Empowering citizens to be full participants in the political/legal system, Providing scrutiny & oversight for public bodies & institutions, and facilitating the laying of private information
Randy Hillier Motions for the Return of Grand Juries
(QUEEN'S PARK) Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington today tabled a motion calling for the return of Grand Juries in the province of Ontario. The motion, inspired by the Royal Commission, Inquiry in to Civil Rights, is one of a number of amendments to the judicial system that Mr. Hillier will be tabling over the coming months.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been a proponent of freedom, justice and democracy,” said Hillier. “These motions are a return to fairness for the justice system. Grand juries were a key component of our justice system until 40 years ago. However, with the exponential rise in the number of unelected, unaccountable government agencies, the need for grand juries has never been greater or more apparent.”
Grand juries serve three fundamental purposes, empowering citizens to be full participants in the political/legal system, providing scrutiny & oversight for public bodies & institutions through public investigations, and facilitating the laying of private information. Presently, the Attorney Generals Office is the gatekeeper to the halls of justice. Grand juries empower citizens to defend our common laws, public institutions, and subordinate bodies of the legislature.
Today’s motion, which calls for the re-instatement of grand juries, will allow for new options in Ontario’s justice system which have not been present for decades. Grand Juries exist in numerous other Common Law jurisdictions, and are an essential component of our heritage.
“The Royal Commission Inquiry into Civil Rights is a visionary document, and all of its recommendations deserve careful consideration,” said Hillier. “Over the coming months I will be preparing a number of them for debate in the legislature.”
“The law is controlled by a monopoly of lawyers and politicians,” concluded Hillier. “It’s time to take the law out of these exclusive hands and safeguard justice with the hearts and minds of common people.”
Randy Hillier -- Bio and
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Randy Hillier, MPP Lanark Frontenac Lennox, is a co-founder of the Lanark Landowners Association, which was brought to life to address government imposition on the rights of private property owners, and to address the regressive regulatory impositions that government was bringing down upon farmers and business owners in rural Ontario.
In 2006, Randy resigned as President of the OLA in order to run as a candidate for the Progressive Conservatives. Randy was elected in the 2007 provincial election.
Randy a long-time resident of Lanark County, an electrician by trade and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), continues to co-publish and edit rural Ontario’s successful magazine “The Landowner.”
