'Totally unacceptable,' Premier Kenney says of staying of hundreds of criminal charges

Alberta Premier Jason Kenneyhas responded to a CBC News story reporting that hundreds of criminal charges have been stayed due to a lack of prosecutors, calling it "totally unacceptable."

CBC News learned this week thathundredsof people accused of committing crimes in Calgary such as theft, assault, shoplifting andmischief have walked away from their charges in the past year because there aren't enough prosecutors to run trials.

The numbers, which include people breaching bail conditions, come from the Alberta Crown Attorney's Association.

"I'm very concerned to hear criminals are getting off scot-free because of this, [it's] totally unacceptable," Kenney said.

Kenney also reaffirmed that the government would be hiring 50 new Crown prosecutors, but the timeline forthose hires was somewhat murky.

• Hundreds of Calgarians charged with crimes walk free due to lack of prosecutors

"The ministerof justice will be making an announcement about that in thenot too distant future, but that was a strong platform commitment, a very clear platform commitment."

The 50 new prosecutors is not a new promisebut rather a reiteration of the promise made in the United Conservative Party's election platform. It's estimated the 50 new prosecutors would cost the province $10 million.

The platform also promised other changes in the Alberta Justice portfolio, includingan increase of $5 million goingto enhancing access to drug treatment courts, as well as a promiseto do an "immediate review" of victim service delivery.

An ongoing problem

Charges being stayed due to a lack of prosecutors has been an ongoing problem in Alberta. Every week, an average of one full day of low-complexity trials are stayed, but there have been weeks whenprosecutors are dumping up to three days' worth of cases.

Most recently, all cases set for Monday in Courtroom 507 were stayed by the Crown.

• Read more about the ongoing problem of charges being stayed

About 350 prosecutors are employed in Alberta.Calgary General Prosecutions has66 prosecutors.

With 309 people charged per prosecutor, Alberta's ratio is the highest behind Saskatchewan.

For comparison, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia prosecutors handle an average of 193, 175 and 121 persons charged, respectively.

Kenney spoke Tuesday afternoon at the McDougall Centre in Calgary during a cabinet retreat.