Council joins call for bail reform

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This article was published 22/02/2025 (209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon councillors joined a growing call for bail reform this week, and asserted that Brandon has suffered a drain on police resources and social order because the Canadian justice system does not appropriately punish repeat offenders.

Brandon councillors voted in support of a motion from Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) on Tuesday to pen a letter to the Government of Canada as well as the Province of Manitoba. The letter is agreed to describe an increasing crime rate in Brandon that has jeopardized public safety and is tied to federal policies that do not appropriately hold offenders accountable.

Speaking with the Sun on Thursday, Luebke explained some reasons for his motion. He said the impact of rampant crime is affecting residents.

“People are making life choices about where and when they go out, based on their concern for their safety,” said Luebke. “This morning a resident, just as an example … she said that she wouldn’t go out at night by herself.”

He pointed to a list of recent incidents that Brandon Police Service had to deal with.

The list of crimes he presented to council included that a criminal blasted a hotel window with a shotgun while on release order for assault and robbery charges, a man possessed brass knuckles and meth packaged for sale while on an undertaking for trafficking meth and a woman robbed a convenience store with a knife while on release order for robbery.

Luebke added that the city also faces costs. It spends money on security measures that were not necessary 10 years ago, and even so, crime still presents an issue for residents.

Council’s vote of support on Tuesday means the City of Brandon will write a letter that highlights these issues and will send it off to higher levels of government.

Mounting calls for bail reform reached a boiling point in Manitoba this January after the death of a city tourism co-ordinator in Portage la Prairie.

Kellie Verwey, 28, was killed in a car crash that police say was caused by a man who was out on bail driving recklessly, actively had a warrant out for his arrest and had violated release conditions at least five times.

RCMP charged the man, 24-year-old James Lorne Hilton, with the crime of driving while impaired and failing to stop after a fatal collision.

The crash led Portage Mayor Sharilyn Knox to write a critical open letter to provincial Justice Minister Matt Wiebe. Knox told the Sun on Thursday she has since received direct support from the minister, and her calls for bail reform have rallied others and acted as a focal point that has “lit a flame” across Manitoba.

“I posted that letter on Facebook, and I did not tag the justice minister, I didn’t tag anyone,” she told the Sun in a phone call Thursday. “This (viral post) was all based on comments or shares from everyday citizens. That letter has had a million views.”

In the letter, Knox wrote she could not overstate the frustration and anger felt by the community over the death of the young woman. She wrote repeat offenders are allowed to roam free, the system has deprioritized the safety of the public, and leaders are acting weak by not standing up to make a change.

“Where is the courage to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough?’” Knox wrote in her letter. “He should have been in custody, not behind the wheel of a stolen truck on our highways. This is a systemic failure, plain and simple, and it cost an innocent young woman her life.”

A month after writing the letter, Knox told the Sun that Wiebe has completely proven himself in his actions by reaching out, connecting over the issue and writing an advocacy letter to the federal government.

The letter from Wiebe called for policy change and pointed to the crash in Portage as an example.

“Such tragedies erode trust in the justice system and highlight the urgent need for further reforms,” Wiebe wrote in the joint letter on Feb. 13. “On behalf of the Province of Manitoba … we are writing to urge the federal government to enhance its bail reform efforts.”

Knox said she has also received the support of the mayors of Winnipeg and Brandon as well.

Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett told the Sun on Wednesday that bail reform has been a constant concern for Brandon councillors. But he said the death in Portage, and Knox’s open letter, was the boiling point. Council decided this week to pen a letter to the federal government, and Fawcett said Brandon is adding its voice to the momentum Knox has created.

“I’ve given her my full backing,” said Fawcett in a phone call. “I want to reiterate and support what she is doing on this.”

The joint letter was also signed by the president of the province’s organization that represents the collective interest of all municipalities, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities.

Wiebe told the Sun this week he wanted to express deep sympathies to the victims of repeat-offender crimes in Westman. The sympathies also included the Brandon man who in January was struck in the face with a baseball bat in daylight downtown, by someone who had been released the previous day on a probation order.

“All Manitobans deserve to be safe in their communities,” Wiebe wrote in his emailed statement to the Sun.

As efforts rally behind Knox’s open letter, the Sun asked her why she believes the letter has become the focal point. Knox said the issue had been simmering for years, and the death of the 28-year-old tourism co-ordinator, who was planning her wedding, bore details that weighed on people.

“It wasn’t just a letter saying we need bail reform,” said Knox. “I think the reason this has lit a flame is because it’s a personal story.”

Knox said she urges everyone to continue to share their stories, as there’s many just like the death in Portage.

Responding to the Sun’s questions about what the province has done in light of bail concerns, Wiebe said the province increased funding to municipal police by 28 per cent in the most recent budget, funded an expansion for bail-related ankle monitors, and continues efforts to lobby the federal government to change its policies around bail across Canada.

With the upcoming federal election, Luebke and Knox said that likely means action won’t be taken in the immediate short term from the federal government. But as the election takes place Knox said it is crucial to keep the issue on the forefront to make sure it gets addressed as quick as possible when votes are in.

Luebke said the number of investigations where people break release conditions amounts to about three cases per day for Brandon police.

The council motion Luebke brought forward showed local police deal with more than 1,100 cases per year on the subject of breaking orders. The broken orders include notices to appear in court, or to behave in a particular way in order to be released from custody. Police in Brandon laid charges in 92 per cent of these cases last year.

The motion from Brandon council was also backed by the Brandon Police Board, which also agreed to advocate to the province and to the federal government. Police expressed concern recently in January, when Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates was speaking about the baseball bat attack in Brandon and commented that stricter bail conditions should come into force in light of that attack.

The suspect in that attack on Jan. 15 was on probation at the time of the incident stemming from a prior case in Winnipeg, and was not out on bail.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com