MONTREAL - Quebec's legal system, increasingly paralyzed by labour disputes, was hit Tuesday with job action by prison guards that deepened delays caused by a week-old lawyers' strike.
The province's courthouses were especially quiet as the guards, responsible for ferrying inmates back and forth from prison, started an hour late to protest lagging contract talks.
The end result was more cases piled onto an ever-growing backlog that worsened last week with an unprecedented strike by Crown prosecutors and government lawyers.
Meanwhile, the constables in charge of courthouse security continued patrolling the near-empty buildings wearing jeans and military-style cargo pants. They have been sporting that protest wear for the last two years, while working under an expired labour contract.
Justice-system employees in Quebec -- regardless of their role -- voice similar complaints: that compared to peers in other jurisdictions, they are seriously underpaid and an increasing number are quitting.
The 2,300 guards, for instance, are demanding a raise to bring salaries closer to those in other Canadian provinces. They also want better work schedules.
"We know we're not going to get everything we're asking for, but the gap between us and other provinces is quite considerable," said Stephane Lemaire, president of the prison guards union.
"In Quebec, we've underfinanced the correctional system for years."
That echoed complaints from the 1,450 government lawyers and prosecutors who have, over the last week, traded in their black robes and briefcases for union pickets.
The lawyers say they're paid 40 per cent less than counterparts in other provinces and that they don't have the resources to do their jobs.
The prosecutors want their ranks bolstered with the hiring of 200 new lawyers to help alleviate their workload.
On Tuesday, striking lawyers sought to illustrate their point by taking their pickets to a courthouse built for large trials. Inside that courthouse a so-called mega-trial, unaffected by the strike, was proceeding as normal.
There were only a few Crown prosecutors tasked with taking on 60 defence lawyers, employed by 156 Hells Angels and their associates seeking to have the charges against them thrown out.
Mediated talks between the Crown attorneys' union and the government ended abruptly Monday. On Tuesday, the government also pulled its offer to government jurists.
"The government very clearly, without any ambiguity, broke off negotiations," said Christian Leblanc, spokesman for the Crown lawyers' union.
He called it a tactic to put the Crown attorneys in a vulnerable position. He said there are fears that the government has already drafted back-to-work legislation and might be preparing to table it.
"The damages will be considerable and the victims (of crime) will ultimately pay the price," Leblanc said.
As for government lawyers, they are the ones who deal with cases like car-accident compensation and rental board cases.
They help draft legislation including the upcoming provincial budget, and defend the province in landmark constitutional cases like ones involving language laws, assisted reproduction and same-sex marriage.
"Ontario, Alberta or British Columbia are being paid 40 per cent more than we are for the exact same job," said Eric Dufour, a spokesman for the state jurists.
A similar argument is put forth by Quebec Crowns who top out at about $102,000 a year compared to their Ontario counterparts, who earn as much as $196,000.
The week-old strike is thought to be the first time government lawyers and Crowns have ever taken legal strike action in Canada.
The prosecutors say it's not just about the money -- but about repairing serious flaws in the legal system.
"This is not a joke. We're not working in Disneyland. We're talking about people's lives, people in great pain," Crown prosecutor J.D. Gerols told a news conference.
"We're talking about organized crime coast-to-coast, taking up roots, we cannot be the weakest link in a large judicial system."
The average length of a court case in Quebec is already among the worst in Canada. The potential for a long-term strike is cause for concern, the Quebec government admitted Tuesday.
"The situation worries me," Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier said in Quebec City.
"We are concerned with the way justice is administered daily. We need them and citizens need a justice system that works."
