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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.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 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...
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 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.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 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.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 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.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 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.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2024-11-13
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B.C. government lawyers fight for right to unionize on their own terms
21-11-2022
David Carrigg
Night view of Parliament building in Victoria B.C. PHOTO BY JONGHYUNKIM /PNG
B.C. government lawyers taking the province to court over right to chose which union to join
Lawyers who work for the B.C. government writing legislation, providing legal advice and representing government in civil litigation want the right to join a union of their choice.
On Monday, the B.C. Government Lawyers Association said that 75 per cent of the government’s 350 lawyers had signed cards asking that the association be allowed to represent them as its proposed new union.
These lawyers are not unionized, under the 1973 Public Service Labour Relations Act.
The provincial government is prepared to allow them to unionize, but only if the Professional Employees Association represents them in bargaining. Instead, the lawyers want their own association to negotiate for them.
The Professional Employees Association represents nearly 1,300 people working as foresters, engineers, agrologists, geoscientists, psychologists and others in the B.C. government.
B.C. government-paid lawyers working as Crown prosecutors belong to the B.C. Crown Counsel Association, which negotiates for them.
Margo Foster, secretary of the BCGLA, said that the provincial government’s Bill 10 — which her members helped write — permitted workers to choose which union they belonged to.
Bill 10 requires employers to recognize a union if more than 55 per cent of employees have signed on.
“We are a diverse and predominantly female group of employees, yet we are paid less and have less job security than our Crown counsel peers,” Foster said.
“It’s a little-known fact that we can be simply fired at any time without cause. We should be able to do our job without fear of reprisal. If the employer says we aren’t doing our jobs properly, that should be decided by an independent arbitrator, if necessary.”
The lawyers’ association, formed in 1992, is taking its case to the Supreme Court of B.C. — with a five-day trial set to begin on Feb. 6, 2023.
Responding to the lawyers, B.C. Premier David Eby said Monday that his “government, of course, supports the rights of people to organize and I’m sure I’ll hear more about that soon.”
