Only FOUR times

The Docket

So, episode 125 - a new record. But you know that right? Because you subscribe to the show and have already rated and reviewed the podcast - right? You should.

New documents reveal that an important federal justice reform, billed as a silver bullet reduce court backlogs and decrease racial inequities, has only been used FOUR times by the Ottawa Police.

In 2018 the Liberal government introduced bill C-75 which contained a provision designed to divert bail breaches away from the criminal system. The government said that judicial referral hearings would “substantially increase court efficiencies” and address the “overrepresentation of marginalized communities within the criminal justice system.”

Last week Ottawa police told the Police Services Board that over that last two years they have used the new procedure FOUR times.

It turns out that giving new discretionary powers to people who are part of the problem does not really do very much. Especially when they never use the new power.

And anecdotal evidence suggest this is not just an Ottawa problem.

So, what is the government going to do now that they know their solution to a very serious problem is not working?

Remember, you can self-isolate in The Docket’s Discord chatroom. Join the Discord channel, take part in the ongoing chat, and listen to live recordings with this link: https://discord.gg/2TzUamZ

A huge thanks to Emond Publishing for supporting the podcast. For our listeners, Emond is offering 10% off titles in the series. Just visit emond.ca/docket and enter code docket10 at checkout.

And as always, a huge thanks to my firm Abergel Goldstein & Partners who have not murdered me for editing the podcast at work!