Manitoba monitoring system will keep a closer eye on some people out on bail

Manitoba's plan to introduce a new monitoring system for some people on bail is drawing mixed reactions.

Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced the initiative at a news conference on Thursday. It will see what Goertzen called high-intensity monitoring — which is currently only done for people on probation in the province — extended to also include some who are out on bail.

Goertzen says the aim is for police to be there before someone on bail potentially reoffends. The province will hire staff from a $3.2 million fund and begin with a focus on monitoring roughly 40 to 50 of the most serious offenders.

"We don't want to simply wait until the individual who probably should never have had bail to begin [with] commits another violent offence," Goertzen said alongside Premier Heather Stefanson, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Shawn Pike.

"This integrated unit will ensure that we have the resources — that the police have the resources — to target the worst of the worst when it comes to those violent offenders."

He says the initiative will also increase the amount of monitoring done on people on probation.

Goertzen says  the change is needed largely because changes to Canada's bail laws passed in 2019 "made it very difficult, if not impossible, to deny bail for even those who are accused of very, very violent crimes" — a claim one Toronto lawyer called an exaggeration.

"Still, many people are detained before the courts every day," said Stephanie DiGiuseppe, who's also a director with the Criminal Lawyers' Association.

She said how a person on bail will be monitored is assessed on an individual basis, looking at the person and the facts of their case.

DiGiuseppe says the Supreme Court of Canada has reaffirmed many times the importance of a constitutional right to bail with the least restrictive monitoring plan necessary over the last few decades.

So while Manitoba may plan to introduce more monitoring, the courts will still have a duty to ensure conditions are fair.

"It's very important that Manitoba judges still implement the constitutional principles that say that … bail conditions have to be meted out with moderation, and only when they're justified," she said.

DiGiuseppe says the way the province decides to go about the monitoring will also be significant. 

Doing that through something such as improving access to ankle monitors could actually help give more people accused but not convicted of crimes a shot at bail, she says.

And while Manitoba's justice department said it's still working out the details of the new program, Goertzen's comments on Thursday suggest the initiative will happen through additional officers, not technology.

"I'm not sure that employing a lot more police officers to do a lot more compliance checks is really the best use of resources if the government wants to ensure public safety and respect constitutional values," DiGiuseppe said.

"In a world where the technology and resources exist to have people out of jail with better monitoring, it's the government's obligation to make those things available so that people aren't in jail waiting for their trials."

Plan won't cut crime overnight: retired cop

John O'Donovan, a retired Winnipeg police officer who helped set up an integrated warrant unit during his time on the force, said he thinks the initiative is exactly what's needed to reduce crime by violent offenders.

O'Donovan says parole and probation are necessary parts of the justice system and are in place to help people not reoffend. But sometimes, that still happens — and having accused violent offenders under high-intensity monitoring could help mitigate that factor.

Still, he says, the changes won't reduce crime overnight.

"It's not going to be instant. It's going to take awhile. It's going to take at least a year before you start to notice that difference," O'Donovan said.

A provincial spokesperson said in an email the new bail program is expected to be implemented in the coming weeks. The justice department is still assessing how many people will be supervised and what the criteria will be, the spokesperson said.