Justice minister announces hiring surge
The province’s justice minister announced plans Thursday to hire 35 Crown prosecutors and 30 court support staff members to address backlogs in Alberta courts.
The announcement comes on the heels of the release of a ninepage protocol for prosecutors that outlines a “triage” system that encourages staying charges in certain types of cases, or pushing for early resolution to focus on serious and violent crimes.
Funding for the positions will come from $14.5 million added to the 2017 provincial budget, being released March 16. The hires announced Thursday are in addition to 15 prosecutor positions that are already being recruited.
Hiring 50 prosecutors will bring the province’s prosecution service up to a “full complement” of 360 prosecutors provincewide.
In a release on March 1, the Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association called for 35 prosecutor vacancies to be filled, and for another 50 fulltime positions to be created to address the backlog that led to hundreds of cases being stayed in the first two months of 2017. The 30 support staff hires will fill vacancies.
In response to Thursday’s announcement, the association said it does not believe the additions are sufficient to bring prosecutors’ caseloads to “manageable levels.” It said the added prosecutors will fill 35 vacancies, but more lawyers are needed because the Crown will be taking on additional responsibilities of first appearance bail hearings, a role police were filling, beginning in August.
At question period Thursday in the legislature, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean accused the government of inaction for two years and said criminals are “getting their own get-out-of-jail-free card” from the government.
Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said the backlog has piled up over many years and that the government is now ensuring the necessary resources are in place.
The funding announcement came as a surprise to the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association, which represents Alberta defence lawyers. President Kelly Dawson said he’s been party to the government’s discussions with Legal Aid for the past 18 months and heard there was no extra money for any part of the criminal justice system in the upcoming budget.
“One week after the Crown rat- tled their sabres by staying a group of charges, suddenly $14.5 million is discovered,” Dawson said in an interview Thursday.
“I’m glad the Crown is receiving some of the resources that they say they need on an urgent basis to carry out prosecutions, but if anyone thinks delays will be solved by putting money into one end of the system and completely ignoring the other end of the system, they’re delusional.”
Ganley’s spokeswoman, Veron- ica Jubinville, said Thursday that she couldn’t comment on whether there will be money in the budget for Legal Aid, but said Legal Aid funding has increased by 20 per cent since May 2015.
The triage protocol gives the example of prosecutors seeking to make a deal for a plea of guilty to second-degree murder when there is a “slim chance” of getting a first-degree murder conviction, or not prosecuting complex fraud cases if a regulatory body has al- ready pursued sanctions.
“Even once a file is determined to be prosecutable, not able to be diverted, and is serious or violent, and therefore a priority, it may still not be worth prosecuting to the fullest extent possible given the anticipated result and resources required,” the protocol reads.
Still, Ganley insisted Thursday that the triage system won’t endanger justice being served.
“It is absolutely not the case that the triage protocol suggests that some things not be prosecuted. It’s a principled means by which prosecutors can focus on the most serious and violent offences,” she said.