The BC Conservative’s public safety critic said that Canadians are losing faith in the judicial system after two more suspects, accused of violent crimes in the Dawson Creek area were both granted bail this week.
“It comes from the lack of accountability. When you have people doing things like ramming police cars, going on 12-hour manhunts, breaching condition after condition and still being let out of jail, this is why people don’t trust the system anymore,” said BC Conservative MLA, Elenore Sturko.
On Sunday, Jeffery Parr was arrested after a 12-hour manhunt ended near One Island Lake. Less than 8 months ago, Parr was also charged after being the subject of another manhunt. In December 2024, police allege the 32-year old broke into a residence near Pouce Coupe.
Parr was charged this week after Dawson Creek RCMP allege he defied a number of court orders, not to have contact with his ex-girlfriend.
After allegedly confronting her, police say Parr rammed her truck with his vehicle before fleeing the scene. Investigator said he told people that he had a gun and was going to kill himself. Parr was charged with 4 counts of violating those court orders.
The Emergency Response Team (ERT) from Prince George was called in to search for Parr. A second ERT from the Yukon had to flown in, along with an RCMP helicopter to conduct the manhunt.
Despite previously being charged with assault with a weapon, break and enter, mischief to property over $5000 and breach of undertaking, Judge Mark Erina released Parr on bail.
“We release people from custody and they are expected to obey those conditions. It used to be that if you breached those conditions, you would be held accountable. We’ve removed that accountability,” said Sturko.
Sturko added that it must be exhausting for local police in a community like Dawson Creek to put their lives on the line, only to see repeat and violent offenders freed on bail.
“We don’t want to infringe upon people’s charter rights, but everybody has charter rights, including people who continue to be victimized,” said Sturko
Early Tuesday morning, Clayton Smith-Zimmerman was arrested and charged after Dawson Creek RCMP allege that he violently rammed a police vehicle after a high-speed chase. Police accused Smith-Zimmerman of purposely trying to injure two officers and immobilize their vehicle, after he allegedly fled the scene for a second time.
Smith-Zimmerman and his female passenger are from the Northwest Territories. He is also being accused of driving a stolen vehicle that had its vehicle identification numbers removed. The female was released without charges being laid. A judge also granted Smith-Zimmerman bail.
Sturko is a former RCMP officers and puts part of the blame on the Trudeau government for passing Bill C-75, in 2019. The bill instructs judges to release the accused at the earliest opportunity, with the least restrictive conditions as possible.
Sturko highlights the fallout from bill C-75 in Parr’s case. “A person has allegedly caused harm on someone they were meant to stay away from and led police on a significant manhunt, not once but for the second time in eight months.”
Sturko also said the BC Government is to blame. She points to the Lepard Butler report, which was commissioned by the NDP, when mayors from across the province had brought up concerns with violent repeat offenders.
“One of the findings in the report was a lack of accountability in the justice system. We have emboldened criminal activity. We’ve removed that layer of accountability, where people are not paying a penalty for disobeying conditions, they’re not paying a penalty for breaching their conditions,” said Sturko.
Sturko said the NDP has underfunded the judicial system in BC and it’s having serious consequences. She said Crown prosecutors are short staffed and run ragged. That has forced prosecutors to adjust how they run bail hearings and it is having a negative effect.
“When we have a person who we know is a risk to the public, or whether it’s a property crime, prolific offender, or whether it’s a violent repeat offender when they’re in jail, it’s a break for the community. That person has an opportunity then to receive help, therapy, treatment,” said Sturko.
Sturko said that judges need to actually prosecute people who continually breach their bail conditions. It something she says is happening less and less.
“They’re not being held in custody regardless of having sometimes very extensive and violent criminal histories and multiple breaches. They’re being trusted over and over again, and they’ve shown that they’re not worthy of the public’s trust, because they continue to cause harm,” said Sturko
She claims that because so many offenders are being let go, less people are reporting crimes because they just don’t feel safe. “They know that if they report someone who has hurt them, that the possibility is, that person will just be let go from jail, making them feel insecure because they feel retaliation.”