The Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner's office issued the following news release yesterday, concerning the Alberta Court of Appeal's decision in United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v. Alberta (Attorney General), 2012 ABCA 130, which found the Alberta privacy sector privacy legislation, PIPA, to be unconstitutional:

Information and Privacy Commissioner Jill Clayton will apply to the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal the recent decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal in United
Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v. Alberta (Attorney General), 2012 ABCA 130.  read more »

United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v Alberta (Attorney General), 2012 ABCA 130

J.N. v. Durham Regional Police Service, 2011 ONSC 2892

Ontario (Attorney General) v. Fraser, 2011 SCC 20

Can employees over 65 be excluded from benefits?

This is a question that Lindsey Taylor, a lawyer at Fasken Martineau in Vancouver, set out to answer in her article, "Benefits for Older Employees - Can They be Excluded? (April 20, 2011), written for Fasken's HR Space publication.

The article addresses three arbitration awards:  read more »

Here's the content of what the BC Teachers' Federation posted on their website today concerning their Charter/legal challenge of Bills 27 and 28 which were enacted by the BC Liberal government in 2002.

The new legislation ended the BCTF's ability to collective bargain class size and composition; guarantees of service from teacher-librarians, counsellors, learning assistance and other specialist teachers;, the length of the school day, and hours of instruction in the school year:

Legal counsel for the BCTF began opening arguments before Madam Justice Griffin in BC Supreme Court on November 15, in what promises to be a significant case determining the rights of teachers and their unions. The BCTF is challenging Bills 27 and 28, imposed by the BC Liberal government in 2002, because teachers believe the legislation violated their right to freedom of association under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  read more »

Lorene A. Novakowski with the assistance of Kelly Duggleby, both of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in Vancouver, wrote a paper entitled, "Privacy Topics in Labour Relations" for the Labour Relations Conference - 2010 (Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia) (June 2010).

The paper addresses the following:

• Recent Privacy Cases of Interest in Labour Relations
  
  
  • Background Checks
  • GPS
  • Video Surveillance on the Picket Line
  • Access Request to Unions
• Access and Privacy Issues: The White Paper of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia A Guide for Tribunals
• Charter Values and Surveillance Should Doman Finally be Abandoned

R. v. Conway, 2010 SCC 22

Lawyer Kelly Harris at McLennan Ross in Alberta has written a brief  entitled "Labour Law Central to Constitutional Fight" (February 2010). It addresses the Supreme Court of Canada's decisions in:

1. Consolidated Fastfrate Inc. v. Western Canada Council of Teamsters, 2009 SCC 53; and
2. Health Services and Support - Facilities Subsector Bargaining Assn. v.British Columbia, 2007 SCC 27

In Grain Workers' Union, Local 333 v. B.C. Terminal Elevator Operations' Association, 2009 FCA 201, the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed a decision of the Canada Industrial Relations Board that the definition of "strike" in the Canada Labour Code does not infringe on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A summary of the case by law firm Roper Greyell can be found here.