The Bâtonniere of Quebec, Catherine Claveau, unwittingly demonstrated all the ridicule surrounding the showdown between the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, and the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec, Lucie Rondeau. Me Claveau suggested last week to the two belligerents to turn to conciliation in order to resolve the impasse on the allocation of resources to the court.
That the President of the Bar has come to offer herself as an intermediary for the resumption of a fruitful dialogue between the Minister Jolin-Barrette and Judge Rondeau, is to writhe with a cynical laugh. Since the reform of the Code of Civil Procedure of Quebec in 2016, the legislator has focused on methods of preventing and settling disputes. Negotiation, mediation and arbitration are encouraged instead of open conflict, the aim being to improve accessibility to justice and to defuse disputes before they become unrecoverable.
Obviously, Minister Jolin-Barrette and Justice Rondeau are not leading by example. We have already expressed deep reservations about Judge Rondeau’s attitude. While she is demanding the appointment of 41 new judges to the Court of Quebec to remedy delays in the processing of cases, she has allowed the 160 judges of the Criminal Division to sit every other day (rather than two days out of three). Nothing to solve the problem of delays. And everything to put undue pressure on Quebec and get “its” judges, at an additional annual cost of $41 million.
Only, it takes two to maintain a conflict. When two of the most important legal officers in Quebec show themselves unable to speak to each other, instead confronting each other with motions and procedures before the courts, the image of justice takes a turn for the worse.
This is how we must understand the output of Me Claveau. The dispute at the highest peak of the political and judicial hierarchy contributes to “undermining the public’s confidence in Quebec’s judicial institutions”. The chairman even dared to mention the risk to the protection of the public that the deadlines run up in the criminal chamber.
Minister Jolin-Barrette said he was open to conciliation, while being firm in his opposition to the appointment of 41 judges and the easing of working hours. Judge Rondeau declined to comment on the president’s offer, which is a shame. It also takes two adults to resolve a conflict.