I guess it's somewhat concerning, given the notion of prosecutorial independence and the difficult decision that Crown prosecutors have to make.
Being on the outside, of course—I've never been an assisting Crown attorney or a Crown attorney—my understanding is that in withdrawing serious charges, for example, charges involving firearms or sexual assault allegations, charges of that nature, it's not a simple matter of a Crown attorney making a unilateral decision to withdraw a charge.
My experience is really from eastern Ontario, but I believe it's the Crown policy manual that dictates that a Crown prosecutor who has carriage of a file would have to consult with senior Crown attorneys, if not the Crown attorney of that particular jurisdiction or a deputy Crown attorney, and have a very serious discussion prior to withdrawing the charge. It's not an off-the-cuff decision, and it's not a decision that is taken unilaterally, but is one in the circumstances where.... Again, based on my own experiences in eastern Ontario, these are not decisions that are taken lightly.
I guess I question what that looks like on the ground. A review of a decision would be.... In what forum would that take place? I'm concerned about tying up further judicial resources where we have a system that is vastly under-resourced as it is and faces systemic delays. I'm concerned about how that might have an impact on prosecutorial independence going forward.