For Immediate Release
January 10, 2007

MCGUINTY NOT COMMITTED TO SHINING LIGHT ON JUSTICE SYSTEM
Liberals voted against PC bill that would have truly opened up the justice system

(Toronto, ON) – Progressive Conservative Justice Critic Christine Elliott said today is yet another example of Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals saying one thing and doing another.

“The McGuinty Liberals are not committed to truly opening up the justice system,” said Elliott. “Dalton McGuinty had the chance to start shining real light on our courts but he instructed his Caucus to vote against the Truth and Transparency in the Justice System Act. Dalton McGuinty hasn’t learned that he needs to start backing up his words with real action, otherwise they’re meaningless.”

Elliott was responding to a McGuinty Liberal announcement of a pilot project to put television cameras in court rooms. In December, PC Leader John Tory introduced the Truth and Transparency in the Justice System Act in the Legislature, which was voted down by McGuinty Liberal MPPs. The Act would have changed the Courts of Justice Act so the Attorney General would annually report to Ontarians on the justice system, detailing the number of people charged with violent offences, bail violations, sureties collected, plea bargaining details, and several other types of statistics about the functioning of the justice system.

The bill received widespread support from commentators and victims’ rights advocates (see attached backgrounder), including Scott Newark, Former Vice Chair and Special Counsel to the Ontario Office for Victims of Crime, Sharon Rosenfeldt, Co-Founder of Victims of Violence, and John Muise, Director of Public Safety for the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness.

“If the Attorney General was really committed to providing justice for all Ontarians, then he would have supported John Tory’s Truth and Transparency in the Justice System Act, he would appoint more Ontario Court Judges and Justices of the Peace to alleviate the debilitating delays in our courts, and he would have honoured his commitment to full and complete public hearings on human rights reform,” said Elliott.  “The McGuinty Liberals continue to deny justice to Ontarians in their failure to deal with the most fundamental problems affecting our justice system.”

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For more information contact:
Christine Elliott, M.P.P
Whitby-Ajax
416.325.1331