Saskatchewan's labour movement won a significant victory yesterday as Justice Dennis Ball ruled that Bill 5, The Public Service Essential Services Act (PSES) violated the constitutional right to strike and bargain collectively as upheld in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In his decision, Justice Ball concluded: “No other essential services legislation in Canada comes close to prohibiting the right to strike as broadly, and as significantly, as the PSES Act. No other essential services legislation is as devoid of access to independent, effective dispute resolution processes … None have such significantly deleterious effects on protected rights.”
Justice Ball's decision corresponds to the arguments that the Saskatchewan Office has consistently made regarding the legitimacy of Bill 5.
For backgrounders from the Saskatchewan Office on Bill 5 and the Charter challenge, visit here and here.