Good morning, Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Brian Sauvé. I'm a sergeant with the RCMP and also the president of the National Police Federation, the union representing nearly 20,000 members of the RCMP across Canada and internationally. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today to discuss Bill C-14.
Every day, our members see the impact that a small number of high-risk, repeat violent offenders have on community safety. They also see the strain placed on victims, witnesses and frontline police officers when those individuals are repeatedly released, breach their conditions and are quickly returned to the streets. Bill C-14 is a meaningful step forward in addressing this reality.
The NPF supports the bill's clarification that public safety must be explicitly weighed in bail decisions. This aligns the law more closely with what police encounter on the ground. Individuals with lengthy criminal histories, with repeated breaches of court orders and with escalating patterns of violence too often cycle through the system under conditions that prove ineffective or unenforceable.
We also support the targeted expansion of reverse onus provisions for serious, violent and weapons-related offences. In clearly high-risk situations, it is reasonable and appropriate to require the accused to demonstrate why their release would not endanger the public. This change promotes greater consistency across the country, and it better reflects real-world risk. Additional measures in the bill, such as mandatory no-weapons conditions for organized crime offences and direction to consider whether an offence was random and unprovoked, further strengthen the public safety lens applied at bail.
However, legislative reform on its own is not enough. Police officers are often the first decision-makers in the bail process, making release or detention decisions shortly after arrests and frequently with incomplete information. The effectiveness of Bill C-14 will depend on whether police and courts have reliable, real-time access to an accused's outstanding charges, prior breaches, bail conditions and patterns of violence across jurisdictions.
National systems such as the Canadian Police Information Centre are essential tools, but they were not designed to function as comprehensive real-time bail risk management platforms. Gaps or delays in data entry and sharing can lead to inappropriate releases and weaker bail positions before the courts. Modern interoperable national information sharing is essential if the bill's public safety objectives are to be realized in practice.
Stronger bail conditions must also be meaningfully enforced. Our members routinely rearrest the same individuals for repeated breaches, often with limited consequences. This cycle undermines public confidence and consumes significant police resources. Adequate supervision capacity, consistent breach enforcement and clear feedback to police on court outcomes are critical. While provinces administer bail, federal leadership through coordination, funding and national expectations can drive more consistent results.
Finally, effective bail begins with effective investigations. Modern crime is increasingly digital. When police cannot lawfully and quickly access digital evidence, charges may not be laid or critical information may be missing at bail hearings. Updating lawful access authorities is therefore a foundational public safety measure that complements the goals of this bill.
In closing, the National Police Federation supports the central direction of Bill C-14 and its focus on protecting communities from repeat violent offending. In pairing these legislative reforms with modern information sharing, enforceable supervision and lawful access to evidence, Canada can build a bail system that is fair, consistent and genuinely protective of public safety.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to any questions.