Case information

None.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Administrative law – Boards and Tribunals – Jurisdiction – Labour law – Arbitrators – Labour Relations – Collective agreements – Judicial Review – Sufficiency of reasons – Whether labour arbitrator has jurisdiction to determine if employer and newly certified union are bound by existing collective agreement negotiated by third parties – Whether such jurisdiction can be conferred implicitly or by inference drawn from statute – Whether administrative tribunal may adjudicate upon issues without a statutory provision or a binding contract conferring jurisdiction – Relevance of governing statute explicitly providing jurisdiction to a specialized labour relations tribunal – Relevance of one party disputing binding effect of a collective agreement relied upon by the other party – Extent to which a reviewing court is required to give substantive reasons in support of a determination on judicial review – Whether arbitration proceedings provided for in Canadian labour relations legislation are consensual in nature or statutory?

The applicant provides accommodation and catering services in a camp in Labrador to contractor personnel and trades persons engaged in the construction of iron ore mining and milling facilities for Tata Steel Inc. Effective December 18, 2013, it became a unionized employer pursuant to a certification order. The respondent took the position that the applicant is bound by a collective agreement negotiated by the Construction Labour Relations Association, a body recognized under the Labour Relations Act, RSNL 1990, c. L-1, as the bargaining representative for all employers certified by the Labour Relations Board in the commercial and institutional sector of the construction industry in the province. The applicant did not agree that it was bound to that collective agreement. The matter proceeded to arbitration. An arbitrator concluded that the applicant is bound to the collective agreement. The applicant applied for judicial review.