Lawyers for the Ford government launched their Bill 124 appeal, on Tuesday, urging the Ontario Superior Court to overrule a lower court judge and reinstate the controversial wage restraint law.
Bill 124, which capped public sector wages at one per cent per year for a three-year term, was struck down as unconstitutional in November after unions argued it substantially interfered with their constitutional right to collective bargaining.
As the province tries to protect the savings gained by capping public sector salaries, the government is arguing that the constitution protects the union’s right to negotiate but not the outcome of the bargaining process.
If Ontario fails in its appeal, it could cost more than $8 billion in back pay, the province’s watchdog has estimated.
Here are the events leading up to the Court of Appeal hearing:
Nov. 7, 2019
The Ford government’s Bill 124 — Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act — receives Royal Assent and becomes law. It had its first reading on June 5, with its second reading on Oct. 31. The legislation passed its third reading and received Royal Assent on the same day.
Dec. 12, 2019
Four Ontario teaching unions announce they are launching a legal challenge against Bill 124. The unions argue Bill 124 is a direct attack on the bargaining rights of workers in the province.
2020 and 2021
Salary settlements across Ontario’s public sector average one per cent, according to the province’s financial accountability officer. Each public sector union is bound to a one per cent pay increase every year for three years under the terms of Bill 124.
Sept. 12, 2022
An Ontario Superior Court of Justice hears a case brought by several unions, including the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, against the Ford government. The case argues that Bill 124 is unconstitutional. Hearings continue until Sept. 23.
Nov. 29, 2022
Ontario superior court judge Justice Markus Koehnen rules Bill 124 is unconstitutional.
Koehnen found the cap of one per cent per year limited bargaining rights for workers and unions over salaries and other elements of contract negotiations for public sector workers.
“It prevents unions from trading off salary demands against non-monetary benefits, prevents the collective bargaining process from addressing staff shortages, interferes with the usefulness of the right to strike, interferes with the independence of interest arbitration, and interferes with the power balance between employer and employees,” the judge’s ruling states.
On the same day, Ontario announces it will appeal the decision.
Dec. 29, 2022
Lawyers for the Ford government file appeal papers with an Ontario court as they seek to reverse the decision that struck down controversial wage restraint legislation.
Jan. 9, 2023
Global News reports internal government documents admit Bill 124 is contributing to the staffing crisis in Ontario’s hospitals.
The admission was made in briefing notes prepared for Sylvia Jones in 2022, after she was appointed minister of health, and obtained by Global News through a freedom of information request.
One portion of the minister’s binder that dealt with “retention issues” in the health-care system stated that “concerns about wage disparity via Bill 124” were a contributing factor, along with wage disparities.
Jan. 11, 2023
Asked about the internal documents, Ontario Premier Doug Ford calls his own government’s analysis “not accurate.”
“There are no numbers (on the impact of Bill 124), but I’ll tell you, (if the documents had) anything negative, that must not be accurate,” Ford said, citing the number of nurses hired in Ontario.
He said the province could not keep “dishing it out” and “can’t be out there spending willy nilly” because people are “taxed to the brink.”
April 1, 2023
An arbitrator awards nurses represented by the Ontario Nurses’ Association higher pay raises in recognition Bill 124 had been struck down.
Instead of being held to a three per cent wage increase for the three-year period, nurses will now receive a total of 6.75 per cent for the term of the contract. The payments, according to the union, have already gone out.
Several other unions, including those representing WSIB workers, LCBO staff and more hospital workers, agree to similar retroactive pay agreements in the weeks that follow.
June 20, 2023
Hearings begin at the Ontario Court of Appeal as the Ford government tries to overrule the decision to throw out Bill 124.
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