Ford’s government plans to appeal an Ontario court decision that struck down a law that limited pay increases for public sector workers, better known as Bill 124.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Doug Downey told CBC News the province is reviewing the decision and intends to appeal.
A decision published on Tuesday by the High Court of Justice said the Act to protect a sustainable public sector for future generations violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. You can find the full decision at the end of this story.
The act, according to the ruling, “is not a reasonable limit to a right that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society under Article 1 of the charter.”
Groups representing several hundred thousand public sector employees challenged the constitutionality of 2019 legislation that capped wage increases for Ontario Public Service employees, as well as workers in the broader public sector, at 1% per year .
Judge Markus Koehnen said the law infringes on the applicants’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, in a way he called “substantial interference”.
As part of the decision, Koehnen said Ontario has failed to explain why it was necessary to infringe on constitutional rights to impose wage restraints while providing tax cuts or license plate sticker refunds more than 10 times the savings of the salary containment measure
Koehnen added that he is “aware” of an appeals court ruling that “judges should not be seen as finance ministers”.
Still, he said he was bound by Supreme Court of Canada decisions guaranteeing a constitutional right to collective bargaining.
‘Useless and ineffective’
As a result, the act “shall be null and void,” Koehnen said.
The province argued that the law did not infringe on constitutional rights.
Unions representing government workers, teachers, nurses and university professors argued that the law had eliminated meaningful collective bargaining, thereby violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The bill’s provisions would be in place for three years as new contracts are negotiated, and conservatives had said it was a time-bound approach to help eliminate the deficit.
The case was heard for two weeks in September.
The court heard that the law affected more than 700,000 workers in the province. It did not apply to municipalities, First Nations and Indigenous communities and for-profit companies.
Public sector unions declare ‘victory’
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), one of the applicants in the case, tweeted that it was pleased with the decision.
“This ruling validates workers’ rights to free and fair bargaining,” the OSSTF tweeted. The Ontario Federation of Elementary Teachers also tweeted in support of the decision.
The Ontario Federation of Labor tweeted a graphic reading: “Victory.”
The Ontario Nurses Association tweeted in reaction to the news: “Nurses are calling on the government to respect the court’s decision.”
BREAKING: Ontario Superior Court of Justice strikes down Bill 124 pic.twitter.com/r6VdRdzORC
—@OFLabour
In a statement after the decision, Green Party leader Mike Schreiner called on the Ford government to “waste no more taxpayer money” on the legislation and to pledge not to appeal the decision.
“It’s time to consign Bill 124 to the dustbin of history and start investing in the people who take care of us every day,” Schreiner said.
Health workers have long called for Bill 124 to be repealed. They have also said it has contributed to the health care crisis in Ontario, which has recently seen nurses and personal support workers leave the profession in droves.
The province had argued that it was under severe financial strain when it implemented the new law.
But the judge disagreed.
“On my view of the evidence, Ontario was not facing a situation in 2019 that warranted an infringement of charter rights,” Koehnen said.
“Also, unlike other cases that have upheld wage restraint legislation, Bill 124 sets the wage cap at a rate lower than what employees were getting in free collective bargaining.”