COVID-related tickets on back burner as courts face delays

Measures taken in Saskatchewan’s courts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are causing delays in dealing with provincial offence tickets, including those issued for violations of public health orders.

The courts have at times been unable to proceed with ticket dockets due to the need to comply with COVID-19 public health protocols, Court of Saskatchewan spokeswoman Dawn Blaus said.

“Given the inability of the Court to deal with provincial offence tickets on a regular basis, including those written under The Public Health Act, there is a build-up of matters to be heard in some locations. Sometimes, as a result, new tickets in those locations are often written for a date well into the future and have not yet come under the jurisdiction of the Court,” she said in an email.

Of the 106 charges as of March 31 under Saskatchewan’s Public Health Act for violations relating to public health orders, only 11 have resulted in convictions — and fines have been collected in just five of those cases.

According to data provided by Ministry of Justice, a court date and resolution are pending for 83 charges. Another 12 charges were withdrawn or there was a nullity or jurisdiction was “lost,” the latter meaning circumstances outside of the accused’s control meant a case could not proceed as scheduled.

A total of $12,000 has been collected — $8,572 in fines and $3,428 in victim surcharges.

During a media scrum this week, Minister of Justice and Attorney General Gordon Wyant said he’s not concerned when asked about how the number of convictions compare to cases that have been withdrawn or otherwise dropped.

Wyant said when there is a charge that’s not proceeded with, it’s based on the evidence. He said he expects the prosecutorial branch to “exercise caution” when doing this and to the extent charges don’t proceed that’s based on prosecutorial independence, but it “doesn’t send any message at all.”

Brian Pfefferle, a Saskatoon criminal lawyer and co-president of the Saskatoon Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, said Thursday that what’s most likely is case-by-case assessment as well as case-by-case constitutional challenges.

“Every single case turns on its own facts,” he said.

A successful outcome for one accused related to an event, Pfefferle said, may not necessarily result in a benefit for others ticketed in connection to the same event. Pfefferle said it’s more likely that one party may refer to a previously-decided similar case and ask for a similar outcome, which a judge would then make a decision on.

He noted that first appearances in many of the public health order charges have been administratively adjourned until the fall.

The Saskatoon Police Service, which said it may apply stricter enforcement of the public health order at protests and events, issued 11 tickets on Wednesday stemming from an April 24 “children’s freedom rally” at Kiwanis Park.

According to the SPS, it has issued 21 tickets related to protests since the beginning of the pandemic.

— With files from Arthur White-Crummey, Regina Leader-Post

tjames@postmedia.com

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