Graham v. United Church of Canada et al., (2002) 226 Sask.R. 40 (QB)

• Judge: Foley, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: November 15, 2002
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: (2002), 226 Sask.R. 40 (QB);2002 SKQB 456

Graham v. United Church (2002), 226 Sask.R. 40 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2002] Sask.R. TBEd. NO.020

Heather Graham (applicant) v. The United Church of Canada, Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church of Canada and River Bend Presbytery of the United Church of Canada (respondents)

(2002 Q.B.G. No. 1557; 2002 SKQB 456)

Indexed As: Graham v. United Church of Canada et al.

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Saskatoon

Foley, J.

November 15, 2002.

Summary:

The Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church directed a formal hearing into Graham's conduct as a minister. Graham applied for judicial review. She sought to quash the order directing a formal hearing, a mandatory order directing the Conference to transfer her Presbytery membership and an order prohibiting the Conference from taking any further action against her.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench dismissed the application.

Editor's Note: for another proceeding involving these parties see 218 Sask.R. 177 (Q.B.).

Churches - Topic 1082

Internal government - Clergy - Dismissal or suspension - Procedure - River Bend Presbytery (Presbytery) suspended Graham from functioning as a minister under the "care and oversight" provisions in s. 363 of the bylaws under the Manual of the United Church of Canada - Graham's judicial review application to quash that decision was successful - At Presbytery's request, the Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church of Canada, which oversaw presbyteries within its geographic areas, ordered a formal hearing into the circumstances which led to Graham's suspension - Graham argued that the Conference did not have jurisdiction to now initiate a disciplinary process where the steps taken by Presbytery under the "care and oversight" provisions in s. 363 had been successfully challenged - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench held that the Conference had jurisdiction to order a formal hearing - The election of one process ("care and oversight" provisions) did not bar resort to the disciplinary process - The judicial review decision did not bar future action against Graham - See paragraphs 6 to 13 and 17 to 20.

Churches - Topic 1082

Internal government - Clergy - Dismissal or suspension - Procedure - River Bend Presbytery (Presbytery) suspended Graham from functioning as a minister under the Bylaws of the Manual of the United Church of Canada (1998 Bylaws) - Graham's judicial review application to quash that decision was successful - At Presbytery's request, the Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church of Canada, ordered a formal hearing into the circumstances which led to Graham's suspension - Graham argued that she should not be affected by changes to the Bylaws in 2001 - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench stated that it did not agree that Presbytery's rights and powers were fixed and crystallized at that earlier point in time - Whether a minister was functioning effectively was an ongoing issue and involved a dynamic process that could be dealt with in accordance with whatever Bylaws were then currently in force - This was the case even if the 2001 By-laws gave the Presbytery and Conference more powers than existed in 1998 - See paragraphs 15 and 16.

Cases Noticed:

McCaw v. United Church of Canada (1991), 49 O.A.C. 389; 82 D.L.R.(4th) 289 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 4].

Gordge-Citron v. Hamilton Conference of the United Church of Canada, [2001] O.J. No. 1159 (Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 9].

Davis v. United Church of Canada (1992), 92 D.L.R.(4th) 678 (Ont. Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 18].

Cameron v. Law Society of British Columbia (1991), 3 B.C.A.C. 35; 7 W.A.C. 35; 81 D.L.R.(4th) 484 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 18].

Hammond v. Association of British Columbia Professional Foresters (1991), 47 Admin. L.R. 20 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 18].

Tanaka v. Certified General Accountants' Association (N.W.T.) (1996), 38 Admin. L.R.(2d) 99 (N.W.T.S.C.), refd to. [para. 18].

Frogley v. Ottawa Presbytery of the United Church of Canada (1995), 16 C.C.E.L.(2d) 249 (Ont. Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 18].

Bailey et al. v. Saskatchewan Registered Nurses' Association (1996), 145 Sask.R. 133 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 19].

Weldwood of Canada Ltd. v. Workers' Compensation Board (B.C.) et al., [1998] B.C.T.C. Uned. F03; 56 B.C.L.R.(3d) 297 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 23].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Jones, David P., and de Villars, Anne S., Principles of Administrative Law (3rd Ed. 1999), p. 558 [para. 20].

Mullan, David J., Administrative Law (3rd Ed. 1996), p. 457 [para. 20].

Counsel:

Cheryl A. Cuelenaere, for the applicant;

F. William Johnson, Q.C., for the respondents, The United Church of Canada and Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church of Canada;

Craig D. Neely, for the respondent, River Bend Presbytery of the United Church of Canada.

This application was heard before Foley, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Saskatoon, who delivered the following judgment on November 15, 2002.