Let’s be heard

If you don’t stand up for yourself, who will?
We must not stand idly by in the face of a decision—quietly made in late fall—to re-locate our resident judge to Kenora District when Judge Thomas McKay moves to London, Ont. in May.
It marks not only the continued erosion of services in Rainy River District, but raises legitimate questions about the potential negative impact on access to justice for local residents, such as limited court scheduling, delays in criminal and family court proceedings, and increased costs for clients.
As well, there’s concern new lawyers won’t want to set up practice here without a resident judge, which will exacerbate an already existing lawyer shortage that’s only set to worsen with pending retirements.
Marc L. Bode, Regional Senior Justice for the Northwest Region, has countered that the move will not result in a reduction of judicial services in Rainy River District, and that the change in base courts simply will make it easier for the court to distribute the judicial workload more evenly, particularly given the significant travel involved.
But the District of Rainy River Law Association was told part of the rationale underlying the decision was the view that Rainy River District is a “no-growth” region, which certainly flies in the face of the expected influx of workers and their families due to the various mining projects under development in the area.
What then?
Most galling, though, was the lack of consultation or input into the decision. The DRRLA simply was informed Nov. 28 that our resident judge was being re-located—with no opportunity to argue against the move. Some discussions have been held since, but one is left with the impression the matter is a fait accompli.
Let’s hope that isn’t the case. The Rainy River District Municipal Association, at its annual general meeting Saturday in Devlin, passed a resolution opposing the move. But clearly the fight has only just begun—and our objections must be vocal, persistent, and effective in order to overturn a decision foisted upon us.
We must not allow ourselves to be trampled over on an issue so important to our basic rights.
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Speaking of being heard, local MP John Rafferty raised the spectre this week of Northern Ontario losing seats in the House of Commons under re-distribution prior to the next federal election, including the possibility of Thunder Bay-Rainy River being merged with Kenora.
As with the resident judge issue, district residents and leaders must be loud and clear in fighting to ensure our voice in Ottawa is not muffled further.
Again, if we don’t stand up for ourselves, who will?