The question of how Aaron Driver was able to orchestrate a terrorist attack while under the conditions of a peace bond has shed light on the difficulty of effectively enforcing the controversial court order.
Peace bonds have been touted as a tool for law enforcement to contain the threat from someone with jihadist sympathies when their behaviour falls short of the threshold for a criminal charge.
Under the terms of his peace bond, Driver was prohibited from using a computer or cellphone at his Strathroy, Ont., residence.
READ MORE: Aaron Driver timeline: Police intercepted terror suspect in a cab heading to London, Ont.
“His peace bond contained very stringent conditions,” said Global News legal analyst Lorne Honickman.
“Among them, he wasn’t allowed to possess any object or logo that had the name ISIS on it and the most important one, not to contact or communicate in any way directly or indirectly in any way with any terrorist group or organization.”
The RCMP acknowledged Driver was not under constant surveillance and that only a tip from U.S. authorities alerted them to his plans.
“One of the realities is that under instruments like peace bonds they are a tool that can be beneficial in trying to control or change or moderate certain behaviours. No tool is perfect,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said during a press conference Thursday.
“What the peace bonds do not provide for at this stage is that interconnection with some kind of an intervener who can make a difference in that person’s behaviour.”
Honickman said it’s always difficult to enforce peace bonds and it’s not uncommon to see the court-ordered tool rendered ineffective.
READ MORE: Aaron Driver: Terror attack would have targeted an urban centre at rush hour, RCMP say
“The RCMP said he was not under active surveillance. They weren’t there all the time,” he said.
“They would liaison with police forces in the area but as they said, if somebody has the intention to do something a peace bond is not really going to stop them.”
Goodale said peace bonds typically allow courts to restrict the activity of those they are imposed on, but also aim to shift them away from outside pressure — such as from a terrorist organization.
“They list what you cannot do, but that raises the question then with those negative influences taken away — what is the positive influence you try to inject into that person’s circumstances and living conditions that would have a moderating influence?”
The RCMP said Driver entered a taxi and detonated an explosive device, injuring himself and the driver, before he was killed during a confrontation with police in Strathroy, Ont. Wednesday.
With files from The Canadian Press