Professor Robert Hebdon

The Crown appealed a Superior Court decision striking down the Toronto Transit Commission Labour Disputes Resolution Act, 2011, which eliminated TTC employees' right to strike and replaced it with binding interest arbitration.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the complete ban on strikes violates the employees' right to meaningful collective bargaining under s. 2(d) of the Charter.

The Court further found that the Crown failed to justify the infringement under s. 1, as it did not demonstrate that the complete ban was minimally impairing or that its salutary effects outweighed the deleterious effects on the workers' Charter rights.

The applicant union challenged the constitutionality of the Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act, back-to-work legislation enacted in response to rotating strikes and a nationwide lockout.

The Act mandated the resumption of mail delivery, extended the previous collective agreement, prohibited strike activity, and imposed a final offer selection arbitration process.

The court found that the Act violated the guarantee of freedom of association under s. 2(d) of the Charter by substantially interfering with a meaningful process of collective bargaining.

The court also found that the Act violated freedom of expression under s. 2(b) by prohibiting strike activity, which conveys meaning.

Neither violation was justified under s. 1 of the Charter.

The court declared the Act unconstitutional and of no force or effect retroactively.