Canadian Lawyer

8 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 8 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m T o hear Christian Leblanc tell it, size matters when it comes to access to justice for many Indigenous people in Quebec. Since being called to the bar in 1993, Leblanc has spent his entire legal career in Quebec's near and far north, a vast but sparsely populated region that is three times the size of France or Texas. A former defence attorney who became a Crown prosecutor 20 years ago — living the first two years in the Inuit village of Kuujjuaq, the first Crown attorney to do so — he has travelled to every Cree and Inuit community in Quebec with the Itinerant Court and been involved in hundreds of criminal cases, from minor infrac- tions to serious crimes. Leblanc says he learned firsthand the unique challenges of delivering justice to people in the region, many of whom live in remote communities where the ways of life and notions of justice and fairness are different and legal resources and facilities are limited or non-existent. Chronic problems include shortages of qualified interpreters and Indigenous court and paralegal workers, as well as a lack of detention facilities and correction- al facilities, which often results in accused people having to be shuttled back and forth by plane to facilities in southern cit- ies that are hundreds of kilometres away from their homes and families. "Problems differ from one place to another, but they all have them," says Leblanc. "As a lawyer, you have to be open-minded and realistic. You also need to adapt to the circumstances and realize it is not the same as down south." As chief council of the Viens Commission, a public inquiry into the mistreatment of Indigenous people in Quebec, Leblanc is now working to pinpoint problems and examine ways to improve Indigenous access to not only justice but to public services such as health care, social services and youth protection. Headed by retired Quebec Superior Court Justice Jacques Viens, who retired in 2014 after 30 years on the bench — 25 of them in the judicial district of his native Abitibi region, which includes the territory of Nunavik — the commission was struck in late 2016 by the Quebec Liberal government. The commission began holding public hearings last year in the gold mining town of Val-d'Or, 500 kilometres northwest of Montreal. It heard from more than 150 witnesses in 2017, including Indigenous community leaders, local service providers and users. Those sometimes-emotional testimonies led Viens to propose immediate actions that the Quebec government is now consider- ing. They include a moratorium on the imprisonment of Indig- enous people for non-payment of fines and increased support systems for Indigenous youth who are involved with the justice system. The hearings have continued in 2018 — and continue to make news. In January, when the Quebec government extended the commission's deadline to submit a final report by 10 months to September 2019, retired Crown prosecutor Pierre Rousseau testified that the province's justice system had "failed in its rela- tions with Indigenous people." In April, the Barreau du Québec presented a brief that con- tained 36 recommendations to improve access to justice for Indigenous people. Developed by a working group and three committees, the recommendations include a call for the develop- ment of a videoconference service for hearings and an increase in the numbers of trained interpreters. "An awakening is needed," says Barreau du Québec president Paul-Matthieu Grondin. — MARK CARDWELL \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ N O RT H \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP Quebec lawyers push for improved Indigenous justice Christian Leblanc C E N T R A L Right-sized Thinking® • 1-800-323-3781 • pallettvalo.com Your Authority For: Business Law • Commercial Litigation • Commercial Real Estate Construction • Insolvency & Corporate Restructuring Employment & Labour • Wills, Estates & Trusts One Size Does Not Fit All Some legal matters require bigger solutions than others. At Pallett Valo LLP we provide pragmatic, forward-thinking legal counsel that fits each client's specific business challenge without compromising service or quality. Try on our Right-sized Thinking® and we'll help you hit the ground running. alletValo_CL_June_18.indd 1 2018-05-25 11:23 AM

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