Shawn W. McLeod

The appellant challenged an appellate ruling that had quashed a labour board decision and remitted labour code complaints for reconsideration.

The Court held the board had considered the relevant statutory provisions and factual record, and its interpretation was reasonable and entitled to deference on judicial review.

It reaffirmed that administrative decision-makers need not expressly address every possible interpretive nuance raised by parties.

Viewed as a whole and in light of the record, the board's reasons met the reasonableness standard.

The appeal was allowed, the appellate judgment was set aside, and the trial-level judgment was restored with costs.

The appellant, a freight forwarding company with branches across Canada, consolidates and deconsolidates freight but contracts with third-party carriers for interprovincial transport.

A union applied to the Alberta Labour Relations Board for a declaration that the company's labour relations were subject to federal jurisdiction.

The Board and the Court of Appeal held the company was a federal undertaking.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, holding that because the company does not itself perform interprovincial carriage of goods, it remains a local undertaking subject to provincial jurisdiction under s. 92(13) of the Constitution Act, 1867.