Justice Committee on Jan. 28th, 2026

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Over time, this has been one of those issues where parliamentarians from all three recognized parties have been able to work together to implement bills that meet the needs of the times. One of the needs of the times today is to keep Canadians safer and keep communities safe. This should be a non-partisan exercise, in my view.

You, Minister, have always shown your openness to accepting amendments from other parties and working together to try to craft the best possible bill. That would be the case for Bill C-14 as well. Is that correct?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Absolutely. We did the best job that I think we could in collecting the feedback from different actors in the justice system and putting it into this bill.

If, by virtue of this committee study into bail and sentencing previously, there are other ideas that you have, I know that we would consider them in good faith. My sense is that if we can send a strong signal to Canadians that there is multipartisan agreement on the path forward on bail reform and on sentencing reform, we would collectively be doing a great service to the country.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

That's perfect.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

All right.

Thank you, Mr. Housefather.

We're going to make sure that we end at 5:30 p.m., Minister.

For the third round, I'm going to go for three minutes to Conservatives, for three minutes to Liberals and for two minutes to Mr. Fortin.

Ms. Kronis, I understand you're going for the Conservatives.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Minister, thank you so much for coming today.

One of the things that I observed in the back-and-forth between the folks who have been trying to make the whole area of bail and sentencing better for Canadians is that there have been some real differences of philosophy. One of the things you've done is that you've brought back a number of offences. There's an ongoing dialogue with the courts over a number of these things that are contained in the bill.

I'm wondering what you're going to do if the Supreme Court of Canada decides that any of the provisions of this bill are unconstitutional.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Well, we've taken great care in how we've drafted the bill to take the feedback from law enforcement and from actors in the justice system and to apply our own assessment as to the constitutionality of the provisions. I'm confident that the measures we put forward are, in fact, constitutional.

I don't want to go down the path of making assumptions that a bill I would put forward is unconstitutional. I swore an oath to protect the Constitution, so I won't accept the notion that we will need to deal with the unconstitutionality of the bill that Parliament is now addressing.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

That's wonderful in theory, but in practice, the reality is that it does happen and there is an ongoing dialogue between the courts.

I'm going to ask you again what you would do if it turned out that some of these provisions are unconstitutional.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

I revere the courts in this country. Their role must benefit from independence. To the extent that they have feedback on how we can promote public safety within the boundaries of the Constitution, I would accept it, to the extent that it's the court.... In fact, governments, in my view, do not have a reasonable option but to respect the independence of the courts.

We all have to know what our role is if we're going to protect democracy in this country. At a time when rule of law is threatened around the world, including in many countries that have seen an erosion of the liberal democracies that were built up over generations, I think it would be dangerous to project that we would consider seeking to oppose the ability of the court to do its job, independent of political actors.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you for that, Minister.

I'm wondering if you think you could identify a category of offender who will now be detained, under Bill C-14, who wouldn't have been detained under the existing law.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

One thing that's really important is that we don't categorize offenders. Criminal law is uniquely individualistic, as is sentencing and as are bail hearings. It's really important to me that we maintain the ability of the court to dig into the facts of an individual case.

I do think that there are classes of offences—for example, those that we've identified in the reverse onus provisions included in Bill C-14—where a person who's facing charges of those specific offences will be less likely to be released on bail.

I think that categorizing offenders as groups of people would be a dangerous prediction to make.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

We're going to move to Mr. Housefather, who's going to get two minutes. Then I'm going to give Mr. Fortin three minutes.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I'm happy to give a minute of my speaking time to my friend Mr. Fortin.

I'm going to say one thing, which is that I think this is a really important bill. I think it needs to move forward through this committee, go back to the House, go through the Senate, become law and keep Canadians safer.

Minister, you've had a lot of opportunity to answer some questions today. You had a statement. Is there anything left that you didn't get a chance to say that you'd like to say before we close your time on Bill C-14?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Since you put it to me, there's one message I'd like to share that I haven't through my remarks. It's “thank you”. The number of people who've been willing to give many hours of their time to the development of this bill is extraordinary.

I think about the national policing organizations—not just the Canadian association of police chiefs, the National Police Federation or the Ontario police association. I think about Ryan Leil, the chief of police in New Glasgow, my hometown. I think about the small-town prosecutors and defence lawyers who've shared their experiences with me. I think about the mayors of big cities and small communities who fed into this process.

I think about my provincial counterparts in particular. I have never been involved with an exercise in consultation and engagement where people so willingly gave their time and energy to something that may not have been their legislative responsibility, because they cared and wanted to have a positive impact on the country. This was co-operative federalism at its best.

To the extent that we can embed their recommendations into Canada's law, I think we would be doing justice—no pun intended—to the very real feedback that they've shared based on their own life experiences.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Thank you, Mr. Housefather.

Mr. Fortin, you have three minutes.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, I would first like to say that I appreciate Bill C‑14. However, I can only encourage you to consult not only the police services, but also the provincial bar associations, mainly the Barreau du Québec—Quebec has a different legal system from the other provinces—and the bar associations for defence lawyers. That can certainly give us a different perspective on this type of bill, which could significantly infringe on individual freedoms.

My question is about release plans. This is new, so I'd like to know who was consulted on this opportunity to introduce such plans. Have there been any studies on the impacts of these release plans?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

There have been conversations with members of my team at the department. There have been some with me, the parliamentary secretary and the Barreau du Québec. I have had conversations with defence lawyers.

When I took part in the consultation process, I didn't ask any questions about their perspective—

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

That's fine. I don't have much time left. I understand what you're saying. That was just a general comment.

Allow me to insist on the question about release plans.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

I didn't show up and say, “On this specific aspect of the bill, what's your feedback?” I said, “We're looking to reform bail and sentencing. Tell me how we can improve the system.” We got these different ideas from different parties, not because I was seeking feedback on each specific piece with each group but because, more globally, I was asking what priorities would inform the legislation.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

Who proposed the release plans? Where did this idea come from? I don't know how you say it in English. Could someone help me out? I'm talking about release plans.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Okay.

The first person who looked into this was the Attorney General of Ontario, Doug Downey. He's the one who first proposed this idea. Other people looked at Mr. Downey's proposal and supported it.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

What's the purpose of it? Will it be useful, relevant? What's behind this idea? Where did this idea come from? It's a new concept.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Yes.

Again, I will respond in English, for time, because I don't want to talk out the clock.

The initial conversation started with proposals around changing the standard of proof that someone would need to make, but it would create many uncertainties. We wanted to ensure that courts would make a decision based on real information about whether someone poses a public safety threat. That conversation evolved into a new idea that, rather than changing the standard of proof, we would be able to provide reliable information to the court in order to allow the court to make an informed decision.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Thank you, Mr. Fortin.

Minister, thank you very much. We have stopped right at 5:30. We appreciate all the demands on your time, and we're grateful for your taking the opportunity to come and speak to this important piece of legislation.

I'll suspend for a few minutes and get the next panel ready.