TOP DRUG PROSECUTOR QUITS POST

Departure May Force Feds To Open Satellite Office In Waterloo Region

Pat Flynn Is Returning To Private Practice, Largely Due To The Low Pay For
Federal Prosecutors.

KITCHENER -- The departure of Waterloo Region's only remaining senior drug
prosecutor has the federal government scrambling to find replacements to
handle the burgeoning marijuana home-grow cases locally. Yesterday, Pat
Flynn announced he will be quitting June 30, saying Ottawa's Department of
Justice isn't paying him enough to prosecute federal cases such as drug
offences, smuggling and income-tax violations.

His resignation comes soon after the April 1 resignation of the region's
other senior drug prosecutor, Gerry Taylor.

"It is a tremendous loss," said Stephane Marinier, acting senior counsel
for the Ontario Region of the Justice Department.

In the interim, two or three staff lawyers from the Toronto office of the
Department of Justice will assume the drug cases, said Marinier, who was in
Kitchener yesterday prosecuting one of Taylor's former marijuana-grow cases.

The government has advertised for a replacement for Taylor, but because few
people have replied, Marinier said government officials are now studying
the possibility of locating a satellite office in Waterloo Region staffed
by full-time federal prosecutors. Such satellite offices exist in larger
cities such as London.

Flynn applauds that move, saying the number of local drug cases warrants a
satellite office. "I think the community deserves that at the very least,"
he said.

"It is a business decision," Flynn said of his resignation after eight
years as a federal prosecutor.

The pay of $82 an hour for a senior drug prosecutor isn't enough to cover
his office overhead, he said, an hourly rate that hasn't changed since 1990.

And the starting rate of $60 an hour for an inexperienced lawyer isn't
enough to attract new people, said the 57-year-old Kitchener lawyer.

The government "made a business decision (in not giving drug prosecutors a
raise), and so have I," said Flynn, who will now devote his time to his
private law practice which earns him about $250 an hour.

"I am torn about this decision because I really do like the work. For me it
is a sense of responsibility to the community.

"I am a local guy trying to make a difference," said Flynn.

His departure will be a big loss to the community, said Const. Ralph
Hopiavuori, a former drug officer with Waterloo regional police.

"There was a real passion there," Hopiavuori said of Flynn's performance in
the courtroom.

Because of the nature of their work, drug officers and federal prosecutors
work closely together and Hopiavuori said both Flynn and Taylor were well
respected by drug officers for their expertise and dedication.

"They really cared for the community and I think they made a difference,"
he said.