Case information

Charter of rights — Freedom of association — Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association application to be certified as bargaining agent for all Crown Prosecutors in Alberta dismissed — Application seeking declaration Public Service Employee Relations Act breached Crown Prosecutors right to freedom of association also dismissed — Whether Crown Prosecutors have an obligation to proactively avoid conflicts of interest and threats to their independence — Whether groups always have to attempt to exercise their freedom of association pursuant to an impugned statute before bringing Charter claim, regardless of how cumbersome, time-consuming, and potentially futile statutory process is — Public Service Employee Relations Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. P-43.

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The Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association (“ACAA”) applied to be certified as the bargaining agent for all Crown Prosecutors in Alberta. At the same time, the ACAA and six named Crown Prosecutors brought an application seeking a declaration that ss. 10, 13, 16(2) and 74 of the Public Service Employee Relations Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. P-43 (“PSERA”), breached their right to freedom of association as protected by s. 2(d) of the Charter. The PSERA designates the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (“AUPE”) as the sole bargaining agent for a province-wide bargaining unit consisting of all employees of the Government of Alberta.

The Board dismissed ACAA’s Charter application and its application to be certified as the bargaining agent for all Crown Prosecutors in Alberta. The application for judicial review was dismissed. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.