Northern Exposure

Time to Bring Out the Sled Dogs!

by Stephen Acker and Leanne Fioravanti

More exotic modes of transport may need to be explored as Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, struggles with relentless snow storms and a highly controversial bus strike. Unfortunately there is no end in sight as the OC Transpo transit strike enters its second month in mid-January. This transit strike demonstrates:

  1. the distinction between provincially and federally regulated industries in Canada; and
  2. that union militancy is alive and well in certain parts of the frozen north.

The strike reveals some unusual aspects of the Canadian Constitution. Canada’s Constitution divides powers between the provinces and the federal government. Banks, the airlines, shipping, the military, the postal service, and other similar industries are regulated by the federal government.

Most other industries, including municipal buses, are regulated by provincial law. The Vancouver bus system is governed by the British Columbia Labour Relations Code, the Calgary transit system is governed by the Alberta Labour Relations Code, the Toronto Transit Commission is governed by the Ontario Labour Relations Act, and so forth.

But not so for Ottawa’s OC Transpo.

Since OC Transpo offers regular passenger service on a few routes from Ontario across the river and into Quebec, it is considered an interprovincial undertaking. It is therefore federally regulated and governed by the federal Canada Labour Code. This is the same for employment standards — it is governed by the Canada Labour Code rather than the Ontario Employment Standards Act. If you are not sure under which legislation your business falls, be sure to find out before looking at which labor and employment standards laws apply.

Another aspect of the Canadian labor landscape that this strike illustrates is how militant unions in Canada can be. While unions may be less important than in previous decades, they are still much more prevalent and more militant than in the United States.  Collective bargaining is a fact of life in many important areas of our economy, particularly the public sector. And given the complexity of our Constitution and our various labor relations regimes, management/union relations can be fraught with tricky legal issues.

So where does all this leave commuters in the nation’s capital? Still finding alternate modes of transportation. While a mediator was appointed, no agreement was reached.  The strike has continued to drag on. The Minister of Labour ordered a vote on the city’s latest contract offer — but that was unsuccessful too. The offer was rudely rejected by the union.

The city’s next hope is that OC Transpo be declared an “essential service” and restored on an emergency basis. It appears that many may agree, as the Canada Industrial Relations Board prepares to deal with more than 2,000 submissions on this issue.

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