Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Conservatives push to recall public safety committee over homicides by people on bail
The Conservatives are looking to bring the House of Commons public safety committee back early from its summer break over documents the Tories say reveal over 250 individuals were charged with homicide while out on bail in 2022.
Conservative public safety critic Frank Caputo, a former crown prosecutor, spearheaded the motion to recall the committee to have it reexamine the Liberals’ changes to the criminal code.
According to a letter to the chair of the House of Commons, the documents revealed that 256 individuals were charged with homicide while on bail or conditional release in 2022, about five each week, accounting for nearly 30% of murder charges that year.
“The pattern of deadly crimes being committed while on bail is clear, present, and frightening,” said the letter, signed by multiple Conservative MPs. “The deadly crime wave unfolding under Justin Trudeau has made Canada unrecognizable to many, and now criminals are murdering Canadians while out on bail.”
The signatories say the crime wave is a “direct result” of the Trudeau government’s “soft on crime, catch and release policies” brought about by Bill C-75 and Bill C-5, which passed in 2019 and 2022, respectively. The bills repealed mandatory minimum sentences and made bail more accessible to criminals.