Earlier today, the federal government introduced legislation to reform Canada’s bail system to make it harder for repeat violent offenders to get bail.

The federal legislation follows months of advocacy from Premier David Eby and the BC NDP government. While advocating for federal reform, the BC government not only directed provincial prosecutors to seek detention for repeat violent offenders but also established public safety hubs of police, dedicated prosecutors and probation officers focused on tackling repeat violent offending in every region of the province.

Today, during the press conference detailing the new legislation, Federal Justice Minister David Lametti credited B.C.’s leadership on the file:

“Since the month of October we have been working with the provinces. It was first raised at a Federal Territorial Provincial meeting by the British Columbia government, an NDP government. We have worked since that time on a technical level with all governments across Canada of every political stripe.”

“British Columbia, a leader in this regard… has introduced a revised bail policy that directs crown prosecutors to seek detention in cases involving repeat violent offenders.”

Comment from Premier David Eby is available here.

A statement from Attorney General Niki Sharma is available here.