News details

Connection







Lost password?

Latest news

Increased number of homicides doesn’t bode well for overworked N.L. prosecutors, association says

There are 17 homicide cases before the courts in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the head of the association that represents local prosecutors says the higher-than-normal caseload will be difficult to handle.

[ ...More ]
Publication date : 2023-09-07
Manitoba adds 25 Crown attorneys to prosecution service amid workload issues

The Manitoba government hopes to add about two dozen more prosecutors and assistants to the prosecution service, which attorneys say has been struggling to keep up amid workload and workforce issues. Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys says province left group out of discussions.

[ ...More ]
Publication date : 2023-06-26
Les Leyne: Premier David Eby takes on lawyers — again

The B.C. NDP government has introduced a one-page bill that bestows the right to join a union on the 350 lawyers who work for government. There’s a catch. It herds them into a union the government prefers, the Professional Employees Association, rather than allowing them to form their own.

[ ...More ]
Publication date : 2023-05-06
‘Unfair labour practice’: B.C. government accused of blocking union bid by its own lawyers

Lawyers for the B.C. government say the province has ended negotiations with them ahead of legislation they claim aims to block their right to form their own union.

[ ...More ]
Publication date : 2023-05-04
N.B. prosecutors say recent sexual assault stay is evidence of resource shortage

New Brunswick’s justice system is reaching a crisis point. Urgent calls have been made to address the provincial criminal justice system after a decision was made to stay a sexual assault case due to the lack of prosecutors. According to the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, the judge’s decision, made in Moncton last Friday, is directly linked to the shortage of resources.

[ ...More ]
Publication date : 2023-03-01
Delays prompt judge to stay charges against man accused of sexual assault
Delays prompt judge to stay charges against man accused of sexual assault

Charges were stayed in Moncton provincial court Friday against a man accused of sexual assault, with the judge agreeing with the defence that the accused had waited too long to be tried. Meanwhile, New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, representing Crown attorneys, saying staffing shortages in their ranks are at crisis levels.

[ ...More ]
Publication date : 2023-02-24


<-- Back to archived news

Prosecutors Insulted by Government Salary Offer

20-02-2020

Criminal and penal prosecutors are pissed off. While an independent committee recommended an upgrade of their salary conditions by almost 20%, the government only plans to give them 10% over four years.

The independent committee made up of Mr. Guy Lemay, Yves Morin and Clément D'Astous, a former deputy minister, submitted its report last fall. D'Astous made a different recommendation from the two lawyers, which the government now endorses.

“We are disappointed and dissatisfied. I am surprised that the government does not respect the outcome of this independent process put in place by the National Assembly, which should adopt the committee's recommendations," said the President of the Association of Prosecutors of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (APPCP), Mr. Guillaume Michaud.

It should be noted, however, that the government offers a larger increase to prosecutors than to other employees in the public and parapublic sector. The government is offering them a 7% increase over five years.

 

But for Mr. Michaud, you shouldn't mix apples with oranges. If prosecutors submit to the independent committee's decisions, the government should do the same, he believes. The existence of this committee also prevents prosecutors from exercising the right to strike.

The increase proposed by the committee was 3.5% for each of the four years concerned, in addition to indexation to annual inflation of up to 1.75%, for a maximum total of 19.25%. This may seem considerable to ordinary people, but the salary increase is part of a desire to catch up with prosecutors from other Canadian provinces.

"It's always discouraging when you have news like that. We send a signal to the prosecutors saying: "We have a gap with the other provinces, a historical inequity, and we are not closing it." I can't speak for every attorney about what they will do (after the adoption of the salary proposals). But are they disappointed? Yes. "

This decision to offer only 10% over four years could help discourage young people to join the DCPP, according to the President of the APPCP.

“We are in competition with the big law firms, which give high salaries. If the wages to which prosecutors are entitled according to the independent committee are not given, the new lawyers could choose to go elsewhere, question wages and working conditions.

 

The Canadian Association of Crown Counsel, which brings together prosecutors from across the country, also expressed dissatisfaction to Minister of Justice Sonia LeBel.

"Your announcement is an affront to the constitutional right of prosecutors to have a fair and transparent mechanism for determining their remuneration," wrote Association President Rick Woodburn. The Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association also wrote to Minister LeBel to express their dissatisfaction.

For Guillaume Michaud, it is still too early to say if the prosecutors will adopt certain means of pressure to make their discontent heard, but everything is on the table.

According to the latest agreement, an attorney is paid from $59,433 to $119,815, according to his experience.

The creation of the independent compensation committee for prosecutors had been unanimously approved by the National Assembly in 2016.

 

http://www.droit-inc.com/article26278-Les-procureurs-insultes-par-l-offre-salariale-du-gouvernement