Jill Taylor, B.N., LL.B.

Resigns as Chair, Alberta Review Board

MEDIA RELEASE – OCTOBER 20, 2019

November 20, 2019 – As Chair of the Alberta Review Board (ARB), the Government of Alberta has left
me no choice but to resign my position, effective November 29, 2019. There are critical unresolved
issues which are forcing my resignation. I am increasingly feeling used and unheard by Alberta Justice
Minister Doug Schweitzer.

Every province in Canada is required to establish a Review Board. The Alberta government has chosen to
under resource and ignore the obvious issues faced by this Board.

I was appointed February 27, 2019 (to begin June 1, 2019) to serve the ARB as Chair. The ARB is an
independent adjudicative tribunal established under the Criminal Code of Canada to make and review
dispositions about accused persons for whom a verdict of “not criminally responsible” or, “unfit to stand
trial”, because of mental disorder is rendered. Board membership is comprised of psychiatrists, lawyers
and community representatives. In short, this Board is accountable for balancing the safety of the public
by maintaining the oversight for the re-integration of some of the most vulnerable and dangerous
people in our community.

The ARB holds hearings at least monthly and reviews over 200 cases annually.

In September 2019, the ARB conducted a hearing to review the disposition of Matthew de Grood. In
2016, Mr. de Grood was found not criminally responsible for the deaths of five young people. The 2019
hearings concluded with the Board’s ruling of October 1, 2019 which allowed Mr. de Grood future
unsupervised access in the community. There was some public backlash about the decision. Justice
Minister Doug Schweitzer commented:

• “On Twitter, Schweitzer said he told his department "to examine any and all other options
around the review board process to respect victims." (CBC October 3)
• “Schweitzer says he’ll formally request that the board ensure a maximum possible role for
victims to be part of the review board’s hearing process.
He also says he’ll be asking Ottawa to review the standards of release for people found not
criminally responsible of crimes.
Schweitzer says he’ll also ask his department to examine any and all options around the review
board process to respect victims. (Calgary Herald October 3)

Since the release of the ARB report on Mr. de Grood, and despite repeated requests for a meeting,
Minister Schweitzer has been unresponsive and non-committal towards the ARB.

• I contacted Minister Schweizer’s office on October 7, 2019 requesting a meeting and reminding
him of my earlier request in July 2019. Having had no response, I contact my own MLA, Mike
 Ellis who spoke directly with the Minister and advised me on October 15th “you’ll hear back
within 24 to 48 hours”. No follow up was forthcoming.

• I have provided comments through my usual means (Resolution and Court Services) many times
with no response from anyone at a level that could make a difference.

Recruitment to the Board is an urgent issue. Terms of Appointment are expiring shortly for many
members and we urgently require the addition of psychiatrists to the Board. Recruitment of
psychiatrists has been ongoing for over a year and to date, we don’t have any applications. Quorum
requires a three-person panel; one must be a psychiatrist and the other must be a legal member. If we
only have one psychiatrist on the panel and they fall ill or otherwise cannot be present, quorum is lost.
Without quorum, the current patient population may not have timely hearings which could be a
violation of their Charter rights. This has been brought to Minister Schweitzer’s attention directly and
through other channels. Yet nothing has been done.

Recruitment is challenging because members are not reasonably paid for their work. This Board has
been, in my opinion, wrongly excluded from Alberta Public Agencies Governance Act (APAGA) APEGA
which would provide some assurance that compensation was fair and that communication channels
were established. Compensation on the Review Board is significantly less than Boards with similar work
(see below table comparing the Alberta Review Panel and the Alberta Review Board). This impacts
recruitment and availability of top candidates, particularly psychiatrists which both of these Boards
requires.

Other issues facing this Board include:

• The refusal to authorize the Board to obtain an independent legal opinion where the legal
members disagreed as to process.
• The ARB office was staffed with 4 administrators who provided support to the Board. Office staff
is now down to 1.5 staff. This necessitates that the office close when staff must be at hearings or
meetings outside of the office.

The safety of Albertans and the rights of the accused depend on the efficient and effective operation of
the Alberta Review Board. Without the support of the Ministry to address these issues, under present
circumstances, this is impossible.

BACKGROUND:

Jill Taylor is a registered nurse and barrister & solicitor who was called to the bar in Alberta in 1993. She
worked as a nurse from 1975 to 1988 prior to entering the University of Calgary faculty of law. She
made the jump to the legal profession to continue her passion for serving people. She articled with a
large law firm in Calgary and ultimately worked health law and family law until she was appointed as a
Justice of the Peace in 2009. She served in that role for 8 years before testing retirement and ultimately
returning to private practise.
She has previously served as Chair of the Hospital Privileges Appeals Board and has been active in many
patient safety policy working groups through Canadian Patient Safety institute and the Health Quality
Council of Alberta.

Please contact:

To contact Jill Taylor – please call reception at Higgerty Law (403) 503-8888

*** Comparison to Mental Health Review Panel Compensation of Chair Remuneration and psychiatrists
have the same differences in compensation

Compensation description MHRP compensation ARB compensation

Chair – compensation for up to 4-hours $790 for up to 4 hours $432.00 – ½ day

Chair after 4 hours $197 for each additional (4-8 hours)

hour or part of an hour in $888.00
the day (8 hrs would
equal ($1578.00)

Chair after 8 hours *spent on business of the $111.00/hr.

review panel.

Only while in
attendance at
hearings and
allocation 4 hours
for decisions

Paid for travel YES NO

Paid for review of patient file in advance YES NO

Paid for writing of decisions YES NO