New Brunswick·NewA judge in Moncton has rejected a request to stay 19 financial crime charges against Daniel Bard, who alleged his right to a timely trial had been violated.Retrial on 19 charges alleging financial crimes to begin in JanuaryShane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Oct 15, 2025 1:48 PM EDT | Last Updated: 29 minutes agoDaniel Bard leaving the Moncton courthouse earlier this year. (Pascal Raiche-Nogue/Radio-Canada)A Moncton judge has rejected a request to stay the 19 charges against Daniel Bard because of delays trying the case.Provincial court Judge Anne Richard ruled Wednesday the application was “meritless.” The ruling means Bard’s case will proceed to trial in January. Bard, 61, is accused of theft, fraud, money laundering and possession of property obtained by crime. The charges were laid in 2022.The crimes were allegedly committed in the Moncton area between 2016 and 2020. Some of the allegations date to when Bard was a vice-president of a regional economic development agency in Moncton called 3+ Corp., which was municipally-funded. Defence lawyer Nelson Peters filed the application, arguing Bard’s right to a timely trial had been violated. (CBC)Bard’s lawyer, Nelson Peters, filed an application arguing his right to a trial within a reasonable time had been violated and asked for the charges to be stayed. The request is known as a Jordan application after a 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision that set out a case in provincial court should be largely complete in most cases within 18 months from the time charges are laid.Going above that timeframe can result in charges being stayed, ending the case with no verdict.Peters argued Bard’s case was already beyond the 18-month ceiling, and prosecutors had not done enough to ensure a speedy trial. Crown prosecutors argued Bard or his lawyers had caused delays and the application was meritless. It was a position Richard agreed with Wednesday. The judge said Peters used an incorrect method to calculate the time that has passed, and said Bard had either explicitly or implicitly consented to some of the delays. Richard went through a detailed timeline of the case, including how a trial had been scheduled at four different points and that Bard was now on his third lawyer.Bard originally was represented by defence lawyer T.J. Burke when he was scheduled to be tried in 2023, but Burke withdrew from the case when Bard failed to pay him. Bard then successfully applied to have a lawyer appointed whose cost would be covered by the government.That lawyer, James Matheson, later asked for the trial to be rescheduled. Bard’s trial began in April this year, but Matheson withdrew over a medical issue and a mistrial was declared after multiple Crown witnesses had already testified. Daniel Bard, left, and defence lawyer James Matheson shown leaving the Moncton courthouse on April 30. (Pascal Raiche-Nogue/Radio-Canada)Bard again sought a government-funded lawyer, and Peters was appointed. Peters asked for September trial dates to be delayed and filed the Jordan application. The judge said Bard at several appearances either implicitly or explicitly consented to delays in the case, meaning those delays wouldn’t count toward the 18-month ceiling. “There is no evidence of a sustained effort to expedite the trial as is contemplated by Jordan,” Richard said in her ruling.Crown prosecutors and Bard’s lawyer declined to comment on the decision as they left the courthouse Wednesday. Retrial in JanuaryPeters previously asked to be removed as Bard’s lawyer over a health issue but this was rejected by the judge. Peters also previously said he would repeat the request, but that didn’t come up in court on Wednesday.Peters did file an application seeking a second government-funded lawyer to be appointed to represent Bard for his trial. That’s expected to be considered Oct. 31. Bard’s retrial on the charges is scheduled to start Jan. 20 and continue to mid-February.ABOUT THE AUTHORShane Magee is a Moncton-based reporter for CBC News.
Judge rejects meritless request to stay Daniel Bards charges over trial delays
