Crown prosecutors, defence lawyers question scope of new Alberta tough-on-crime initiative

Two sides that don't often see eye to eye agree there are some problems with the province's new plan to apprehend and jail more violent and serious criminals.

Two sides that don't often see eye to eye agree there are some problems with the province's new plan to apprehend and jail more violent and serious criminals.

On Monday, Alberta's justice minister and Edmonton's mayor and police chief all hailed the new initiative, unveiled on Monday, but Crown and defence lawyers say the new plan will undermine the gains made by a so-called prosecutorial triage program meant to streamline the justice system.

The province's plan is to no longer pass by blatant crimes, including drug abuse on big-city streets, or let violent offenders out of custody while they await trial.

"There’s an increasing sense that our justice system is not holding criminals properly accountable," Mickey Amery, provincial justice minister, said Monday at a media conference.

The search for Crown prosecutors to volunteer to tackle the expected flood of new arrests and cases will begin immediately, Amery said.

"The Crown Prosecutor caseload is at a very manageable level at this time," he said. "It’s lower than it’s been in years, and we’re certainly comfier so we can take on this additional responsibility."

Big concerns are being raised, however, given that the government will try to crack down on crime and, at the same time, remove from prosecutors the so-called triage system that had streamlined case flow by dropping files with little likelihood of conviction.