Cold Lake council is raising concerns over Alberta’s justice system, saying the province’s courts are weakening local enforcement by dropping too many charges.
At the June 17 Corporate Priorities Committee meeting, council approved to send a letter to Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery, urging the province to reduce the number of withdrawn charges and issue more court time to municipal bylaw and provincial offences.
This comes after a June 10th meeting where council received stats showing one individual having 165 interactions with law enforcement over 15 months and 58 of charges dropped.
“That feels to be abnormally large,” said CAO Kevin Nagoya, questioning whether the issue is with enforcement, prosecutors or the court system. However, Mayor Craig Copeland was more direct. “The Crown prosecutor has to come to the community to explain to us why half the crimes in Cold Lake are being dropped,” he said. “I wish more municipalities would do this.”
Councillor Vicky Lefebvre raised concern that the system’s failures are impacting local economy and safety. “If they can’t walk into a store because it’s locked… that’s not the kind of place you want to have tourists come. It can affect people’s livelihoods.” Councillor Bill Parker agreed, saying that without consequences, crime will continue. “They’re trying to do it the same way we are, through enforcement, and they’re running into the same stonewall with the court not ensuring accountability.”
Nagoya said MLA Scott Cyr has already reached out and plans to contact the Chief Crown Prosecutor. Council voted to continue with sending a formal letter to Minister Amery and reassured its support for the RCMPP and Municipal Enforcement Services in their work.
