What took you so long?
That was Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris' reaction to Premier David Eby's unveiling Sunday of a suite of measures aimed largely at getting repeat violent offenders off the streets.
Morris called the steps a long-awaited answer to a combination of federal legislation and a Supreme Court of Canada decision that called for the courts to adhere to a "principal of restraint" when considering whether to grant an accused bail and for "least restrictive" conditions if granted.
"Everything that he has announced could have been done five years ago," said Morris, the BC Liberals' public safety critic. "There has been no change in federal law to the Criminal Court, there's been no court decisions that have come out different than they were before, so this is something that he could've done five years ago when he stepped into the chair as Attorney General."
Eby's announcement was headlined by new guidance to prosecutors to implement a "clear and understandable approach to bail for repeat violent offenders within the existing federal law," backed by the creation of new repeat violent offender co-ordinated response teams, made up of police, and dedicated prosecutors and probation officers.
"We've been calling for that for now a lengthy period of time," Morris said of the response teams. "The police have been providing all of the information to probation and to Crown counsel, but by our estimation, Crown counsel has been under resourced by design or not."
The governing NDP has countered by saying the teams are a "new and improved" version of a program that met with some success when it ran from 2008 to 2012 when it was disbanded by the then-governing BC Liberals. Morris called the statement "incorrect," saying it was actually a pilot program with specified start and ending dates so the results could be accurately measured.
"The best practices that were identified as a result of that pilot project had been implemented and had been carried on throughout many communities throughout the province, so the way they describe it is not quite accurate," Morris said.
Eby's plan also includes opening 10 new Indigenous Justice Centres across the province similar to the one now up and running in Prince George. Morris welcomed the move but added the announcement lacks support for implementing such measures as restorative justice programs within the First Nations communities themselves.
Morris agreed that the steps won't address those who repeatedly commit petty crimes such as shoplifting. He said the answer on that front is to provide the resources through such avenues as the Indigenous Justice Centres to "help direct these misinformed individuals or often what I refer to, committing crimes of survival...to show them the way."
So-called “unexplained wealth order” legislation that goes after the houses, cars and luxury goods of "high-level organized criminals" will be introduced in spring 2023. Morris questioned the need, saying civil forfeiture process already addresses the issue.
"I think that's more of a political statement," he said and added the better move would be to better support the existing process.
