Request to reconsider evidentiary ruling dismissed; Board may admit relevant opinion evidence without expert qualification.
During a hearing to determine whether bridge construction work fell within the industrial, commercial, and institutional sector, the Foundation Company of Canada requested that the Board require the Carpenters' union to qualify its witness as an expert before she could give opinion evidence.
The Board ruled it was unnecessary to do so.
The Foundation Company, supported by other parties, applied for reconsideration of this ruling, arguing the Board erred in law by confusing relevancy with admissibility and failing to exclude unqualified opinion evidence.
The Board dismissed the request for reconsideration, holding that under section 103(2)(c) of the Labour Relations Act, it has the statutory power to admit relevant evidence, including hearsay and opinion evidence, whether or not it is admissible in a court of law.
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 27 v. Dufferin Construction Company, 1991 CanLII 6112
