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Alberta’s court system can’t run without judges. That’s a simple enough statement. It’s just one Ottawa can’t seem to grasp.

There are six vacancies, four in Edmonton, on Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench.

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There are another four vacancies on the Alberta Court of Appeal.

Empty benches are just part of the problem. In the past 20 years, Alberta’s population has increased almost 60 per cent. We’ve added just one new position to our judiciary to keep pace with that growth and it’s vacant.

The result? We have the lowest number of federally appointed judges per capita of any province or territory. Alberta, with a population of 4.2 million, has 59 Queen’s Bench judges, hearing serious criminal, civil and family court matters. British Columbia with a population of 4.7 million, only slightly more, has 82 such judges. We’d need a dozen more, just to catch up.

“We’re pretty concerned at present about the state of affairs in the province,” Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Monday. “It’s definitely troubling to see these matters adjourned.”