The Canadian Charter entitles a person charged with an offence the right  to be tried within a reasonable time period. For adults that period is 30 months. When that  time period is exceeded, it’s presumed that the delay is unreasonable. If the Crown cannot convince the court that the delay was  reasonable, due to either a discrete event such as an illness,  or due to the case being particularly complex,  then the  charges against the accused will be stayed.

The Ontario Provincial Fire Fighters Association (OPFFA) cried to the OPP to lay charges, however, the OPP refused to lay charges for lack of a crime.  Carmen Santoro and the OPFFA then somehow persuaded the Halton Regional Police to lay charges. I will not speculate what this persuasion consisted of,  but i’m confident the truth will soon be disclosed and consequently  resulting in new criminal charges being laid, but this time the accused will not be Atkinson and Grieve. From understanding the Canadian Charter we can determine this case was not delayed due to any discrete events, nor was it a particularly complex case. In fact, when you read the Decision it’s quite clear that any delays in the case were actually caused by the Crown. It’ll also be apparent that the Police didn’t investigate the supposed crime, but instead just relied on the OPFFA’s  story  and hand made witness statements.  Have a look at the complete decision at the following CANLAW link