Connection
Latest news
CACC Meets with UHM Voice of the Workers and Malta Government Lawyers
In 2022, UHM Voice of the Workers marked a significant milestone by negotiating the very first collective agreement for the Attorney General’s Office. The groundbreaking efforts of UHM Voice of the Workers have not gone unnoticed. Their achievements resonated across borders, drawing the attention of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel (CACC). At a recent meeting on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association conference in Malta, representatives from the CACC engaged with UHM delegates to learn from their experiences.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2025-04-11
A system in crisis: Rebuilding the dwindling Crown Attorney’s Office
With more files, more complex files and less resources, not surprisingly, Crown Attorneys are burning out and quitting. The lack of sufficient lawyers, especially experienced lawyers, has led to crisis in many provinces. Associations representing Crown Attorneys in Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have recently sounded the alarm...
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2025-03-14
Crown attorneys call on Manitoba government to help address ‘dangerously heavy caseloads’
The Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys (MACA) is calling on the provincial government to help reduce mounting workloads that it says are making it difficult for prosecutors to meet their professional responsibilities. grievance it filed in April 2023. It says the grievance it filed back in April 2023 regarding 'dangerously heavy caseloads' won't be heard by an arbitrator until October 2025.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2025-01-10
Preparing RCMP body-cam evidence for court will be monumental task, prosecutor says
The RCMP is phasing-in the use of body-worn cameras across the country and expects 90 per cent of frontline members to be wearing them within a year. Shara Munn, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, said while the body-camera evidence will be great to have, it will also mean a huge influx of work for prosecutors.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2025-01-06
N.L. government invests in 18 new Crown attorneys amid severe staffing crunch
Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Minister Bernard Davis announced Wednesday afternoon that the provincial government is investing nearly $24 million to improve the province's justice system.... The investment comes after CBC News reported in numerous stories that Crown attorneys in the province were "suffocating" from overwhelming workloads and a critical staffing shortage.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-14
Newfoundland to add more Crown prosecutors
Newfoundland and Labrador has agreed to hire more Crown lawyers following cries of a shortage of prosecutors in the province. The “multi-year investment” will include the hiring of 18 new Crown lawyers, according to a news release.
[ ...More ]Publication date : 2024-11-13
<-- Back to archived news
Crown attorneys to strike Wednesday
22-10-2019
Nova Scotia's Crown attorneys said that they will take job action beginning Wednesday. Perry Borden, centre, president of the attorneys' association, said the work stoppage is a political protest, and it's not a move the Crowns want to take. Tim Krochak / The Chronicle Herald - Tim Krochak
Most Crown attorneys won't be in the province's courtrooms Wednesday morning.
The Nova Scotia Crown Attorneys’ Association announced Tuesday afternoon that they are withdrawing their services in response to the province's sudden announcement last week that it is introducing legislation that "guts" the existing collective agreement between the two sides.
Bill 203 takes away the Crown attorneys' right to binding arbitration to settle contract impasses and instead provides the right to strike.
The association has almost 100 Crown attorneys employed by the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service.
Association president Perry Borden said after the announcement that he's deeming what the association is doing as a political protest, and it's not a move the Crowns wanted to take. Of the 90 prosecutors at an emergency meeting Monday night, 81 per cent agreed to pull their services.
Crowns will still deal with urgent, serious criminal offences. Borden said Crowns are holding onto those files but turning in others.
"It will be up to the province to find someone to cover those," Borden said.
He said there are lawyers that the province uses on a per diem basis to help out in courtrooms. They are not members of the association, but Borden said he knows of at least three who are refusing to take any files right now.
He said the association won't interfere with per diem lawyers taking any files, and won't hold any ill will toward those who do.
"Not at all," he said.
Last week, the association accused the province of bad-faith bargaining after the legislation was announced the day after the group rejected the government's final contract offer.
"We're out for the remainder of this week, and there's no timeline on it," Borden said.
"We would be back at the (negotiating) table tomorrow if the province wanted to be there. We can't be there with a gun to our head, though."
The Crowns will be protesting at Province House Wednesday, and in front of an MLA's office in Sydney.
"None of us want to be at the legislature, we don't want to be on the street," Borden said. "We want to be doing what we do best, ... and that's prosecute files that are before the criminal courts."
The association is asking for a 17 per cent pay increase over four years. The last contract expired on March 31.
The province offered a seven per cent increase over four years.
A 17 per cent raise raise would put Nova Scotia crown attorneys in the middle of the range for what colleagues are paid across the country.
The province said the lawyers are already the highest paid in Atlantic Canada and the pay bump would put them among the top third highest earners in the country. A senior Crown salary would increase to $160,000 from $149,149 under the Crown association's proposal, according to the province.
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston said the Crowns are probably feeling backed into a corner.
He said Premier Stephen McNeil is using the 17 per cent requested raise as a soundbite, "but what that 17 per cent ignores is the caseloads (and) the work balance compared to other jurisdictions. There are many moving parts to negotiations, and the sad thing is that the premier 's tactics have now forced a group of qualified Crown attorneys to take dramatic action to state their case."
NDP justice critic Claudia Chender said the situation is "unfortunate."
She said not having lawyers in courtrooms is "terrifying." I think it's going to be a sad day for justice and reflect directly on this government, which has chosen to unilaterally breach a contract, that has been done -- by every expert opinion -- illegally."
McNeil said he's confident the bill will stand up.
He told reporters at the legislature that a 17 per cent wage increase is too high, and giving that would mean legal aid lawyers, paramedics and government employees would expect that as the new standard, which the province can't afford.
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/provincial/crown-attorneys-to-strike-wednesday-366780/
