What goes on in a consent bail is this. Crown packages are available. A prosecutor, whether for the province or the PPSC in drug matters, looks at it, looks at the criminal record, looks at the accused, and in a drug case finds out whether there's an addiction issue. The prosecutor looks at whether the accused has roots in the community, and maybe whether they have a surety. If those boxes are ticked off and they have a discussion with the officer in charge, then they will consent to a release on terms that the officer may help with, such as whether or not to have a curfew on this person or whether or not they should report—whatever conditions reflect the case.
That's how it works in, I would say, 60% and maybe more of all cases. In other words, you and I are preparing to appear in front of the committee. We're working on what we're going to submit to the committee. You're going to ask me the questions. I'm going to ask you the questions. Then we're going to go to the judge and say we have agreed on this.
What that means is that crown counsel is going to ask the proper questions. Then what happens is that a defence counsel may show up or maybe get in early and say, do you know what, I've got a surety. I've got the bail program. I've got a drug addiction program. So you build that in. Then you add the third important party into that consent release. It's done like that. Sometimes what happens is that defence counsel and the accused person, particularly if the latter is not represented, often agree to all kinds of terms just to get out. Then you find that the accused doesn't have a house, doesn't have an alarm clock, and can't follow those terms.
Sometimes crown counsel will say, we want these terms, and they're not necessary. But that's what happens in a consent bail. The work is done in advance.
