Strike by Crown prosecutors averted, but staff shortage not resolved

Crown prosecutors in New Brunswick have ratified a new collective agreement with the provincial government, but it doesn't completely address current problems with the justice system, a spokesperson says.

"There's a lot of things we were hoping to see and hoping to accomplish with the new agreement, most of them tied to the current issues with the system, so things like backlogs, workloads, vacancy rates," said Shara Munn, the president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association.

The contract does address "that big gap" in remuneration between New Brunswick prosecutors and those elsewhere, Munn said.

"It's not going to address a lot of these other issues, systemic problems that we've been, you know, sort of pushing government to act on."

Prosecutors have spoken out about a staff shortage in the past, and Munn said "we are still woefully short."

In some places in New Brunswick, she said, it's still a struggle to recruit senior level Crown prosecutors, which results in junior level prosecutors not receiving proper mentorship.

In May, the prosecutors and family court Crown counsel voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action.

After that, Munn said, there were more negotiations with the province, ending with a tentative agreement that 85 per cent of members went on to ratify.

Munn says that becuse of vacancies, Crown prosecutors don’t have the capacity to process all the alleged offences brought to the New Brunswick just system. (Sam Farley/CBC)

On Wednesday, the Finance Department and Treasury Board put out a news release about the ratification.

"The government recognizes the valuable contributions of these employees, and those that worked diligently on their behalf toward an officially ratified agreement," Finance Minister Ernie Steeves was quoted as saying.

Further details about the agreement will be shared after it is signed, the release said.

Munn said she couldn't give specifics either until the deal was signed, but she confirmed it included a "substantial pay increase."

"We've been lagging behind for so many years that we need to catch up," she said. "And that's what this agreement is going to do, is sort of catch us up, keeping in mind that, as we catch up to the rest of Atlantic Canada in terms of salary, all the other provinces are currently also bargaining.

"So I'm not sure we'll be caught up for far too long, but at least … it gives government a tool, hopefully we can be a little more competitive, especially with Nova Scotia, where we lose several prosecutors to our neighbours next door."

While the agreement addresses pay, Munn said it ,doesn't get to the crux of the workload issues. She said  prosecutors on staff now don't have the capacity to process all of the alleged offences in the New Brunswick system.

This doesn't just affect Crown prosecutors, but also victims of crime and the people who have been accused, she said.

Despite ratifying the agreement, the association won't be quiet about the issues within the justice system.

"Yes, our members are going to be compensated more fairly and more competitively, but that doesn't make the job any easier to do, and it doesn't make, you know, keeping people any easier when we're up against those workloads," she said.

"The vacancy rates are alarmingly high, and so we're going to need government to get creative on how they're going to address this."