Quebec Superior Court decision stirs mixed feelings for Le Droit staff

Monday was bittersweet for the staff of Le Droit, a French-language newspaper serving the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

A decision earlier this week from the Quebec Superior Court authorizes the transformation of the daily and five other French-language newspapers into employee cooperatives.

But while the plan saves more than 350 news jobs, it also reduces staff and retirees' pensions by 30 per cent.

"First off, we were relieved and happy that we were able to continue to publish the newspaper and keep our jobs," said Éric Brousseau, the general manager at Le Droit. "But at the same time … there's a cut to the pension."

Retirees unable to sue new entity

As part of Justice Daniel Dumais's ruling, retirees will also be unable to sue the new employee-owned entity.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, Estelle Tremblay, a lawyer defending the retirees, says the group is considering filing an appeal.

The future of the local paper was uncertain after the newspaper chain Groupe Capitale Médias — which owns Le Droit — filed for bankruptcy protection in August. Quebec's government gave the media chain $5 million at the time to help keep it afloat.

Now that the transformation has been approved, it should help Le Droit avoid major staffing cuts, Brousseau told All In A Day Tuesday.

"Down the road there will be changes to what will be done, but in terms of numbers of jobs, we should not cut any," he said.

The newspapers will also undergo restructuring, with employees no longer having a head office in Quebec City to report to.

The only alternative to the employee-owned model was allowing Le Droit be sold to a much larger company, Brousseau said. The general manager believes such a move would have meant significant job losses.

"This is not what we wanted," he said.

Move to Gatineau possible

To take advantage of tax credits created by the Quebec government, Le Droit is considering leaving Ottawa's ByWard Market and relocating to Gatineau.

The city of Gatineau has also pledged to support Le Droit by buying $150,000 in ads.

"That does not mean we will leave Ottawa," Brousseau said. "We will not leave Ottawa for good. We will still have something in Ottawa."

Over the next few months, Le Droit still needs to finalize its financial partners in Gatineau and Ottawa, Brousseau said.

He said it also needs to reorganize its decision-making process now that it's a cooperative, and work out its partnership with the other five newspapers.