Connexion
Dernières nouvelles
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
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.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 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.
[ ...Suite ]Date de parution : 2024-11-12
<-- Retour au nouvelles archivées
Government lawyers in B.C. fight for right to form their own union following newly tabled bill
11-02-2023
Bill 5 seeks changes to public service labour act to permit government lawyers to join, but not form, a union
The Public Service Labour Relations Act defines bargaining rights for employees with the government. Bill 5 seeks to include government civil lawyers as part of that act. (Eva Uguen-Csenge/CBC)
The B.C. Government Lawyers Association (BCGLA) is speaking out against the newly tabled Bill 5, which will allow government lawyers interested in unionizing to join the Professional Employees Association (PEA) for government-licensed professionals, but does not allow them to form their own union.
"It's not up to employers or governments to choose unions," said Gareth Morley of the BCGLA, the association representing government civil lawyers in the province.
"It's up to the workers involved to decide whether they want to join a union and if so, which one they do."
The bill, tabled by B.C.'s finance minister Katrine Conroy on Thursday, amends the Public Service Labour Relations Act to include civil lawyers who write legislation, advise the province, and represent the government in child protection matters.
The act defines bargaining rights for employees with the government, including government staff and health-care professionals, like nurses.
Without the amendment, government civil lawyers are prohibited from joining a union; with it, nearly 300 lawyers with the BCGLA would be eligible to join the PEA, a union for public service professionals including teachers, engineers and foresters.
However, 70 per cent of BCGLA members have voted to form their own union.
"I can speak for pretty much everybody [in the BCGLA] ... that nobody wants to be told what to do by the government about who represents them," said Morley, adding the proposed bill sets back 10 years of unionizing efforts.
They're now calling on the provincial government to change the bill and recognize the BCGLA as the exclusive bargaining unit for government civil lawyers.
"We want the chance to talk to the government about our working conditions, just like anyone else would."
Government lawyers 'have the same rights as everyone else': BCGLA
Morley says the BCGLA applied for union certification with the Labour Relations Board (LRB) in November, arguing they "have the same rights as everyone else under the Labour Relations code."
During that process, Morely says the association and province were required to share their arguments for or against certification. The LRB would make the final decision.
Morley says if the new bill passes, the LRB won't be able to certify their union application, and the association's only option would be to challenge the legislation for being unconstitutional.
In a written statement to CBC, Conroy did not address questions about whether they opposed members forming their own union, or about the BCGLA's comment over Bill 5 being unconstitutional, but said the ministry supports the BCGLA's right to collective bargaining.
"This amendment clears an important space for them to do so under the Public Service Labour Relations Act and recognises their Charter right to exercise freedom of association," the statement reads.
The statement also says the LRB matter is a separate process the legislation does not interfere with.
Roadblocks against unionizing not a surprise
Kevin Marks, president of the B.C. Crown Counsel Association — the union organization representing prosecutors in the province — says the challenge his colleagues are going through is not a surprise.
He says the province's prosecutors struggled to form their own union in the 1990s, and faced opposition until they were recognized in 2000 under the Crown Counsel Act.
"We took matters into our own hands and we did stage a two-day walk-up [in 2000] … but this is when the government agreed to amend the Crown Counsel Act," Marks said.
He also says they were first encouraged to join the PEA but felt the organization couldn't address their specific concerns.
"Everyone in Canada has a right to freedom of association," Marks said.
"[If the government] says,'No, you have to join this other union or you can't join a union at all' … That's against the Charter of Rights because it's against freedom of association."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-government-lawyers-association-union-1.6745134