Cameron Thomas lays out public safety policies built on capacity and evidence, not promises likely to be struck down by the courts.
TORONTO: Cameron Thomas, Canadian Future Party candidate for Beaches–East York, laid out his public safety campaign: a commitment to fund and resource the bail system Ottawa just overhauled, rather than promise further Criminal Code changes likely to be struck down in court.
“We just passed the strictest bail law in a generation. Before we promise the next one, let's find out if the system we have can run it. That's not soft on crime, and it's not wasting your time on promises courts will strike down,” said Thomas.
Thomas noted that Toronto Police have reported that 17 percent of people charged in shooting-related homicides in the city over a recent two-year period were already out on bail for firearms offences at the time of the alleged killing, the statistic that first drove Ontario to invest in its own bail system in 2023.
What’s already changed
The federal Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, Bill C-14, received Royal Assent on June 15, 2026, and came into force on July 15, 2026. It added new reverse-onus categories for auto theft, home break-ins, human trafficking, choking assaults, and repeat violent offenders, extended the reverse-onus lookback period from 5 to 10 years, and required courts to weigh outstanding charges and evidence of random or unprovoked violence at bail. This is binding, in-force law, not a promise.
On August 17, 2026, Ontario's own enforcement measures took effect: cash bail deposits due within two business days of release, mandatory up-to-date surety contact information, expanded debt-collection tools including wage garnishment and property liens, and a new provincial surety database. This is the enforcement-side counterpart to C-14, real, but limited to what a province is allowed to do: collect debts and track compliance, not decide who is eligible for bail in the first place.
What we won't promise
Ontario asked Ottawa, in writing, for more: full bail elimination for offences like murder and human trafficking and restored mandatory minimum sentences. Ottawa didn't deliver on either request, and Thomas says that's for good reason. The Supreme Court has struck down comparable mandatory minimums twice, in R v Nur and R v Lloyd. A categorical bail ban with no individual hearing conflicts directly with the Charter right to reasonable bail affirmed in the Court's 2017 Antic ruling.
“Promising a bail ban or a mandatory minimum sounds tough, but if it gets struck down in court a year later, nothing changed for anyone. I'd rather tell you the truth now than promise you something a judge undoes later,” said Thomas.
Where Thomas stands
The federal government's own backgrounder on C-14 says the reforms will only be effective if provinces properly resource courts, prosecutors, and bail supervision. But the only federal money attached to C-14 is $250,000 per province or territory, earmarked solely for standardizing bail data collection. Ontario alone is spending $112 million over three years on the actual capacity problem, dedicated OPP bail compliance teams, grants to police services, and intensive Crown prosecution teams for bail hearings, with another $8.3 million added in the 2026-27 budget. Ottawa's contribution is a fraction of one percent of what one province is already spending on the part of the system C-14 depends on.
As MP, Thomas is committing to three things:
Push for federal cost-sharing on bail-court capacity, Crown prosecution teams, and bail supervision, the same way Ottawa cost-shares other justice and policing programs, not just the $250,000-per-jurisdiction data grant currently on offer.
Support and strengthen the annual national bail-data reporting C-14 now requires, pushing for detail down to the division and court level so ridings like Beaches–East York can see whether the system is keeping pace.
Track outcomes before asking for further Criminal Code changes. If the data show the July 2026 reforms aren't working, the next step should be evidence, not another round of promises.
Accountability: what happens if the numbers don't improve
Within 30 days of the federal government's first annual bail report under C-14, Thomas will publish a Beaches–East York-specific companion, pulling together 55 Division and Ontario Court of Justice data for the riding, so constituents see the local picture without waiting on a national summary.
“I'm not going to wait for a national data dump nobody reads. I'll publish what it means for this riding every year, and if the numbers move the wrong way, I've already told you what I'll push for next: funding, not a promise a judge will strike down,” said Thomas. If the report shows reoffending rates rising among people released on a reverse-onus basis compared to the prior period, Thomas is committing now to what he'll push for: a federal-provincial bail capacity funding agreement, not a bail ban or mandatory minimums.
A local test already underway
Thomas pointed to a case moving through the courts now. On June 5, 2026, a stabbing at Woodbine Beach, within the riding, sent two people to hospital. Four suspects were arrested within a week, including a youth charged with attempted murder. The two adult co-accused are due in court on September 3, 2026, nearly two months after C-14 took effect, meaning their case will be handled entirely under the new rules.
“How that case moves through the Ontario Court of Justice has nothing to do with whether Ottawa passes more legislation. It depends on whether 55 Division, the Crown, and the courts have what they need to use the tools they were just given. That's what this pillar is about,” said Thomas.
About Cameron Thomas
Cameron Thomas is the Canadian Future Party candidate for Beaches-East York. A seventeen-year resident of the riding, he is a communications strategist with more than two decades of experience advising executives and political leaders. He currently serves as Chief of Staff and Press Secretary for the Canadian Future Party. His campaign was the first to be confirmed on the Beaches-East York by-election ballot. For more information go to the campaign website here
About the Canadian Future Party
Founded in 2024 under the leadership of former New Brunswick cabinet minister Dominic Cardy, the Canadian Future Party is committed to evidence-based policy, democratic reform, and restoring honesty and accountability to Canadian politics: Not Left. Not Right. Forward
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Media + Campaign Contact:
Beaches–East York Campaign
cameronthomasBEY@gmail.com
416-660-9801
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