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especially in the Quebec Court of Appeal. Pageau says even though women make up about 48 per cent of the Barreau du Québec's membership, only 16 per cent of the Quebec Court of Appeal's judges are women (that's four in real numbers, including the new chief justice). The percentage is higher for Quebec Superior Court — more than 30 per cent (some 60 judges out of a total of 180), but Pageau points to an uninterrupted string of male appointments to the court until Decem- ber, when Carole Therrien was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court in Montreal. "Questions are being asked and must be asked," says Pageau. "We can't believe that there are zero women with great qualities and legal competency of the same, if not higher, level than some of male candidates at the [federal] justice minister's office. The list of candidates is confidential, but we do have knowledge that there are women of very high calibre who have applied." Nonetheless, Pageau says Duval Hesler serves as a role model, as does Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. The Montreal bar's women in the profes- sion committee also regularly invites judges to participate in speed-dating type sessions it organizes several times a year for second-year law students in Montreal. One recent session in November at the law faculty of the Univer- sité de Montréal featured Sévigny and Quebec Superior Court Justice Carol Cohen. Says Pageau, who after working at big law firms six years ago founded Delegatus Legal Services Inc. for lawyers seeking more work- life balance: "We are not living in the time of the suffragettes where you have to go out and petition" — the Barreau du Québec in 2011 marked 70 years of the enacting of legisla- tion enabling women to join the professional order, one year after women obtained the right to vote in Quebec — "but there is work that must be done, to help women promote themselves and to push more women — as in the case of judges — to put forward their candidacies for judgeships and management jobs. For that they need to have more exam- ples, models, and the tools to do it." — KATHRYN LEGER kathryn.leger@videotron.ca COURT RULES SALARY CAPS FOR CROWNS UNCONSTITUTIONAL he federal government found itself losing the battle in a Novermber court decision that found salary caps for federal Crowns to be unconstitutional. At the heart of the matter are wage caps on federal lawyers and prosecu- tors from 2006 and beyond that the government imposed through the Expenditure Restraint Act. The Association of Justice Counsel that represents federal Crowns and had been seek- ing a first contract for its members argued the caps are unconstitutional and violate collec- tive bargaining rights under s. 2(d) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ontario Superior Court Justice Duncan Grace agreed: "The statute substantially limits, both in purpose and effect, the freedom of association guaranteed by the Charter. In so doing, the ERA infringes section 2(d)." In his ruling, Grace rejected government justifications for the wage restraint related to the recent recession and financial crisis. "I am prepared to accept that a temporary sus- pension of collective bargaining to facilitate a multi-faceted economic response to a crisis affecting the financial well-being of the public was once again warranted. . . . I am of the view the ERA goes too far by including the 2006-2007 fiscal year," he wrote. He went on to say that "troubled times" should not be used to "discard constitutionally protected rights and freedoms" like collective bargaining. The ruling has left federal Crowns "extensively pleased," said association president Marco Mendicino. The association has since made a request for arbitration in order to continue bargaining for wage increases with the Treasury Board. "We think the ruling affirms that the ERA interfered significantly with our ability to reach a first-ever collec- tive agreement," said Mendicino. The ruling continues the association's long-standing battle for better wages for T federal Crowns. "For about the last 20 years, federal lawyers and prosecutors have seen zero growth," said Mendicino. "But our comparatives have continued to make good gains. This led us to address how far we'd fallen behind with the Treasury Board, but we couldn't get an offer from them for the better part of two years. And then in 2008, the whole issue was made moot. We had no choice but to advance our constitutional challenge at that point." In December 2008, the Treasury Board approved changes that eliminated and reduced several parts of a compensation package for a number of bargaining agents, including the association. Three months later, the act took effect with a provision that allowed the Trea- sury Board to set out increases in federal employee pay, which meant federal employees would get an increase of 2.5 per cent in the 2006-07 fiscal year; 2.3 per cent in 2007-08; and 1.5 per cent in the three subsequent years. Those actions, according to Mendicino, prevented the association from establishing an initial collective bargaining agreement. The new court ruling is timely given bill C-10 and its provisions to crack down on crime, he noted. In his view, the legislation will show how hard federal Crowns work. "We are already working at full tilt, so the fact that prosecutors are seeing more charges than ever and the new crime bill is only going to add more is important." In the meantime, the Superior Court ruling upholds collective bargaining while at the same time recognizing its limits, said Barbara Nicholls of Low Murchison Radnoff LLP in Ottawa. "I think it's a well-reasoned decision recognizing that collective bargaining can be protected by s. 2 of the Charter." Mendicino noted an appeal of the ruling would postpone a final resolution of the Crowns' contract dispute. – KENDYL SEBESTA kendyl.sebesta@thomsonreuters.com www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com JAN UARY 2012 11