This is an open letter sent to Steven Bonk, Member Of Parliament for the district of Souris – Moose Mountain, in the evening of October 29th, 2025:
Mr. Bonk,
I am writing you regarding the second reading of Bill C-14 which is scheduled to take place tomorrow. I am concerned that the proposed changes to onus provisions contained in the Criminal Code risk infringing Canadian constitutionality, specifically, our section 11(d) Charter right to be presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a fair and public hearing.
As you may already know, given all else equal, the burden of proof to show cause why an accused person ought to be denied bail lies with the prosecution. However, these proposed changes tabled in Bill C-14 seek to change this so that a reverse onus is on an accused person where they are “charged with an offense in the commission of which random and unprovoked violence was used or attempted”.
In the absence of a fair trial (as described by the aforementioned Charter right), it is plainly prejudicial for a Justice to determine during a bail review that the commission of the offense is “random and unprovoked”. Provocation is not something customarily determined at the stage of a bail review nor should it be.
A reverse onus should not be placed on the accused to show cause unless, on a balance of probabilities, the risk to public safety in granting bail outweighs any suspected impairment upon the public interest. However, in the absence of bodily harm, accused persons should not be burdened with a reverse onus simply because the allegations are violent in nature.
This is what the proposed changes imply.
Reverse onus provisions must not be changed except with the utmost concern for an accused’s right to a fair trial, as the denial of reasonable bail has been known to impair their ability to make full answer and defense. If Bill C-14 is passed, the onus during bail hearings in violent matters would be de facto on the accused.
As Member of Parliament for Souris – Moose Mountain, please consider these arguments when you represent our district in the House Of Commons tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Travis Mitchell Patron
www.travispatron.ca
+1(306)840-7889
Canadian Nationalist Party
www.nationalist.ca
PO Box 490, Redvers, SK, S0C 2H0