Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U L Y 2 0 1 6 3 E D I T O R ' S D E S K @canlawmag gail.cohen@tr.com Director/Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer karen.lorimer@tr.com Editor in Chief: Gail J. Cohen gail.cohen@tr.com Associate Editor: Yamri Taddese yamri.taddese@tr.com Copy Editor: Patricia Cancilla Art Director: Bill Hunter Production Co-ordinator: Sharlane Burgess sharlane.burgess@tr.com Contributors: Jean Sorensen, donalee Moulton, Pascal Elie, Geoff Ellwand, Marg. Bruineman, Jim Middlemiss, Shannon Kari, Michael McKiernan, Patricia Chisholm, Elizabeth Thompson, Alex Robinson Canadian Lawyer is published 11 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Canadian Lawyer disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Advertising Sales Representatives Joseph Galea Tel: (416) 649-9919 E-mail: joseph.galea@tr.com Steffanie Munroe Tel: 416-298-5077 E-mail: steffanie.munroe@tr.com Kimberlee Pascoe Tel: (416) 649-8875 E-mail: kimberlee.pascoe@tr.com Grace So Tel: (416) 609-5838 E-mail: grace.so@tr.com Canadian Lawyer Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON. M1T 3V4 Tel: (416) 298-5141 Fax: (416) 649-7870 E-mail: cl.editor@tr.com Web: www.canadianlawyermag.com Linkedin: linkd.in/179bx8t Twitter: @canlawmag Publications Mail Agreement #40766500 ISSN 0703-2129 © 2016 HST Registration #R121349799 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy RD., Toronto, ON. M1T 3V4 RETOURNER TOUTE CORRESPONDANCE NE POUVANT ÊTRE LIVRÉE AU CANADA AU SERVICE DES PUBLICATIONS One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON. M1T 3V4 Circulation/Address Changes/ Subscriptions Keith Fulford Tel: (416) 649-9585 Fax: (416) 649-7870 E-mail: keith.fulford@tr.com Subscription rates: Canada1 year print and digital $99 plus HST, 1 year digital only $99. Outside Canada 1 year print & digital $99 USD, 1 year digital only $99. For all circulation inquiries and address changes send a copy of your mailing label or labels along with your request in writing to Canadian Lawyer, One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON. M1T 3V4 Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index his month's cover story, "Snakes & Ladders: Provincial court edition," looks at the state of Canada's provincial courts, where more than 95 per cent of criminal cases end up. Reporter Shannon Kari talked to chief judges and justices across the country and the sense you get from what they had to say is: There are a lot of issues that we're facing, but we're also being creative in looking at ways of dealing with them. Resource pressures, including funding, will likely never go away, but that's not stopping court administrators from addressing problems and working towards providing access to justice, administering an effi- cient and fair court system, and providing appropriate outcomes for defendants. As the article notes, half of the cases that end up in provincial court are property or administration of justice offences, and many of the people facing such charges are chronic offenders who often have mental health issues. The aim of many chief judges and justices, therefore, is trying to figure out how to deal with the whole health of the person in order to divert them from the justice system. As Alberta Chief Judge Terrence Matchett says, "by the time we get to them, they are in the emergency ward of the justice system." Tough- on-crime agendas that put more people in prison isn't the answer, according to many of the judges in the trenches. As Matchett notes on the use of mental health courts and more holistic resolutions to these types of crimes: "We need to do a better job of explaining why restorative options in certain cases will make the community safer." Saskatchewan Chief Judge James Plemel also points out it's important to consider defendants' backgrounds when imposing conditions for probation or conditional sen- tence orders. If there's pretty much no chance that a person can or will comply with the orders, then they'll just end up back in court and what's the point? That clogs up the courts and doesn't do much for the individuals either, says Plemel. In last month's issue, we profiled British Columbia Provincial Court Chief Judge Thomas Crabtree, who in April hosted the first Twitter chat by a sitting chief judge. His continued commitment to engage with the community to help everyone understand the justice system, as well as build trust with the public, points to a new and even more public role that heads of the courts can take. The cover story details many initiatives and ideas these judicial leaders are testing and putting into action. They are not, of course, flawless and there are failures and roadblocks, but there is so much interesting activity going on in provincial courts across the country. While they're not unsung heroes, the judges and administrators of the provincial courts deserve more attention for their great work and we hope our article gives them some of that. Congratulations are in order At this year's Canadian Business Media Awards, handed out in of June, frequent contribu- tor Mark Cardwell was honoured with a Gold Award in the "news" category for his Cana- dian Lawyer November-December 2015 article "The Bâtonnière Who Fell From Grace" about Lu Chan Khuong's controversial stint as head of the Barreau du Québec. The magazine also received three honourable mentions for Jim Middlemiss' Back Page column, the "Retirement: Dare to dream" cover art, and Kirk Makin's article "Derailed" about the career effects faced by Elizabeth DeMerchant and Darren Sukonick in light of their 10-year battle with the Law Society of Upper Canada. So congratulations to all the nominees and the great writers, illustrators, and staff who fill and deliver these pages to our readers every month. Well-deserved attention By Gail J. Cohen T

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