Yes, thank you for the question, sir.
I'll answer backwards with the second part, why delay is important to the accused person.
Generally speaking, the right to a fair trial in a reasonable period of time is enshrined in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Many moons ago, with a gentleman named Mr. Askov it was decided when there were delays in the crown, the prosecution, the police, etc., on a charge, and it's now known as the ruler for delay, but when that happens, you walk free. I can't imagine being the victim of a violent crime and the only reason the person who perpetrated the crime and violated you is not going to jail or getting the appropriate sentence, whatever may be fit, is that it took x days or x months, and the only reason was a prosecutorial delay or police delay, or a systemic delay, etc. That certainly is not something the victims whom I represent support. That is in the favour of the accused. It's enshrined in our Charter of Rights, and so be it.
You'd be happy to know that Mr. Askov committed another crime and found himself incarcerated.
In any event, the second part of why it seems to be unequivocal that the victims whom I represent.... I was at a pretrial yesterday with a woman who was sexually assaulted by a fellow student at a university campus that will remain nameless, getting ready for her civil trial against her perpetrator. If you line up the times that she had suicidal tendencies and admissions to mental health facilities, they line up with the times when there was an adjournment or a delay in her case. The accused had the right; he went clear to the Supreme Court of Canada, or attempted leave. That was over a five- to six-year period. If you drew two parallel charts, you'd see that almost every time there was an appeal, or she had to appear once again and was told no because he had appealed to the next level, there was either a suicide attempt or an admission to a mental health institute. This is just one anecdote. I happened to be with her yesterday at a pretrial in Hamilton, Ontario. I asked her if I had her permission to give that example. She said that unfortunately, with the length of time this was taking in her life, it really hurt, plain and simple.