Ontario announces hiring of assistant crown attorneys in Kenora, Ont.

Ontario's attorney general was in Kenora, Ont. on Wednesday to announce some long-awaited hirings and support for the criminal justice system in northwestern Ontario.

The province announced the hiring of two new assistant crown attorneys and two other counsel in the city. A written release accompanying the announcement stated that the new positions will reduce the amount of time people accused of crimes will have to wait until trial.

The new positions are, in part, a response to a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Canada that set deadlines for completing trials, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi said, but added that the move also makes the justice system "fairer."

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Naqvi said the province's plan makes "important structural changes within the system so we can ensure the accused individual within the system gets better supports and just not remanded back to correctional facilities," he told CBC News.

Some of the specialized positions will deal with issues surrounding bail conditions and hearings and duty counsel.

"What we find right now in the system is there's a fair bit of churn or turnaround where the accused person is not able to get defence or the crown insists on conditions that are difficult to satisfy," Naqvi continued. "The result is the person is remanded again and again to the local correctional facility."

"That is a cost to the system, that is not helpful to the accused and it also adds to the delay in the entire trial process," he added.

Working with Indigenous groups

In the northwest, the province also announced an Indigenous bail verification and supervision program in Kenora, Dryden and Sioux Lookout. The aim of the initiative is to keep some people out of custody while awaiting trial and provide some services in their home communities.

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Too many people are brought to larger centres for hearings and are "left there," Naqvi said, which "does not help them as individuals in terms of the rehabilitation aspect of it, nor does it help the community as well."

The bail program will be developed in conjunction with Indigenous friendship centres, Grand Council Treaty Three, and Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation, according to provincial officials.

In addition, the ministry is also taking steps to integrate health and housing supports into bail supervision so that people who need that support can safely be released on bail.

Naqvi added that the turnaround to get the programs underway will be quick. "Our full expectation is that within a month or so, these programs will be fully up and running," he said.