TORONTO — An Ontario Superior Court judge on Monday paused the province’s mandatory cash-bail deposits while a constitutional challenge proceeds.Justice William Chalmers granted an injunction to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Criminal Lawyers’ Association. Until a final judgment, accused people and sureties are not required to hand over the full pledged amount in cash, a money order or a bank draft within two business days of release. The provincial offence for missing that deadline — a fine of up to $5,000, not jail — is also on hold.The injunction does not kill Bill 75. It does not stop a justice of the peace from ordering a cash deposit under the federal Criminal Code. It freezes only Ontario’s add-on: pay the pledge up front or face a provincial charge.Attorney General Doug Downey brought the rule in as a public-safety fix. He has called the old promise-to-pay system a “revolving door” and a “get out of jail free card.” The government says cash on deposit makes it easier to collect when someone breaches conditions or skips court. The same package includes stronger collection tools and a surety database. The Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act and related regulations took effect Aug. 17, two years after Ottawa’s own tighter bail rules in the Criminal Code began on July 15..Legal groups challenge Ford’s cash bail rules in court.Ontario judge ignores new bail cash deposit rule in human-trafficking bail case.They lasted two weeks. In that window, at least one Superior Court judge, Scott Cowan in Milton, released a woman charged with human trafficking on an $11,000 promise to pay and no cash deposit. The Western Standard reported the Aug. 17 start date and last Thursday’s injunction hearing, where Chalmers said the province appeared to be trying “to do indirectly what they can’t do directly” and noted the statute’s title.The groups argue Queen’s Park rewrote federal criminal procedure. The Criminal Code leaves the security deposit to judicial discretion. They say the scheme also hits the s. 11(e) Charter right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause. Cash bail was largely dropped in Canada in the early 1970s. The Supreme Court has said it should be exceptional.Ontario’s lawyers say the rules do not decide who gets out. They attach a collection condition after a court has already set a financial term. That, the province argues, is administration, not a rewrite of the Code. They told Chalmers the groups overstated the harm.Monday’s order is just a pause, not a verdict. Bail courts go back to promises to pay unless a judge orders otherwise. The constitutional case still has to be argued.
