2098 Results

Mandatory Retirement Legislation For Firefighters Ordered for Third Reading as Amended

On May 19, 2011, Bill 181, the Fire Protection and Prevention Amendment Act, 2011, was ordered for Third Reading after being reported as amended by the Standing Committee on General Government. The Committee amended the “Reasonable Accommodation” provision found in section 2 of the Bill to provide as follows: 53.1(4) A firefighter shall not be…

Michael Hines Quoted in Hamilton Spectator Newspaper

Hicks Morley’s Michael Hines was quoted in the May 10, 2011 edition of the Hamilton Spectator newspaper. In an article entitled “No laws broken in excluding Westmount and Saltfleet from accommodation review,” Michael commented on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s exclusion of Westmount and Saltfleet Secondary Schools from its current student accommodation review process. View…

Mandatory Retirement Legislation For Firefighters Referred to Committee

On May 11, 2011, Bill 181, the Fire Protection and Prevention Amendment Act, 2011, was ordered referred to the Standing Committee on General Government. As previously reported, Bill 181 would, if passed, amend the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 to provide for the mandatory retirement at age 60 of firefighters regularly assigned to fire…

Ontario 2011 Budget Bill Passes Third Reading as Amended

On May 10, 2011, Bill 173, the Better Tomorrow for Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2011, carried at Third Reading after being reported as amended by the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. It is expected to receive Royal Assent shortly. The Committee amendments to Bill 173 with respect to the Pension Benefits Act relate…

Proposed Changes to OMERS Target Emergency Services Employees and High Income Earners

On May 4, 2011, the OMERS Sponsors Corporation (“SC”) made public seven proposed changes to the OMERS pension plans. The proposals have been put forward by various individual SC members in connection with the SC’s annual review of the OMERS pension plans. There are two main objectives: (1) improving the funded position of the top-up…

Ontario 2011 Budget Bill Ordered for Third Reading

On May 5, 2011, Bill 173, the Better Tomorrow for Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2011, was reported as amended by the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. As previously reported, Bill 173 is omnibus legislation amending a variety of statutes to implement certain initiatives outlined in the 2011 Ontario Budget tabled on March 23,…

The Fraser Decision: The Supreme Court of Canada Revisits Scope of Charter-Protected Collective Bargaining Rights

On April 29, 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its long-awaited judgement in the case of Ontario (Attorney General) v. Fraser, 2011 SCC 20 (“Fraser“). In a decision that has surprised many, the Court found, by an 8-1 margin, that the Agricultural Employees’ Protection Act, 2002 (“AEPA“) is constitutional. Moreover, while the majority of…

School Board Update – Arbitrator Rules in Board’s Favour in Lakehead DSB Prep Time Payback Case

In our School Board FTR Now of January 31, 2011, we traced a series of disappointing arbitration decisions concerning the issue of “prep time payback”, the supposed obligation of school boards to reschedule prep time periods that are “missed” due to mandatory professional development activities, the monitoring of EQAO testing, the participation at the direction…