On the CL Talk podcast, Fraser discusses bail reform, judicial appointments, and sentencing
Bail reform, judicial appointments, and the balance between public safety and Charter rights are all on the table as Canada’s new justice minister takes office. In a recent episode of CL Talk, Canadian Lawyer’s podcast, Fraser explained how a direct appeal from Prime Minister Mark Carney led him to return to politics after announcing his departure.
Below is a summary of the conversation:
Sean Fraser calls it “the most incredible opportunity to have an impact on issues that matter.” But for Canada’s newly appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General, that impact now comes with boundaries – namely, the kind that let him be a “present and engaged father and husband,” even while overseeing one of the country’s most politically charged portfolios.
The long-serving MP from Nova Scotia, who held senior posts under Justin Trudeau, had announced his departure from politics at the end of 2024 – a decision driven by the strain of raising young children while running major files like immigration and housing. But then Mark Carney became prime minister, and everything shifted. “It wasn’t until more or less the day before I announced my return that I had in earnest considered... coming back,” Fraser says. The catalyst was a call from Carney, who offered to redesign the role around Fraser’s personal needs. “He gives me the space to both be a present, engaged father and husband... and add value as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.”
Fraser now steps into the justice file at a time when bail reform is dominating headlines. Unlike past governments, which kept the justice and public safety ministries separate, Carney’s administration is using a shared oversight model. Fraser leads on bail, while others take the reins on law enforcement. “On the policies that are more tied to the specific powers of law enforcement, public safety would likely be the lead, and I'll have a supporting role,” he says. “On bail reform... I expect I'll be the lead.”
The redesign is meant to break the inertia critics have long associated with Canada’s criminal justice reform. But Fraser is adamant about the line his government won’t cross. “The presumption of innocence, the privacy rights guaranteed to Canadians... are essential features to a constitutional democracy that I stand by,” he says. “Just because we want to improve certain outcomes around public safety doesn’t mean that we need to do it outside of the constraints of the Constitution.”
Still, the government is under pressure to act – fast. With spikes in organized crime and violent offences such as home invasions and auto theft, Fraser acknowledges that public frustration is mounting. “The rules that we have on the books are not fully used to the extent that they could be,” he says. In some cases, the bail system may need to be rebalanced. “We should revisit the authorities and the processes that are used to determine who’s going to be released on bail.”
This summer, Fraser and his ministerial colleagues will begin touring communities to test whether the party’s campaign promises are in sync with public expectations. “Are the commitments we’ve made during the campaign targeting the right kind of social outcome?” he asks. “You should expect to see the result of those conversations turn into legislative reforms... this fall.”
That reform process, Fraser insists, will not be rushed for optics. “We allow different voices with different perspectives to consider evidence from people who know what they’re talking about and make informed recommendations,” he explains. Parliamentary committee scrutiny, he adds, is where laws should be stress-tested. “I don’t intend to tell committee members... I don’t have the authority nor the intention to direct the will of individual parliamentarians.”
The provinces, meanwhile, are demanding more federal support. From legal aid and family courts to prosecuting hate crimes, the requests are piling up. But Fraser is cautious about simply writing cheques. “I do want to be careful not to simply say that we’ll put our hands up and allow different levels of government to upload their costs,” he says. Still, he concedes that Ottawa has a role to play. “Where there are shortcomings in the areas of federal responsibility that might be contributing to the challenges we see... we want to be a willing partner.”
He points to areas the federal government controls directly – RCMP resourcing, border enforcement, and judicial appointments. “We are now down to about 20 [judicial vacancies] nationally,” he says. “My goal here is to fill the vacancies quickly... and to remain current as we go forward.” For Fraser, court vacancies aren’t just an internal metric. “We need to move swiftly to have the next generation of judges appointed as quickly as vacancies become available,” he says. A short bench, he warns, “can delay justice and erode public confidence.”
The department is also preparing updates to sentencing laws and reviewing the Criminal Code’s handling of gender-based and intimate partner violence – issues Fraser calls a “moral obligation” to address. “Though serious penalties can be a deterrent, the likelihood that you're actually going to be caught and punished is also a deterrent,” he says.
Those changes won’t be effective, he argues, without parallel investments in public safety. Complex crimes like auto theft – often involving cross-border syndicates – require a coordinated response. “We want to ensure that in areas where the federal government holds some responsibility... we have a proper functioning system that can prosecute crimes without unreasonable delay,” he says.
As the fall session approaches, Fraser’s message to the legal community is clear: stay engaged. “You should expect to see a range of different opportunities as members of the profession to engage,” he says. He doesn’t just want passive feedback from stakeholders – he wants participation that shapes outcomes. “We want to be informed by the people who use the system... but we also want to make sure that we’re advancing the reforms in a way that are not just for the people who administer the system, but the people who are served by it.”
This conversation can also be found here:
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