Heather Latter
Despite the fact Rainy River District has been without a resident judge since last June, the president of the District of Rainy River Law Library Association told municipal leaders she intends to keep up the fight.
“We cannot just sit back and accept it,” Barb Morgan stressed to delegates attending the Rainy River District Municipal Association’s annual general meeting Jan. 26 in Barwick.
“We are experiencing gaps in service . . . and will continue to see delays and gaps,” she added, noting area residents’ access to judicial services has been severely compromised.
Morgan offered municipal leaders several examples of the disservice people have received by not having a resident judge here, including unacceptable wait times for court dates.
“We are suffering tremendous losses and reduction of services,” she maintained.
Plans were announced late in 2011 that the Ontario Court of Justice intended to relocate the resident judge for Rainy River District to a base in Kenora.
The relocation plan then was put into motion when the decision was made not to replace Judge Thomas McKay when he moved to London, Ont. at the end of May, 2012.
It meant Kenora District increased its number of resident judges from three to four while Thunder Bay has six—and leaving Rainy River District with none.
“This has not been to the benefit of this district in any way,” Morgan stressed.
Although meetings were held via teleconference between Marc Bode, Regional Senior Judge for the Northwest Region, and local lawyers, as well as municipal leaders and First Nations’ reps, the decision was not overturned.
“We appreciated everything the municipalities did, however it fell on deaf ears,” Morgan said.
Even though the position of the resident judge was moved to Kenora, the position wasn’t filled until just recently.
Justice David M. Gibson was assigned last month to preside in Kenora, with the appointment effective today.
“I know him and I have a lot of respect for him,” Morgan told the municipal delegates, adding she hopes the appointment means some of the gaps in services will decrease locally.
Gibson, who was called to the bar in 1991, has practised criminal law in Northern Ontario for almost 20 years, including representing First Nations’ clients in their communities and travelling to northern fly-in courts.
Still, Justice Bode had insisted a change in a judge’s base court would not result in a reduction of judicial services in the district.
“[It] will not determine the amount of judicial sitting time the District of Rainy River, or any community in the District of Rainy River, will receive,” Bode wrote in a letter to Morgan in December, 2011.
“The change in base courts simply will make it easier for the court to distribute the judicial workload, and in particular the very significant travel associated with that workload, more evenly among the judiciary,” he added.
But Morgan maintained there has been a reduction of judicial services in the district.
“It’s not fair to the citizens and residents of this district,” she remarked, noting with no resident judge, it’s difficult to attract new lawyers to the area.
“It’s very hard to function as a community,” she added.
Morgan said “we live in a vibrant community with unique needs,” and having a travelling judge come in for one day every four to six weeks is not adequately serving the district.
Municipal leaders asked Morgan what they can do to help the situation.
“Anything we can do to keep the pressure on the government [is needed],” she replied, citing a multi-faceted approach probably would work best.
Morgan did suggest a peaceful demonstration could be planned at the courthouse to bring attention to the issue, particularly when a judge is here.
“We will continue to work on the issue,” she insisted.
“It’s a very important issue.”
