A Carney-appointed judge has become one of the first to reject Ontario’s new cash bail rules, releasing a woman accused of human trafficking without demanding a cash deposit.

Justice Scott Cowan, appointed to the bench in October 2025 by Justice Minister Sean Fraser, issued the decision Wednesday at the Superior Court of Justice in Milton.

The woman was released on a $1,000 promise to pay, backed by $5,000 pledges from each of her two sureties, despite being arrested in the largest human trafficking bust in Halton police history.

The woman was charged with two counts of trafficking in persons, uttering threats, money laundering and a number of other offences. Along with eight others, she is accused of trafficking young women into prostitution and other sexual services in a commercial network that stretched across Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

In issuing his decision, Cowan also imposed a publication ban to protect the woman’s name, which, along with her photo, had already been broadcast across the country after her arrest.

Cash bail collision

The Ford government, which has been leading the push on bail reform for years, issued a directive calling for cash bail deposits effective Aug. 17. Attorney General Doug Downey said that people charged with serious crimes are being released due to our revolving-door justice system.

“People deserve to feel safe in their neighbourhoods and confident that those who pose a serious risk will not be released only to reoffend,” Downey said in announcing the changes.

The problem for Downey and the Ford government is that while provinces administer justice in our system, the federal government is responsible for the Criminal Code. The preference for a promise to pay, rather than an actual requirement to pay, is written into the Code.

“The justice shall favour a promise to pay an amount over the deposit of an amount of money if the accused or the surety, if applicable, has reasonably recoverable assets,” Section 515 reads.

In releasing the woman, Justice Cowan pointed to the Criminal Code and the fact that when a provincial law clashes with a federal law, it is the federal law that prevails.

Ford’s political fight

“The justice system has a responsibility to keep human traffickers behind bars,” a spokesperson for Premier Ford’s office said in an emailed statement. “Our changes are designed to make bail more real and consequential, to ensure the justice system has the tools it needs to protect victims and communities.”

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Criminal Lawyers’ Association have already launched a constitutional challenge to the cash bail requirement. They are pointing to Section 11 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, where the right not to be denied reasonable bail and the right to be presumed innocent are protected.

The legal challenge also states that Ontario law violates clear federal jurisdiction, an argument that has some merit, even if the claims of a Charter violation are weak.

Criminal defence lawyer Ari Goldkind told me the other day that, politically, all of this is a win for the Ford government.

“It’s a tremendous political win for the Ford government. Even if they lose the constitutional challenge that’s coming up in the next few weeks, it’s still a political win,” he said.

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Tough on crime message

It shows the government being tough on crime, doing something to try to keep people behind bars, and standing up to defence lawyers and judges, who often aren’t popular.

It’s unlikely that the cash bail requirement will survive in its current form, but Goldkind is right. Politically, this could help Ford.

The premier should ask other premiers to join him in calling on the federal government to change the Criminal Code and make bail conditions have teeth again.

If the Carney government agrees, Ford gets what he wants. If it refuses, Ford gets an issue to campaign on.

blilley@postmedia.com