Poilievre pitches “Jail Not Bail Act” as answer to Liberal crime crisis

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised a sweeping crackdown on bail laws Thursday, directly blaming Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government for a surge in violent crime.

Source: CPAC

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised a sweeping crackdown on bail laws Thursday, directly blaming Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government for a surge in violent crime.

Speaking in Woodbridge alongside victims’ families, Poilievre condemned what he called the Liberals’ “catch-and-release” system and pledged a Conservative government would restore safe streets through a new Jail Not Bail Act.

“Crime is raging out of control,” Poilievre said, recounting recent cases of repeat violent offenders reoffending while on bail. “All of these crimes were avoidable. If the criminals had been kept where they belonged in jail and not released”.

Poilievre attacked former Liberal justice minister David Lametti’s Bill C-75, passed in 2019, which directed judges to release accused offenders “at the earliest opportunity, under the least onerous conditions.” He said the law tied judges’ hands and created a revolving door for violent criminals.

The Conservative leader cited Statistics Canada figures showing violent crime up 55 per cent, sexual assaults up 76 per cent and extortion up 330 per cent since the Liberals came to power.

“A majority of Canadians are now afraid to live in Canada after a decade of these Liberal laws,” he said.

The Conservatives announced the Jail Not Bail Act, to be introduced this fall by Oxford MP Arpan Khanna, would repeal the Liberal “principle of restraint,” making public safety the primary consideration in bail decisions.

The legislation would also create a new “major offences” category, shifting the onus to those accused of crimes such as sexual assault, firearms offences, kidnapping, human trafficking, home invasion, robbery, extortion and arson to demonstrate they are safe to be released.

Poilievre said the bill would further require judges to consider an accused person’s full criminal history before granting bail.

It would also prevent people with prior major crime convictions from being released while awaiting trial on another serious charge.

Additionally, the act would bar anyone with an indictable conviction from serving as a guarantor for someone seeking bail.

Non-residents accused of major offences would be required to surrender their passports if ordered to do so by a judge.

Poilievre promised additional measures such as a “three strikes” rule denying bail, parole or probation to repeat offenders, mandatory jail time for intimate partner violence and repealing Liberal laws C-5 and C-75.

He also vowed to ban organized gangs such as the Bishnoi gang, reiterating his wish to proscribe the group as a terrorist organization.

“This is sick. As a father I am sickened by these stories and the unnecessary nature of them,” Poilievre said, describing the murder of young mother Bailey McCourt and the sexual assault of a three-year-old child as tragedies that stronger laws could have prevented.

He presented the proposals as being motivated “not out of hatred for the criminal, but out of love for the victims.” Poilievre said Conservatives would restore “the promise of Canada” — a safe country where families can raise children without fear.