Yukon Party leader urges bail reform, but territory's justice minister says he's misguided

Yukon's official opposition leader is calling for changes to Canada's bail system — but the territory's justice minister and a former Crown lawyer say his suggestions are misguided.

Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week, saying the current bail system is failing, and urging "fundamental change" to the Criminal Code.

"Our people and communities are suffering from the impacts of repeat offenders committing crimes," Dixon wrote.

"The calls for change from small business and citizens have been rising."

Dixon's proposed changes include the elimination of credit for time served pre-sentencing, for "repeat and violent offenders," and the elimination of bail availability for "serious crimes including murder, terrorism, and human trafficking."

"We feel these specific changes should be prioritized." 

However, Tracey-Ann McPhee, Yukon's justice minister, argues that decisions about bail eligibility should be left to judges.  

"Depriving someone of their liberty without having been convicted of a criminal offence is an extremely serious matter," McPhee told reporters on Wednesday.

"Bail is not a joke, it is an opportunity for people to be released following a criminal charge being laid against them, remembering that they are not convicted of anything."

McPhee also argues that the current system works, in particular for the sort of "serious" offences listed by Dixon.

"'Reverse onus' means you have the obligation to convince a court why you should be released, as opposed to the Crown's obligation — which it is in the vast majority of cases — to convince the court that someone should be detained," she said.

Noel Sinclair, a retired Crown prosecutor in Yukon now working in private practice, argues that removing credit for time served would actually work to encourage more offenders to seek release on bail.

"Credit for pre-sentencing custody is an incentive to offenders to voluntarily stay in custody. So you're taking away an incentive," he said.

Sinclair also argued that abolishing bail for the offences named by Dixon wouldn't do much to address the uptick in property crime in the territory.

"We're not talking about murders, terrorism or human trafficking offences that offenders are getting out on bail and going and breaking the window at, you know, some retail outlet on Main Street," he said.

"I mean, there are very few people accused of murder, terrorism or human trafficking offences in the Yukon to begin with."

Sinclair says dedicating more resources to bail supervision would work better, or addressing systemic issues that contribute to crime, such as childhood development and mental health care.