(Quebec) An independent committee recommends increasing the salaries of Crown prosecutors by 17% in four years, an increase twice as large as that offered by the Legault government to other state employees.
What there is to know
• Since 2011, an independent committee has made recommendations to set the remuneration of prosecutors.
• The prosecutors’ union demanded increases of more than 40% in four years; the government proposed 7.5%.
• The committee recommends 17% over the same period.
The committee explains in particular that “prosecutors in Quebec lag behind in compensation” compared to those in the rest of Canada and that this gap is “increasing”.
Its analysis takes into account the economic situation as well as the state of public finances in order to consider the government’s proverbial ability to pay.
Tabled in the National Assembly this week, the committee’s unanimous report will be the talk of the town in the context of negotiations with public and parapublic sector unions. Especially since the government appointed the three members of the committee by decree, by mutual agreement with the Association of Prosecutors for Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, as provided for in a law adopted in 2011.
Quebec has already weakened its position by increasing the salaries of deputies by 30% in the spring. He found himself in trouble with the agreement in principle providing for increases of 21% in five years at the Sûreté du Québec, an agreement rejected and deemed insufficient by the police.
Following a major labor dispute in 2011, Crown prosecutors lost the right to strike in exchange for the creation of a process for setting their remuneration similar to that of judges. An independent committee is now formed to make recommendations to the government, which is not obliged to follow them.
In 2015, the Couillard government implemented the recommendations of the Bouchard committee – 10% increase in four years. In 2020, the Legault government retained the dissenting opinion of one of the three members of the Lemay committee to set salary increases at 10% in four years; the majority report recommended an increase twice as high.
The report is unanimous this time. The committee is composed of Me Joëlle L’Heureux, as president, of Me Yves Morin, lawyer at Roy Bélanger Avocats, and Gilles Paquin, former senior official in Finance and the Treasury and former secretary general of the government.
As provided for by law, the committee analyzed the positions of the Association and the government according to various factors, such as the workload of prosecutors, the need to attract lawyers, the economic situation of Quebec and the remuneration of other employees. of State.
Before the committee, the association of prosecutors argued for increases totaling more than 40% in four years, citing the importance of salary catch-up. The government offered 7.5% over four years, which is comparable to the offer of 9% over five years for other state employees.
Request from prosecutors
• 2023-2024: 31.1%
• 2024-2025: 2.7% + cost of living index
• 2025-2026: 2.7% + cost of living index
• 2026-2027: 2.6% + cost of living index
Government proposal
• 2023-2024: 3%
• 2024-2025: 1.5%
• 2025-2026: 1.5%
• 2026-2027: 1.5%
There has long been a debate between the government and the Association as to how to compare the remuneration of Quebec prosecutors to that of their colleagues in the rest of Canada.
The committee notes that “it emerges from the different comparison methods that prosecutors in Quebec show a negative pay gap between 4.8% and 15.4%” or “between 7.9% and 19.5%”. Each method has “biases”, so much so that the committee considers that it is above all “an index, a direction”.
The committee also emphasizes that “prosecutors are assuming more and more responsibilities with new mandates entrusted to the DPCP” (Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions). There is also “an increase in the complexity and duration of files”.
Furthermore, “the committee notes the advantageous remuneration of prosecutors compared to a good part of other state employees”. However, thanks to recent increases, legal aid lawyers receive a salary comparable to that of prosecutors, he notes.
The committee says it is “sensitive to the fact that uncertainties remain regarding the evolution of the economy and that a certain caution is required”. But “the financial framework is healthy”, and “the government is able to forecast a reduction in net debt as well as a return to budget balance” in 2027-2028.
Considering all the elements in question, the committee therefore recommends the following increases, for a total of 17% over four years:
• 2023-2024: 6%
• 2024-2025: 4%
• 2025-2026: 3.5%
• 2026-2027: 3.5%
For a normal schedule of 37.5 hours per week, entry-level salary would increase from $70,284 currently to $83,000 in 2026; at the last level, from $141,690 to $167,324.