Poilievre says he'll end early bail, house arrest for domestic crime offenders

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OTTAWA — A Conservative government would send offenders to jail rather than giving them bail.

Speaking to reporters from Trois-Rivières — a city roughly halfway between Montreal and Quebec City — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised to end Canada’s “catch-and-release” justice system by keeping offenders behind bars instead of out on parole, particularly domestic abusers.

“Studies show that economic stress and financial strain worsen these types of family violence cases,” Poilievre said. “From 2009 to 2014, by contrast, family violence and intimate partner violence was actually on the decline — in fact, 2014 marked the lowest year of family violence ever recorded.”

Since then, Poilievre said there has been a 19% increase in domestic violence incidents, a 76% increase in sexual assaults, and a 119% increase in sexual violence towards children.

In addition to financial pressures, Poilievre also blamed lax crime policies by the federal government for contributing to these numbers.

He promised to reverse the catch-and-release laws of the Liberal government, and put an end to early bail, house arrest and lax penalties.

To address intimate partner violence, Poilievre outlined a three-point plan: creating a new criminal offence directly addressing domestic violence, a “jail not bail” default policy for offenders with those granted bail subject to ankle monitoring devices, and end the practice of downgrading murder charges of domestic partners to manslaughter due to the act being “crimes of passion.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume

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