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By Dylana Kneeshaw

BAIL REFORM

Federal bail reform not expected to have lasting impact on street-level crimes, social disorder

Oct 24, 2025 | 5:13 PM

KAMLOOPS — The federal government tabled legislation changes surrounding bail and sentencing this week.

While the Liberal government is proposing to make dozens of changes to Canada’s Criminal Code by making it harder for violent and repeat offenders to get out of custody, lawyers and opposition Members of Parliament, say the details may not yield the impact that people want to see when it comes to street-level crimes.

While the announcement was only made this week, Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola Conservative MP, Frank Caputo, says the reverse onus changes surrounding bail caught his eye.

“So the Crown normally has to prove why someone should be detained, a reverse onus makes the accused do that. Those aren’t really working anymore and this bill just contains a lot more reverse onuses,” Caputo said. “That’s something I think we really need to look at and say, is this effective anymore? That’s where I would be directing a lot of my questions.”

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Caputo is a former prosecutor, and he said it’ll take time to truly flush out what each section of the proposed legislation will actually mean for the justice system.

“I’m happy that the government did something. At first glance, I feel as though they could have gone significantly further, especially when it comes to the things like the principle of restraint, that’s what I would have liked to have seen,” he added.

“But I want to study it and give it my open-mind, and we’ll see where that leads.”

From a defense perspective, lawyer Iain Currie – a former Crown prosecutor and one-time Liberal party candidate – said the bill isn’t bad with how it expands serious offense considerations. He also said the changes aren’t exactly groundbreaking.

“They’re only small changes, and they only affect a small variety of offenses, which are not particularly common,” Currie said, noting the human trafficking, carjacking, and assault with alleged choking are all crimes that a judge would view as serious without the Criminal Code telling them to do so.

Currie says the legislation likely won’t have a big impact on the day-to-day lives of Canadians when it comes to street-level crime, and social disorder.

“I won’t say a missed opportunity because I don’t think really there’s any incremental changes you can make to the Criminal Code that are going to fix those problems. Those problems are rooted in mental health and substance abuse,” added Currie.

“This doesn’t do anything to address any of those problems.”

The changes will have to be applied in an actual justice setting to determine impact, but Currie doesn’t feel adding language to complicate the bail process will garner the results people frustrated by repeat offenders are hoping for.

“Some of the changes make sense. Others not so much. But they’re not big changes, and they’re not going to make a difference on the street,” adds Currie.