[gargamel]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

All criminal charges are laid by the Crown (RCMP here, as correctly pointed out). The victim has no right to determine whether charges are brought against an alleged offender.

The reason why the decision - and again, it's the RCMP's decision, sometimes comes down to the willingness of the victim to cooperate, is because the victim is often the key witness.

If you assault me and rob me in an alley at gunpoint, and no one else is around, and I decide that I'm unwilling to testify against you or cooperate in any way with the authorities because I just can't be bothered, it will be very difficult for the crown to prove their case.

If there is a video camera that shows you clearly sticking me up with a handgun, my cooperation, while still obviously very helpful to the crown's case, may not be necessary.

I know that it's usually not the victim's decision (at least directly), but private prosecution still exists, does it not? According to that great legal resource, Wikipedia...

Criminal offence procedure for private charges

Very basically, a citizen or organisation approaches a justice of the peace to present evidence on each element of the alleged offence. The justice then sets up a hearing with a Judge to determine whether there is evidence on each element of the offence, and if approved, and if the Crown does not intervene and terminate the charge, called Staying the charge, then it is allowed to proceed to and go through court via the criminal procedure.