MORE SUPPORT WOULD LEAD TO LESS RECIDIVISM: ADVOCATES

When Toronto criminal defence lawyer Jordana Goldlist was 16, she was arrested twice for minor drug offences. And while out on bail, she said, there were "no services provided" to help address "the root causes, which was my drug addiction."

Goldlist said she was eventually convicted after her second arrest and spent 18 months on probation. "During that course of probation, I left home, was living out on the streets, left school, didn't have a job (and) really fell to my bottom in a very, very quick way," she said.

"And by the time I went to my last visit (with the probation officer), I was a complete junkie."

That's the system for most people on bail, probation or parole, Goldlist said. "It's a system of monitoring and it's a system of reincarceration."

Goldlist said that two months before her 19th birthday, she experienced a near-fatal drug poisoning that served as a wake-up call. She went to rehab for six months and returned to high school at age 20. "I graduated high school, went straight into university (and) relapsed for several years during university but never to the extent that I lived in my teens," she said. "It was quite the roller-coaster for many, many years."

To her surprise, Goldlist got accepted to law school, a childhood dream.

"I wasn't private school educated. I didn't spend my time volunteering with the homeless. I was the homeless, so I didn't have the kind of resume and background that I thought you needed to get into law school," she said. "It just was so far removed from my world."

Goldlist said she quit cocaine three months before

she started law school. "And during my first semester of law school, I quit everything else and decided that I was going to live different," she said, noting she now has "19 years sobriety."

Goldlist, who opened her own practice in 2015 and now focuses on highrisk criminal litigation, also volunteers with Keep6ix, a non-profit organization founded by Richard Miller in 2017 to help offenders exit the criminal justice system.

"I'm a very strong proponent of addressing the underlying root causes instead of just locking people up and hoping for the best in the long run," she said. "If we had more programs that were geared towards assisting with the reintegration of individuals, we would see less recidivism."

The federal government recently introduced legislation that would make it harder for those accused of violent offences involving

weapons, specifically firearms offences and intimate partner violence, to get bail. Bill C-48 proposes to, among other things, create a new reverse onus targeting repeat violent offending involving weapons and expand the list of firearms offences that trigger a reverse onus, which refers to circumstances where an accused would be detained while awaiting trial unless they can prove that their detention isn't required.

Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw wasn't available for an interview on bail reform, a spokesperson for the service said.

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) said it welcomed the federal government's proposed changes.

"In our view, the legislative changes in Bill C-48 are a step in the right direction in eliminating and preventing potential threats to public safety and community well-being posed by repeat offenders with a history

of violence," OACP said in a news release. "Incidents of repeat offenders with a history of violence being granted judicial interim release and committing violent criminal acts are not uncommon today ... The public's need for protection from harm must be given far greater weight than is currently the case when bail matters are considered."

As much as recidivism is a problem, Goldlist argues addressing the issue isn't anything to do with the bail system. "It's about providing individuals who end up in the criminal justice system with the necessary skills and support they need to make better choices, and that has absolutely nothing to do with bail compliance and it has everything to do with properly funding community services, education, drug rehabilitation (and) providing mental health needs," she said. "You need to provide those skills and those services to individuals who are

struggling if you want to see them avoid further incarceration."

Goldlist stressed society is failing to address the root causes of criminality. "And if you're not addressing the root causes, ... you cannot be surprised when someone who is on bail, and should be on bail because they are presumed innocent, returns to the lifestyle that they know."

Goldlist said a "completely different" approach is needed, such as creating school programs, educational programs and health programs specifically for those out on bail. "Give them the opportunity to make better choices. Give them the opportunities they need to live a pro-social life."

Miller, the founder of Keep6ix, said many who have been through the justice system are dealing with poverty, mental health and housing issues. His organization aims to address those elements

through various programs, including one that provides offenders with training for employment in the construction work sector.

"Once an individual is released and has support and housing and (is) able to have a career ... those individuals do not reoffend," Miller said, adding 82 per cent of those who have "gone through our program" got jobs in the trade sector and haven't gone back to the justice system.

Keep6ix, which has satellite offices in Toronto and Brampton, helps more than 200 people yearly, including those out on bail. Miller said his organization is currently helping someone charged with a gun offence realize and get trained in his dream career.

"He never wanted to be a robber with (a) firearm. He wanted to be (working in the) culinary industry, so we're able to get that individual, while he's on bail with an ankle bracelet, all the way to Brampton to a culinary cook because someone wanted to mentor him," Miller said. "Imagine how much we've changed that one individual's life. Nobody has been taking the time to give that individual an opportunity even to know what his dream was."

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Reporter Andrew Palamarchuk wanted to examine the issue of bail reform from the perspective of a Toronto criminal defence lawyer with lived experience and other community activists.