For Immediate Release
February 5, 2007
Elliott: Crisis in Ontario Courts nothing more than gross McGuinty mismanagement
(Queen’s Park) – Progressive Conservative Attorney General Critic Christine Elliott said today that by not acting immediately to resolve the Justices of the Peace shortage in the province, the McGuinty Liberals are creating a crisis in our justice system. The number of JPs in the province has decreased by 14 under their watch, with 40 per cent of the current complement expected to retire within 10 years.
“What does it say to traffic violators when thousands of charges a year are dropped or dismissed solely as a result of procedural mismanagement?” said Elliott. “Statistics like this make a mockery of our justice system, and Ontarians are right to be concerned.”
Not only are McGuinty delay tactics costing Ontarians confidence in their justice system, they are costing municipalities millions as well. It is estimated that unpaid provincial offences fines in Ontario now total at least $250 million, and another $1 million is added to that tally every week according to the Municipal Court Managers’ Association of Ontario.
“If municipalities continue to be barred access to those revenues, the shortfall will inevitably be made up at a cost to the taxpayers,” warned Elliott. “The idea that the dearth of funds created from uncollected provincial fines will strain law-abiding Ontarians is deplorable.”
“The Justices of the Peace currently in our courts are working under incredible stress with huge workloads,” noted Elliott. “The fact of the matter is, this government has had three years to appoint new JPs, and the number is going down instead of up. The Attorney General repeatedly touted his omnibus Bill 14 as the solution to this crisis, yet four months have gone by since its passage and we have seen no action.”
Elliott added: “Ontarians deserve to be confident in the way in which justice is administered in the province, and right now they are seeing nothing more than the results of another broken promise from a government that vowed to eliminate backlogs in our courts. It is time for the Premier and his Attorney General to show some leadership and take immediate action on this file.”
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For more information contact:
Christine Elliott, M.P.P
Whitby-Ajax
416.325.1331
