Calls mounting for federal government to speed up judicial appointments
CALGARY — Calls are mounting for Ottawa to swiftly appoint more judges after a first-degree murder charge was stayed in Edmonton because of unreasonable delay in getting an accused to trial.
Alberta MP Michael Cooper, the Conservative deputy justice critic, is urging Liberal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to immediately fill dozens of vacancies across the country, including at least nine on Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench.
“It’s time for the minister to stop talking about appointing judges and actually get around to appointing judges,” Cooper said. “Otherwise, thousands of cases across Canada could be thrown out due to delay.”
A jury trial was to begin next week for 29-year-old Lance Matthew Regan, who was accused of stabbing to death fellow inmate Mason Tex Montgrand at Edmonton Institution in August 2011.