Ontario judicial system undergoing changes to its bailing procedure
The University of Guelph held its fourth annual Truscott Lecture in Justice with guest speaker Yasir Naqvi, the Attorney General of Ontario.
On March 27, room 200 in Alexander Hall filled with Guelph citizens of all ages ready to engage in politics.
The talk outlined several upcoming changes to the bail system that the Canadian government is in the process of implementing.
Under the current system, individuals who are awaiting a court appearance can remain in prison for months or years before their trial because they are unable to afford bail. Naqvi proposes that there should be more exceptions made to those who are low-risk or are in need of support. In many criminal cases, the accused is in need of mental health care that cannot be provided in a prison.Many people occupying prisons are there awaiting trial and Naqvi believes this is not beneficial, as in many cases, it can result in lost time with family members.
Furthermore, Naqvi recognized that the current system is not perfect and felt it was necessary to make changes to help move trials through faster. Stays of proceeding often make trials drag on unnecessarily and avoiding these would clear overcrowded prisons sooner. The answer, according to Naqvi, is not to build new facilities, but rather have criminal trials run faster in order to free the wrongfully accused.
The audience was brought into Naqvi’s passion for justice as he shared his own story of his father being imprisoned after attending a rally in favour of democracy in Pakistan.His father was imprisoned for nine months before being charged. Soon after, Naqvi’s family immigrated to Canada and immersed themselves in the political scene.
A question period followed the presentation, with audience members inquiring about possible changes to the current court system.
One member of the audience asked if any new resources to support those accused would be added in the process.
Naqvi said that he believed adding more resources would not be beneficial and that the problems lay with the current system which he was looking to improve. Preventative measures would lessen the need for future support programs.
“I have been to many jails,” said the Attorney General. “I have been to enough to know these are not places where individuals go to get the aid that they need.”Another member of the audience asked how this would affect civil and family law. Naqvi responded that there was no easy answer, but that the government was still working to improve all aspects of the legal system.
The Truscott lecture series was named after Steven Truscott, who was wrongfully convicted of murder at the age of 14. Truscott spent many years in Canada’s prison system and worked for decades trying to prove his innocence before he was acquitted by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2007.
The initiative was designed to keep the discussion of our criminal system open, to continue to improve legal proceedings, and to educate Canadian citizens on the complex system.
Photo by Mido Melebari.