One drug case that was stayed involved Habiton Solomon, who was one of Canada’s top 25 most wanted when he was arrested in 2023
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OTTAWA — Ontario’s police chiefs say numerous criminal cases, including drug trafficking charges, have been stayed in the province since January because of “budget cuts” at the federal prosecution service limiting how much it spends on contract prosecutors.
In a letter sent to Chief Federal Prosecutor Tanit Gilliam on Tuesday, Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) President Roger Wilkie expressed his consternation over “cuts” at the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) that he says have led to the decision to abandon certain cases.
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“Our members have been told by local PPSC representatives that many of these decisions have been impacted directly by budget cuts to the service,” Wilkie wrote in the letter obtained by National Post.
“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,” he continued.
“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.”
The issue was first raised by Hamilton Police Services Chief Frank Bergen, who last week also wrote the chief federal prosecutor asking why 19 “serious” drug cases in the city had been “either stayed or withdrawn without reasonable explanation” since the beginning of the year.
His letter, also obtained by National Post included an email from a contract crown — lawyers contracted by PPSC to act as prosecutors in certain jurisdictions — stating she was directed by PPSC to discontinue prosecution in one drug case by PPSC against her better judgment.
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“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 email, the lawyer wrote that the case was “stayed due to PPSC financial caps.”
In an interview, Hamilton’s police chief said the fact one case was closed due to PPSC imposing financial caps raises questions as to why 18 other drug cases in his jurisdiction were also suddenly stayed or withdrawn around the same time.
“A budget cap, in my opinion, has no bearing and should not ever be considered about the viability of a conviction,” Bergen said, adding that the situation is “egregious.”
“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.”
Data compiled by the Hamilton Police Service shows that one case stayed on Jan. 15 involved two men arrested with 116 grams of cocaine and 471 grams of methamphetamine.
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Another drug case that was stayed involved Habiton Solomon, who was one of Canada’s top 25 most wanted when he was arrested in 2023 while allegedly selling drugs. He is still separate facing murder charges.
In a statement, PPSC spokesperson Alessia Bongiovanni confirmed the organization had recently communicated to all contract crowns a maximum amount they could spend until the end of the year, but declined to say what the limits were.
Bongiovanni stated that any funding limits were 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 comment on why the 19 drug cases cited by Bergen were withdrawn or stayed, but repeatedly noted that cases assessments are “complex” and the organization wants to spend public funds properly.
“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 added.
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Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath said last week she was outraged by the prospect of criminal cases in the city being dropped because PPSC had set financial limits on how much it would 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 told the Hamilton Police Services 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.”
Association of Justice Counsel President Gregory Harlow, the head of the union representing most federal government lawyers and prosecutors, said he’s also concerned about funding caps affecting the ability to prosecute some criminal cases.
“On the one hand, that means, I suppose, the taxpayer’s 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 said.
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“I think it’s of concern to public safety,” he added.
He said PPSC told unions earlier this month that it was facing a $7 million shortfall because a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women program that funded prosecutors and support staff primarily in 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 said.
National Post
cnardi@postmedia.com
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