Cuddy Chicks Ltd. v. Ontario (Labour Relations Board)

Cuddy Chicks Ltd. v. Ontario (Labour Relations Board), [1991] 2 S.C.R. 5, is a leading Supreme Court of Canada

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

decision on the jurisdiction tribunal

Tribunal

A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....

s to hear constitutional challenges of the tribunal's enabling statute.

Background

The union of several employees of Cuddy Chicks, a chicken hatcher, filed a complaint to the Labour Relations Board that included a challenge of the constitutionality of the Board's enabling statute which excluded agricultural workers. The union claimed that the exclusion violated the right to freedom of association

Freedom of association

Freedom of association is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests....

under section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...

and the right to equality under section 15. Cuddy Chicks disputed the ability of the Board to consider constitutional issues.

The Board found that it was able to consider the issue by virtue of its requirement under s.24(2) of the Charter and 52 of the Constitution Act, 1867

Constitution Act, 1867

The Constitution Act, 1867 , is a major part of Canada's Constitution. The Act created a federal dominion and defines much of the operation of the Government of Canada, including its federal structure, the House of Commons, the Senate, the justice system, and the taxation system...

Ruling

The Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the tribunal's authority to rule in constitutional issues of its enabling statute.

The Court outlined three factors to be considered before a tribunal can hear a constitutional challenge. First, it "must already have jurisdiction over the whole of the matter before it, namely, the parties, subject matter and remedy sought." Second, it the court must consider the nature of the tribunal’s expertise and specialization, and finally the court must consider whether the Attorney General of the Province will participate in the proceedings before the Board. The Court, however, limited this ability by denying the tribunal any power to strike down any part of the law. La Forest stated that "a formal declaration of invalidity is not a remedy which is available to the Board. Instead, the Board simply treats any impugned provision as invalid for the purposes of the matter before it."

This test has the same three criteria as the test for a "court of competent jurisdiction" under section 24(1)

Section Twenty-four of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Section Twenty-four of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides for remedies available to those whose Charter rights are shown to be violated...

of the Charter
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...

, except here it does not matter if the tribunal is a "court" or not.

The Court further held that decisions of constitionality can be reviewed on a standard

Standard of review

In LAW, the standard of review is the amount of deference given by one court in reviewing a decision of a lower court or tribunal. A low standard of review means that the decision under review will be varied or overturned if the reviewing court considers there is any error at all in the lower...

of "correctness".

Background

Ruling

See also