B.C. Crown says bail policy changes need to come from federal government

British Columbia has one of Canada's strictest bail condition policies for prosecutors to ask for custody orders, yet repeat violent offenders continue to be released in the majority of cases, Attorney General Niki Sharma said.

Her comments come as the BC Prosecution Service released seven weeks of data in response to a directive issued last year by the provincial government to ask the courts to detain repeat violent offenders until trial.

It shows only about a quarter of repeat offenders were kept in custody until their trial for violent offences, the service said.

Sharma said the figures have prompted the government to renew its call for federal bail reform. She said despite the provincial bail directive, judges are still releasing these accused.

"Clearly, what that shows is that bail reform is needed. The laws of the land at the federal level need to be changed," she said Monday at a news conference.

The BC Prosecution Service said in a statement it would be unreasonable to assume policy changes for its prosecutors alone would produce any outcome during a bail hearing.

"In applying the (BC Prosecution Service) bail policy to any particular case, Crown counsel are still bound by the governing federal law under the Criminal Code," it said in the statement.

Diana Ebadi, a spokeswoman for federal Attorney General David Lametti, said in a statement that he looks forward to studying the information from the BC Prosecution Service.

“Minister Lametti is moving forward expeditiously on targeted reforms to the Criminal Code on the law of bail. He is at the table and is doing everything he can within his jurisdiction to keep Canadians safe," she said.

Elenore Sturko, Opposition BC United mental health and addictions critic, did not dismiss Sharma's call for federal bail reform, but said an increase in attempts by Crown prosecutors to keep more people in custody could result in less crime.

"I think we need to go back and review the directive they gave and make sure that the request is clear that it is in the public interest, especially when we're talking about violent repeat offenders," she said.

Sturko said the prosecution service must take a "strong stance."

"At the heart of this information really is we can clearly see now the BC Prosecution Service has brought us the receipts," she said. "What we've been saying is true. This province is just simply not asking for dangerous people to be held in custody to protect the public."

The data released by the prosecution service also showed Crown counsel in B.C. sought pre-trial custody in about half the bail hearings they conducted for crimes of violence with an accused also on bail for other matters.

The service said prosecutions can make submissions to a judge at a bail hearing seeking the pre-trial detention of an accused but only the judge can order that person will be held.

Canada's premiers and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police met virtually on Friday to talk about countrywide concerns over recent crime and violence.

B.C. Premier David Eby said after the meeting the federal government needs to act on its promise to amend bail laws to address the national risk to public safety that is showing up in every province and territory.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2023.