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REGIONAL WRAP-UP More Money, greater transparency, less tolerance for sMokers on several occasions, the Department of Justice has released a public disclosure policy. It's designed to enhance transpar- ency about "major incidents" involving people in custody. A major incident includes lockdown of a correctional facility, escape from custody or wrong- ful release, and death in custody. How will the 10-page policy improve the current landscape? According to Justice Minister Ross Landry, by out- lining what information will be pub- licly released after just such an incident occurs within the justice system. The policy, which will be reviewed after six months, will also place Nova Scotia in the forefront of this area, according to Landry. "We've looked at what other jurisdictions are doing, and I can assure you that Nova Scotia will have one of the most open and transparent policies for disclosure of information," he says. Justice lawyers may find themselves with more work on their plate as a result. The policy identifies who is responsible for releasing information. Legal services solicitors will be required to provide advice on such issues as court-ordered publication bans and restrictions on the release of information under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Newfoundland and Labrador is fol- lowing in the wake of other provinces and amending its Smoke-Free Environment Act to ban smoking in cars when chil- dren under the age of 16 are present as well as prohibiting designated smoking rooms in workplaces. According to the government, the impetus for the new legislation, expected to be in effect this summer, is coming from parents and the public. Under the new law, drivers will be subject to fines ranging from $50 to $500 when light- ing up in their car with kids present. For organizations, designated smoking rooms will become a thing of the past. Employers who fail to butt out can be fined up to $5,000. — DONALEE MOULTON donalee@quantumcommunications.ca 8 M AY 2011 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com CENTRAL Quebec Crowns feel 'knifed' in the back R elations remain poisoned between the Quebec government and 1,500 prosecutors and government lawyers following the imposition of back-to-work legislation in February to end a two-week strike. Both the association representing about 470 provincial Crown prosecutors and one acting on behalf of an estimated 1,000 lawyers who work in govern- ment departments have initiated legal proceedings in the Quebec Superior Court and are filing protests with the International Labour Organization, the United Nations agency that oversees labour standards with signatory coun- tries like Canada. The court filings come on top of a separate set of legal challenges filed in 2006 that will only be heard in 2012. They follow a decision by the government to include prosecutors and government lawyers in a December 2005 decree impos- ing working conditions on 500,000 public sector workers until 2010 even though the lawyers were in the middle of a contract set to run out in 2007, and not in negotiations. In the meantime, morale has never been lower, not only in Montreal but across the province, and many Crown prosecutors are actively seeking out other job pros- pects, says Sonia LeBel, a 20-year veteran prosecutor in Montreal who is in weekly contact with different provincial Crown offices. "I have to believe that they don't realize the damage that they did," says LeBel. "They knifed us in the back. Our legs C ontinued fr om pa g e 7 Mathieu Belanger / reuters