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University of Saskatchewan conference to examine Canadian labour laws and their degree of compliance with various human rights treaties
Saskatoon (15 December 2009) – Examining how to harmonize Canadian labour laws to meet international freedom of association standard will be the subject of a conference to be held in Saskatoon, February 25-27, 2010. The conference is being sponsored by the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan.
The Supreme Court’s 2007 BC Health Services decision brought to light significant discrepancies between Canadian law and practice regarding the right to bargain collectively and Canada’s international freedom of association obligations as a party to various human rights treaties. Since the Supreme Court also declared that the “Charter of Rights and Freedoms should be presumed to provide at least as great a level of protection as is found in the international human rights documents that Canada has ratified” long settled patterns of labour-management relations policy such as the frequent use of back-to-work legislation may now have to be rethought.
At this conference experts in international, constitutional and Canadian statutory law will address the issues raised. Among the outstanding speakers will be:
- Janice Bellace, Chair of the International Labour Organization’s Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations;
- Tonia Novitz, author of The International and European Protection of the Right to Strike;
- Steve Barrett, Counsel for the Canadian Labour Congress’s intervention in the Fraser v. Ontario case regarding the constitutional collective bargaining rights of agricultural workers; and
- James Clancy, National President of the National Union of Public and General Employees and pioneer in promoting labour rights as human rights in Canada.
The conference is being organized jointly by Roy J. Adams and Michael Atkinson. Professor Adams is currently the Ariel F. Sallows Chair of Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan and has written extensively on labour’s human rights. Professor Atkinson is the Executive Director of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.
The draft agenda and registration information are available at www.usask.ca/law/sallows.
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