Justice committee  I think it is a hard sell. It is counterintuitive, but the evidence is sufficiently clear that, if you are placed in pretrial detention, the likelihood that you're going to be exposed to criminality, lose confidence in yourself and have sufficient social barriers placed in front of you because of that predisposes you to be more inclined to be engaged in criminality than before.

Justice committee  The bail supervision and verification programs that are run by the John Howard Society have been very successful in terms of helping people to keep out of dire circumstances, which includes being detained, and to get the support in the communities they need during this period so that they can show up for their trials and participate constructively in the process.

Justice committee  I think the proportion of prisoners who are held in pretrial detention is actually increasing in Canada. It tends to be a reflection of the marginalized people in Canada who are more likely to be detained in custody. It's people who are homeless or suffering from mental health problems.

Justice committee  I think all of us would acknowledge that those who are in an active violent crime cycle and are charged with an offence need to be constrained in order to protect the public, but for a lot of people—I would say the majority of people—who are finding themselves in custody prior to their trial, the risks they pose in the community for flight or for committing another offence can be managed with community-based programming, which is a lot less expensive and a lot more effective over the long run in terms of reducing long-term risk to public safety.

Justice committee  Thank you very much. It's a welcome opportunity to present the views of the John Howard Society on bail issues in our country. We regret the tragic death of the police officer at the hands of someone who had been released on bail and was not respecting the conditions. Criminal law reform, however, that is motivated by a single tragedy incident too often does not address the real problem.