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By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Alberta justice minister calls on Ottawa to end ‘catch-and-release’ bail system

Sep 14, 2022 | 1:33 PM

EDMONTON – Alberta’s justice minister says he is frustrated by a legal system that “allows dangerous criminals back into our communities.”

Tyler Shandro has issued a statement in regards to what he calls the “catch-and-release” system where people are arrested and charged with crimes, only to be released back into the community.

He says this is a systemic issue that can be traced to federal laws and the bail regime established by the federal government.

“This is not the fault of the Alberta Justice system, local courts, crown prosecutors or the police,” says Shandro.

According to Shandro, prior to 1992, offenders could be granted an early release from custody based on good behaviour, and if someone showed remorse and behaved well in prison, they would have a chance at earning parole.

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This system would later be replaced with what Shandro refers to as “statutory release,” which required that criminals who had served two-thirds of their sentence be automatically released back into the community and placed under supervision.

The minister pointed to the case of Myles Sanderson as one example of why he believes the current system does not work.

Sanderson was one of two suspects in a series of fatal stabbings in Saskatchewan over the 2022 Labour Day long weekend.

According to parole documents, Sanderson had been sentenced on multiple occasions to violent offences in the years prior and was most recently given a statutory release in August 2021. By May 2022, Sanderson had stopped reporting to his parole supervisor and was considered lawfully at large.

Shandro says cases like this are compounded by the federal government’s passing of Bill C-75 in 2018, which made changes to the bail system that he claims made it “almost impossible to hold even serious, repeat offenders in pre-trial custody.”

The minister highlighted actions taken by the province in recent years including hiring more crown prosecutors, expanding the provincial court and drug treatment courts, and increasing the budget for the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT).

“These actions, while substantial, are not enough. Alberta’s government, municipalities, federal Members of Parliament of all political stripes must make this matter a priority and speak with one voice to demand longer sentences for violent offenders and a bail regime that prioritizes public safety,” says Shandro. “Ultimately, those in power in Ottawa must answer for a soft-on-crime system that does not place the protection of the law-abiding public at the centre of all decisions.”

LNN has reached out to the federal department of justice for comments.