Opposition knocks province over cost-cutting guidelines for prosecutors

Reaction is pouring in over new prosecutor guidelines in the province, as the government tries to balance rising caseloads and tight budgets.

The guidelines say some cases will have to be bumped to make way for more serious ones and suggests that for some minor offences, the fact police laid charges in the first place may serve as a sufficient deterrent.

Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley says serious, violent cases remain a priority.

“The triage protocol is quite clear that when we’re looking at this, it’s never an instance of taking a plea deal just to save time, it has to be based on the fact that there’s some sort of challenges in prosecution,” she explained.

But Angela Pitt of the Wildrose party wonders if violent cases like sex assault will still get priority in a system focused on clear-cut, cost-effective cases.

“It’s sending a message, especially to women in this circumstance, it’s completely unacceptable,” she argued. “I mean, ‘I Believe You’ campaign is an extremely important one and what is coming out of this report is exactly the opposite.”

Progressive Conservative critic Mike Ellis says the government should be funding the system properly rather than running it based on the bottom line.

“Whether you are a victim of a theft, whether you’re a victim of a perceived moderate or violent crime, everybody needs to be treated with the same amount of respect throughout the justice system,” he said.

Mount Royal University Justice Studies professor Doug King says this is unlikely to change much.

He argues prosecutors don’t go out of their way to prosecute cases they don’t think they can win now, adding governments like to send down these kinds of reminders from time to time.

However, he sees the resource crunch which spurred the guidelines being a major problem for courts across the country, not just Alberta.

“Every provincial government, and of course the federal government, over the last decade has had as an agenda, cutting costs,” he explained, adding it’s been a serious problem since former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s tough on crime initiative.

“Increase the workload within the criminal justice system, [but] didn’t fill vacant judicial positions,” he said.

King worries judges and prosecutors will get blamed for issues, when it’s elected officials who have decided not to adequately fund the system.