Manitoba·NewWinnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham told a parliamentary committee Tuesday the number of crimes involving breach of bail, probation and similar court orders in the city went up for a third year in a row in 2024, despite a decrease in overall crime.Crimes involving breach of bail and other release conditions on the rise, says Scott GillinghamArturo Chang · CBC News · Posted: Oct 21, 2025 8:29 PM EDT | Last Updated: 26 minutes agoWinnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham spoke to a parliamentary committee in Ottawa on Tuesday. (Parliament of Canada)Winnipeg’s mayor says crimes involving breach of release conditions are trending upward, despite a decrease in overall crime.On Tuesday, Scott Gillingham told a parliamentary committee the number of crimes involving breach of bail, probation and similar court orders in Winnipeg went up for a third year in a row in 2024, citing figures from the city’s police service.He was one of the witnesses presenting to lawmakers in Ottawa ahead of the introduction of legislation that would impose tougher release conditions for people awaiting trial.Gillingham said Winnipeg recorded 5,561 crimes related to breaches of release conditions last year — a nine per cent increase from 2023 — and the upward trend has continued through 2025.”It’s not about catching people and putting them away and throwing away the key,” the mayor said. “But right now, repeat violent offenders who are threatening our community need to come off our streets.”Prime Minister Mark Carney said last Thursday the federal government will put forward a bill imposing harsher sentences for violent and repeat offenders. It will also put the onus on repeat offenders accused of committing major crimes to prove they deserve bail.Gillingham said four out of five people arrested by a joint RCMP and Winnipeg police unit targeting violent offenders since it launched in 2023 were free on bail, parole or probation, and almost one in five had been arrested by the unit more than once.Other witnesses at Tuesday’s hearing told lawmakers amendments to federal legislation alone won’t address root causes that lead people to reoffend, and that governments must take into account factors like high remand population, systemic racism and the presumption of innocence when looking at the problem.However, Gillingham argued the justice system “doesn’t even acknowledge the moral possibility that releasing a habitual criminal to reoffend could be considered wrongful bail.””We can’t operate as if victims of preventable crime by known offenders are just collateral damage to the fairness of our justice system,” he said.
Repeat offenders ‘must come off the streets,’ Winnipeg mayor tells federal lawmakers
