On February 20, 2014, the National Assembly of Quebec unanimously approved An Act to establish the new Code of Civil Procedure. Bertrand St-Arnaud, Quebec's Minister of Justice, noted that these reforms move Quebec's civil justice into the 21st century. Among other things, the Act highlights non-litigious alternatives to dispute resolution. Of particular interest to me is that it acknowledges and accepts different approaches and objectives to the mediation process.  

This inclusive perspective on mediation was advocated in submissions by Quebec's Network for a Transformative Approach to Mediation to legislators on the draft Bill. Specifically, the Network called for removal of provisions requiring interest-based negotiations "and scaling back some aspects of the formal framework governing the practice of mediation which we found too restrictive and excluding."

Would that all jurisdictions in Canada were as enlightened as Quebec with respect to ADR and mediation!