It makes it very difficult. In my experience, it's actually the Crowns and the judges who are vying for people to come and assist, and I speak directly from my experience as duty counsel. I was often paged into a courtroom where a trial was going on to see if I could assist. Of course, it wouldn't have been appropriate for me to do so, but it happened repeatedly, so much that you could tell there was a craving for representation. It's very awkward for the judge and for the Crown to try to go through any proceedings, a trial, a bail hearing or otherwise, without someone representing an accused person's interests.
On September 18th, 2018. See this statement in context.