Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 18, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba LEASING FOR NEW AND USED VEHICLES WAVERLEY MITSUBISHI VICKAR MITSUBISHI SCAN THE QR CODE TO START SHOPPING OR CALL (204) 663-6185 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2025 A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM MANITOBA’S justice minister is confident harsh- er penalties for organized retail crime, set to be introduced by Ottawa next week, will bring “real consequences” for thieves. Matt Wiebe joined his provincial and territorial counterparts Friday in Kananaskis, Alta., to dis- cuss the upcoming changes to the Criminal Code with federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser. “The organized retail theft that we’re seeing, where people are stealing things to be resold in the black market, that’s something that we can all agree needs to be dealt with, with real conse- quences,” Wiebe said from Alberta. Those consequences need to be “severe” to send a message, a Winnipeg grocer said. “In my opinion, the punishment needs to be se- vere, otherwise it’s never gonna stop,” said Food Fare co-owner Munther Zeid. “What should that be? That’s way above my pay grade.” Zeid has been outspoken over the years about the rise of shoplifting and organized theft in his stores and said bandits have been caught selling meat that was stolen from the Maryland Street Food Fare in a nearby parking lot. “What can we do to prevent these guys from stealing? Either kiss their ass and say, ‘Please don’t steal’… or give them a punishment they’ll never forget,” said Zeid. Zeid grabs a baseball bat and confronts those he catches stealing. He demands they return the items. “The organized crime guys, when they know that they can walk in and walk out of your store with no issues, they will continue coming back.” The crackdown on repeat offenders and organ- ized retail thieves, promised Thursday by Prime Minister Mark Carney, needs to come with a ser- ious deterrent, Zeid said. He pointed to jurisdic- tions outside Canada where convicted felons are named and shamed with their photos posted for the public to see. In response to increased robberies and vio- lence, urban Liquor Marts deter thieves by lock- ing their doors and only allowing in those with ID. Zeid said that has affected customers who’ve had to wait in line to enter the provincially owned stores, and eroded Manitobans’ tolerance for re- tail crime. “If somebody came into your home, day in, day out, day after day, stealing your stuff, eventual- ly you’re going to get sick of it and you’re going to stand up to it because you can’t handle it any- more,” Zeid said. “You can claim insurance, but your insurance goes up… That’s costly.” Manitoba has led the charge for Criminal Code amendments regarding property crimes and tougher bail conditions for repeat offenders, Wiebe said. “We’re talking about that repeat offender who is, over and over again, being charged and re- leased,” the minister said. “We know that it erodes the confidence in the justice system. So we know that this is something that needs to be addressed.” In September, a Winnipeg police retail theft in- itiative involving local businesses and the Retail Council of Canada led to 84 arrests with more than 200 charges and warrants laid and more than $10,000 in property recovered. The Winnipeg Police Service declined to com- ment Friday on the federal measures. The retail council praised Manitoba as a “shin- ing example” of collaboration among levels of government. “We have an executive task force in Manitoba and a working group where we have people gath- ered at a table working on issues and the collabor- ation,” said executive adviser Rui Rodrigues from Toronto. “Prolific, repeat offenders are probably the biggest challenge in Winnipeg,” he said, noting organized retail crime groups got help from the COVID-19 pandemic. “There was the reduction in law enforcement response,” Rodrigues said. “Courts are tied up, police lack resources and the criminals got to understand that retail crime — the perception of it being a victimless crime and a simple property crime — meant the consequences were less.” Retail crime or retail theft under $5,000 is typ- ically a summary offence, where the accused is released to their own recognizance, he said. “They go back out the same day or next day and reoffend. It’s become an issue. The criminals con- tinue to get more brazen and confident that there are no consequences.” In a 2018 retail council survey, respondents’ re- ported retail theft losses of $5 billion. Last year’s survey pegged losses at $9.1 billion. While retailers “love” that the prime minister called out organized retail theft, they’re waiting to see details of the legislation, he said. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca NEWS VOL 154 NO 283 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2025 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. 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Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Justice Minister Matt Wiebe Oft-hit grocer hopes for ‘punishment they’ll never forget’ Manitoba justice minister expects serious consequences for thieves in Criminal Code update CAROL SANDERS W HEN the federal Liberal government unveils its latest round of bail law changes next week, you can bet on two things. First, the government will tout them as bold new measures to make commu- nities safer. And second, before the ink is dry, there will be fresh outrage when another accused offender released on bail commits a violent crime. It’s pretty much a guarantee. The outcry will come, as it always does, regardless of government’s tinker- ing around the edges. Granted, the public is frustrated. But here’s the reality: these latest bail law reforms will do little, if anything, to re- duce crime or prevent repeat offending. The centrepiece of Ottawa’s new package is an expansion of what’s known as “reverse-onus” provisions for bail in the Criminal Code. It’s a legal term that means an accused must convince a court why they should be released on bail, rather than the Crown having to prove why they should be kept in custody. It’s being pitched by the Liberals as a new, tougher approach to deal with repeat offenders and violent crime. But it isn’t new. Reverse-onus provisions have ex- isted in Canadian law for years. They already apply to a number of serious offences, including organized crime, terrorism, certain firearms offences and cases involving repeat violent offenders. In fact, just two years ago, the Lib- erals expanded the list of reverse-onus offences after months of political and public pressure from opposition parties, provinces, municipalities and police forces demanding that Ottawa strengthen bail and crack down on repeat offenders. So what happened after those changes? Did violent crime go down? Did repeat offending drop? Did our communities become any safer? Nobody knows. That’s because neither the federal government nor any province collects or publishes data on how often accused people reoffend while on bail, what types of crimes they commit or whether reverse-onus provisions have any meaningful im- pact on reoffending rates. This data vacuum is astonishing. Lawmakers across the country have been demanding tighter bail rules for years, yet no one in government — federal or provincial — has any solid evidence on whether the measures they’re introducing actually work. The Liberals’ approach is a case study in legislating by press release. They’re expanding measures that already exist, calling them new and claiming they’ll make Canadians safer, all without a shred of research or evidence to back it up. Bail reform has always been more about optics than outcomes. The federal government is under immense political pressure to be seen to be do- ing something about crime, particular- ly after a series of high-profile cases in which accused offenders released on bail went on to commit serious or violent acts. Each of those tragedies rightly sparks public anger and grief. But they also fuel a cycle of reactive policy-making. When it comes to bail reform, the problem may not even be the Criminal Code. It’s often how the bail system is administered. And that’s where governments could actually make a difference, if they were serious about results instead of headlines. We’ve heard repeatedly from Crown prosecutors across the country, including in Manitoba, that they are overwhelmed. Bail hearings are often rushed. Prosecutors don’t always have the time or information to properly assess a person’s risk or argue for detention. In some cases, the police reports are incomplete or late, meaning prosecu- tors go into hearings unprepared. The result? Some accused offenders who shouldn’t be released are freed — not because of some flaw in the law, but because the system is underfund- ed, understaffed and stretched thin. That’s an administrative problem, not a legislative one. No amount of tweaking the Criminal Code will solve it. What’s needed is more investment in the people and processes that make the system work: more prosecutors, more bail supervision programs, better co-ordination between police and Crown attorneys and improved data-sharing about offenders’ histories and risk factors. But that kind of work doesn’t lend itself to a flashy press conference. It’s slow, complicated and expensive. It also doesn’t score the same quick political points as announcing another “tough-on-crime” reform package. So instead, Ottawa keeps recycling the same approach — expanding exist- ing measures, renaming them as new and hoping voters won’t notice the lack of measurable results. Meanwhile, police forces, provinces and communities continue to struggle with the very real consequences of repeat offending, while the federal government pats itself on the back for “acting.” If the federal government were serious about public safety, it would start by investing in the collection and publication of national bail data — something experts have been calling for years. It would fund research into how and why reoffending happens, and which interventions actually reduce it. And it would ensure provinces and prosecu- tors have the resources to make sound, informed decisions at bail hearings. Until then, nothing will change. We’ll get more headlines, more political theatre and more finger-pointing every time a tragedy occurs. The public will continue to lose faith in the justice system and the federal government will continue to confuse activity with achievement. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca Grits throw new coat of paint on dilapidated bail system TOM BRODBECK OPINION ;