Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe says he met with the family of Kellie Verwey, who was killed in a January crash involving James Hilton, and shared their frustration and grief over Hilton’s recent disappearance before being arrested Tuesday afternoon in Winnipeg.
“I had an opportunity to sit down with Kellie Verwey’s family yesterday and hear directly from them, hear their frustration, hear their anger, and quite frankly, share in that frustration and that anger,” notes Wiebe.
He says the federal government has a significant role to play when it comes to bail reform, but the province is also moving ahead with its own measures.
Five-point bail plan
Wiebe says Manitoba introduced a five-point bail plan on day one, with several priorities that include stronger supervision, more community supports, and increasing the number of police officers in Winnipeg and across the province.
“With the ankle monitors, this was cut under the previous government. We brought it back. We started at 100, but we’ve expanded that now up to 200 monitors to be able to be rolled out in community,” says Wiebe.
He adds that the tools are available for courts to use, and the province has encouraged Crowns to consider public safety first when bail conditions are decided.
Hilton’s release and arrest
Hilton, who faces charges including dangerous driving causing death, was released Friday to an unsupervised treatment facility and disappeared the next day. RCMP confirmed he was arrested without incident at about 4 p.m. Tuesday in Winnipeg.
“As far as my understanding is, he didn’t have an ankle monitor,” adds Wiebe.
He continues that ankle monitors are made available to judges. Wiebe says such tool decisions around bail conditions ultimately rest with the judiciary, but he wants to see a stronger focus on community safety when those decisions are made. Wiebe says Manitoba will continue pressing Ottawa to prioritize bail reform at the national level.
Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@portageonline.com.
PortageOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the PortageOnline app.