Canada’s bail reform debate, explained

In today’s The Big Story podcast, the stories of crimes committed by people out on bail are horrific. And they hit close to home. So of course they get outsized attention. But they’re also perfect fuel for a political fire that has been burning hotter and hotter in Canada for years.

Bail reform is complicated. It’s not as simple as locking up the people that commit these crimes. Nor is it as simple as ensuring nobody is held in custody before a guilty verdict. 

Nicole Myers is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Queens University. “We’re looking at 73% of the population in our jails are there in pretrial detention. They have not been convicted of anything. Now they may at some point, but they haven’t yet. And we need to be sort of very mindful that just because there’s been allegations made by the police or someone’s been arrested, it doesn’t mean there’s not that the mistakes don’t get made or there’s not an appropriate legal defence,” said Myers. 

So what is it, then? Let us explain.

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