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The Charter's right to freedom of association “was not intended to protect against association with others that is a necessary and inevitable part of membership in modern democratic community.”
Ottawa (11 Feb. 2014) – The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled on Friday, February 7, 2014, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) did not violate the freedom of association rights of one of their employees by sharing her information with a union.
Supreme Court rules employer sharing employee information with union does not violate freedom of association rights
In the case of Bernard v Canada (Attorney General) 2014, Elizabeth Bernard, an employee of the CRA, challenged her employer’s disclosure of her personal contact information to the union representing her, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). Bernard is a “Rand formula” employee, meaning that she is not a member of the union. Like all Rand formula members, however, the union still had a legal obligation to represent her and therefore she is required to pay union dues.
Bernard challenged the federal Public Service Labour Board’s decision that her employer must disclose of her personal contact information to the union without her consent. She claimed that the disclosure violated her Charter section 2(d) right to refuse association with the union and also breached her rights under the Privacy Act.
The SCC upheld an earlier judgement by the Federal Court of Appeal that the Board’s decision was reasonable. Justices Abella and Cromwell, writing for the majority, agreed with the lower court that there was no breach of her section 2(d) freedom of association right under the Charter.
Complaint by employee "has no legal foundation," says Supreme Court
The judges dismissed Ms. Bernard’s freedom of association argument very summarily, stating: “[it] has no legal foundation." The Court's reasoning was strongly reinforced by its landmark 1991 decision, Lavigne v Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which ruled that section 2 (d) of the Charter “does not provide protection from all forms of involuntary association and was not intended to protect against association with others that is a necessary and inevitable part of membership in modern democratic community.”
All seven of the Court's judges ruled the CRA's sharing of Bernard's home address and phone number with PIPSC also did not infringe her privacy rights under the federal Privacy Act.
More information:
Supreme Court of Canada decision Bernard v. Canada (Attorney General)
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