Mr. Speaker, as we approach the 13th annual Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, which gets under way this Sunday, we must acknowledge the struggles of families that are still waiting to get justice as a result of unacceptable delays in our judicial system.
Dwayne Demkiw, of Alberta, was murdered in May 2015. However, his family, which lives in Saskatoon, is being forced to wait until 2019 for his accused murderer to stand trial.
As of May 4, there are still many judicial vacancies on Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench alone, and there are well over 50 judicial vacancies across this country. These vacancies do nothing but cause further hurt for victims of crime, such as the Demkiw family.
There is no excuse for this government to allow these vacancies to be left unfilled, and there is no excuse for victims of crime being denied justice.