Federal Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre believes the man accused of the murder of Surrey's Tori Dunn "has no right for bail." 

Tori, 30, was found with life-threatening injuries in her home in Port Kells on June 16, 2024. She later died in hospital. 

Adam Mann was charged with second-degree murder on June 28 in connection to Tori's death. Mann is currently in court on three unrelated charges, not including the murder. None of these charges have been proven in court, and a publication ban currently covers the details of these charges. 

He was recently denied bail for a number of the charges he faces, including the murder charge.

'Jail, not bail': Poilievre promises crackdown on crime

During a Surrey stop on Feb. 4, Poilievre told the Surrey Now-Leader that Mann should never have been allowed a bail hearing.

"He should be put into a small jail cell, and he should stay there for the rest of his life," Poilievre said. 

Tori's rights and freedoms were violated when she was killed, he added.

"So locking them up (repeat violent offenders) and throwing away the key is necessary to uphold the Charter of Rights of law-abiding Canadians," Poilievre said. 

If he becomes prime minister, he said he aims to carry out "the biggest crackdown on crime" in Canadian history. 

"We will be locking away these repeat offenders and throwing away the key, and like I say again, that is not only allowed under the charter, it is required by the charter," he said. 

However, a criminal defence lawyer told the Now-Leader that while "jail, not bail" is a catchy slogan, it is more political than constitutional.

Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and not allowing an accused a bail hearing is unconstitutional, said Molly Shamess, a criminal defence lawyer unconnected to the case.

"The charged with an offence has the right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause," said Shamess. "So that's the phrase, the right not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause, and the charter also says that we all have the right to be presumed innocent, unless or until we're actually proven guilty according to the law in a fair and impartial trial."

"Just cause exists," Shamess said. "It happens every day in our courts, that somebody's history, somebody's circumstances, are such that there is just cause to deny them bail, but we need a hearing for that. That is absolutely core, absolutely fundamental to, at the barest minimum, have the hearing so that the judge can assess the person's circumstances, their history, the alleged offence, facts, all of these constitutional principles mixed up in there, and decide what to do."

Criminal record a 'key part' of bail hearings: lawyer

There is a difference between a bail hearing and being released on bail.

During a hearing, "a judge hears the facts or alleged facts about the alleged offence and about the circumstances of the accused person and hears submissions from both sides and then makes a decision according to the law and what they've heard," Shamess said.

"It's also not a binary choice between an automatic stay in jail, even though you are presumed innocent at this stage, and release into the community to do whatever, whenever with no rules or supervision," she said. When an accused person is released on bail, a judge can and often does impose conditions that the accused is required to follow, and there are consequences if they do not follow them.

The why an accused individual is denied bail or has conditions imposed on them: to ensure they attend court, to protect the public and "to maintain confidence in the administration of justice."

These "factors are being addressed at every bail hearing that happens every day in this country. It is false to suggest that anybody, including repeat violent offenders, are routinely released into the community with no consideration of the role of their history of convictions," she said. 

If the accused has a criminal record, it becomes a "key part" of bail hearings.

Shamess added that it is a balancing act with people's rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"There's always a point at which someone's right or freedom butts up against somebody else's, and we need to do some balancing," she said. "So what we're balancing with bail, with the right to have a bail hearing at the barest minimum: to go before a judge, to have the facts of your life, your history, heard, the facts of the alleged offence, heard, and to have the law applied, and have the judge make a decision."

"That is how we balance these principles, by allowing a judge to hear all of that — and sometimes when there is just cause deny bail, if there is no way that release can be granted on any type of condition that would still again adequately protect public safety and public confidence in the administration of justice and make sure someone still shows up for court," she said.

It is also important to note, she said, that the majority of people who are granted bail do not reoffend, "let alone reoffend violently." 

"Focusing on an outlier case rather than every other case, rather than real evidence, is politics. It's not good policy, it's not Charter compliant if you're doing it this way." 

'All of this is avoidable'

Poilievre added he is inspired by the Dunn family "to ensure that no one ever has to experience this hell again." 

"All of this is avoidable, and it is the result of an NDP- Liberal justice system that favours criminals and that turns loose the most violent, rampant criminals into our communities to destroy our families, and that will end when I'm prime minister."

Shamess disagrees with Poilievre on this; in fact, she said, the current federal government has tightened bail laws. 

"This current government has introduced changes to the Criminal Code that make release harder, specifically when people have histories of convictions for violent offences, intimate partner violence, if there's a firearm involved. There was an amendment made to the Criminal Code."

Bill C-48 came into effect on Jan. 4, 2024. The bill also expands the use of reverse-onus provisions for certain offenders. It means that instead of a Crown prosecutor having to prove in court why an accused person should stay behind bars until their trial, the person who has been charged has to show why they should be released.

Shamess added that a different approach is needed, as being tough on crime is not working. Instead, she said, we should be smart on crime. 

"People return to their communities, and if we're going to return them having cut them off from every support they had, it's, I think, foolish to think that that improves public safety for anybody," she said. 

"You want to increase community safety, reduce crime rates, the way to do it is to increase supports, housing, access to treatment, basic income supports, not cutting people off from their community, their family, their housing, their employment and throwing a presumed innocent person in jail."

Tori's father, Aron Dunn, feels the laws in Canada failed his daughter and she would still be alive if there were proper laws were in place to protect her.

"My daughter's death was needless. It didn't need to happen," Dunn said. 

"Everybody's got these great ideas how the law works until it happens to them," he said. "I hope for Shamess that she never has to endure what me and my family has had to, I think she would feel much different if this had happened to her daughter or son."