Whereas Council received the attached letter from the City of Sarnia regarding Catch and Release Justice that is seen in communities throughout Ontario.
Therefore Be It Resolved that the Council of The Corporation of the City of North Bay endorses and supports the Motion from the City of Sarnia.
And Further that a copy of this motion be sent to the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, MP Anthony Rota, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General, MPP Victor Fedeli, Police Chief Scot Todd, North Bay Police Service and the City of Sarnia.
THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF SARNIA
City Clerk’s Department
255 Christina Street N. PO Box 3018
Sarnia ON Canada N7T 7N2
519-332-0330 (phone) 519-332-3995 (fax)
519-332-2664 (TTY)
www.sarnia.ca clerks@sarnia.ca
December 16, 2021
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
The Honourable Doug Ford
Premier of Ontario
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON M7A 1A1
RE: “Catch and Release” Justice
At its meeting held on December 13, 2021, Sarnia City Council adopted the following resolution with respect to “Catch and Release Justice”:
That the City of Sarnia send a letter to the Federal and Provincial Governments requesting meaningful improvements to the current state of “catch and release” justice in the Ontario legal system. Police Services across Ontario are exhausting precious time and resources having to manage the repeated arrests of the same offenders, which in turn, is impacting their morale, and ultimately law abiding citizens who are paying the often significant financial and emotional toll of this broken system. This resolution should also be sent to other Municipalities throughout Ontario for their endorsement consideration; and
That the request also be referred to the Sarnia Police Services Board and be presented via AMO delegations for endorsement consideration.
Your consideration of this matter is respectfully requested.
Yours sincerely,
Amy Burkhart
City Clerk
Cc: Bob Bailey, MPP
Marylyn Gladu, MP
All Ontario Municipalities