Billions of dollars invested, not a penny lost.

Moving toward an online
court document system
PAGE 10
CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA Ottawa paid private law firms nearly $41 million to prosecute drug and other cases in 2011 —a record tab expected to jump this year as new man- datory minimum sentences come into force. Of the total price tag for tax, customs, fisheries and other fed- eral prosecutions done by the pri- vate bar last year, $35.3-million was spent on drug offences—up
more than 3 per cent from 2010,
according to records obtained by

The Lawyers Weekly from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) under the Access to Information Act.

Several leading Crown agents said they expect their already busy caseload to rise once the omnibus Safe Streets and Communities Act (Bill C- 10) kicks in.

“Anytime you get a manda-
tory minimum, obviously the
ability to try to resolve the case
[without a trial] becomes much
more difficult,” said Clarke Bur-
nett of Pushor Mitchell of
Kelowna, B.C., which billed
$903,185 for federal prosecu-
tions last year.

With more trials on the horizon, the PPSC is bracing for higher Crown agent and staff costs in 2012, even as it grapples with operational budget cuts and escalating salary demands from its staff prosecutors.

“We are seeing a government
that is ramming through tough-
on-crime after tough-on-crime
legislation, and now they’re cut-
ting to the bone,” Lisa Blais, the
new president of the Association
of Justice Counsel, told The Law-
yers Weekly.
Although Department of Jus-
tice and PPSC lawyers are com-
plaining loudly about their pay,
Crown agents are not particu-
larly outspoken about their
much-below-market hourly
rates, which range from $90 for
lawyers with up to five years at
the bar to $126 for lawyers with
10 years’ or more experience.
Last year, the three top-billing
Crown agents were all B.C.-based
firms, doing mostly drug pros-
See PPSC Page 2

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

Vol. 22, No. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION December 6, 2002

CJC panel

VALERIE MUTTON

It was in his first year at
McGill Law School that the cre-
ative spark struck Dustin Milli-
gan: Why not produce a book
that introduces children to the

Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

“I was in the Human Rights Working Group at McGill, and I proposed it as a great idea that someone should do someday, but no one took me up on it — so I decided to do it myself,” Milligan recalled.

And now, five years in the
making, the young lawyer from
Tyne Valley, P.E.I., has seen his
idea come to fruition with the
launch of the book series The
Charter for Children.

McGill professor Shauna Van Praagh was Milligan’s academic advisor for the project, which he completed for credit over two terms after receiving approval for the unusual idea from the associate dean.

“As he undertook this project for academic credit he needed to write a guiding manual for

See Children Page 4

CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA

The inquiry committee investigating whether a Manitoba judge accused of sex-related misconduct remains fit for the bench has insisted on seeing all the material relevant to the allegations—not just what the independent counsel decides to present in the case.

In what appears to have been a behind-the-scenes power struggle, the committee appointed by the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) warned counsel against “taking over” its role of weighing the evidence.

Inquiry committee chair Alberta Chief Justice Catherine Fraser and the four other members rejected the position of independent counsel Guy Pratte that the committee should remain in the dark about details against Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas, until Pratte decides what he will include in his notice of allegations.

“The suggestion that counsel could withhold relevant information from the committee is inconsistent with the underlying prem-

Dustin Milligan, seen at his Tyne Valley, P.E.I. home, came up with a children’s book series on the Charter in law school.

ELLA HUTT FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

See Douglas Page 23

disclosure

Whimsical and learned,
lawyer’s 14-book series
five years in making

The Charter as told to children

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002

STB_LW_basebar_03_12v2_STG 3/15/12 4: 24 PM Page 1

orders

SURVEILLANCE

SCC missed opportunity to rein in police powers in wiretap decision

PAGE 13

PRESENTATION

Lack of communication skills can hold lawyers back in their career

PAGE 20

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