MONTREAL — A shortage of available judges has resulted in the cancellation of an entire week of provincial court hearings in Quebec’s northern region of Nunavik.
The Justice Department said about 250 cases were postponed this week in Kuujjuaq, because no judges were available to sit on the court that travels between the region’s Indigenous communities.
Sarah Plamondon, who represents northern Quebec in the provincial association of defence lawyers, said Tuesday the postponements are a sign of the problems plaguing Nunavik’s justice system.
“It’s not only a shortage of judges but also legal aid lawyers, clerks,” Plamondon said in an interview.
“There’s no entire week of court that is cancelled in Montreal … (cases) are postponed to the next week. Here, we can’t do that …. We can’t reschedule in four months, or six or nine. It can be 12 months later.”
Quebec court has about 319 judges, with another 61 retired judges allowed to fill in, but none of them are permanently based in Nunavik.
“It’s time to review the justice budget … and to nominate more judges,” Plamondon said, adding that the consequences are dire for both the accused facing delays and victims.
“A victim who is told the case will be resolved at a certain time and gets ready for it, but ends up being told … to come back almost a year from now … it’s discouraging,” she said.
“Someone who’s sentenced in northern Quebec has to go to Montreal (to serve their sentence). There’s a high price to pay for that, a lot of preparation. The dates I give my clients are important and not meant to be rescheduled.”
A spokesperson for Quebec court did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In February, the association representing the province’s Crown prosecutors sounded the alarm about the justice system in northern Quebec, decrying a lack of resources, staff and available court dates.
“The cancellations of hearings is another difficulty that adds to and complicates the issue that the North is already struggling with,” Andy Drouin, vice-president of the prosecutors association, said in a statement Tuesday.
“The biggest losers from the lack of resources are the victims, because they don’t benefit from the services they are entitled to.”
Drouin said the association is waiting for a promised provincial report about the justice system in Nunavik and is ready to work to improve the situation.
The Justice Department was expected to publish a report at the end of March by lawyer Jean-Claude Latraverse looking at ways to reduce delays and improve access to justice in northern Quebec. Department spokesperson Maxime Rioux said in a statement Tuesday the report is in translation and editing.
Meanwhile, Plamondon said a recent decision by Quebec court to allow judges one day of deliberation for each day sitting in court starting this fall — rather than one day of deliberation for every two days of sitting in court — will further strain Nunavik’s itinerant court.
“The decision has enormous consequences. We already reduced by half weekly court hearings on next year’s calendar,” Plamondon said.
She said she fears some delayed cases will have to wait over a year for a new court date. That could push them past the limit set in the Supreme Court’s Jordan ruling and result in charges being dropped. The 2016 high court decision said provincial court trials should finish within 18 months of the person being charged.
“A lot of cases will be dropped without being processed,” Plamondon said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 19, 2022.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
