The now effective legislation that ends the 2 for 1 credit that is applied on time served by people charged who are waiting for their cases to be heard in court is generally accepted by Saskatchewan people. There are other concerns regarding this issue. The courts are apparently a large part of the problem as those charged have to wait to have their cases heard and this is historically why the 2 for 1 credit came about in the first place. Abuse of this credit is also an issue.
The government’s decision to remove the 2 for 1 policy may cause even more congestion in the courts, but we will have to wait to see if that materializes. For now the government looks good on this issue as it makes them appear to be acting tough on crime. If prolonged, complicated bail hearings add more congestion to a judicial system already backed up then the government may have to make further adjustments. That would involve spending significant dollars to improve the judicial system with facilities and personnel at a significant cost to the taxpayers.
Tough on crime policies come at a cost, but if they are effective then it is money well spent. It will be interesting to see the long term effect of the removal of the 2 for 1 credit. Only time will tell.
