Justice system reform must become a priority in Canada
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
216.91206
Summary
Justice delayed is justice denied. You might be familiar with the saying, Justice delayed is Justice denied . In Canada, the waiting list to get on trial is becoming unreasonable by any interpretation. A trial has been scheduled for April 2024 for three men who were charged with mischief for their alleged role in the Coutts border blockade during a trucker's convoy protest last year. That will be 26 months after the alleged offense.
Transcript
00:00:00.400
You might be familiar with the saying, justice delayed is justice denied.
00:00:05.520
And I mean, it's an apt saying. It's a good one.
00:00:08.100
I was speaking actually to Ty Northcott last night.
00:00:11.980
He ran the big illegal rodeo in Alberta during the COVID restrictions.
00:00:15.940
Well, his next court date over that is coming up in this June.
00:00:20.800
That'll be more than two years since the rodeo was held, I believe.
00:00:25.100
And who knows how long before that's all finished.
00:00:27.620
Now, Section 11 of the Charter covers the rights for people who've been charged with offenses.
00:00:33.200
Subsection B states the person has a right to be tried within a reasonable time.
00:00:37.440
Now, reasonable, that's a subject, is a subjective term and it's open to interpretation.
00:00:42.100
In Canada, the waiting list to get on trial, though, is becoming unreasonable by any interpretation.
00:00:47.720
A trial has been scheduled for April 2024 for three men who were charged with mischief over 5,000
00:00:54.100
for their alleged roles in the Coutts border blockade.
00:00:58.860
That will be 26 months after the alleged offense.
00:01:02.120
Now, while the term mischief makes the charge sound minor, the men charged could be sentenced
00:01:08.560
So is it fair or humane to keep them waiting for over two years with such penalties hanging
00:01:13.660
I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of whether or not the charges against these particular
00:01:20.140
Well, they are entitled to defend themselves in a court in a timely manner, though, and
00:01:26.420
In 2016, the Supreme Court in Canada put its foot down and set a ceiling of 30 months for
00:01:31.560
superior court trials and 18 months for provincial court.
00:01:34.660
Yeah, those numbers represented what the Supreme Court wanted to bring the times down to at that
00:01:39.120
Now, when a person is awaiting trial, their life is in limbo.
00:01:42.120
They aren't convicted of anything, yet they're living under limitations.
00:01:45.420
They might be held in remand for that period, or they might be released with bail conditions.
00:01:49.560
They usually can't legally travel, and they certainly can't make any long-term life plans
00:01:53.420
when they don't know if they're going to be incarcerated for a period of time in the future.
00:01:57.240
Now, in a system where this person is presumed innocent, they're enduring quite a bit of
00:02:00.920
punishment before they have a chance to try and prove their innocence.
00:02:04.460
These weights also, of course, increase pressure upon people charged to plea down to lesser offenses
00:02:10.740
It's a pretty rough choice to make if you believe yourself to be innocent.
00:02:13.160
Now, of course, not everybody waiting for trial is innocent.
00:02:18.300
Due to the long waits for these trials, though, the resources in remand and such are becoming
00:02:23.480
Criminals that should have been considered too dangerous for bail are often released due
00:02:31.840
Prosecutors and judges, again, they're more inclined to pursue plea bargains to try and
00:02:36.780
So some terribly dangerous people are getting light sentences due to this.
00:02:40.620
Now, justice reform rarely becomes an election issue, but it really should.
00:02:45.640
The government is too big and intrudes into our lives in way too many ways as it is, but
00:02:49.640
one area that they should be involved in is justice.
00:02:51.820
Policing and justice are clear areas where we need government authority, and we're starving
00:02:57.040
The protection of the public for crime should be a prime priority for governments, and
00:03:02.260
We need to increase expenditures and expand our criminal trial ability.
00:03:05.860
I mean, justice reform, yeah, it just isn't a flashy issue, and it isn't an easy way to
00:03:10.600
Solutions to the backlogs in the court system, they aren't going to come fast.
00:03:13.840
Recruiting and retaining more prosecutors, public defenders, and judges can't be done
00:03:22.620
Citizens charged with crimes and citizens, it's failing the citizens who have been charged
00:03:26.820
It's failing the citizens who want to be protected from the criminals.
00:03:29.380
I mean, if the government can't maintain even a justice system, what the hell good is
00:03:32.440
it is, it's failing the citizens who want to be protected from the people who want to
00:03:36.800
be protected from the people who want to be protected from the people who want to be
00:03:37.800
protected from the people who want to be protected from the people who want to be protected from
00:03:39.800
These guys are on the front lines, helping to draft smart and intelligent firearms, regulations
00:03:45.360
and legislation in Canada, and more importantly, educating the public about how we keep guns out
00:03:52.440
If you become a member, it's absolutely worth every penny.
00:03:55.440
You can become a Western Standard member for just $10 a month or $99 a year for unlimited