You're quite right. Hearings can be waived.
I have a couple of these cases going on right now. The most insidious thing is this. Someone's arrested on a minor offence, a property offence, and they can't get their bail hearing for the next five days. I've sat in court, and I've had lawyers who work with me sit in court, day after day, to reach the same bail hearing. At the front end, the Crown says, “We could schedule your bail hearing, which might be available in five days, or you could plead guilty now and get out.”
My clients who are innocent.... The problem isn't, as Mr. Baber suggested, clients wanting to stay in jail longer to get time. The problem is innocent clients wanting to plead guilty to escape those terrible conditions that are caused by a deliberate policy choice of provincial governments.