The provincial government signed a Pay Equity Agreement in 1988 to address systemic gender discrimination in the health care sector.
In 1991, facing a severe financial crisis, the government enacted the Public Sector Restraint Act, which deferred the pay equity adjustments and extinguished arrears.
The appellant union grieved the legislation.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that while the legislation infringed the equality rights of female hospital workers under s. 15(1) of the Charter, the infringement was justified under s. 1 due to the exceptional financial crisis.
The Court also rejected the Court of Appeal's suggestion to add an explicit separation of powers step to the Oakes test.
