FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5th, 2016
Justice Gets a Failing Grade
(QUEENSPARK) Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington) pushed the Attorney General and the Liberal Government today on the revelation that, according to a recent Macdonald-Laurier Institute report, Ontario ranks as one of the lowest provinces in the country in terms of “access to justice”. On top of this, MPP Hillier cited the report’s conclusion that 43% of all cases are either stayed or withdrawn before trial.
“Such a large number of cases being stayed or withdrawn is, to me, an indication that there is something very wrong with the system” said Hillier. “This data suggests a failure on behalf of either the courts or law enforcement, and when our justice system receives more money than any other province, these sorts of problems are unacceptable.”
MPP Hillier made a point of identifying the fact that the abysmal state of Ontario’s justice system enables innocent people to have legal conditions placed on them, lose custody of their children and be put in to hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt due to legal fees, only to have charges against them dropped.
“This government does nothing to provide any sort of remedy for the thousands of innocent people who have had their lives flipped upside down by the justice system only to have their cases withdrawn” proclaimed MPP Hillier. “It’s about time the Attorney General addressed the abhorrent state of our justice system and did more to protect the innocent rather than persecute them”
A full recording of MPP Hillier’s questions to the Liberal Government can be found here
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Contact:
Perth Office 613-267-8239
Queen’s Park 416-325-2244
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