Niagara Regional Council has joined the chorus of calls for the federal and provincial governments to act to implement more restrictive bail laws and establish better monitoring measures for sexual offenders following a recent assault of a three-year-old girl in Welland by a registered sex offender who was released early from prison.
The assault, which occurred last month, has driven concerns about crime and community safety in Welland and throughout the Niagara Region community.
The motion calling for action by both the federal and provincial governments was put forward by Councillor Pat Chiocchio (Welland).
The motion specifically noted that “municipalities lack the authority to legislate sentencing and offender release policies, but the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada hold responsibility for ensuring that laws, sentencing guidelines, parole, and release practices protect the public from repeat violent and sexual offenders.”
The motion calls on the federal government to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to make bail, sentencing, and release conditions more restrictive for repeat violent offenders, and that the province “establish stricter monitoring measures,” including GPS monitoring, to enhance public safety.
Chiocchio spoke about the motion before Council.
“This motion comes forward because our community has been shaken to its core,” said Chiocchio. “The horrific assault of a toddler in Welland has left families, parents, and residents across Niagara fearful, angry, and demanding action.”
“This isn’t just about one case,” Chiocchio continued. “Across Canada we’ve seen a justice system that too often puts repeat offenders back into neighbourhoods before they’ve served their full sentences. The public is left to carry the risk – and far too often, children and vulnerable people pay the price.”
Chiocchio admitted that municipalities may not have a role in sentencing policies, but argued that they do have a voice, and that voice must be exercised.
“This is not a political event here,” Chiocchio concluded. “It’s about protecting our children.”
Councillor Haley Bateman (St. Catharines) was second to speak on the issue.
She proposed some amendments, particularly relating to expanding the scope of the motion to include other vulnerable populations, but Chiocchio wanted to keep the scope of the motion focused on the specific event that occurred and urged his colleague to bring forward a separate motion addressing broader violence and other at-risk populations.
Bateman was unable to get a seconder to amend Chiocchio’s motion to broaden its scope.
Councillor Peter Secord (St. Catharines) also spoke to the amendment and Bateman’s attempt to widen the amendment’s scope, arguing that there needs to be a focus on this specific case and issue.
“This has to be about this child and what happened and stopping these sorts of things,” argued Secord. “I ask that all Councillors, even if you said you weren’t going to support this, that you do support this.”
“This thing that happened here, in our Region, is the worst of the worst of the worst, and it’s got to stop.”
Secord argued that there is a time and a place to talk about other issues related to crime but urged his colleagues to focus on this one specific incident when deciding how to vote on Chiocchio’s motion.
The motion was ultimately split into two separate votes at the request of Bateman, with the most important elements, calling for Criminal Code reform and stricter monitoring measures, separated out.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
