The Harper government failed, over years, to live up to its constitutional obligations to fill vacancies on the bench, with perverse negligence for a party that claimed to be all about law and order.
Yet the new Trudeau government hasn’t fixed the problem the Conservatives created. Since taking office this fall, Liberal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould hasn’t filled one vacancy. No one from the Justice Department would speak with me Monday.
But Monday evening, Wilson-Raybould’s office emailed me the following statement in her name:
We have committed to a review of the entire judicial appointments process, based on the principles of openness, transparency, merit and diversity. This review will achieve a greater degree of diversity within the Canadian judiciary, so that it will truly reflect the face of Canada,” it read. “I will work with interested stakeholders, including the judiciary, and Canadians on these appointments.”
“In the interim, our government is moving forward on measures that will facilitate appointments to fill highly pressing judicial vacancies as soon as possible.”
So when might those appointments be made?
Alberta’s court system can’t run without judges. That’s a simple enough statement. It’s just one Ottawa can’t seem to grasp.
There are six vacancies, four in Edmonton, on Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench.
There are another four vacancies on the Alberta Court of Appeal.
Empty benches are just part of the problem. In the past 20 years, Alberta’s population has increased almost 60 per cent. We’ve added just one new position to our judiciary to keep pace with that growth and it’s vacant.
The result? We have the lowest number of federally appointed judges per capita of any province or territory. Alberta, with a population of 4.2 million, has 59 Queen’s Bench judges, hearing serious criminal, civil and family court matters. British Columbia with a population of 4.7 million, only slightly more, has 82 such judges. We’d need a dozen more, just to catch up.
“We’re pretty concerned at present about the state of affairs in the province,” Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Monday. “It’s definitely troubling to see these matters adjourned.”
Anne Kirker, president of the Law Society of Alberta, said civil trials in the province are now being scheduled for early 2018, almost two years from now. That’s a huge problem, whether you’re suing for damages because of a serious motor vehicle accident or whether you’re a business embroiled in a complicated legal dispute, she said.
“People are waiting years to have their cases heard and resolved,” Kirker said. “The system is untenable, to say the least.”
Frustratingly, there’s little Ganley nor Premier Rachel Notley can do about that. These appointments can only be made by the federal Department of Justice.
Paula Simons: Justice delayed, justice denied, as Alberta begs Ottawa for more judges | Edmonton Journal
Yet the new Trudeau government hasn’t fixed the problem the Conservatives created. Since taking office this fall, Liberal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould hasn’t filled one vacancy. No one from the Justice Department would speak with me Monday.
But Monday evening, Wilson-Raybould’s office emailed me the following statement in her name:
We have committed to a review of the entire judicial appointments process, based on the principles of openness, transparency, merit and diversity. This review will achieve a greater degree of diversity within the Canadian judiciary, so that it will truly reflect the face of Canada,” it read. “I will work with interested stakeholders, including the judiciary, and Canadians on these appointments.”
“In the interim, our government is moving forward on measures that will facilitate appointments to fill highly pressing judicial vacancies as soon as possible.”
So when might those appointments be made?
Alberta’s court system can’t run without judges. That’s a simple enough statement. It’s just one Ottawa can’t seem to grasp.
There are six vacancies, four in Edmonton, on Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench.
There are another four vacancies on the Alberta Court of Appeal.
Empty benches are just part of the problem. In the past 20 years, Alberta’s population has increased almost 60 per cent. We’ve added just one new position to our judiciary to keep pace with that growth and it’s vacant.
The result? We have the lowest number of federally appointed judges per capita of any province or territory. Alberta, with a population of 4.2 million, has 59 Queen’s Bench judges, hearing serious criminal, civil and family court matters. British Columbia with a population of 4.7 million, only slightly more, has 82 such judges. We’d need a dozen more, just to catch up.
“We’re pretty concerned at present about the state of affairs in the province,” Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Monday. “It’s definitely troubling to see these matters adjourned.”
Anne Kirker, president of the Law Society of Alberta, said civil trials in the province are now being scheduled for early 2018, almost two years from now. That’s a huge problem, whether you’re suing for damages because of a serious motor vehicle accident or whether you’re a business embroiled in a complicated legal dispute, she said.
“People are waiting years to have their cases heard and resolved,” Kirker said. “The system is untenable, to say the least.”
Frustratingly, there’s little Ganley nor Premier Rachel Notley can do about that. These appointments can only be made by the federal Department of Justice.
Paula Simons: Justice delayed, justice denied, as Alberta begs Ottawa for more judges | Edmonton Journal
