Premier Doug Ford calls for 30-year parole ineligibility for killing police officers

Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday calling on the federal government to increase jail time for violence against frontline police officers and public safety threats.

Ford is asking for parole eligibility to be increased from 25 years to 30 years for anyone convicted of killing a police officer. Current Canadian law treats killing a police officer as automatic first-degree murder with a mandatory life sentence and no parole eligibility for 25 years. Ford also wants stronger penalties for youth offences involving violence against police.

The premier is requesting new federal legislation to make murder or firearm discharge in a congregate setting — such as a shelter, jail, or group home — an automatic first-degree murder charge, with parole eligibility increased to two-thirds of the sentence. He also wants a new standalone offence for violent home invasions with a maximum life sentence, and anyone convicted of home invasion and related offences from the same incident to serve sentences consecutively rather than concurrently.

Ford is seeking to expand drone restrictions to cover provincial adult correctional institutions and police facilities, and wants federal law changed to allow access to encrypted communications.

Ford tied his requests to recent attacks on officers. Const. Jeff Smith was critically injured in a recent attack at a synagogue in Belleville, Ontario.

"These are common-sense measures that would give police officers the tools they need when they walk into dangerous situations and when violent criminals threaten the safety of our community," Ford wrote. "We owe it to the officers who have been killed or injured. We owe it to their families. And we owe it to every police officer who puts on their uniform knowing they may not make it home at the end of their shift."

The Prime Minister's office has not yet responded to the letter or Ford's proposals.