Alberta adds five provincial court judges as it urges Ottawa to fill own vacancies

While the province said it’s moving ahead to appoint five new judges, Alberta’s justice minister urged Ottawa to break trial gridlock by naming more of its own.

The five provincial court judges, one of them on the civil side, will be working to reduce backlogs in Edmonton, Wetaskiwin and Grande Prairie.

But Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said while those appointments and the hiring of four Crown prosecutors and 53 clerks will help improve access to justice, it’s imperative that Ottawa fills Court of Queen’s Bench vacancies to prevent the most serious criminal cases from being dropped due to delay.

Ganley noted the federal Liberal government filled five of 12 Alberta vacancies last spring, while taking a shot at their Tory foes.

“We still continue to have some concerns in respect to superior court judges … we have had some luck in creating new positions,” she said, noting there hadn’t been new Court of Queen’s Bench appointments for 20 years.

“Our predecessors, particularly at the federal level under the Harper Conservatives, had done a very poor job in keeping pace with the population of Alberta … we know those resources are very stretched.”

The Supreme Court of Canada’s 2016 Jordan decision means criminal cases must go to trial within 30 months or be stayed.

Late last year, 15 per cent of cases exceeded that 30-month time frame while their volume continued to increase.

Hundreds of criminal cases have been stayed across the country since the Jordan decision.

Ganley said the five provincial court judges, one of whom filled a vacancy, and boosts to other staff should enable Alberta to keep pace with population growth.

“We believe the increases we’ve made in the budget will keep up with the growth of the province,” she said. “This is significant to provide timely access for Albertans.”

But she noted 15 court clerks

We still continue to have some concerns in respect to superior court judges.

and six Crown prosecutor positions promised in last March’s budget remain to be filled, something she said the province is determined to complete.

Damian Rogers, treasurer of the Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association, said the province is facing a considerable challenge hiring new Crown prosecutors due to a salary freeze that’s not expected to end until next year.

“It’s been challenging to recruit and retain positions, it’s always a challenge to recruit outside Calgary and Edmonton,” said Rogers.