Introduction

• Author: Timothy Hadwen - David Strang - Leonard Marvy - Don Eady
• Profession: Director, Legal Services Branch, Ontario Ministry of Labour - Associate Director, Management Board Secretariat - Solicitor, Ontario Labour Relations Board - Partner, Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP
• Pages: 1-7

Introduion

Governments choose the legislation and policies that regulate the relationship

between the government as employer and its own employees. Governments can

choose to treat their employees the same way as private sector employees are

treated, by allowing the employment relationship between the government and

its employees to be subject to generally appl icable labour and employment laws.

Alternat ively, governments can a ssert their “sovere ignty” by choosi ng to exempt

themselves from labour and employment laws. Additionally, governments can

tailor legislation to create a unique employment relationship. e last route has

been chosen by the province of Ontario. e province has enacted two statutes,

the Public Service Act (PSA), and the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act

(CECBA), and modied other acts, to produce a unique employment and labou r

relations regime. e goal was a provincial government workforce that better

serves the people of Ontar io. Specically, it was thought important to have leg-

islative limits on the shor t-term wishes of al l directly concerned — the politica l

party in power, the managers responsible for government administration, and

government employees . Instead of having t he rights of a private se ctor employer,

the government of the day is held to special st andards. Similarly, instead of hav-

ing the same entitlements as pr ivate sector employees, government workers have

been given some added responsibilities .

e core justication for these pa rticular stat utory requirements is the main-

tenance of the public serv ice and “essential” public ser vices. e public service is

one of the bulwarks of Ontario soc iety, and an indispensa ble part of democratic

government. Political par ties in power, and public service managers, should not

At the federal leve l, then-Prime Minist er Lester Pearson said of publ ic service labour

legislation t hat it must “take care to preser ve the capacity of the publ ic service to func-

tion eciently i n serving the people of C anada”: House of Commons Debates, (Apri l ,

), Vol. IV at .

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