Alberta prosecutors meet to consider strike

The Alberta Crown Attorneys' Association (ACAA) will meet Wednesday evening to consider taking job action, . 

On March 22, the ACAA sent a letter to Premier Jason Kenney to address what it called "the crisis in the justice system" and the possibility of taking "drastic steps".

The current justice minister, Tyler Shandro and former justice minister Kaycee Madu were copied on the letter. 

The association, which represents 380 Crown prosecutors across the province, alleges that "chronic underfunding" of Alberta's prosecution service is coming to a head and that all attempts to meet with the current and former justice ministers had been rejected. 

"We have been rebuffed by everyone else we approached in government with authority over our working conditions," the letter states. "Your government's neglect has forced us to consider job action."

Association President Dallas Sopko told CBC News that he and his colleagues feel like they've run out of options.

"As far as I know, it's the first meeting of its kind in the 50-year history of our association," Sopko said.

"We'll be talking about what our options are, we'll be getting advice, we'll be hearing from others in other jurisdictions about their experiences with strike and being on the precipice of a strike."

The ACAA said there is an ongoing and chronic shortage of prosecutors and a high rate of prosecutor turnover due to crushing workloads and pay that has not kept pace with inflation. 

"We have seen a significant number of prosecutors leave the ACPS [Alberta Crown Prosecution Service] for places like British Columbia and Ontario, to the extent that the ACPS often seems like a farm team for other prosecution services," the letter states.

During the 2019 election campaign, Kenney promised to hire 50 new prosecutors. The ACAA said that as of March 22, there were still 37 vacancies. 

"That means that the government is still coming up about 75 per cent short on this commitment three years later," the letter said, claiming that rural cases are especially hard hit, due to a lack of prosecutors and inexperienced lawyers. 

"Every day, junior prosecutors are tasked with very serious cases, including jury trials involving child sexual assaults with relatively little training," the ACAA claims. "It is untenable to repeatedly replace experienced prosecutors with brand-new lawyers and expect them to carry the torch."

Evan McIntyre, an Edmonton criminal defence lawyer and vice-president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association, said he's noticed a marked decline in prosecutor morale.