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One drug case that was stayed concerned Habiton Solomon, who was one in every of Canada’s prime 25 most wished when he was arrested in 2023
Printed Jan 30, 2025 • Final up to date Jan 30, 2025 • 5 minute learn
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Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath stated final week she was outraged by the prospect of felony instances within the metropolis being dropped. Photograph by Cole Burston /The Canadian Press
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OTTAWA — Ontario’s police chiefs say quite a few felony instances, together with drug trafficking charges, have been stayed within the province since January due to price range cuts on the federal prosecution service limiting how a lot it spends on contract prosecutors.
The cuts are elevating questions in police providers throughout Ontario as to why sure drug instances are being stayed or withdrawn by prosecutors because the starting of the 12 months, such because the drug charges towards a Hamilton man as soon as thought-about one in every of Canada’s most wished.
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“I can tell you right now, if this happens to be what 2025 looks like, then God help us all. Because I can tell you right now, I am not the only jurisdiction that is dealing with this opioid crisis,” stated Hamilton police Chief Frank Bergen, who first sounded the alarm with the federal prosecution service final week.
In a letter despatched to Chief Federal Prosecutor Tanit Gilliam on Tuesday, Ontario Affiliation of Chiefs of Police president Roger Wilkie additionally expressed his fears over “cuts” on the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) that he says have led to the choice to desert sure instances.
“Our position is clear, while we all understand the limits of public funding, this is not the time for cuts to public safety or public prosecutions,” Wilkie wrote within the letter obtained by Ontario Chronicle.
“We are already grappling with a system where recidivism requiring bail reform is eroding community safety. As a result, we cannot accept that when those matters do get to the prosecutable decision point, that financial caps are expressed as the cause of failing to secure convictions that hold offenders accountable.”
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Bergen first raised the difficulty final week in a letter to the chief federal prosecutor asking why 19 “serious” drug instances within the metropolis of Hamilton had been “either stayed or withdrawn without reasonable explanation” because the starting of the 12 months.
His letter included an e mail from a contract Crown — non-public legal professionals contracted by PPSC to behave as prosecutors in sure jurisdictions — stating she was directed by PPSC to discontinue prosecution in a single drug case by PPSC towards her higher judgment.
“I can assure you this decision from PPSC had nothing to do with the quality of the investigation by HPS. Further, by my assessment there was sufficient (reasonably prospect of conviction) and public interest to proceed,” she wrote the police service on Jan. 15.
In a separate e mail, the lawyer wrote that the case was “stayed due to PPSC financial caps.”
In an interview, Hamilton’s police chief stated the very fact one case was closed resulting from PPSC imposing monetary caps raises questions as to why 18 different drug instances in his jurisdiction have been additionally out of the blue stayed or withdrawn across the identical time.
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“A budget cap, in my opinion, has no bearing and should not ever be considered about the viability of a conviction,” Bergen stated, including that the scenario is “egregious.”
One of many drug instances Hamilton police say was suspended in mid-January “without reasonable explanation” concerned Habiton Solomon, who was one in every of Canada’s prime 25 most wished when he was arrested in 2023 whereas allegedly promoting medication. He’s nonetheless dealing with homicide charges.
One other case stayed on Jan. 15 concerned two males arrested with 116 grams of cocaine and 471 grams of methamphetamine, in accordance with knowledge compiled by the HPS.
In a press release, PPSC spokesperson Alessia Bongiovanni confirmed the group had lately instructed all contract Crowns the utmost quantity they may spend till the top of the 12 months, however declined to say what the boundaries have been.
Bongiovanni stated funding limits have been imposed to “introduce greater rigour and provide greater consistency between in-house and agent prosecution approaches in each region.”
In an interview, PPSC’s deputy chief federal prosecutor Carolyn Hayes declined to touch upon why the 19 drug instances cited by Bergen have been withdrawn or stayed, however repeatedly famous that instances assessments are “complex” and the group desires to spend public funds correctly.
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“The Crown regularly reviews all cases to assess reasonable prospective conviction and public interest and proceeding that includes having regard to the seriousness of charges, as well as considering use of scarce court resources,” she stated.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath stated final week she was outraged by the prospect of felony instances being dropped as a result of PPSC had set monetary limits on how a lot it could pay for contract prosecutors.
“I just feel like all the work that we’re doing in terms of getting guns and drugs off the streets is being undone by a government that doesn’t seem to realize that a long-standing practice that allows PPSC to prioritize serious cases that have the greatest impact on public safety and society is obviously seriously out of date,” she instructed the Hamilton Police Companies Board.
“It’s not even disappointment, it’s more towards outrage. There has to be an accounting here of why Hamilton’s been left on the sidelines when we have three elected members to federal government in this city.”
Affiliation of Justice Counsel president Gregory Harlow, the pinnacle of the union representing most federal authorities legal professionals and prosecutors, stated he’s additionally involved about funding caps affecting the flexibility to prosecute some felony instances.
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“On the one hand, that means, I suppose, the taxpayers’ dollar is being spent on more important crimes, but it also means that there are particular crimes… that do not get enforced as stringently as they used to be, particularly around breaches of the bail system,” he stated.
“I think it’s of concern to public safety,” he added.
He stated PPSC instructed unions earlier this month that it was dealing with a $7-million shortfall as a result of a Lacking and Murdered Indigenous Girls program that funded prosecutors and assist employees primarily within the territories was not being renewed.
“So PPSC is expecting, essentially, a slow decline to some extent in the number of prosecutors to make up for that. But that will happen with attrition, essentially,” he stated.
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