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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Publication date : 2024-11-13
Critical shortage of Crown attorneys has ‘gone on way too long’ and is hurting public safety

The Canadian Association of Crown Counsel, an umbrella group for thousands of Crown attorneys and government lawyers across the country is calling for a big boost in the number of provincial prosecutors in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Publication date : 2024-11-13
Most criminal cases in Ontario now ending before charges are tested at trial

More than half of the criminal charges laid by police in Ontario never make it to trial, according to data from Statistics Canada. The numbers paint a troubling picture of the province’s justice system.  More judges, staff, prosecutors and courtrooms needed, says Crown attorneys’ association.

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Publication date : 2024-11-12


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Labour officials, N.S. government to meet to discuss Bill 148

17-06-2022

Controversial law from former Liberal government imposed wage pattern

Labour legislation from the former Liberal government of Stephen McNeil touched off massive protests at Province House as it was being passed. Courts are now having their say on the bills. (Jean Laroche/CBC)

 

Representatives with organized labour and the Nova Scotia government will meet to discuss how to address outstanding issues with a contentious piece of legislation used to impose wage restraint.

 

Bill 148, passed by the former Liberal government to impose wage patterns and remove a lump-sum retirement benefit known as the long-service award, continues to be tied up in court. Last month, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal declined to rule on whether the bill is constitutional.

 

At that point, major union leaders asked the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour to get a meeting with the province to discuss potential next steps. On Thursday, Labour Relations Minister Allan MacMaster told reporters the meeting will soon happen.

 

"I'm not going to say anything more on that today, other than to say that we want to have a good line of communication," he said. "We want to be fair. We are dealing with legislation that we were handed."

 

Danny Cavanagh, president of the federation of labour, said he would meet with union leaders following the meeting with MacMaster to determine how they want to proceed.

 

"We're going to go into the meeting and see where things go," he said in an interview.

 

"I'm not making any assumptions one way or the other."

 

There is added motivation for this meeting following a judge's ruling this week on another piece of controversial Liberal legislation from the time of former premier Stephen McNeil.

 

Bill 75, which imposed a contract on teachers in 2017, was determined by a judge to be "vengeful," "terribly wrong" and unconstitutional. Premier Tim Houston said his government will not appeal that ruling. He told reporters on Thursday that his government is in talks with the teachers' union about remedies following the ruling.

 

Houston acknowledged there could be financial implications for that ruling, and whatever comes of talks about Bill 148. Labour costs make up a significant portion of the provincial budget, he said.

 

"People who are working in Nova Scotia should be fairly compensated and, where they're part of a union, that should come as a result of a union negotiation," said Houston.

 

MacMaster stressed that neither piece of legislation has any bearing on ongoing contract talks with unions.

 

"Our government wants to be different than the last government. We don't want to be seen as antagonistic with labour."

 

Houston promised during last summer's provincial election that, if elected, the Tories would repeal Bill 148. More recently, they've backed away from that idea.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/bill-148-75-labour-relations-macmaster-unions-1.6492215