Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise on behalf of the people of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan. I rise today to speak to Bill C-14, the bail and sentencing reform act. I want to acknowledge the good work being done by the local Moose Jaw Police Service. Moose Jaw saw its crime severity index drop nearly 12% in 2024. Crimes against property are down 23%, and our clearance rates are up significantly. This shows what effective policing can achieve.
However, when I look beyond my hometown to the broader riding of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, the picture changes dramatically. The Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction has seen violent crime increase 45% over the past decade. How long has the Liberal government been in power? Coincidence or not, it is a decade. In 2024 alone, there were nearly 22,000 victims of violent crime, 6,700 more than 10 years ago. We had 41 homicides, the highest on record in the RCMP jurisdiction. This contrast tells us something critical: Local solutions matter, but municipal police cannot overcome failed federal policies or the Liberal soft-on-crime bail laws, which are forcing Canadians to defend themselves and live in fear.
The Liberal government has finally admitted what Conservatives have been trying to say for years: Its criminal justice reforms have failed. In the Liberals' own press release for Bill C-14, they acknowledged a 41% rise in the violent crime severity index since 2014. Saskatchewan RCMP reports that violent crime is up 45% in 10 years; homicides were up 46% in 2024, the highest on record; firearms offences are up 271%, the highest rate in Canada; assaults on police officers are up 87%; half of all violent crime is attributed to intimate partner and family violence; and 336 prolific offenders were arrested by specialized teams in 2024 alone.
I served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. I studied war studies at King's College at the University of London in the U.K. I understand threat assessment, and I can tell members without hesitation that the Liberal government's bail policies represent a clear and present danger to Canadian communities. In 2019, the Liberals passed Bill C-75, which imposed the so-called principle of restraint, requiring judges to release offenders at the earliest reasonable opportunity. Was that at the beginning of the sentencing, or at the end? I am not sure, but under the least onerous conditions, it has caused problems.
Then, in 2022, the Liberals doubled down with Bill C-5, eliminating mandatory jail times for serious gun crimes, including robbery with a firearm, extortion with a firearm and weapons trafficking. The result is a catch-and-release system in which repeat violent offenders walk free within hours, if not minutes.
As someone who served as the mayor of Moose Jaw, I can say that municipal leaders cannot police their way out of a crisis created by federal legislation. These are not just statistics; these are real people. Bailey McCourt in Kelowna was murdered, allegedly by her ex-husband James Plover just hours after he was released on bail following an assault conviction. Savannah Kulla, a 29-year-old mother of four, was shot and killed at a Brampton strip mall. Her killer had just been released on bail.
In Saskatchewan, where half of violent crimes involve intimate partner or family violence, women and children are living in terror because the current government prioritizes criminals over victims. Saskatchewan RCMP officers are exhausted. They arrested 336 prolific offenders in 2024, but how many walked free within hours because of the Liberals' bail laws? How many are back on the streets right now, reoffending?
In rural Saskatchewan, when a home invasion happens on a farm 30 kilometres from the nearest town, families are on their own and response times are measured in hours, not in minutes. When someone breaks into their grain bin, steals their equipment and threatens their family, they need to know that the person will not be released to do it again.
Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers deserve better. Women fleeing violent partners deserve better. Police officers deserve better. They all deserve a government that puts public safety first.
The Liberals are finally accepting reality by copying our four-year campaign to scrap Liberal bail law, but they failed to take responsibility for their own failures. Bill C-14 is a clear vindication of Conservative criticisms. The government has admitted that its policies failed. However, after finally getting through, or partially getting through, to the government, we must ensure that Bill C-14 would actually scrap Liberal bail by being as strong as possible.
Where Bill C-14 falls dangerously short is that the principle of restraint would remain intact. The government claims it is clarifying it. It has added language saying, “does not require” release, but the principle itself would still exist. It would still direct least onerous conditions and still create a culture of release.
Second, reverse onus is not detention. Bill C-14 would expand reverse onus, meaning that the accused must prove why they should be released, but this is just a procedural burden shift; it is not a presumption of detention. Dangerous offenders could still talk their way out.
Third, no mandatory minimum would be restored. Bill C-5 eliminated mandatory jail time for serious gun crimes. Bill C-14 would do nothing to restore them. Sentencing would remain highly discretionary. Judges could still give house arrest for robbery or for trafficking offences.
Fourth, the proposed bill is advisory, not mandatory. Too much of Bill C-14 would be guidance, not requirement. It would direct courts and encourage consideration but would not mandate action. In Saskatchewan, where there has been a 271% increase in firearms offences. We need mandatory protection, not suggestion.
Canadians deserve better. They deserve the full Conservative plan embodied in Bill C-242, the jail not bail act. Bill C-242 does not just clarify; it would eliminate the principle of restraint entirely and replace it with a public safety primacy clause. Public and community safety, not the earliest opportunity for release nor the least onerous conditions, would become the governing principle in bail decisions. It would be public safety, period.
Bill C-242 would create a major offences category to trigger a detention-first posture, not just reverse onus, for firearms offences, sexual offences, kidnapping and human trafficking, home invasion, robbery and extortion with a firearm, arson and violent assault. If someone is charged with a major offence and has been convicted of one in the last 10 years, bail would be barred. This is the 10-year look-back rule, a real consequence for repeat offenders.
Bill C-14 would encourage consideration. Bill C-242 would mandate it. Judges would need to consider prior convictions and breaches, outstanding charges, the number and gravity of offences, and patterns of offending while on release.
Saskatchewan RCMP did not arrest 336 prolific offenders just to have judges ignore their records. New violent charges while on bail would mean automatic detention; it would not be discretionary.
All major law enforcement organizations in Canada, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Toronto Police Association, the Canadian Police Association, the National Police Federation and the Ontario Provincial Police Association, as well as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and all provincial governments, whether Conservative, NDP or Liberal, support this, as do 79% of Canadians, who say that getting bail is too easy.
In rural Saskatchewan we understand that when someone makes a mess, they clean it up completely and do not just tidy around the edges. Bill C-242 would clean up the mess. Bill C-14 would tidy around the edges.