Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 43 s the election returns rolled in on a cold January night in 2006, few Canadians were watching them more closely than the people who worked at 284 Wellington St. in Ottawa. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper had sent a chill through senior public servants a few days earlier when he reassured Canadians he couldn't do anything rash because the Liberal courts and the Liberal bureau- cracy would keep him in check. At the federal Justice Department, that had officials more than a little concerned. "They were all reading the tea leaves and saying . . . this is going to be interesting," says one senior Justice Department official who traded anonymity for candor. "In their case, he doesn't like public servants and he doesn't like courts. Well, that seems to get us from two sides." Life has indeed been "interesting" since then for the thousands of lawyers, paralegals, researchers, managers, and support staff who work in Canada's Department of Justice. While all ministries have been hard hit by the Harper government's relentless drive to cut costs and restore Canada to the balanced budget it inherited in 2006, some argue Justice has been hit harder than most. In 2012, the Association of Justice Counsel, the union that represents an estimated 2,700 federal lawyers, negotiated its first collective agreement, which included a 15.25-per-cent salary increase, allowing federal government lawyers to catch up with many of their provincial counterparts. Despite the boost to their paycheques, however, insiders say morale in the DoJ is just about at rock bottom. Promotions are few and far between. Resources are shrinking almost as fast as the desk space. "Speaking with different members across the country, from different agencies and departments, morale is low," says former AJC president Lisa Blais. "People are working harder than ever with fewer resources. Depending on where they work, they are being ques- tioned on expenses, on requests for professional development, on requests for leave." In April, the department cut 20 per cent of its research bud- get, roughly $1.2 million. Most of the eight legal research posi- tions cut were in social sciences. "Previous legal research in the department sometimes caught senior officials off-guard . . . and may even have run contrary to government direction," said an internal report prepared for Deputy Minister William Pentney, obtained by the Canadian Press. The Justice Department's per- formance report showed there were 211 fewer people working for the department in the 2012/13 fiscal year than there were in 2004/05. Roughly half of the jobs cut have been lawyers. Workforce adjustment, the government's bureaucratic euphe- mism for layoffs, claimed about 50 positions and, tragically and indirectly, one life. A lawyer in the aboriginal law section with pre- existing mental-health issues was pushed over the edge by the pros- pect of having to compete against his colleagues to keep his job and committed suicide. The tax law section lost 30 lawyers after a call went out for volunteers to leave. Another 17 lawyer positions were cut in the business and regulatory section in British Columbia. Len MacKay, current president of the AJC, says budget cuts in other departments like the Canada Revenue Agency, have slowed the flow of cases to prosecute because investigators don't have the money to open files and conduct investigations. Testifying before the House of Commons standing com- mittee on justice and human rights in November, Pentney acknowledged Canada's DoJ has taken a hit. "There are real reductions. We are reducing our complement — and I'm not here to complain — and we are on a downward track. By next year, we'll have reduced by 330 staff, we'll have reduced our budget by $68 million." Nor is there any sign the reductions are going to stop anytime soon. The Justice Department's 2014/15 "Report on Plans and Priorities" revealed the government expects 400 fewer people to be working there by 2016/17 than there were in 2004 — down to 4,588 full-time equivalent positions from 4,989 when the Conservatives came to power. In June, the department informed its staff that 65 lawyers and 15 managers would be cut by attrition over the next three years as part of its legal services review. Aboriginal law services will be "restructured and rationalized." Some services to government departments will no longer be provided or will be provided differ- ently. There will be more use of technology to "streamline docu- ment production in litigation" and more use of paralegals. The cuts in areas such as research and the decision to over- haul aboriginal law services are very much in keeping with an even bigger shift that has been going on within the four walls of 284 Wellington St. — a change that goes far beyond numbers and spreadsheets. Those changes go back to the first moment Stephen Harper's first justice minister, Vic Toews, walked through the door in February 2006. Understanding those early days is key. Senior insiders on both the Conservative and public service side, who spoke with Canadian Lawyer on the condition they Life has been 'interesting' for the thousands of lawyers and other staff at Canada's Department of Justice since the Conservatives took power. By Elizabeth Thompson a oleG PoRtNoy

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