Prosecutor shortage puts 1,200 court cases at risk, says Alberta Crown Attorneys' Association
CBC
About 1,200 provincial court cases involving serious and violent crimes are at risk of being stayed because of a shortage of prosecutors, says the Alberta Crown Attorneys' Association.
"Despite the fact that there is a viable case, we're having to tell victims that we just don't have the time and resources to proceed with their cases," association president Dallas Sopko said in an interview this week.
According to Alberta Justice, 47 out of 378 total prosecutor jobs were unfilled as of Sept. 30.
"The number of vacancies remains fluid due to numerous factors, however, [Alberta Crown Prosecution Service] is aggressively recruiting to fill all vacant positions across the province," Alberta Justice spokesperson Carla Jones said in an email.
The province has committed to hiring 50 new prosecutors, including 20 this year, by the end of 2022-23. The plan began in 2020-21 and is projected to cost about $10 million per year by the time it concludes.
Sopko said creating new positions doesn't help much when existing vacancies are difficult to fill.
Many Alberta prosecutors are leaving for other provinces or to work in the federal service, following opportunities for better pay, smaller workloads and better mental health supports, he said.
Addressing challenges that prosecutors are facing is a top priority for the government, said Alex Puddifant, press secretary to Justice Minister Kaycee Madu.
"We understand the tremendous, tremendous pressure our Crown prosecutors, and we're certainly looking to ensure they're well-supported and receive the resources that they need," Puddifant said.
The 1,200 serious provincial court cases at risk are on top of many other cases that prosecutors have already dropped as part of a triage policy to prioritize violent crimes, Sopko said.
The association did not have permission to share how many cases in Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench are in danger of being stayed due to delays in getting to trial.
Sopko acknowledged COVID-19 has contributed to court backlogs, but said resources were a problem well before the pandemic.
The former NDP government brought in the triage policy five years ago as a response to the Supreme Court of Canada's Jordan decision, which put a time limit on waits for trials.
During the 2019 provincial election campaign, now-Premier Jason Kenney promised to end the triage system.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.