'Triple threat': Alberta Crown prosecutors overworked, understaffed, and more junior than ever, association says

EDMONTON -

Alberta courts are at a turning point as increased staff shortages mean more than 1,000 serious and violent charges are at risk of being dropped, the Alberta Crown Attorney's Association says.

Frozen wages, low morale, and an overwhelming workload are some of the reasons why crown prosecutors are leaving the province for Ontario, B.C., or Ottawa, the association president told CTV News.

"There are viable cases that are not seeing the light of day," said Dallas Sopko, Alberta Crown Attorney's Association president. "We are having to tell victims that we don't have the time and resources to even start to process their files.

"It means a person that should have been convicted won't because of a mistake made by a Crown prosecutor, either because they are inexperienced or they haven't had enough time to prepare."

Aggravated assault, child sexual assault, and robbery are just some of the 1,200 charges that could be tossed. Sopko says staffing shortages have prompted the court system to triage cases so that serious charges go to trial at the risk of other offences not being examined.

"The types of files that are being triaged at the front-end, without even having a day in court, those can involve impaired driving, theft, a breach in court orders, fraud, assault charges on the lower end of the spectrum," he added.

MORE COMPETITIVE WAGES ELSEWHERE

Court system triage was implemented in Alberta five years ago by the province, Sopko said. At that point, the government recognized there were not enough resources to meet legal demands in Alberta, he added.

"We are now five years later and are still doing the same thing."

Based on a 2016 Supreme Court ruling, courts face an 18-month ceiling between charges being laid and a conviction; otherwise, cases can be dropped.

As of the end of October, approximately 47 of 380 Crown positions were vacant, Sopko said.

He says senior prosecutors are leaving the province since they are likely to earn 25 per cent more.

The United Conservative Party campaigned on a promise to spend $10 million to hire 50 new prosecutors.

Sopko says the province has only filled six per cent of those positions and that more needs to be done to address the root causes of why people are leaving.

"We can't offer competitive wages. We can't offer mental health supports," he added. "Why would people want to work in a place where morale is struggling?"

The province would not confirm to CTV News Edmonton how many cases have been stayed due to Crown delays this year.

'WE ARE IN A CRITICAL STATE'

At first, rural offices mainly felt staffing challenges, Sopko said. Now, even Edmonton and Calgary are seeing the effects.

A recent survey conducted by the Crown prosecutor's association of 100 members saw 95 respond that they were experiencing burnout, and 85 indicated they saw court cases where the outcome may have been different if they had more time to prepare.

"Victims who should be seeing justice done in a court aren't," he said. "We are in a critical state. We have been conveying this to the government now for years.

"I am not sure how much longer we can go without a very major case falling through the cracks as a result of being overworked."

WE NEED A PLAN: OPPOSITION

The Opposition says the UCP has cut over $100 million from the Justice Ministry budget since taking office, with $4 million less going to prosecutors.

"It's clear these cuts are causing real harm and decreasing Albertans access to justice," said Irfan Sabir, NDP justice critic.

The NDP is calling on the justice minister to reverse the cuts and produce a plan to clear the backlog so viable cases are not stayed.

In a statement to CTV News, Alex Puddifant, the press secretary to the justice minister, said that the province had hired 38 prosecutors.

"Hiring is a challenge for many organizations right now, and the recruitment and retention of prosecutors has been a long-standing issue for the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service," Puddifant said.

"We are very determined to build on the progress made."