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Bail and Sentencing Reform Act

An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the National Defence Act (bail and sentencing)

Summary

  • Tightens bail rules by clarifying that the principle of restraint does not require release, empowering police to arrest without a warrant for alleged bail breaches, enabling quicker cancellation of release orders, and authorizing non-communication orders while an accused is remanded.
  • Increases penalties and guidance on sentencing: creates new consecutive-sentencing requirements (e.g., auto theft with break-and-enter; extortion alongside arson), adds aggravating factors for theft-for-resale and interference with essential infrastructure, and prioritizes denunciation and deterrence for repeat auto theft, repeat break-and-enter, and organized-crime offences.
  • Streamlines court operations by allowing in-camera hearings at the pre-charge stage, enabling remote appearances in mental-disorder proceedings with safeguards and written reasons, modernizing court definitions and forms, permitting witness release on undertakings, and raising contempt penalties.
  • Improves fine enforcement and intergovernmental cooperation by allowing licence/permit suspensions for unpaid federal fines and enabling federal–provincial/municipal compensation agreements for fine-sharing.
  • Updates youth justice by refining the definition of violent offence, limiting use of extrajudicial measures as prior-offence proof, aligning youth bail conditions with Criminal Code standards, allowing urgent short-term publication of a young person’s identity in imminent danger situations, clarifying record-keeping, and authorizing cost-sharing agreements with provinces.

Builder Assessment

Vote Yes

Enhancing public safety, particularly against organized crime, auto theft, and infrastructure interference, supports a more secure and competitive economic environment. The bill carries cost and civil-liberty risks that should be managed with clear metrics, safeguards, and smart implementation to avoid burdening courts and provincial systems.

  • Strengths: targets high-cost crime categories; protects essential infrastructure; enables fine-sharing and stronger fine collection; streamlines some proceedings (remote options, witness undertakings).
  • Risks: higher remand and incarceration costs; potential court backlogs; licence suspensions could impair earning capacity; in-camera/ex parte steps reduce transparency; potential Charter challenges if powers are overbroad.
  • Improvements Builders would seek: publish crime-reduction and court-efficiency metrics with scheduled independent review; fund provinces to offset added custodial and court pressures; require reasonable payment plans before licence suspensions; narrowly target reverse-onus and consecutive sentencing to repeat violent or high-harm offenders; maintain strong safeguards for remote proceedings to protect fair-trial rights; prioritize rapid bail hearing capacity to minimize unnecessary pretrial detention.

Question Period Cards

What is the projected fiscal impact on provincial corrections and courts from expanded pretrial detention and new consecutive sentences, and will the federal government provide dedicated funding to avoid worsening backlogs and remand overcrowding?

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What empirical benchmarks and timelines will the government publish to show that warrantless arrests for bail breaches, tougher repeat-offender provisions, and new aggravating factors actually reduce auto theft and organized crime?

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How will licence and permit suspensions for unpaid federal fines be calibrated to protect the ability to work, including mandatory reasonable payment plans and hardship exemptions, so enforcement does not undermine economic participation?

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Principles Analysis

✓

Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

Reducing auto theft, organized crime activity, and attacks on essential infrastructure lowers economic losses and fosters safer communities that underpin prosperity.

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Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

It clarifies several procedures (e.g., remote appearances, bail standards) but expands enforcement powers and conditions; it does not materially reduce regulatory burden on enterprise.

✓

Drive national productivity and global competitiveness.

Deterring theft and infrastructure interference supports supply chains and lowers security and insurance costs, improving the operating environment for businesses.

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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources.

Impacts on exports are indirect; the bill targets domestic public safety rather than trade policy.

✓

Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

Protecting essential infrastructure and prioritizing deterrence of organized crime can reduce disruptions in energy, transportation, and resource sectors, supporting investment confidence.

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Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

Administrative streamlining (witness undertakings, remote proceedings, fine-sharing) may improve efficiency, but tougher bail and more consecutive sentences could raise remand and incarceration costs for provinces.

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Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

No tax measures are included.

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Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

Public-safety benefits are meaningful but not a comprehensive prosperity strategy.

Did we get the builder vote wrong?

Email [email protected]

C-14

PartyLiberal
StatusAt second reading in the House of Commons
Last updatedOct 23, 2025
TopicsCriminal Justice
Parliament45