Michelle Dobranowski

The Ministry applied for judicial review of a Grievance Settlement Board decision finding that the Ministry breached the collective agreement by failing to create and fill a single Probation Officer 3 (PO3) position.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, holding that the Board's interpretation of the collective agreement was reasonable and entitled to deference, as a literal interpretation would have led to an unrealistic result with no sensible purpose.

The applicant sought judicial review of two Ontario Labour Relations Board decisions declaring that the applicant was bound by a national collective agreement across all its operations, not just its Toronto district office.

The applicant argued the Board erred in its application of the common law of agency regarding ostensible authority and in its factual finding regarding the scope of the company name on the agreement.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding that the Board's decision, which involved interpreting a collective agreement in a labour relations context, was subject to a patently unreasonable standard of review and met that standard.