Crown attorneys’ group accuses politicians, media of ‘attacks’ on justice system

The president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys’ Association says “attacks” launched by “politicians, media and members of the public” in response to two high-profile criminal cases amount to “affronts to the rule of law.”

“Be they attacks on prosecutorial independence or sexist attacks on principles of fundamental justice, these actions are affronts to the rule of law,” Donna Kellway wrote in an open letter.

“Personal attacks on Crowns seeking a significant sentence are nothing less than attacks on prosecutorial independence. These attacks do not — nor will they ever — drive the decisions made by our prosecutors.”

Kellway said in an email to The Canadian Press that the letter refers to reaction to Crown sentencing proposals in the cases of two people associated with the “Freedom Convoy” protest and criticism of counsel in the recent Hockey Canada trial based on their gender.

Several Conservative MPs, along with party leader Pierre Poilievre, have criticized the Crown’s approach to sentencing two key organizers of the “Freedom Convoy.”

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, who have yet to be sentenced, were convicted of mischief in April for their roles in organizing the protest, which blockaded streets around Parliament Hill for more than three weeks in early 2022.

“Let’s get this straight: while rampant violent offenders are released hours after their most recent charges and antisemitic rioters vandalize businesses, terrorize daycares and block traffic without consequences, the Crown wants seven years prison time for the charge of mischief for Lich and Barber,” Poilievre wrote on social media last week. “How is this justice?”

In her own social media post, deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman said that if “the Crown suddenly wants to apply the law — equal application of law would be a good start — but this is political vengeance not actual justice and it’s why trust in our institutions is dwindling.”

Lich’s lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said that while he “liked” what Poilievre had to say, he shouldn’t have said it.

“The separation of church and state, in this case legislature from judiciary, is something that is highly valued in our country,” Greenspon said outside an Ottawa courthouse last week.

In the Toronto Star, a recent opinion piece by a staff columnist questioned why female lawyers would represent men accused of sexual crimes in the Hockey Canada trial.

“A lawyer’s gender plays no role in determining one’s eligibility to participate in either the lawful prosecution or the vigorous defence of any charge in our criminal justice system. To suggest otherwise is to undermine the very principles upon which the rule of law is based,” Kellway wrote.

“Such attacks show a fundamental lack of understanding of our foundational constitutional principles, including the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial and equality.”

Kellway said Canadians have seen political attacks on the justice system south of the border and must do everything they can to safeguard the system’s independence.