A significant moment took place Monday at the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, as a petition calling for bail reform gained momentum following a tragic incident in Portage la Prairie. The tragedy involved a resident whose life was taken by an individual who had been released on bail multiple times—five or six times, according to reports.
Portage la Prairie MLA and Agriculture Critic Jeff Bereza spearheaded the petition, gathering 3,000 signatures to push for changes in the justice system. He noted that signatories included Manitobans currently vacationing in Mexico, as well as residents from across the province.
"There's a real want out there by the people of Manitoba to feel safer and to make sure that these criminals are being kept behind bars. We had approximately 100 people in the gallery of hte Legislature Monday who were opposed to the way that the laws are written right now and we put out a proposal to have this change so that more monitoring of people who are out on bail."
Concerns over repeat offenders
Bereza highlighted a troubling example from Portage la Prairie, where a single apartment complex had drawn over 80 pages of complaints about one resident. Manitoba Safer Communities, a provincial government branch, has been involved in the case.
"The RCMP have been there over 40 times. Our fire department has been there 19 times. And this person is still out. This person is harassing, this person is in illegal activities, and yet he is still out in the public. I think it's important that we wanted to bring light to this legislation. That we must change and we need to do better. And the NDP put some amendments in that included the words 'immediate' and to get this done very quickly. Of course, we supported that. But what I meant by historical, I've never seen it since I've been here. Every member of the House, whether they be our PC party, the governing NDP party, the Liberal Party or the Independent member, we all stood up in unison and it was a unanimous vote. I've never seen that before in in my time of being in government where we all come together on this."
A call for action
Bereza shared a heartbreaking account of an 83-year-old woman in Winnipeg who was recently attacked.
"I think she was beaten to the point where she was left on the sidewalk and all that poor woman was trying to do was go into the grocery store to get a quart of milk. She was beaten by a person that was out on bail. So, we need to do better for Manitobans. We will always continue to work and if we can work together unanimously on this, I think this is a great day for Manitoba and I hope we can show the rest of the country that Manitoba is a leader on things like this. It's because of the words that we brought forward yesterday. I brought this motion forward and it was seconded by the Member from Lakeside, Trevor King."
Fighting for victims
Although the victims of these tragedies could not be present at the Legislative Building, Bereza emphasized that the push for justice was being made on their behalf.
"We were willing to work as long and if we had to stay there all night to get this through. Wwe were prepared to do that because we weren't prepared to hear the word 'no'. And we weren't prepared to hear the word 'can't; we can't do this.' There were big changes made Monday in the Manitoba Legislative building."
Bereza said the event demonstrated how all sectors of government can work together when needed.
"It was called an Opposition Day Motion. With an Opposition Day Motion, we were prepared. We knew that there had to be a vote on it that day. And our party, we were prepared to stay all night into Tuesday and whatever it took to make sure that we are seeing real bail reform happening and we will continue to show real real reform when it comes or try to push for real reform. This is a bite out of the elephant. It isn't the whole answer here. We still need to do more. We need Manitobans and Canadians to feel safe in their communities and right now I don't believe they feel safe."
An emotional moment
When asked how it felt to witness such a unified stance from all parties, Bereza responded with emotion.
"I am so proud -- and I say this every day -- to be the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Portage la Prairie, and to be able to see changes like this. These changes are why I do this and why I keep telling people I have the best job in the world. And I can't thank the people of Portage la Prairie who put me here and I can't wait to continue to dig in and hopefully do better things for Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, and Canada."
Restoring safety
Reflecting on his childhood, Bereza recalled how his mother would call for him to come home at bedtime.
"But now, we need to know where our kids are all the time. We need to know where our parents are. It's time to take the justice system back, because right now, the criminals are running the justice system and we as government leaders need to take it back. The RCMP are doing everything they can to do what they can, but they need our help because we're the ones who make the laws here. We need to help them out as well."