Frank Caputo (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

BAIL REFORM

Devil will be in the detail for liberal bail reform legislation; Kamloops MP Caputo

Jun 26, 2025 | 4:37 PM

KAMLOOPS — Earlier this week, the federal Liberals and Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced plans to bring forward legislation this fall to address bail reform.

Bail reform has been a hot button topic at all levels of government from city hall in Kamloops to the house of commons in Ottawa. The opposition conservatives have long been calling for bail reform, and understand that the devil will be in the detail when the bill comes forward later this year.

“100 per cent we will see what they put forward,” said Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola MP Frank Caputo. “Lets not forget in the last parliament they had bill C48 which was bail reform as they put it, but at the end of the day it went about a 1.5 out of 10 as far as it had to go. So lets see what they put forward and we will determine if we can support it or not. I’d imagine we will put forward amendments if it’s not strong enough and hopefully the liberals will agree with those amendments.”

Caputo holds down the public safety critic role, and as a former lawyer and crown prosecutor is keenly aware of the changes being called for across the Canadian justice system.

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“We as conservatives have been calling for this for years, and it was a bit frustrating on my end to hear us essentially be told well it’s the provinces issue, it’s someone else’s fault,” Caputo told CFJC News. “I put forward two private members bills on bail last parliament, and I didn’t have a peep come from the liberals about talking about incorporating those ideas and in my view they were both really good common sense bills. So, I really hope the liberals will listen, even and NDP Premier in British Columbia is calling for bail reform. So lets see what they do and then lets judge the legislation based on its merits.”