In the province of Alberta the number of direct indictments jumped from 20 to 93 between 2012 and 2013. The aim was to ensure that cases which were delayed for a long time were not subsequently dismissed. However, the past president of the Association, D’Arcy Depoe, said: ‘Where you have a preliminary inquiry of two or three or four days, that ends up saving trial time because it narrows issues. You end up setting, say, four weeks of trial time, whereas if you’ve had a three-day preliminary inquiry, you might set two weeks of trial time. It’s really false to suggest that it’s more efficient.’ D’Arcy Depoe also expressed a fear that ‘more wrongful convictions’ would result from direct indictment. Source: Edmonton Journal