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CACC Meets with UHM Voice of the Workers and Malta Government Lawyers
In 2022, UHM Voice of the Workers marked a significant milestone by negotiating the very first collective agreement for the Attorney General’s Office. The groundbreaking efforts of UHM Voice of the Workers have not gone unnoticed. Their achievements resonated across borders, drawing the attention of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel (CACC). At a recent meeting on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association conference in Malta, representatives from the CACC engaged with UHM delegates to learn from their experiences.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2025-04-11
A system in crisis: Rebuilding the dwindling Crown Attorney’s Office
With more files, more complex files and less resources, not surprisingly, Crown Attorneys are burning out and quitting. The lack of sufficient lawyers, especially experienced lawyers, has led to crisis in many provinces. Associations representing Crown Attorneys in Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have recently sounded the alarm...
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2025-03-14
Crown attorneys call on Manitoba government to help address ‘dangerously heavy caseloads’
The Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys (MACA) is calling on the provincial government to help reduce mounting workloads that it says are making it difficult for prosecutors to meet their professional responsibilities. grievance it filed in April 2023. It says the grievance it filed back in April 2023 regarding 'dangerously heavy caseloads' won't be heard by an arbitrator until October 2025.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2025-01-10
Preparing RCMP body-cam evidence for court will be monumental task, prosecutor says
The RCMP is phasing-in the use of body-worn cameras across the country and expects 90 per cent of frontline members to be wearing them within a year. Shara Munn, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, said while the body-camera evidence will be great to have, it will also mean a huge influx of work for prosecutors.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2025-01-06
N.L. government invests in 18 new Crown attorneys amid severe staffing crunch
Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Minister Bernard Davis announced Wednesday afternoon that the provincial government is investing nearly $24 million to improve the province's justice system.... The investment comes after CBC News reported in numerous stories that Crown attorneys in the province were "suffocating" from overwhelming workloads and a critical staffing shortage.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-14
Newfoundland to add more Crown prosecutors
Newfoundland and Labrador has agreed to hire more Crown lawyers following cries of a shortage of prosecutors in the province. The “multi-year investment” will include the hiring of 18 new Crown lawyers, according to a news release.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-13
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Alberta’s justice system has reached ‘breaking point,’ say prosecutors
01-03-2017
Prosecutor James Pickard says prosecutors are having to stay criminal charges because there aren't enough staff to deal with them.
The justice system in Alberta is facing a crisis, according to Crown prosecutors.
The Alberta Crown Attorneys' Association took the unusual step of calling a news conference Wednesday after Edmonton's chief Crown prosecutor stayed 15 separate criminal prosecutions on Feb. 28 because of a lack of resources.
Those charges included impaired driving, assaulting a police officer, and weapons charges.
The choice to stay charges because of a shortage of prosecutors is affecting the whole province, said James Pickard, assistant executive director of Specialized Prosecutions with Alberta Justice.
"Since January 2017, all across Alberta, we are confident in stating that approximately 200 significant charges have been stayed due to a lack of resources," he said.
In Edmonton in December 2016 alone, 20 charges were abandoned because there were too few Crown prosecutors to see them through, he said.
Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley acknowledged the short staffing to be a problem.
"We're concerned as well," she said.
"Over a number of years, the number of matters in court have increased and the number of prosecutors has not increased at the same rate."
Alberta Justice has not added any new positions to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service since 2010.
Number and severity of charges growing in province
The number and severity of criminal charges have grown in Alberta, with over 250,000 criminal charges laid in 2015-2016, said Pickard, emphasizing that's a nearly 10 per cent increase over the previous year.
"Alberta's Crown prosecutors are fighting a losing battle to keep up with the increasing number of significant criminal offences," he said.
Pickard said "years of neglect," along with the current provincial hiring freeze, are to blame.
The government needs to drop the hiring freeze and fill the 35 vacant positions that currently exist, he said.
In Edmonton, there is a 16 per cent vacancy in prosecutors based on 2006 levels, said Breena Smith, a Crown prosecutor in Edmonton.
Prosecutors have left or retired and their positions haven't been filled, she said.
Criminal defence lawyer Kelly Dawson said although the situation appears politically charged with the provincial budget coming down this month, the Crown prosecutors raise real issues.
"We've actually done a little bit of work to figure out, trying to be reasonable in a time of fiscal restraint, what we need as a first step," Pickard said. "We think that 50 Crown prosecutors is a legitimate, fair, first step to start addressing the problems within the prosecution service."
The ministry said in an email that it is actively recruiting 14 to 16 prosecutors across the province right now. Eight to 10 of the positions are in Edmonton, four are in Grande Prairie and one is in St. Paul.
Dawson said he's also met with the province over concerns about the ongoing need for increased legal aid funding.
"I think it's got to the point that the prosecutors are so frustrated because they've been dealing with staff shortages ... that they decided to make a political statement as opposed to try to make this work," he said.
"The government has been receptive to meeting with us, consulting with us," he said. "But at some point you wonder if they're really listening to anything other than public pressure."
