The Minister of Labour referred a question to the Ontario Labour Relations Board regarding his authority to appoint a single arbitrator under section 45 of the Labour Relations Act.
The employer argued the union's request was untimely and therefore the Minister lacked authority to appoint.
The Board held that under section 45(4), the Minister has a mandatory obligation to appoint an arbitrator upon receiving a request, and that the appointed arbitrator has exclusive jurisdiction to determine any questions regarding the timeliness of the request.
