The Ontario government may examine the justice system following the staying of corruption charges against six Toronto drug squad officers, Premier Dalton McGuinty said on Saturday.

"It's a significant issue,'' he said following a speech to party faithful in Kitchener. "We'll see, this could very well serve as a catalyst for us to look at the broader system.''

McGuinty said the stayed charges are "troubling," and the province's lawyers are looking at grounds for appeal.

Opposition parties are calling for a public inquiry into the case, but the premier wouldn't say he if is considering the move.

McGuinty said the government has to consider the judgment before deciding what action to take.

"When these kinds of things happen, you want to do it as quickly as you can without compromising our responsibility to be thoughtful," he said.

"I've asked the attorney general to take the time -- all the time that is necessary but no more than the time that is necessary -- for us to be thoughtful.''

Ontario Superior Justice Ian Nordheimer stayed corruption charges against the officers on Thursday, ruling the Crown took too long to bring the case to trial.

He criticized prosecutors for "unreasonable" delays in the 10-year-old investigation. Nordheimer said the "glacial" pace of the case violated the accuseds' Charter rights for a speedy trial.

In early 2004, charges were laid against Staff Sgt. John Schertzer and Constables Steven Correia, Ned Maodus, Joseph Miched, Richard Benoit and Raymond Pollard.

The officers were charged with extortion, obstruction of justice, assault, perjury and theft after an RCMP-led task force investigated alleged corruption by the now-defunct drug squad team. They had all pleaded not guilty.

The group was accused of falsifying notes, police records, testimony and failing to account for drugs and money seized from crime scenes dating back to the 1990s.

The probe was called the biggest corruption scandal in Canadian policing history.

Prosecutors dropped more than 200 cases involving drug dealers after the team was charged.

The officers, however, are not fully exonerated. When charges are stayed, they are, in effect, deactivated, and the court doesn't declare innocence, CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney reported. The charges can be activated again and pursued within a year.

With files from The Canadian Press