Attorney General Falls Deeper In Over Her Head

QUEEN’S PARK – Today, MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington) questioned the Attorney General over missing transcripts at the License Appeal Tribunal (LAT). For over a year now plaintiffs at the LAT had been requesting the transcripts from their hearing, only to be told months later that they were missing.

“Transcripts of testimony are essential records and may become further evidence in future proceedings such as appeals; they must be available, or access to justice is denied,” said Hillier. “The apocryphal element of this story is that the LAT insisted in February that the transcript was lost, while also telling the plaintiff copies may be obtained by filing a Freedom of Information request.”

“When a decision is made by any judicial body the parties involved require access to both the transcripts of the proceeding and the language of the decision in order to review for the possibility of an appeal,” Hillier added.

MPP Hillier also asked for a commitment from the Attorney General to investigate the multitude of public complaints against the LAT and to conduct an investigation on the state of Ontario’s flawed tribunal system.

“I hear countless complaints and accusations of bullying by adjudicators, long litigious and costly struggles, missing files and zero oversight and accountability,” Hillier said. “This is why I’m pressing the Attorney General to take responsibility for the administration of justice in this province and commit to modernizing our tribunals.”

Watch the full question and the Attorney Generals response here.