Ford’s crackdown on car thefts won’t work until he cleans up his mess of Ontario’s courts: NDP

QUEEN’S PARK – Official Opposition NDP critic for the Attorney General Kristyn Wong-Tam (Toronto Centre) says the government’s announcement to boost funding to policing to try and address car thefts will not work until Ford’s Conservatives clean up the mess they have made of Ontario’s courts.

“Arresting more people without building capacity in our court system to process new and ongoing cases will not make Ontarians safer,” Wong-Tam said. “It will simply delay and deny justice and continue the revolving door of offenders who face little to no consequences.”

Wong-Tam has repeatedly sounded the alarm on how Ontario’s courts are struggling to process cases and deliver justice for Ontarians due to issues with staffing, resources, and funding.

“Despite raising this issue time and time again, the government has failed to fix our courts. Ford cannot be tough on crime if he refuses to be smart on crime” Wong-Tam said. “Ford has failed to prioritize real bail reform and until he does critical cases will keep falling through the cracks.”

“Enough is enough – the Premier and his government have taken the back seat as our courts suffer from chronic understaffing, underfunding, retention issues, and lack of maintenance. Cases getting thrown out, justice being denied—this is not the work of a Premier who cares about making Ontarians safer,” Wong-Tam added. “We need a government that understands building a safer province requires more than just lip service, but a fair and functional criminal justice system and a strategy that ensures police resources are properly allocated to the most dangerous offenders and do not result in the criminalization of people experiencing poverty, mental health issues, or struggling with addiction.”