Crown Attorneys decry reduced focus on property crime

Ontario’s prosecutors are unhappy with news of a provincial plan to shift resources away from fighting property crime in an attempt to focus on gun and gang-related crime.The Ontario Crown Attorneys’ Association (OCAA) was responding to an interview on TVO in which Attorney General Michael Bryant spoke of the government’s proposal. “If the Liberal government implemented this policy, it would create a second class of criminal offences from the point of view of the prosecutors, and that would be a perversion of justice,” says OCAA president Bill Lightfoot. He fears the change will signal “open season” on property crime, including insurance fraud, identity theft, property theft and break and enter incidents.While the OCAA supports vigorous prosecution of violent crimes, the association says this should not come at the expense of property crime fighting. “Both the public and the Crown attorney system in Ontario want an attorney general who is going to fight for the resources necessary to prosecute all offences vigorously – an attorney general who won’t sacrifice the justice system on the back of a provincial financial deficit,” Lightfoot adds.The OCAA is calling for more prosecutors and judges to be hired, as well as other services to help prosecutors including training and time for trial preparation.