Ford calls for tougher bail and audit of injection site after deadly shooting

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford is demanding the federal government fast track legislation to toughen up bail conditions for repeat violent offenders and promising to audit a safe injection site tied to a deadly shooting in Leslieville.

Ford made the comments while appearing on Alex Pierson’s show on Global News Radio 640 in Toronto.

Ford was speaking one week after Karolina Huebner-Makurat, a 44 year-old wife and mother of two young children, was shot and killed while walking along Queen St. E. during the noon hour on July 7.

Witnesses said a fight broke out among three men in a park across from where Huebner-Makurat was walking.

The park, adjacent to a community health clinic that has a safe injection site, is frequented by drug addicts and dealers and that is where gunshots came from after the fight started.

Toronto Police announced on Thursday that Damian Hudson, 32, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder for the shooting while two other suspects remain at large.

Hudson has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2011, has been convicted of defying his probation orders at least 16 times, has three court order prohibitions against owning guns and was out on two separate bail release orders for violent attacks at the time of last week’s shooting.

“The federal government, they have to follow through on federal Criminal Code. They’re the ones that make the Criminal Code and they need to have reform and we need it now,” Ford said.

Ford, along with every premier in Canada, has been calling on the federal government to do something on bail reform for repeat violent offenders for more than a year. In mid-May, the Trudeau government introduced Bill C-48 that would apply a reverse onus provision for repeat offenders, meaning they would have to prove that bail is appropriate in their case.

That legislation hasn’t moved at all though, not even having a committee meeting, despite broad support from the opposition. Ford said it needs to move faster.

“We need the federal government do everything possible to get this legislation passed, and we can’t wait,” Ford said.

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As for the location of the shooting, just outside the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, which operates the keepSIX Supervised Consumption Site, Ford said it’s time to audit the facility.

“I’ve directed our team to look into this site, and to make sure they’re in compliance,” Ford said.

Ford has long been skeptical of safe injection or safe consumption sites, which were started under the previous Wynne government, believing that addiction treatment should get more support.

“We need to make sure that there’s more beds for treatment,” Ford said, “So that’s where we’re going. We’re gonna go full steam on this.”

blilley@postmedia.com