Longer sentences, better bail regime needed in Canada
By Lethbridge Herald on September 22, 2022.
Tyler Shandro
Minister of Justice and Solicitor General
Albertans are becoming increasingly angry with the catch-and-release system that allows dangerous criminals back into our communities.
This is not the fault of the Alberta Justice system, local courts, Crown prosecutors or the police.
The catch-and-release system is systemic and can be traced to federal laws and the bail regime established by Ottawa.
Before 1992, offenders were granted early release based on time-off for good behaviour.
If someone showed remorse and behaved in prison, they could earn parole. Amendments then replaced this policy with “statutory release”, which legally requires that criminals who have served two-thirds of their sentence be automatically released into the community.
Myles Sanderson, one of the suspects in the mass killing that occurred in Saskatchewan, was out on statutory release after serving two-thirds of a federal sentence for numerous charges, including assault and robbery before being declared “unlawfully at large” in the summer of 2022. Sanderson was sentenced to four years and four months for a series of violent crimes – already a very soft sentence – but served less than three years behind bars.
Making matters worse, the Trudeau government’s Bill C-75, federal legislation passed in 2018, made significant changes to bail that quietly left a lot of our communities unsafe by making it almost impossible to hold even serious, repeat offenders in pre-trial custody.
Alberta’s government is doing everything in its power to address crime. In the past few years, Alberta has hired 50 new Crown prosecutors, expanded the provincial court, greatly expanded drug treatment courts and has increased the budget for Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) to combat organized crime and illegal guns and gangs.
These actions, while substantial, are not enough. Alberta’s government, municipalities, federal Members of Parliament of all political stripes must make this matter a priority and speak with one voice to demand longer sentences for violent offenders and a bail regime that prioritizes public safety.
Ultimately, those in power in Ottawa must answer for a soft-on-crime system that does not place the protection of the law-abiding public at the centre of all decisions.
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Classic UCP move to blame the feds when there’s something they can but wont do about a problem.
Blam the universities for a leftish agenda next. Blame everyone but yourselves for having all the power to do something and still do nothing.
The other solution is to feed, clothe, and house violent offenders off the tax payer dime. Rather than mitigate the problem by alleviating poverty, just put more money and resources into sadistically punishing people where they won’t learn anything but the reinforcement that they don’t matter, so why bother getting better?
Punishment offers no lesson, no Justice, and just reinforces what brought them to crime in the first place.
“Blame the Universities for a leftist agenda” Not only has our higher learning institutions pushed a leftist agenda they have become incubators for hate and revolution in our society! Sadly, at Taxpayers’ expense.
Youve obviously never been to the university here and experienced the full on right wing propaganda that the poli sci and philosophy department perpetuate.
Matter of fact, I’ve yet to see any kind of leftist values of any worthwhile note come out of our po dunk redneck university.
Maybe in Switzerland.
Our little university here may very well be the exception to the rule but in general they have swung violently to the left. All you need to do is watch a few of Jordan Petersons Podcasts and that should be enough to convince you.