Quebec passes bill to force prosecutors back to work

by Kevin Dougherty and Max Harrold
POSTMEDIA NEWS

QUEBEC — The Quebec legislature has passed mandatory back-to-work legislation compelling the province’s striking Crown prosecutors to go back to their jobs immediately.

The 61-50 vote, coming Tuesday morning after an all-night debating session, saw all Liberal government members vote for the law.

The Opposition Parti Quebecois, Action democratique du Quebec, Quebec solidaire and independent opposition legislators voted against.

In all, about 1,500 Crown prosecutors and government lawyers walked off the job in a legal strike that began Feb. 8.

Liberals said the back-to-work legislation is essential to get the justice system functioning normally again, as the strike has halted criminal trials across the province.

The two associations representing the prosecutors and lawyers have served notice they believe the bill is unconstitutional and plan a court challenge.

They have also suggested that if Quebec does not have the means to pay its prosecutors, perhaps criminal prosecutions should be left to federal prosecutors.

The association representing Quebec’s striking Crown prosecutors said Monday a back-to-work law, forcing an end to their two-week old strike without according them wage parity, breaks the vital relationship of trust between the prosecutors and the government.

Bill 135 imposes a settlement to end the strike.

The lawyers’ salaries will rise by six per cent over five years, retroactive to March 31, 2010, the same pay scale offered to Quebec’s 475,000 public-sector workers, including civil servants, hospital and education workers.

Montreal Gazette