Manitoba MLAs unanimously call for bail reform in wake of crash that killed Portage la Prairie woman

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 7:52 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The Manitoba Legislature has unanimously passed a question to request bail betterment aft the decease of a young pistillate who was killed by an alleged drunk operator who had a warrant retired for his arrest.

Kellie Verwey was killed successful a three-vehicle collision on Highway 26 —  astir 3 kilometres eastbound of Portage la Prairie — connected Jan. 16, conscionable earlier 11 a.m. She would person turned 29 connected Monday.

Investigators determined a pickup motortruck that had veered disconnected the centre enactment of the road causing the clang had been stolen. James Lorne Hilton, the 24-year-old operator of the stolen vehicle, is facing aggregate charges related to driving portion impaired and the unsafe cognition of a causing death.

Manitoba RCMP accidental they had an apprehension warrant for Hilton astatine the time, for 2 counts of failing to comply with a merchandise order. 

The question introduced by the Progressive Conservatives Monday calls for the provincial authorities to heighten bail enforcement and support Manitobans from radical who interruption the conditions of their release.

Politicians successful Portage la Prairie had called for bail betterment connected behalf of the household aft the crash, with Portage la Prairie Mayor Sharilyn Knox having sent letters to the premier and national justness curate calling the collision a "systemic failure" that outgo "an guiltless young pistillate her life."

"The bequest of my daughter, arsenic we heard successful the House today, has been 1 of change," Verwey's mother, Meechelle Best, said Monday astatine the legislature.

"Doing this contiguous connected her day is perfectly a testament to not lone the governmental will, but her volition arsenic a idiosyncratic to marque her satellite better."

'Immediate and decisive action'

The question was enactment guardant by Progressive Conservative MLA Jeff Bereza, who represents Portage la Prairie, and supported by Lakeside MLA Trevor King.

It initially called for the provincial authorities to make a bail information enforcement subdivision wrong the Manitoba Sheriff's Department, but was amended based connected input from the NDP.

Minister Wiebe said the sheriffs person a circumstantial relation astir courtroom information and that determination was "confusion" arsenic to what they bash successful the system.

"It is nary antithetic than we person conservation officers close present that are connected the border," Bereza said. "If we inquire the constabulary to do more, past something's going to autumn done the cracks."

Bereza said the amended wording calls for "immediate and decisive" action, and that the Opposition volition clasp the authorities to that.

"How overmuch much bash we springiness these radical a chance?" helium said. "It's important for america to instrumentality backmost this state and instrumentality backmost the justness system."

'Certainly, there's much to do': Premier

Premier Wab Kinew said the authorities indispensable travel national instrumentality and guidelines connected bail conditions, but that the NDP authorities has already taken action, pointing to the province's five-point program connected assemblage safety.

"We got immoderate pushback from immoderate critics, but we moved up with it due to the fact that [it was] the close happening to do," Kinew said Monday. "But certainly, there's much to do. We spot reminders of that erstwhile we speech to the families of victims, similar the household of Kellie Verwey."

Among different things, the five-point program allocates wealth for the hiring of Winnipeg constabulary officers tasked with tracking down offenders who violate bail, for information sharing among instrumentality enforcement agencies, and for Crown attorneys.

Wiebe said the authorities is moving to instrumentality the changes arsenic soon arsenic possible, and that the National Police Federation endorsed the plan.

"This is astir $4 cardinal erstwhile it comes to that five-point bail plan, but I volition besides enactment that physics monitoring was implicit and supra that," Wiebe said. About 71 monitors were successful usage arsenic of March 7, according to the province.

"That was a programme that was chopped nether the erstwhile government. We're arrogant to beryllium bringing it back."

Wiebe said the non-partisan discussions connected the contented highlights that the national authorities "has fallen down connected their work for existent bail reform," but that the Opposition is "surprisingly silent" connected Ottawa's relation connected the matter.

"We should beryllium [in] lockstep," helium said. "They should articulation with each of the voices calling for bail betterment astatine the national level."