In an open letter dated June 5 published in the Montreal Journal, the former Attorney General of Quebec, Marc Bellemare, claims that the Bloc Québécois “has put up with” the use of the Jordan decision for eight years. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Remember that the Jordan decision is a decision of the Supreme Court which limits the duration of legal proceedings. Eighteen months for the Quebec court; thirty months for the Superior Court. After this period, the proceedings are stopped. The accused leaves free as air. Contrary to what Maître Bellemare claimed in his letter, the Bloc Québécois has always been concerned about the serious consequences caused by the Jordan decision.
Already in April 2017, I challenged the Minister of Justice: “ With regard to the Jordan decision, (…) people’s safety is threatened and, perhaps even worse, the bond of trust between the judicial system and the population is broken. It is the fault and the gross and dangerous negligence of this government “.
Reasonable delay
Since then, we have called on the government on numerous occasions to actively appoint judges in order to prevent the Jordan decision from being used in trials involving crimes against the person. But nothing has changed. Hells Angels were released, a murderer was granted a stay of proceedings and the cases are unfortunately too numerous.
In Quebec, according to Minister of Justice Jolin-Barrette, there were 109 procedural stays in 2023-2024 alone. How can we imagine that such a situation does not affect the population’s confidence in justice?
Obviously, everyone agrees, me first and foremost, on the fact that an accused has the right to a trial within a reasonable time. But if he is innocent, a stay of proceedings will not allow him to be exonerated and if he is guilty, justice cannot be done. The only effect of the Jordan ruling is to stop the proceedings. Nothing else. Nobody wins.
Maintain the bond of trust
The Bloc Québécois therefore began working last September (not three weeks ago, nine months ago!) on a bill to include in the Criminal Code the right to be tried within a reasonable time and to exclude this provision, trials involving violent crimes. A person accused of kidnapping, sexual assault, murder, aggravated assault, for example, will have to stand trial until the end.
As the Jordan decision was rendered under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the notwithstanding clause, which is a democratic tool available to parliamentarians, must be used to derogate from it. And we didn’t need anyone to tell us how to use it. We also defended the right to use it a year ago in the House through a motion that we tabled and debated as part of an opposition day.
We believe that our bill is a seat belt. Let the federal government appoint the necessary number of judges (57 are still missing) so that the trials can be held on time and no one will need the Jordan decision, nor exceptions, nor a derogation clause.
The Bloc Québécois believes that it is the responsibility of elected officials to maintain the population’s bond of trust in the justice system, which is what our bill does.
Photo credit: Bloc Québécois
Rhéal Éloi Fortin
Bloc Québécois spokesperson for justice
