The Ontario Prime Minister, Doug Fordsays that he has “enough” of the magistrates and the peace judges who release criminals under repeated deposit or who grant injunctions because of their “ideology”, to block his project to demolish cycle paths in Toronto, in particular.
The justice system is “broken,” says Ford. “Let us have judges as in the United States,” he proposes, so that they are more attributable, before conceding that such a decision would return to the federal government.
Mr. Ford benefits from the election of the government of Mark Carney In Ottawa to return to the charge with its call to reform the Criminal Code and the bailing releases, and to impose minimum sentences.
He hopes that Prime Minister Carney will act, saying that all the provincial prime ministers agreed with him. “The former Prime Minister [Justin Trudeau] did not want to do anything, ”criticizes Doug Ford.
“The criminals will think twice if they are exposed to a minimum sentence of 5 to 10 years,” says Ford.
The federal conservatives of Stonewho had adopted a message of firmness against crime in the campaign, made several gains in the suburbs of Toronto during the election on Monday.
Judges and their “ideology”
In addition to claiming a reform of the criminal code, Mr. Ford attacks “rotten apples” among the judges, which he accuses of laxity. “Some people do not want to put anyone behind bars,” he says. “They have the tools, but don’t want to use them. »»
Mr. Ford suggests that he is ready to pay the wages of these “soft” judges so that they retire two to four years earlier.
For him, the independence of the justice system is a “joke”, because the magistrates are “named” by governments, he says. “Do you think the liberals appointed judges who were firm against crime?” He asks. “Why is not published the name of a judge who released a criminal [sous caution] Six times before he kills someone? “
Prime Minister Ford also quotes the example of the injunction which for the moment blocks his project to demolish three cycle paths in Toronto, “not because of the law, but for ideological questions,” he said.
“The judges have nothing else to do?” He asks, accusing the magistrates of causing the government’s expenditure of billions of dollars to the government with their decisions, when they are not elected officials, he said.
“These cycle paths will be dismantled in one way or another,” says Doug Ford, promising a call. He recalls that he campaigned on this subject.
Mr. Ford assures that the province is building more prisons. Critics say that judges often have to release defendants under bail because the detention centers are currently overflowing.
Do judges lack impartiality?
The judges are chosen thanks to a “process”, they are not named directly by the governments, argues Boris BytenskyPresident of the Ontario Criminalists Association.
“The judges have opinions, but their decisions depend on the law they must follow,” he adds.
« [Doug Ford fait] Political rhetoric »points to Boris Bytensky, president, association of Ontario criminalists he admits that some criminals are released under a repeated deposit, but he adds that many other accused are kept behind bars for too long, according to him.
Madeleine Bestformer Ontario general prosecutor, also says that there is a “net” in the appointment of a judge, which is made following the recommendations of a “selection committee which is made up of the people of the bar and people of the public,” she said, saying to herself “disappointed” by the words of Mr. Ford.
“It’s as if we heard the President of the United States [Donald Trump] Talking about judges and the justice system, ”says Madeleine Meilleur. She “worries” that Mr. Ford’s exit can undermine public confidence in the judicial system, which is a “model around the world,” she adds.
The Canadian Association of Civil Liberties qualifies, for its part, the words of Doug Ford “very alarming” in a press release. The association adds that it is “more difficult than ever to obtain a bail in Ontario”.
