A Red Deer County councillor and rural crime activist supports calls for more local Crown prosecutors.
Jean Bota, who is president of the Alberta Community Crime Prevention Association, was among nearly 70 concerned residents who turned out for a meeting with Red Deer’s Chief Crown prosecutor Dominique Mathurin last month. It was set up to give those concerned about rural crime a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges facing the justice system.
Those attending heard that Red Deer’s Crown prosecutor’s office is short three prosecutors from the 12 it is supposed to have.
Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer recently highlighted the problem in a letter to Premier Jason Kenney urging him to provide more Crown prosecutors for the city.
Kenney’s government has promised to hire 50 more prosecutors, but where they will be sent has not yet been revealed. Red Deer is concerned it will miss out on new hires, as it did when the NDP government hired dozens of prosecutors, none of whom ended up in the city.
Bota agrees wholeheartedly.
“The lady on the other side of me said I hope we get some of those — and I do too.”
An Alberta Justice spokesperson said given the city’s population and the plan to build a new courthouse in Red Deer, it can be expected more Crown prosecutors will be on the way.
More Crown prosecutors is only part of the solution, Bota believes.
Setting aside a court focused specifically on drug cases would help streamline the system and allow other options, such as treatment to more routinely considered in sentencing, said Bota. Edmonton and Calgary have drug courts and they have proved successful.
It is also an approach Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer said the government supports during a visit to Red Deer last month.
Schweitzer, who said on Calgary’s drug treatment court board for five years, said the government is still looking at whether the resources area available to extend drug courts to mid-sized cities, such as Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.
Bota said Mathurin also expressed support for the idea.
There were some in the audience who voiced their frustration about the inability of landowners to protect themselves.
The issue heated up again last month after an Okotoks-area landowner, who shot and wounded a trespasser in February 2018 found out he was being sued for $100,000 by his victim.
Charges were dropped against the landowner last summer.
Bota said Mathurin very clearly explained the legal issues at stake in defending one’s property.
“She was very good. It as very, very informative.”
Mathurin also explained why it takes so long for cases to work their way through Canadian courts and why so many of those arrested are freed on bail.
Meanwhile, rural municipalities are waiting to see what the province has in store for them related to policing costs. The government has proposed that rural municipalities and communities under 5,000 — which are not required to pay for policing now — pick up anywhere from 15 to 70 per cent of the costs. No percentage has been proposed so far.
Bota has asked county administration to try to get more information on the government’s plans to bring back to council.
pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
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