Sept-Îles (Ville) v. Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, section locale 2589 et al., (2001) 272 N.R. 327 (SCC)

• Judge: McLachlin, C.J.C., L'Heureux-Dubé, Gonthier, Iacobucci, Major, Bastarache and Arbour, JJ.
• Court: Supreme Court (Canada)
• Case Date: July 13, 2001
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (2001), 272 N.R. 327 (SCC);2001 SCC 48;201 DLR (4th) 659;272 NR 327;AZ-50098591;[2001] 2 SCR 670

Sept-Îles v. CUPE (2001), 272 N.R. 327 (SCC)

MLB headnote and full text

[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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Temp. Cite: [2001] N.R. TBEd. JL.017

Ville de Sept-Îles (appelante) v. Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, section locale 2589 (intimé) et Tribunal du Travail (intimé) et 2862-3775 Québec Inc. (intimée) et Services sanitaires du St-Laurent Inc. (intimée)

(27291; 2001 SCC 48)

Indexed As: Sept-Îles (Ville) v. Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, section locale 2589 et al.

Supreme Court of Canada

McLachlin, C.J.C., L'Heureux-Dubé, Gonthier, Iacobucci, Major, Bastarache and Arbour, JJ.

July 13, 2001.

Summary:

The appellant city entrusted garbage collec­tion in certain districts to subcontractors. The union representing the city's salaried manual labourers filed motions under s. 45 of the Labour Code (Que.) to have the transfer of the certification and the collective agreement to the subcontractors recorded.

A labour commissioner, in a decision summarised at D.T.E. 94T-1246, granted the motions. The city and one subcontractor ap­pealed.

The Quebec Labour Court, in a decision reported [1995] T.T. 395, dismissed the appeal. The city and the subcontractor ap­plied for judicial review.

The Quebec Superior Court, in a decision summarised at D.T.E. 96T-747, allowed the application. The union appealed.

The Quebec Court of Appeal allowed the appeal. The city appealed.

The Supreme Court of Canada, Bastarache, J., dissenting, dismissed the appeal.

Labour Law - Topic 448

Labour relations boards and judicial review - Boards - Jurisdiction - Successor rights and obligations - A municipality entrusted garbage collection in certain districts to subcontractors - The municipal workers' union sought a ruling that s. 45 of the Labour Code (Que.) applied to bind the subcontractors to the certification and the collective agreement in the place and stead of the former employer - A labour com­missioner allowed the application, holding that while the municipality retained some control, the subcontractors were still au­tonomous respecting work methods and staff management - The Quebec Labour Court affirmed the decision - The commis­sioner and the Labour Court used the criterion of the subordination of the employees to the subcontractors to deter­mine the degree of legal autonomy the subcontractors had to operate the trans­ferred undertaking - The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the decision - The standard of review was patent unreasonableness - Developing criteria for assessing the degree of autonomy that the transferee had to be given in order to conclude that s. 45 applied was central to the specialized jurisdiction of the labour commissioner as it related to the transfer of the operation of an undertaking - See paragraphs 1 to 34.

Labour Law - Topic 576

Labour relations boards and judicial review - Judicial review - General - Standard of review - [See Labour Law - Topic 448 ].

Labour Law - Topic 604

Labour relations boards and judicial review - Judicial review - Jurisdiction - Provincial boards - Whether decision patently unrea­sonable - [See Labour Law - Topic 448 ].

Labour Law - Topic 4908

Unions - Successor rights and obligations -Sale, lease, transfer or disposition of busi­ness - [See Labour Law - Topic 448 ].

Cases Noticed:

Ivanhoe Inc. v. United Food and Commer­cial Workers, Local 500 (2001), 272 N.R. 201 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 1].

Bibeault - see Syndicat national des em­ployés de la Commission scolaire ré­gionale de l'Outaouais (CSN) v. Union des employés de service, local 298 (FTQ).

U.E.S., Local 298 v. Bibeault - see Union des employés de service.

Union des employés de service, local 298 v. Bibeault - see Syndicat national des employés de la Commission scolaire régionale de l'Outaouais (CSN) v. Union des employés de service, local 298 (FTQ).

Syndicat national des employés de la Com­mission scolaire régionale de l'Outaouais (CSN) v. Union des employés de service, local 298 (FTQ), [1988] 2 S.C.R. 1048; 95 N.R. 161; 24 Q.A.C. 244, consd. [paras. 1, 36].

Syndicat des cols bleus de Ville de Saint-Hubert v. Entreprises Gilles Tisseur Inc., D.T.E. 95T-318 (Que. Lab. Ct.), refd to. [para. 11].

St. Hubert (Ville) v. Prud'homme, J.E. 95-1642 (Que. Sup. Ct.), affd. [1999] R.J.D.T. 76 (Que. C.A.), refd to. [para. 12].

Maison L'Intégrale Inc. et al. v. Tribunal du travail et al., [1996] R.J.Q. 859 (C.A.), leave to appeal refused [1996] 3 S.C.R. xi; 206 N.R. 80, refd to. [para. 13].

Ivanhoe Inc. v. United Food and Commer­cial Workers, Local 500, [1999] R.J.Q. 32 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 14, 44].

Université McGill v. St-Georges, [1999] R.J.D.T. 9 (Que. C.A.), refd to. [para. 14].

Syndicat des employées et employés pro­fessionels et de bureau, section locale 57 v. Commissaire scolaire Laurenval, [1999] R.J.D.T. 1 (Que. C.A.), refd to. [para. 14].

Planet Development Corp. and Lester (W.W.) (1978) Ltd. v. United As­sociation of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry in the United States and Canada, Local 740, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 644; 123 N.R. 241; 88 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 15; 274 A.P.R. 15, refd to. [paras. 15, 38].

Ajax (Town) v. National Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers Union of Canada (CAW-Canada), Local 222 et al., [2000] 1 S.C.R. 538; 253 N.R. 223; 133 O.A.C. 43, refd to. [para. 36].

Statutes Noticed:

Labour Code, R.S.Q. 1977, c. C-27, sect. 45, sect. 46 [para. 2].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Gagnon, Robert P., Le droit du travail du Québec (4th Ed. 1999), p. 324 [para. 27].

Counsel:

Claude Bureau, for the appellant;

Gaston Nadeau and Richard Gauthier, for the respondent, Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, section locale 2589;

Benoit Belleau, for the respondent, the Labour Court;

No one appeared for the respondents, 2862-3775 Québec Inc. and Services sanitaires du St-Laurent Inc.

Solicitors of Record:

Claude Bureau, Sept-Îles, Quebec, for the appellant;

Trudel, Nadeau & Associés, Québec, Quebec, for the respondent, Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, section locale 2589;

Bernard, Roy & Associés, Montréal, Que­bec, for the respondent, the Labour Court.

This appeal was heard on October 30, 2000, by McLachlin, C.J.C., L'Heureux-Dubé, Gonthier, Iacobucci, Major, Bastarache and Arbour, JJ., of the Supreme Court of Canada.

The judgment of the Supreme Court was delivered in both official languages on July 13, 2001, and the following opinions were filed:

Arbour, J. (McLachlin, C.J.C., L'Heureux-Dubé, Gonthier, Iacobucci and Major, JJ., concurring) - see para­graphs 1 to 34;

Bastarache, J., dissenting - see para­graphs 35 to 49.