As the investigation continues into the fraud at the Concordia Student Union earlier this year, some members of the Montreal Urban Community Police said the current situation of Quebec’s justice system might slow the process down.
Once an investigation is completed, the dossier is usually sent to a prosecutor who then places the case upon the court’s agenda.
However, the courts are swamped with criminal cases, and prosecutors are under heavy pressure to clear the backlog that have built up over the years.
More than 80 per cent of criminal cases are bargained down to minimal sentences to clear this backlog in an expeditious manner as well as to reduce the
government’s expense in dealing with the results.
MUC Police Sgt. Lynn Chainey was emphatic as she accused the province of making a mockery of the judicial system and starving the justice department of the
resources it desperately requires to do its duty.
“Not only does it take a long time to complete an investigation, but it takes just as long to get the case to trial. By the time the whole process is completed, years have passed and the whole thing tends to be forgotten, case ends up being trivialized rather than dealt with as the crime it was when committed,” she said.
When asked what that meant for the CSU and Concordia students, Sgt. Ginette Leduc said that this case will eventually go to court. If a suspect is found to
be guilty, he or she may well go to jail. But she also said that patience was a virtue, and that one should practice that virtue if one was to expect justice in Quebec.
Leduc is presently conducting the fraud investigation for the MUC police. She said that she will soon have the necessary evidence to permit the crown to prosecute case in court.
The CSU was robbed of some $193,000 dollars last year when it was systematically defrauded. Investigators believe that one person was involved, though their name
cannot be mentioned. The means by which the fraud was committed have been made public and the CSU’s forensic accounting report is currently in the hands of the
police.
When asked about the report, Leduc said she did not feel free to comment because the investigation was still proceeding. But she did say that every aspect of
such a case has to be covered because they do not want to make a mistake that could spoil the case in court.
Nicole Valois, also speaking for the police department, mentioned that the CSU’s fraud was not the only case on Leduc’s desk, and that these cases always take
time if they are to be successfully prosecuted.
Once an investigation is completed, the dossier is usually sent to a prosecutor who then places the case upon the court’s agenda.
However, the courts are swamped with criminal cases, and prosecutors are under heavy pressure to clear the backlog that have built up over the years.
More than 80 per cent of criminal cases are bargained down to minimal sentences to clear this backlog in an expeditious manner as well as to reduce the
government’s expense in dealing with the results.
MUC Police Sgt. Lynn Chainey was emphatic as she accused the province of making a mockery of the judicial system and starving the justice department of the
resources it desperately requires to do its duty.
“Not only does it take a long time to complete an investigation, but it takes just as long to get the case to trial. By the time the whole process is completed, years have passed and the whole thing tends to be forgotten, case ends up being trivialized rather than dealt with as the crime it was when committed,” she said.
When asked what that meant for the CSU and Concordia students, Sgt. Ginette Leduc said that this case will eventually go to court. If a suspect is found to
be guilty, he or she may well go to jail. But she also said that patience was a virtue, and that one should practice that virtue if one was to expect justice in Quebec.
Leduc is presently conducting the fraud investigation for the MUC police. She said that she will soon have the necessary evidence to permit the crown to prosecute case in court.
The CSU was robbed of some $193,000 dollars last year when it was systematically defrauded. Investigators believe that one person was involved, though their name
cannot be mentioned. The means by which the fraud was committed have been made public and the CSU’s forensic accounting report is currently in the hands of the
police.
When asked about the report, Leduc said she did not feel free to comment because the investigation was still proceeding. But she did say that every aspect of
such a case has to be covered because they do not want to make a mistake that could spoil the case in court.
Nicole Valois, also speaking for the police department, mentioned that the CSU’s fraud was not the only case on Leduc’s desk, and that these cases always take
time if they are to be successfully prosecuted.
