Premier Doug Ford railed against judges who have overturned his legislation and let accused criminals out on bail, raising fears of government interference in the judiciary.
He also suggested the province should hold U.S.-style judicial elections.
“I have an idea,” Ford said during a Wednesday announcement at Peel Regional Police headquarters regarding proposed changes to bail, emphasizing that he was not criticizing all judges, just ones with a “sense of entitlement.”
“Why don't we have, the next election: the PC party, the Liberal party, the NDP party, the Green Party, and the judges’ party? Because they overturn everything, right down to the bike lanes.”
Last week, a judge granted an injunction halting the government’s planned removal of three Toronto bike lanes. Ford said on Wednesday that he will appeal that injunction.
“Don't the judges have anything better to do than worry about if we're taking out bike lanes or not taking out bike lanes? One judge says, ‘Yeah, not a problem.’ The next judge — not because of law, because of their ideology — their ideology’s thinking, ‘Well, maybe we shouldn't take out the bike lanes.’ What right do they have?”
“We got elected democratically. Last time I checked, there hasn't been any judges elected. Maybe that's the problem. We should do what the U.S. does. Let's start electing our judges, holding them accountable. And that's my rant for the day, because I've just had it,” he said.
“Sorry, it made me feel better,” Ford said once he had finished. “I've been meaning to get this off my shoulders for seven years.”
“You should see what he says in private,” Attorney General Doug Downey chimed in at their news conference.
Judges in Canada are appointed, not elected, by the federal or provincial governments.
The provincial government oversees, and appoints judges to, the Ontario court of justice, which presides over bail hearings as well as less serious criminal cases.
Ford also suggested judges need to be held accountable for their decisions on bail, saying the judicial system is “out of control now.”
“You know, this is absolutely ridiculous, how these judges keep letting people out over and over and over again. I'm just done with it,” he said, promising to hire more “tough-on-crime” judges and justices of the peace.
Judges “have the tools” to keep people in jail, Ford said. “They just don’t want to use them.”
“‘Little Johnny was a good little boy. He goes to church every Sunday. Let's let him out for the sixth time to go kick someone's door in and put guns to people's heads, terrorize neighbourhoods, go into stores, put guns to people's head,’” Ford said.
The premier appeared to suggest that some judges should be publicly shamed for their decisions.
“Why don't we post, you know, this judge has let, you know, Johnny out six times, and he just murdered someone,” Ford said.
“Who's accountable? Does the judge call the family up and say, ‘I'm sorry I let this guy out’? Something has to give,” he said.
Judges should be accountable to law, not voters: legal experts
Ford’s comments came as his government teased forthcoming legislation that it says will better protect communities, including by speeding up the appointments of judges.
It's also announced plans this week to appoint 17 new Ontario Court justices. Downey, who would appoint them, said he’s looking for people “who understand the frustration that individuals in the community are feeling” when they’re victimized.
“We need judges who will take the law, apply the law (and) understand where community sentiment is at. I think that's an important piece of the puzzle.”
The proposed changes to judge appointments are the latest the Ford government has sought, amid concerns from Ontario’s legal community of a more U.S.-style, politicized judiciary.
Electing judges could lead to wealthy individuals influencing those elections, Federation of Ontario Law Associations chair Allen Wynperle said, pointing to billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk spending millions on a recent race in Wisconsin.
Wynperle, who sat on the federal Judicial Advisory Committee, said Canada’s system works well to select independent judges. Members of that committee review lengthy applications, he said.
“We investigate the individuals thoroughly,” he said. “We get to learn a lot about them,” before making recommendations to the justice minister, who has other tools at his disposal to screen applicants.
Appointed judges are bound to the constitution — not to voters’ whims, said Donna Kellway, the president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association.
Publicly naming judges the government disagrees with could also undermine the independence of the judiciary — and the stability of Canada itself, Wynperle said.
“We take that for granted because it's existed for so long, and it's been so stable for so long in our country, but we have to jealously guard that in order to ensure our future prosperity,” he said.
Crown attorneys can appeal cases or apply for bail reviews if they believe a judge has made a mistake. But they need more resources — more judges, court staff, and Crown lawyers — to process those reviews and prosecute cases within the legally required time frame, Kellway said.
If Crown lawyers don’t have the time to prosecute someone for failing to comply with a previous bail, that could impact whether they’re released on bail in the future, she said.
“Ensuring that the entire justice system is funded properly and making sure that the law is applied fairly is our No. 1 concern,” she said.
Qualifying for bail is harder now than it’s ever been, said Shakir Rahim, the director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s (CCLA) Criminal Justice Program.
In 1986-87, the number of Canadian adults imprisoned awaiting trial because they had been denied bail — a Statistics Canada figure known as the remand incarceration rate — was 19 per 100,000. Now, that number is 47 adults per 100,000, Rahim said.
StatCan numbers from 2022 show that only around 20 per cent of individuals in Ontario jails were serving a sentence. The rest, around 80 per cent, are awaiting trial, bail court or are otherwise detained, something legal advocates have deemed a deepening crisis.
In 1981-82, that number was 21 per cent across Canada, Rahim said.
The CCLA has called for better information on how many people re-offend while on bail, Rahim said.
“Instead, what we get is, every few weeks or a month, there's one story that is amplified to the nth degree, and then people say, ‘Well, look, bail is so lenient.’ But we don't hear about the hundreds and 1000s of cases where people are released on bail and never allegedly reoffend,” he said.
Ford “should have learned his lesson when he prejudged Umar Zameer and called for him to be denied bail — when he was in fact innocent,” Criminal defence lawyer Arash Ghiassi said in a statement.
“The premier posting the names of judges he disagrees with is a Trumpist attack on judicial independence,” he said.
“If he wants not to be overruled, he should respect the law.”
In a statement, Ontario Bar Association president Kathryn Manning said that "accountability and impartial, apolitical courts are both central ingredients in the rule of law."
"A society in which politics plays a role in conviction and prosecution is not a safe one, as we have seen in the U.S. The premier has built a reputation for protecting Ontario from the dangers of the Trump administration. Attempting to politicize the judiciary is one such danger — we need to protect against it," said Manning.
“We do not expect the AG’s legislation to be a drastic change to judicial appointments and will work with him to ensure the safeguards of the rule of law and a safe society are protected.”
Ontario to fund teams to persuade judges on bail
As part of other proposed changes expected to be introduced, the province plans to launch what it’s calling "Intensive Serious Violent Bail Teams." Officials say the teams will be made up of dedicated prosecutors who will work with police to help persuade judges or justices of the peace in bail hearings.
The bail teams, the province says, will be focused on individuals accused of violent, repeat or firearm offences.
Another bail-related change the province is eyeing is potentially directing funds paid by those GPS trackers to victim support programs.
Costs for GPS trackers, which are worn as a condition of release for someone charged with a crime, are often paid by the accused. The location monitoring devices cost hundreds of dollars a month, with discounts given to those on Legal Aid.
Green Leader Mike Schreiner condemned Ford’s judiciary rant Wednesday morning, likening the premier’s comments to U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We have a good court system in Ontario,” he told reporters. “We do not need to import American-style politics into our judiciary.”
NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie agreed.
“Look, his personal vendetta against the courts is not something that Ontarians share,” Stiles said.
Ontarians should have confidence that judges are “selected because of their merit,” Crombie said.
