Sudden crime wave, I wondered?  

Then I read waayyy down and got the answer: no, just a prosecutor shortage--and nothing new, either. After years, the situation has now just reached the tipping point:  

"There are 262 provincial prosecutors at the moment in Alberta, a number the association says has barely budged since 2006, before the population grew by one-third. Ms. Ganley disputed that, saying 28 prosecutors were added in 2009-10."

Well, as they say in courtrooms, Ms. Ganley's dispute is without merit--to my mind, a meager addition of 28 prosecutors would nicely qualify as "barely budged."  

"Mr. Engel said he believes that some of the stayed charges were simply weak cases better off dropped."  And who knows how serious the charges were in those cases?  G&M: here's a story!  The one-word definition of "weak cases better off dropped":  "Unfounded."  Natural investigative progression: from the police departments to offices of the Crown...