit to make sure that we have stronger enforcement.”
Under the previous system, when an offender was released on bail, they were only required to pay if they were found to have breached their bail conditions. The new system combines the upfront deposit with measures including wage garnishment, property forfeiture, and liens on properties, in order to make it easier to collect on any owed bail money.
“There were people who were released and the system didn’t require them to actually put up anything for us to collect,” said the Attorney General. “What’s called a mistreatment of bail hearing would be to go back in front of a judge to have a conversation to try and and realize on the promise, but that’s a very administrative-heavy process, and we were wanting our court time used for for prosecutions.”
The Attorney General was also asked about the potential impacts of the new system on jail overpopulation, with Ontario’s jails continuing to operate over capacity. He said that they will be ready for any impacts the new bail system may have.
“The decision will rest with the judges about what consequences are levelled in regard to being held in custody, so that will not change. But at the same time, we’re expanding jail capacity all over the place. The the solicitor general is making announcement after announcement, adding hundreds of beds to to our system,” the Attorney General said.
While the new system took effect on Monday, there is already some opposition. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Criminal Lawyers’ Association have made statements that they believe the new bail regime may violate charter rights, and have filed a court challenge.
