MONTREAL - Talks have broken off between the provincial government and the Crown prosecutors and government lawyers seeking a new contract.
The lawyers are asking for a pay increase, arguing they earn 40 percent less than their counterparts in other provinces.
They also want the government to hire more lawyers to lessen the workload and speed up criminal trials.
Members of the association representing 450 Crown prosecutors and about 1,000 government lawyers say they fear the government will legislate an end to their week-old strike.
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 the Gouin courthouse, which is built for large trials. Inside that courthouse one so-called mega-trial, unaffected by the strike, was proceeding as normal.
"What kind of a justice system do (we) want?" said Christian Leblanc of the Crown prosecutor's association.
"A strong crown that are feared by organized crime? Or we just want the weak one?"
There were only three 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.
Across the province, courthouses were slowed down even more on Tuesday as the guards, who ferry inmates back and forth from prison, started an hour late to protest lagging contract talks.
The province's 2,300 guards are also demanding a raise to bring salaries closer to those in other Canadian provinces and 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.''
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.
Government lawyers are those who deal with cases like car-accident compensation, draft legislation like the upcoming provincial budget, and defend the province in landmark constitutional cases.
"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.
The week-old strike marks the first time that government lawyers and Crowns have ever taken a legal strike action.
In Quebec City, Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier said Tuesday that he was concerned.
"The situation worries me,'' Fournier said.
"We are concerned with the way justice is administered daily. We need them and citizens need a justice system that works.''
with files from The Canadian Press
