St. Albert’s MP took aim at the federal justice minister over the lack of judicial appointments since the October election during Tuesday’s question period in the House of Commons.
St. Albert-Edmonton MP Michael Cooper, a lawyer, was on a tear, saying Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould had time for “pay to play fundraisers” since being appointed to cabinet but hasn’t appointed a single judge. At one point he appeared to be shaking with anger or passion.
While the federal government doesn’t appoint provincial court judges, other superior levels of court are appointed federally, with screening provided by a federal government appointed committee.
“Our courts are facing an unprecedented backlog,” said Cooper in an interview with the Gazette. He noted Alberta Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench Neil Wittmann, who has been publicizing the issue, pointed out a recent serious fraud case was thrown out because of delays.
Cooper said there are at least 46 vacancies on federally-appointed courts across Canada. Alberta Justice said in this province there are six vacancies on the Court of Queen’s Bench and four on the Court of Appeal.
Cooper would like to see the federal government take steps to address the issue. A delay in appointing the committees or the judicial affairs adviser is worsening the backlog, he said. He highlighted a particular problem in criminal proceedings, where criminal charges, even serious ones, can be stayed due to delays to access to justice.
Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has said the government is committed to reviewing the entire judicial appointments process, a position reiterated in a statement sent to the Gazette.
“In the interim, our government is moving forward on measures that will facilitate appointments to fill highly pressing judicial vacancies as soon as possible,” the statement from the minister said.
Provincial Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kathleen Ganley said in an emailed statement that she has raised the issue of vacancies with her federal counterpart.
“I will continue to advocate for these vacancies to be filled, as only the federal government has the authority to appoint justices to the Court of Queen’s Bench. New appointments will help address pressures on the justice system by allowing more cases to be heard in a given day,” Ganley said.
Former Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber, now practising law in St. Albert, said there has been an ongoing problem for at least the last decade when it comes to a shortage of justices.
It’s gotten worse over time, he said. In Alberta, the vacancies are being compounded by the fact that Alberta has fewer justices per capita than the rest of Canada.
Rathgeber said despite Alberta’s prominence under the last federal government, he saw little movement on the issue of the number of justices needed here during his terms as MP.
He’s seen the impact in civil litigation, but said it’s even more concerning when there are big delays in criminal matters. That can mean suspects who maybe shouldn’t get bail sometimes will because there is hesitance to keep them in custody that long, Rathgeber said.
“I think the public ought to be concerned,” he said of the issue of lack of justices causing delays both civilly and criminally.
