Khanna secured the number 10 slot in this year’s private member’s bill lottery, meaning his proposal is likely to make it to the floor of the House of Commons for debate this fall.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is taking a tough-on-crime message into Parliament’s fall session, and the plan is being led locally by MP Arpan Khanna.
Khanna, who represents Oxford and has been a close ally of Poilievre, will sponsor the new “Jail Not Bail Act,” which takes aim at Canada’s bail system.
Khanna secured the number 10 slot in this year’s private member’s bill lottery, meaning his proposal is likely to make it to the floor of the House of Commons for debate this fall.
If passed, the bill would roll back parts of the Liberal government’s Bill C-75, which currently requires judges to grant bail at the “earliest reasonable opportunity” with the “least onerous conditions.”
The proposed legislation would mandate judges to consider an accused’s full criminal history before granting bail and would prevent anyone convicted of an indictable offence from acting as a guarantor.
He says it is a move average Canadians want to see.
Poilievre and Khanna argue these reforms are necessary to keep repeat offenders off the streets.
It is also a way to prevent further tragedies from occurring.
The Liberals, meanwhile, say they plan to bring forward their own bail reform bill this fall, targeting organized auto thefts, violent home invasions, and human-trafficking cases.
