Crown prosecutors vote 99% in favour of strike action amid labour shortage, system 'crisis'
Province argues strike can't legally happen yet, collective bargaining process continues
New Brunswick Crown prosecutors and family court Crown counsel have voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action.
They have been in contract talks with the provincial government for more than a year and warn the "crisis" facing the criminal justice system is growing, due to recruitment and retention problems.
Prosecutors are "crushed under heavy workloads," with many of them regularly working nights and weekends, and it's putting the justice system at risk, said Shara Munn, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association.
"What we've been told by the employer is that we need to prioritize indictable offences, serious violent offences. … But of course, that does come at the expense of other things," she said.
Prosecutors are sending cases to diversion, or making deals with defence lawyers that they'd rather not make.
"Prosecutors are united and saying with one voice: 'The status quo is not working. The government must act,'" said Munn, noting all members participated in the vote last week.
Conciliation meeting scheduled
Meanwhile the Department of Justice and Public Safety argues prosecutors are not yet at a point where a legal strike vote can be taken.
"The parties have not yet exhausted the collective bargaining process under the Public Service Labour Relations Act," spokesperson Alycia Bartlett said in an emailed statement. "Government remains in active bargaining."
A conciliation meeting is scheduled for June 14-15.
The association wanted to get a clear picture of where the membership stands heading into conciliation, but will do everything possible to avoid a strike, said Munn.
"That's the last thing we want."
'Good' chance of a strike, says law professor
Bruno Gélinas-Faucher, a law professor at the University of Moncton, thinks the chances of a strike are good.
"I'm not in at the negotiation table, but I would say the positions right now are very far apart," he said.
It's part of an unfortunate pattern he has seen unfold in other provinces in recent years due to underfunded justice systems and overwhelmed Crown prosecutors, he said, pointing to the 2022 strike in Alberta and 2019 strike in Nova Scotia as examples.
Bruno
Gélinas-Faucher, a law professor at the University of Moncton, said New
Brunswick came very close to a strike by prosecutors in 2016, but it
was averted. He thinks the chances of a strike this time are good. (University of Moncton)
Working conditions and salaries in New Brunswick aren't as good as other jurisdictions, said Gélinas-Faucher. At least four of his graduating students are leaving the province for better offers as prosecutors in Nova Scotia and Quebec, he said.
"And these are New Brunswickers."
The impact of a strike would be "quite dramatic," said Gélinas-Faucher, citing the constitutional right for people to be tried without undue delay.
The Supreme Court of Canada, in the Jordan decision, imposed strict timelines of 18 or 30 months for a trial, depending on the the kind of trial.
Anyone who waits longer than that, "well, you have good chances of getting a stay of proceedings. And so that means that you're off the hook, so to speak," said Gélinas-Faucher.
30 new positions promised a year ago
Munn has previously warned about staffing shortages and charges being stayed because of the inability to adhere to the Supreme Court timelines.
In last year's budget, the government added 30 new prosecutor positions, raising the provincial total to about 90. Justice and Public Safety Minister Kris Austin told the legislature it was a "historic" 50 per cent increase.
But more than 20 positions remain vacant, according to Munn.
And while about 20 prosecutors have been hired, roughly the same number have left — most of them senior, said Munn. "So … we're having a lot of experience going out the door and we're just not able to fill that with the people coming in.
"So we're actually further behind."
Lowest paid in Canada, says president
Compensation is a "huge" issue, said Munn. She described New Brunswick prosecutors as the lowest paid in Canada.
A junior prosecutor earns about $57,000 annually, according to association vice-president Yves Duguay, whereas the average salary across Canada is closer to $95,000, he said.
Better pay would help recruit and retain, which would improve workload, which is the number one issue for members, said Munn.
She is calling on the government to back up its commitment to public safety with a willingness to negotiate fairly and present solutions to recruitment and retention.
"We're committed to making sure New Brunswickers have the justice system they deserve. But if the government doesn't work with us to fix this crisis, more experienced prosecutors will leave and the crisis will get even worse," she said.
"Community public safety could be put at risk."'
In October 2021, Crown prosecutors were among the groups that agreed to wage increases totalling 8.5 per cent over five years, Premier Blaine Higgs had said.
They ratified a tentative agreement, with a vote of 42 in favour and 21 opposed, their union, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said at the time.
As of April, the wait for a criminal judge-alone trial requiring one to three days is up to a year in some jurisdictions, such as Saint John and Woodstock, according to figures published quarterly by the Court of King's Bench. For longer judge-alone trials, the wait jumps as high as 18 months in Edmundston.
For judge-and-jury criminal trials, some people in Fredericton are waiting as long as 22 months, the website shows.
With files from Information Morning Fredericton and Information Morning Moncton
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https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/1.428309
Legal aid dispute 11 years ago
A Saint John judge is calling on Legal Aid New Brunswick to explain its lawyers failed to show up in two recent court cases
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Saint john
Published July 26, 2004
The New Brunswick government is prepared to change the law in an effort to restore legal aid services, a justice department spokesman warned Monday.
Criminal defence lawyers withdrew their services to the legal aid system May 3 in an attempt to get wage parity with lawyers who provide ad hoc prosecution services to the Crown.
"We are going to protect the constitutional rights of New Brunswickers to have legal aid," Justice Department spokesman Gary Toft said of a bill that would transfer administration of legal aid from the law society to the director of Legal Aid New Brunswick.
The change would allow the director to hire defence lawyers on contract to take legal aid cases.
"We are prepared to proclaim the law if necessary unless there is movement on the part of the lawyers," Mr. Toft said.
The lack of legal aid lawyers has delayed numerous cases in the province.
The lawyers, who want an immediate pay increase, just rejected the province's latest offer of a multiyear increase that would see parity enforced by Mar. 31, 2007.
"They want everything today. The government just doesn't have the money to do that," Mr. Toft said.
The criminal defence lawyers probably will not meet again as group to discuss the wage dispute until September.
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you should take up writing novels
your short fiction is attracting reviews for simplicity and ... nah, just simplicity
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They should wait til intelligence takes over in oct, and savour the backpay
David Amos
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Perhaps you should review old articles
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/lawyer-says-liberal-support-means-business-1.411935
Al Clark
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Nope, not that obsessive. I have a life, unlike.............
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Zero idea, look and smell are not the only determining factors.
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Lawyer says Liberal support means business
A prominent New Brunswick lawyer has no trouble admitting his support of the federal Liberal party translates into government business. David Lutz of Hampton says his firm works for the federal Justice Department because he works for the party.
Last February, David Lutz sent a memo to the staff at his firm instructing them when, where and how to vote for Shawn Graham in the provincial Liberal leadership race.
The memo said voting for Graham would help the firm, because its number one client is the federal department of justice, and that business is secured by Lutz's profile in the party.
"We've done work work for the party in the past, and it's been my experience that the party returns the favour," Lutz said on Thursday.
The business brought up to $100,000 in revenue to the firm in 2002, enough to keep three of his employees busy.
While the lawyer has no trouble talking about the memo, Graham says the memo is news to him.
"I can say though that I've never discussed government contracts with Mr. Lutz or with the Federal Department of Justice. And I can't comment on the observations made in this memo because it was an inter-office memo in a private sector company and certainly nothing I had any involvement in."
The leader says he does appreciate the support Lutz provided in helping him win the Liberal leadership.
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Source Statistics Canada...
It's basically the same situation for engineers.
And they wonder why it's hard to recruit and retain staff.
I know lots of people are fleeing GNB for the private sector.
The only ones staying are retiring soon, and are just putting in time.
We are continually told that the main reason for some of this is the international shortage of health care professionals, when will we hear that lawyers are now in short supply.
a) do not reflect the cost to attract and hire
b) create overstated budget expense lines that at the end of the year become a large contributor to the surprise budget surplus.
If it is that dire, how is it NS has had much better success in attracting some of these medical professionals that NB has.
Keep deflecting his days as premier are numbered.
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