Canada’s premiers have written a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau questioning the effectiveness of the federal government’s recent bail reform.
The letter cites the case of Tori Dunn, who was killed in what police believe was a random attack in her Surrey, B.C., home in June.
Adam Mann, the man accused in her death, had been charged in a previous stabbing in the weeks before the killing.
In the letter inked at the recent Council of the Federation meeting, the premiers say, “provincial prosecutors had urged that he not be released into the community.”
“Clearly, in this case, Bill C-48 failed to keep a violent offender from posing a serious risk to public safety.”
Bill C-48 is the federal government’s 2023 changes to the bail system which require violent offenders to prove why they should be granted bail.
“In the case of the Dunn family, these changes didn’t work. The goal of the request to the federal government is that they take a systematic look across the country,” B.C. Premier David Eby said on Monday.
“This is exactly what we were fighting to prevent. This is exactly why we went to Ottawa with the premiers to demand the changes that were made.”
Dunn’s father Aron Dunn said he was happy to see a recognition that more changes are needed to the judicial system, but that he felt like the premiers’ language was too “soft.”
“I want them to know it might be different if it happened to one of their family members or daughters. I don’t know what they are thinking when they make these laws,” he said.
“This is a serious offender in and out of prison, dating back … 22 years or whatever, and violence against women. They had him in jail and decided to let him go.”
The family has launched a petition calling for a comprehensive review of the legal system related to her accused killer’s release.
Mann, 40, is charged with second-degree murder in Dunn’s death. He has a lengthy criminal history with dozens of previous convictions including for violent offences in Ontario, New Brunswick and British Columbia.
Mann was charged with two counts of robbery in Vancouver in late April and released on bail. He was also charged with aggravated assault for in another alleged incident in Surrey weeks later.
On June 5, he was sentenced to 10 days in jail for a breach of conditions, but released again days before Dunn’s death.
Criminal lawyer Ravi Hira, KC, who is not involved with the case, said the law itself may not be the issue.
“It is only as good as the facts put before the judge and the judgement made or taken by the judge,” Hira said.
“The Crown has the right to appeal and could have kept him in custody while the appeal was being conducted, respectfully it isn’t a failure of the law.”
Aron Dunn said he plans to keep fighting for justice for his daughter and for other families.
“I know she’s not the only one. This keeps happening over and over to many families,” he said.
“It’s not a responsibility I wanted or asked for, I certainly wish it wasn’t mine. But I feel like I have a moral obligation, a moral responsibility to keep speaking out about it and keep making noises about it so no other family has to go through what my family is going through.”