Category Archives: Labour/Employment

The Statutory Exclusion of Farm Workers from the Alberta Labour Relations Code

By: Brynna Takasugi, Delna Contractor, and Paul Kennett

PDF Version: The Statutory Exclusion of Farm Workers from the Alberta Labour Relations Code

Legislation Commented On: Labour Relations Code, RSA 2000, c L-1

Editor’s Note

This is the second in the series of four posts written by students in Law 696: Constitutional Clinical in the winter term of 2014 (for the first post in this series see here). This post focuses on the exclusion of farm workers from Alberta’s Labour Relations Code, RSA 2000, c L-1, (LRC), and is being published to coincide with May Day and International Workers’ Day (May 1), as it concerns the inability of farm workers to unionize and collectively protect their interests. The following is a summary of the students’ primary arguments regarding the unconstitutionality of the LRC’s exclusion of farm workers.

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Alberta Farm and Ranch Workers: The Last Frontier of Workplace Protection

By: Kay Turner, Gianna Argento, and Heidi Rolfe

PDF Version: Alberta Farm and Ranch Workers: The Last Frontier of Workplace Protection

Legislation Commented On: Occupational Health and Safety Act, RSA 2000, c O-2

Editor’s Note

This is the first in a series of four posts written by students in Law 696: Constitutional Clinical in the winter term of 2014 (supervised by Professor Jennifer Koshan). The students worked with several clients and developed arguments for constitutional challenges to the exclusion of farm workers from labour and employment legislation in Alberta. April 28, 2014 is the 18th Annual International Day of Mourning for workers killed and injured on the job, and the Edmonton and District Labour Council is focusing on the plight of farm workers in their service today (6:00 pm at Grant Notley Park, 11603-100th Avenue). The Calgary & District Labour Council’s is also holding a service today for the Day of Mourning (12:15 pm at the City of Calgary Workers Memorial, Edward Place Park, at the SE corner of City Hall). Accordingly, we launch this series with a post on Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, which protects worker health and safety (but excludes most farm and ranch workers). Subsequent posts will deal with the exclusion of farm workers from the Employment Standards Code, RSA 2000, c E-9, the Labour Relations Code, RSA 200 c L-1, and the Workers’ Compensation Act, RSA 2000 c W-15.

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More Uncertainty on the Test for Discrimination under Human Rights Legislation

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: More Uncertainty on the Test for Discrimination under Human Rights Legislation

Case commented on: Bish v Elk Valley Coal Corporation, 2013 ABQB 756

I have written previous posts on ABlawg critiquing the influence of section 15 of the Charter in creating an overly onerous approach to the test for discrimination under human rights legislation in Alberta (see here and here). In late December, another human rights decision showing this influence was released in Bish v Elk Valley Coal Corporation. Unfortunately, Justice Peter Michalyshyn of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench gave short shrift to recent developments out of the Supreme Court of Canada on the appropriate test for discrimination. He also declined to follow the Supreme Court’s recent pronouncements on the appropriate standard of review in this context. The Bish case is now under appeal, and one has to hope that the Alberta Court of Appeal will provide some consistency with recent Supreme Court decisions in its appeal decision.

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Psychological Stress and Workers’ Compensation in Alberta

PDF Version: Psychological Stress and Workers’ Compensation in Alberta

Cases commented on: Martin v Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board), 2012 ABCA 248, appeal heard December 10, 2013 (SCC); Ashraf v SNC Lavalin ATP Inc., 2013 ABQB 688

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of Canada heard argument in an Alberta case involving the interplay between federal and provincial legislation providing for the compensation of workers injured in workplace activities. Workers’ Compensation Commissions from British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia intervened in the case. The Court, which reserved judgment after its hearing, offers the following description of the case on its website:

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Supreme Court of Canada Expresses Its Opinion on Alberta Privacy Case

PDF Version: Supreme Court of Canada Expresses Its Opinion on Alberta Privacy Case

Case commented on: Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner v United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401, 2013 SCC 62 (“AIPC v UFCW”)

This case out of Alberta has been the subject of other ABlawg posts (see here and here), and now the Supreme Court of Canada has made its views known on the constitutionality of Alberta’s privacy legislation. Clearly, the issues that were addressed were of interest across Canada as there were several interveners in the case, including the Attorneys General of Canada and Ontario, the Privacy Commissioners of Canada, Ontario and British Columbia, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and labour and business groups.

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