The shortage of workers seeped into several topics discussed during the debate on justice issues, which took place on Tuesday evening. The lack of personnel which undermines the functioning of the judicial system was identified by the candidates as one of the main obstacles to be overcome by the future Quebec government.
This debate was ultimately not really one: the five candidates – all lawyers – put forward their points of view on various subjects, without real exchanges between them. The event, organized in particular by the Barreau du Québec, took place in Montreal.
Invited first to discuss the many problems of access to justice in northern Quebec, the aspiring MPs most of the time reached a consensus on this subject: justice must be done on the spot. Citizens should not have to travel hundreds of miles south for a trial, or to ask to be released on conditions.
The Liberal candidate, André Morin, notably proposed as a solution the construction of a courthouse in Kuujjuaq. The CAQ candidate, who is the Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette, also believes that we must think about this question: how to have judges permanently in the North, rather than an itinerant court?
The candidates of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Me Cédric Gagnon-Ducharme, and of Québec solidaire (QS), Me Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, spoke of the importance of respecting the local traditions of the Aboriginal peoples and of prioritizing “proximity justice “: “The court must move, not the citizens”, insisted the united candidate. Not to mention the importance of “cultural security” for Aboriginal litigants, added his PQ colleague.
But for him, Nordic courthouse or not, the shortage of workers will stand in the way of everyone’s wishful thinking. This solution is incomplete according to him “because there is a lack of personnel to work on it. »
“We have employees who carry the justice system at arm’s length,” denounced Me Cédric Gagnon-Ducharme.
Mr. Jolin-Barrette agreed. He feels that his biggest challenge is working with Treasury Board on this.
But the conservative candidate believes that the problem goes beyond this observation: “justice is underfunded” and the employment conditions of courthouse employees “are not competitive”, because the interlocutors in justice within of the CAQ are “weak”, launched Me Jean-Félix Racicot, who is the one who launched the most attacks against the CAQ during this event. He notably attacked the management of the COVID-19 pandemic by François Legault and the conflicts between his Minister of Justice and the chief judge of the Court of Quebec, Lucie Rondeau.
Me Racicot recalled that during the first version of the list of essential workers during the pandemic, those of the judicial system were not part of it. This is proof that the minister is “weak”, said the lawyer who challenged the containment rules before the Court.
To solve the shortage problems, one of the solutions put forward by the CAQ is the modernization of the judicial system, in particular with increased use of new technologies, including videoconference trials — a solution taken up and approved by the PLQ and QS. .
The solidary candidate also sees in immigration a solution to the shortage of workers. Efforts to prevent various problems — using social programs, including drug addiction — would help reduce the number of criminal cases in courthouses, further QS argues.
The PQ and Liberal candidates also denounced the underfunding of justice.
Because if there is a lack of employees in the courthouses and within the Criminal and Penal Prosecutions Department (DPCP), this entails costs and delays for the litigants, lamented the Liberal André Morin. The solidarity candidate, Me Cliche-Rivard, indicated that his party promised $80 million more in court, one of the rare figures to have accompanied the promises of the candidates during the event.
For Me Morin, the judicial system is “on the verge of bursting”. He believes that the Minister of Justice does nothing to resolve conflicts and has even created some of them, citing in particular the use of the notwithstanding clause — sometimes commonly referred to as the “notwithstanding clause” — which “divides society”, and that the François Legault’s government used for his bills 21 and 96, which were ultimately challenged in court.