What’s behind Canada’s critical shortage of judges?

In today’s Big Story Podcast, every criminal case that comes to trial needs a judge. But in Canada, not every case gets one. Recent years have seen a severe and growing shortage of judges across many levels of the justice system — in some cases this means cases that have waited years for a trial must be thrown out.

Not only does this mean people accused of serious crimes simply walk free, it means that potentially innocent people are spending years waiting for a trial that never comes. 

Jacques Gallant is a courts and legal affairs reporter for The Toronto Star.  The issue of the lack of judges is a long-standing problem, said Gallant. “There are about 73 judicial vacancies right now across the country. That’s a pretty high number.” 

So, how did we end up in this mess? Why hasn’t the government appointed more judges? How many more cases will be tossed in the meantime?