Richard C. Speight

The appellant employee allegedly drove the employer's leased vehicle with a flat tire, causing damage.

The employer brought a civil action for negligence to recover repair costs.

The appellant moved to strike the claim, arguing the dispute arose out of the collective agreement and was subject to exclusive arbitration under the Public Service Labour Relations Act.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, applying the concurrent decision in Weber v. Ontario Hydro.

The Court held that the essential character of the dispute concerned the preservation of employer property, which inferentially fell under the collective agreement, thereby depriving the courts of jurisdiction.

The appellants, members of the New Brunswick Highway Patrol, were laid off when the province decided to disband the patrol and contract its duties out to the RCMP.

The appellants sued the province for wrongful dismissal, claiming that the contracting out did not constitute a 'discontinuance of a function' under the Civil Service Act, and therefore they were entitled to reasonable notice rather than the 30 days provided by regulation.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that the disbandment of the patrol and the contracting out of its duties to the RCMP was a bona fide management decision that eliminated the appellants' office, thereby constituting a discontinuance of a function.

The Court further held that the 30-day notice period prescribed by regulation displaced the common law right to reasonable notice.

The appellants claimed a sales tax exemption under s. 11(o) of the Social Services and Education Tax Act for machinery and apparatus used in their oil refinery expansion.

The Minister had never issued a definition of the exempt machinery and apparatus as contemplated by the Act.

The Court of Appeal held that no exemption could be granted without a ministerial definition.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, holding that in the absence of a ministerial definition, the exemption applies to all machinery and apparatus coming within the class specified in the Act, as the class is sufficiently described to be ascertainable.