The appellants challenged amendments to Bill 160 that removed principals and vice-principals from teacher bargaining units, excluded them from the provincial labour relations regime, and ended their statutory membership in teachers' organizations.
They argued the amendments were a reprisal for participation in a province-wide protest against education reform legislation and therefore infringed freedom of expression and freedom of association under ss. 2(b) and 2(d) of the Charter.
The court held that the appellants failed to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the legislative purpose was punitive rather than corrective, and further held that exclusion from a statutory collective bargaining scheme and removal of mandatory statutory union membership did not violate s. 2(d).
The appeal was dismissed with costs.
