Judicial costs: experts call for reform of administrative justice

Experts in labor relations are asking for a reform of administrative justice in Quebec, faced with the imposing costs and the deadlines that accumulate in many files before the Administrative Labor Tribunal (TAT).

Radio-Canada revealed Thursday that costs have reached nearly $ 1.1 million until now in legal proceedings and administrative surveys in the dismissal of two executives in Saguenay.

The former managing director of the Saguenay transport company, Jean-Luc Roberge, and the former Greffière de Saguenay, Caroline Dion, both dispute their dismissal before the TAT. They try to demonstrate that their dismissal is rather a political dismissal.

The two files stretch due to various legal proceedings and unforeseen events which slowed down the course of two causes. Jean-Luc Roberge was dismissed over three years ago, while Caroline Dion was dismissed over two years ago.

Cheaper and shorter elsewhere

These two cases are not unique, find experts consulted by Radio-Canada.

It’s too long, too expensive, that’s clear, and there are many places in the world as developed as us or it’s less long, cheaperlaunches the full professor in industrial relations Jean-Claude Bernatchez, of the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières (UQTR).

He believes that the administrative courts should be reformed, in order to avoid such situations, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in public silver and which stretch over several years.

In my opinion, it seems imperative. We should be inspired by France, among others. It seems to me that the invoices are too strong, it is obvious. The deadlines are too long. Objections are too frequent, so that we could at least change the method.

In France, the same kind of cause costs the courts halfway, he gives as an example. To accelerate the process, the presentation of proof of the two parties is based on documentary evidence subject to judges, who do not hear witnesses.

Media cases like those of Jean-Luc Roberge and Caroline Dion are not the only ones in the province in recent years.

In Laval, a former deputy director general dismissed in 2023 won the case before the Administrative Labor Court last February. The elected officials then decided to pay him $ 245,000 in the spring. The file is always studied by the court, which must decide on the compensation to be paid to the old framework.

In Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, a former chief of staff also turned to the same body to challenge his dismissal. He won the case in July 2024, while his dismissal dates back to 2018. In this case also, the court must look at the compensation which will be paid to him.

Procedures that must be reduced

The Professor in Retirement Relations Daniel Gagnon, formerly of the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi, also believes that the ways of doing things must be reviewed, since a specialized court as the Administrative Labor Court was originally to allow faster processing of files.

Normally, the court is more specialized and normally the course of the debate is done much more expeditiously than in the context of a common law court, he points out. Except that what we now notice is that there is a lot of appeals which are filed before the administrative court of labor.

Procedures would benefit from being reduced, he said.

A reform would be, I think, highly possible. Where the rub, a little is the whole aspect of procedural as part of these appeals. Normally, before an administrative court, one should be much less procedural.

In a different cause, the file of the Director General of the Rives-du-Saguenay School Service Center, Chantal Cyr, dismissed in 2018, had, for example, asked for 26 days of hearing before the Administrative Labor Court and 10 days of mediation.

The employer then testified 23 people and submitted 9 sworn declarations, in addition to submitting nearly 250 evidence, can be read in the judgment rendered. Chantale Cyr was reintegrated into his functions after her dismissal was deemed illegal in 2019. It was also recognized that she had undergone psychological harassment.

A question of resources

The availability of resources devoted to files across Quebec can also have an impact, raises Gilles Dulude, professor in labor relations at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

In Saguenay, the files come back periodically, being often spaced a few months between the new audience dates, depending on the availability of judges, lawyers and stakeholders called to testify.

There is a question of efficiency to look at that side of the court. In Saguenay, you are not the only region, I still had files and I have files in other regions of Quebeche underlines.

In the causes of Jean-Luc Roberge and Caroline Dion, the political dimension of the two files can also affect their progress and the strategies deployed, he believes.

A lack of preparation of municipalities

The titular professor in labor relations Diane Gagné, from the University of Quebec to Trois-Rivières, notes that the lack of preparation of the files by the municipalities often has an impact on the length of the procedures in the case of dismissals of executives.

Once in court, cities must present detailed evidence and many witnesses to assert their decision.

It is that we see that there is clearly a lack, often, of preparation from the elected municipal officials who are vivid on the trigger on the dismissal. It makes it bring all kinds of cost periodsnotes Diane Gagné.

She believes that a reform of the ways of doing things at the Administrative Labor Court should be a priority for the Ministry of Labor, to which he is attached.

Instead of tackling the workers’ right to strike, it [le ministre du Travail, Jean Boulet] should attack this administrative slowness, that is certainshe says, referring to bill 89 adopted by Quebecqui limits the right to strike.

There are many more issues at the level of these files, at the Administrative Labor Court than there were problems with the right to strikeshe adds.