'Not good enough': Critics blast B.C.'s plan to investigate repeat offenders
On the early morning of March 1, John Dickinson was stabbed to death outside of Lucky Bar in downtown Victoria.
Mohamed Omar is the man accused of stabbing and killing the 30-year-old while out on bail for a previous alleged stabbing.
"If he had of been held in custody my brother would still be alive,” said Jasmine Bauer, the sister of Dickinson.
Charges against Omar have yet to be proven in court.
That case and many others like it are what some critics call an example of "catch and release justice."
"This is a problem in our communities," said Lisa Helps, Mayor of Victoria.
In April, the B.C. Urban Mayors' Caucus wrote to Attorney General David Eby, urging the government to take action to address offenders who are repeatedly arrested and released.
On Thursday, Eby announced that the province has retained two experts to investigate and report back on the issues brought forth to him by the mayor’s caucus, particularly around chronic offenders and random attacks.
"We've asked these business experts to report back in 120 days," said Eby.
The attorney general says if potential solutions are discovered before the report is completed, the province will look at implementing them.
The opposition house leader, Todd Stone, says municipalities were promised early this week that creative solutions were coming. He says what we got today falls very short.
"Apparently the best that the NDP can do is commission a report that will take 120 days, or four months, to be finished that they may or may not act upon," said Stone. "That is simply not good enough."
The grieving sister of Dickinson says she wants to see immediate changes. Changes that would see repeat offenders kept behind bars now, and not after a 120-day review.
"They need to start cracking down and dealing with the issues at hand," said Bauer. "Otherwise we're just going to have criminals out on the streets and it's just going to keep happening."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.