'Crisis in the justice system': Alberta prosecutors issue ultimatum to premier amid strike talk

The association that represents crown prosecutors in Alberta is demanding changes to the justice system, or hundreds of lawyers may walk off the job "in the very near future."

The Alberta Crown Attorneys' Association (ACAA) accuses the province of "chronic underfunding" which they allege has caused a "crisis in the justice system."

The group representing 380 lawyers met Wednesday to discuss a strike unless a list of demands are met.

"Job action would be a drastic step. However, our obligations to our profession and to the public mean we must do what is necessary to protect the long term viability of the justice system in this province," read an ACAA letter addressed to Premier Jason Kenney.

The lawyers want to meet with the province soon to discuss issues like their salary grid and inflation increases, as well as the right to collective bargaining.

Chronic understaffing, a lack of experienced prosecutors, and a triage program brought in five years ago is putting cases at risk of being dropped or pleaded down, the ACAA argues.

"There's almost 2,000 cases of serious and violent offences that are at risk. This includes everything from homicides, aggravated assaults, robberies, home invasions," president Dallas Sopko told CTV News Edmonton.

The ACAA estimates there are an additional 1,000 cases outside of the "serious and violent" category that are currently at risk.

"We feel like we've been neglected now for years and years, and it's really coming to a breaking point with our members. We've held on as long as we could for each other and for Albertans, but it's not sustainable," Sopko said.

'AN ENHANCED CONSULTATION EARLY NEXT WEEK'

The ACAA has been trying for years to get the government to address their concerns, Sopko said.

A strike would essentially shut down the justice system in Alberta. The ACAA doesn't want that to happen but their president said that may be the only option left.

Justice Minister Tyler Shandro agreed Thursday to meet with the association, but his statement didn't address any specific concerns or demands.

“I have instructed the Department of Justice to invite the Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association (ACAA) to an enhanced consultation early next week to seek ways to collaboratively address the concerns highlighted in their correspondence," a statement from Shandro said.

“We share the ACAA’s commitment to high quality prosecution services and our intent is to approach this dialogue in a meaningful and productive way.”

Sopko called Shandro's offer a "stall tactic" because the ACAA has had similar meetings with government delegates before, but he said nothing meaningful has come from it.

BAD TIMING FOR THE PREMIER: WILLIAMS

Crown prosecutors have not walked off the job in Alberta in the last 50 years, if ever, Sopko said.

If that happened, judges would have to decide whether to adjourn thousands of cases, or simply stay the charges and let the people accused in each case walk, explained the president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association.

"There has certainly been a lowering of morale," Danielle Boisvert said of her trial counterparts.

"There has just been a chronic underfunding of the criminal justice system in Alberta, as a whole, and the crown prosecutors office is just one of those branches."

Kenney didn't publicly address the ACAA's concerns in either a statement or on social media and his spokesperson declined to comment to CTV News Edmonton.

A political scientist said the timing of this is terrible for the embattled premier, with his leadership review starting on Saturday.

"In January 2021, Jason Kenney promised to earn back the trust of Albertans and things have gone in the opposite direction," said Lori Williams from Mount Royal University.

The backlog of prosecutions undermines Kenney's election promises to get tougher on crime, particularly in rural Alberta, Williams pointed out.

"It turns out that all his talk about changing from the RCMP to some sort of provincial police force that's supposed to help the problem of crime isn't the problem at all. The problem is a lack of sufficient numbers of prosecutors," she said.

The results of the mail-in ballot leadership review are expected on May 18.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski