British ColumbiaMayors in B.C. cities along with the province’s attorney general are hoping that a federal bill promised next week on bail reform will deliver the results for which they’ve been lobbying. Mayors, B.C. attorney general say violent offenders must stop cycling through the justice systemChad Pawson · CBC News · Posted: Oct 18, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoPoliticians in B.C. will be watching closely to see whether federal bail reform helps address the issue of repeat offending in the province. (Peter Scobie/CBC News)Mayors in B.C. cities, along with the province’s attorney general, are hoping that a federal bill promised next week on bail reform will deliver the results they’ve been lobbying for.”Vancouver has been at the forefront of advocating for meaningful bail reform to keep violent reoffenders off our streets and restore confidence in our justice system,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim in a statement reacting to the federal announcement.Prime Minister Mark Carney said his Liberal government will introduce legislation next week to crack down on crime by bringing in harsher sentencing and making bail much harder to get.Carney said the forthcoming legislation will make it so repeat offenders who have been charged with home invasions, violent car theft, assault, sexual assault, extortion or human trafficking have to prove they deserve bail before it is awarded. Imposing that “reverse onus” is different from the current system, where prosecutors have to prove that denying someone bail is justified.”For too long, repeat violent offenders have cycled through the justice system and back onto our streets,” said Sim. “That’s not the kind of system people deserve, and it’s why we’ve continued to push for real change.”B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said the province will be watching closely to see if a federal bill on bail reform next week will deliver what she describes as “real results.”Attorney General Niki Sharma is pictured in Vancouver, B.C, on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Ben Nelms/CBC News)Sharma’s response comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier that the bill will include tougher bail and sentencing standards.She said the killing of a Kelowna woman earlier this year, where her estranged husband is the accused, highlights the need to include intimate partner violence safeguards in the bill.That city’s mayor, Tom Dyas is applauding the bail reform announcement by Ottawa. He said Kelowna has 15 people with a collective 1,350 police files.With a small number of people responsible for a disproportionate amount of Kelowna’s property crime, Dyas wants the pending legislation extended to include property crime such as burglary, theft or arson.”Those repeat offenders who have 50, 60, 70 or 80 encounters with police — they need to prove why they should be reaching bail,” he said.Sharma said B.C. is also seeking tougher consequences for repeat violent offenders, as well as more protection in gender-based violence cases.LISTEN | B.C. criminal lawyer Rob Dhanu says bail reform is just one element of justice reform:Daybreak South9:21A prominent B.C. lawyer says the Liberals’ bail reform proposals will do nothing to address the real problemsA prominent B.C. lawyer, Rob Dhanu, says politicians often use bail reform legislation as a red herring to make the public feel they are doing something about crime, because establishing real social supports for mental health, homelessness, and drug addiction costs too much and takes too long.Rob Dhanu, a former Crown prosecutor who is now a criminal defence lawyer, said bail reform legislation won’t address unmet needs, such as social supports for mental health, homelessness and drug addiction, which can be markers of repeat offending.”This is not going to make the difference that we need on our streets,” said Dhanu about Carney’s promised legislation.ABOUT THE AUTHORChad Pawson is a CBC News reporter in Vancouver. Please contact him at chad.pawson@cbc.ca.With files from Peter Zimonjic, Brady Strachan and The Canadian Press
B.C. politicians hopeful after Ottawa promise of bail-reform bill
