Tory congratulates federal government for acting on bail

Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory welcomed a federal announcement on reverse onus bail and called on Dalton McGuinty to finally do something on bail at the provincial level.

"Battling violent crime needs action from all levels of government," said Tory. "We've seen strong progress from the federal government but we've seen very little action from Dalton McGuinty's government. Ontario administers justice and there are some serious problems that need to be addressed."

During the so-called Summer of the Gun in 2005, the McGuinty Liberals were virtually invisible. The only action the government attempted to take came in announcements in early 2006, but most of the programs announced to prevent crime have not gotten off the ground.

Tory continued to push the McGuinty Liberals to take action to fix the justice system. In addition to his party's Time for Action plan to address youth violence, Tory has introduced a motion in the Legislature to direct the government to:

* Ensure Crown Attorneys oppose bail for all violent crimes.

* Seek review of all bail granted in charges involving violent crimes.

* Make the justice system more transparent and accountable by starting to collect and make public statistics on bail orders and other court proceedings, something the McGuinty Liberals have so far refused to do.

"Dalton McGuinty's favourite direction to look is toward Ottawa to deflect responsibility," said Tory. "Ottawa has taken significant action. Now, the Ontario government must finally take action. It's time for him to adopt our plan and do something meaningful to improve community safety in Ontario."