Opposition parties are alarmed at the shortage of staff in courthouses and are urging the Legault government to come out of its torpor.
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“The hemorrhage, it’s there, we’re in it, […] nothing is going right in our palates. The least we could do is for the minister [Simon Jolin-Barrette] to be proactive, to recognize his wrongdoings and to double down. We should never have gotten to such a breaking point,” Parti Québécois MP Véronique Hivon told the Journal.
On the side of the Liberal Party of Quebec, the candidate and ex-boss to the federal Crown André Morin is alarmed by this “major problem on which the minister does not deal”, while the leader Dominique Anglade denounces “the inaction of the Coalition Avenir Québec” which allows the situation to deteriorate.
“This is particularly alarming for all citizens of Quebec, adds MP Alexandre Leduc, of Quebec solidaire. If the system fails, if it gets bogged down and stumbles, justice no longer works. »
Cry of the heart
Earlier, during question period in the National Assembly, Ms. Hivon directly challenged the Minister of Justice regarding the system on the verge of collapse. Recalling the cry from the heart of the actors of the judicial system to compensate for the crying lack of manpower, she asked him when he was going to move.
Sonia LeBel, President of the Treasury Board, acknowledged that the situation is “worrying” and that the solution lay in raising wages, she responded by saying that the unions had received an offer of a salary increase of 16 % for clerks.
“Currently, we have targeted measures on the table,” she assured, saying she was aware of the problems of attracting and retaining support employees.
But meanwhile, the situation continues to deteriorate. Not a week goes by without employees resigning to work in the federal, municipal or private sector, where wages can easily be 30% higher.
Reconnaissance
As a result, justice is slowing down with courtrooms opening late or remaining closed due to the lack of an available court clerk.
“Yet, access to justice is a fundamental right in our democracy and François Legault should do everything in his power to ensure quality services, as well as to adequately compensate the staff of our courthouses,” said Ms. Anglade .
According to Ms. Hivon, it is time to invest in the justice system, and to recognize the work of support workers “at their fair value” before justice collapses.
