NDP wants 'accountability' on trial delays

MPP says more than 1,000 sex assault cases dropped in both 2022 and 2023

- KRISTIN RUSHOWY

NDP MPP Catherine Fife, above, has introduced a private member's bill to keep the government accountable on court delays. Cait Alexander, left, an advocate for sex assault survivors, supports the bill.

The NDP says it will “hold this government to account” when it comes to tracking and reporting the number of sex assault cases thrown out of court each year due to trial delays — something MPP Catherine Fife calls a “shameful record” in the province.

Fife, who represents Waterloo, said the Ford government used its majority to shuffle her private member’s bill — “Lydia’s Law” — to be studied by a committee, adding that New Democrats “have to keep the pressure on” to ensure it doesn’t languish there.

“We’re going to develop a strategy not to let this government run away from their own disastrous courtroom system,” Fife told reporters at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.