Date: 20070123
Docket: T-2044-05
Citation: 2007
FC 60
OTTAWA, Ontario, January 23, 2007
PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice Teitelbaum
BETWEEN:
MICHEL
DESLOGES
Applicant
and
ATTORNEY
GENERAL OF CANADA
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1]
This is a
judicial review of a decision of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Human
Resources, Foreign Affairs Canada (the “Assistant Deputy Minister”) dismissing
a grievance brought by Michel Desloges, the applicant, under the procedure
established in section 91 of the Public Service Staff Relations Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-35, repealed, 2003, c. 22, s. 2 (PSSR Act).
I.
Background
[2]
Michel
Desloges worked for Foreign Affairs Canada (the “Department”) from July 22,
1969 until his retirement on April 29, 2005.
[3]
On January
1, 1998, he was promoted to the EX-01 classification within the Department. An
“EX” classification indicates a position is managerial. EX positions within the
Department are not governed by a collective agreement.
[4]
On July
27, 2001, Desloges was posted to a rotational position in India, Counsellor and Program Manager. When
Desloges took the position, it was classified as EX- 01 but it was reclassified
as EX-02 on June 18, 2002 effective September 1, 2001.
[5]
When an
employee performs the duties of a position classified at a higher level than
the employee’s current classification, then the employee may receive
“acting pay”. Since Desloges’ position in India was classified as EX-02, a level higher
than Desloges’ own classification, he expected that he would receive acting pay
for performing the duties of an EX-02 position. This expectation was based on a
departmental e-mail that Desloges received July 17, 2002 which stated that his
position had been reclassified as EX-02 and that “Funding for the
reclassification of the rotational positions abroad will be covered by the
Departmental reserve as approved by the Executive Committee” (Exhibit B of
Desloges’ affidavit). Desloges also received a posting confirmation, dated
March 27, 2003, that stated “acting EX-02 applies” (Exhibit D of Desloges’
affidavit).
[6]
According
to the respondent, the posting confirmation dated March 27, 2003 was wrong and,
on March 31, 2003, the Department sent out an amended posting confirmation that
stated “acting does not apply”. The applicant did not confirm whether he
received this posting confirmation and holds the position that he did not
realise that he might not receive acting until August 2003 when he received
another posting confirmation, this one dated August 29, 2003, which stated that
his acting appointment in India had been extended and that “acting does not
apply”.
[7]
On
February 21, 2005, Desloges filed a grievance regarding the fact that he was
not given acting pay for the period September 1, 2001 to April 14, 2005.
[8]
Desloges’
grievance was denied by a letter dated October 13, 2005 from the Assistant
Deputy Minister. She rejected the grievances on two separate grounds. First,
she found that the grievance had not been filed within the 25 day timeframe
provided in section 71(1)(3) of the Public
Service Staff Relations Board Regulations, SOR 93/348,
(PSSRB Regulations).
Second, she dismissed the grievance on the grounds that it was not the
Department’s practice to give acting pay to rotational EX employees and she
concluded that Desloges had been paid in accordance with the Salary
Administration Policy for the Executive Group issued by the Treasury Board (the
Salary Policy).
[9]
The Salary
Policy states that “executives at levels EX-1 to EX-3 are eligible for
acting pay within the EX Group when they are asked to perform all or a
significant part of the duties of a position classified at a higher executive
level for a period exceeding three (3) months”. Part 5.3 of the Salary Policy states
that “In organizations or those parts of organizations where rotational pools,
developmental programs and/or appointment-to-level prevail, deputy heads may
elect not to implement this policy for executives acting in these environments”.
The Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision implied that Desloges did not receive
acting pay because the Deputy Head of the Department had elected under part 5.3
of the Salary Policy not to implement the Salary Policy for employees in
rotational EX positions. The Assistant Deputy Minister provided no proof of
when or how this decision was made save to say that it has always been
Department practice not to provide acting pay for rotational EX employees and
the Deputy Minister had on two occasions rejected proposals to give rotational
EX employees acting pay.
II.
Legislative scheme
[10]
The relevant
provisions of the Public Services Staff Relations Act follow:
2(1). […]
“employee”
means a person employed in the Public Service, other than
[…]
(j) a
person who occupies a managerial or confidential position
[…]
“grievance”
means complaint in writing presented in accordance with this Act by an
employee on his own behalf or on behalf of the employee and one or more other
employees, except that
(a) for
the purposes of any of the provisions of the Act respecting grievances, a
reference to an “employee” includes a person who would be an employee but for
the fact that the person is a person described in paragraph (f) or (j)
of the definition “employee” […]
“managerial or
confidential position” means a position
[…]
(b)
classified by the employer as being in the executive group, by whatever name
called,
96. (3) Where a grievance has been
presented up to and including the final level in the grievance process and it
is not one that under section 92 may be referred to adjudication, the
decision on the grievance taken at the final level in the grievance process
is final and binding for all purposes of this Act and no further action under
this Act may be taken.
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2(1).
[…]
« fonctionnaire »
Personne employée dans la fonction publique, même si elle a cessé d’y
travailler par suite d’une grève ou par suite d’un licenciement contraire à
la présente loi ou à une autre loi fédérale, mais à l’exclusion des personnes
[…]
j) occupant un poste de
direction ou de confiance
[…]
« grief »
Plainte écrite déposée conformément à la présente loi par un fonctionnaire,
soit pour son propre compte, soit pour son compte et celui de un ou plusieurs
autres fonctionnaires. Les dispositions de la présente loi relatives aux
griefs s’appliquent par ailleurs :
a) aux personnes visées aux
alinéas f) ou j) de la définition de
« fonctionnaire » […]
« poste
de direction ou de confiance » […]
b) poste classé par
l’employeur dans le groupe de la direction, quelle qu’en soit la
dénomination;
96.
(3) Sauf
dans le cas d’un grief qui peut être renvoyé à l’arbitrage au titre de
l’article 92, la décision rendue au dernier palier de la procédure applicable
en la matière est finale et obligatoire, et aucune autre mesure ne peut être
prise sous le régime de la présente loi à l’égard du grief ainsi tranché.
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[11]
The relevant portions
of the Public Service Staff Relations Board Regulations follow:
63.
Notwithstanding anything in the Part, the times prescribed by this Part or
provided for in a grievance procedure contained in a collective agreement or
in an arbitral award for the doing of any act, the presentation of a
grievance at any level or the providing or filing of any notice, reply or
document may be extended, either before or after the expiration of those
times
(a) by
agreement between the parties; or
(b) by the
Board, on the application of an employer, an employee or a bargaining agent,
on such terms and conditions as the Board considers advisable.
71(3) An
employee shall present a grievance no later than on the twenty-fifth day
after the day on which the employee first had knowledge of any act, omission
or other matter giving rise to the grievance or the employee was notified of
the act, omission or other matter, whichever is the earlier.
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63.
Par dérogation à toute autre disposition de la présente partie, les délais
prévus aux termes de la présente partie, d’une procédure applicable aux
griefs énoncée dans une convention collective ou d’une décision arbitrale,
pour l’accomplissement d’un acte, la présentation d’un grief à un palier ou la
remise ou le dépôt d’un avis, d’une réponse ou d’un document peuvent être
prorogés avant ou après leur expiration :
a) soit par une entent entre
les parties;
b) soit par la Commission, à
la demande de l’employeur du fonctionnaire ou de l’agent négociateur, selon
les modalités que la Commission juge indiquées.
71(3)
Le fonctionnaire présente son grief au plus tard 25 jours après le premier en
date des jours suivants : le jour où il a eu connaissance pour la
première fois de l’action, de l’omission ou de la situation à l’origine du
grief ou le jour où il en a été avisé.
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III.
Issues
[12]
The issues are as
follows:
a.
What is the standard
of review for the Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision to dismiss the
applicant’s grievance because it was untimely?
b.
Did the Assistant
Deputy Minister err in dismissing the grievance based on her finding that it
had not been filed within the time period laid out in section 71(3) of the
PSSRB Regulations?
c.
What is the standard
of review for the Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision to dismiss the
applicant’s grievance on its merits?
d.
Did the Assistant
Deputy Minister err in dismissing the grievance on its merits?
IV.
Analysis
Standard
of review for the decision that the grievance was filed late
[13]
The standard of
review of the Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision that the grievance was filed
late must be determined by the pragmatic and functional approach. This involves
a consideration of four factors: the presence or absence of a privative clause
or statutory right of appeal; the expertise of the tribunal relative to that of
the reviewing court on the issue in question; the purpose of the legislation in
question, as well as the purpose of the particular provision in question; and
the nature of the question (Dr. Q v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of
British Columbia, 2003 SCC 19). The applicant did not make separate
submissions on the standard of review for the decision that the grievance was
untimely and the decision to dismiss the grievance on its merits. The
respondent submitted that the appropriate standard of review for the decision
that the grievance was untimely is patently unreasonable (Trépanier v.
Canada (A.G.), 2004 FC 1326 [Trépanier]).
[14]
The Supreme Court of
Canada has held that “…the wording of the PSSRA is not strong enough to “oust”
the court’s jurisdiction in all matters grievable under s. 91 but not
arbitrable under s. 92…” (Vaughan v. Canada, [2005] 1 S.C.R. 146 at
para. 29 [Vaughan]). Moreover, the Federal Court of Appeal
recently held that subsection 96 (3) is a relatively weak privative clause and,
therefore, the decision-maker is to be afforded only some deference (Assh v.
A.G. (Canada), 2006 FCA 358 [Assh]).
[15]
With regards to the
relative expertise of the decision maker, the calculation of the 25 day
deadline is a purely factual matter that the decision-maker has the expertise
to determine. As the Court has no more expertise in such factual determinations
than the decision-maker, this factor indicates a high degree of deference
should be afforded to the decision.
[16]
The third factor is the purpose of the legislation and the
purpose of the provision in question. In Trépanier
at para. 23, Mr. Justice Blanchard held that the PSSR Act is
“polycentric legislation, as it is intended to resolve questions involving
contradictory policy objectives or the interests of different groups, and its
purpose is not just to oppose the government to the individual.” Subsection
71(3) of the PSSRB Regulations is somewhat less polycentric than the PSSR Act as
a whole since it provides for a determination of an individual’s right to make
a grievance against the employer. I find that this factor suggests some
deference.
[17]
The final factor is the nature of the question. As
discussed above, a determination of whether a grievance was filed within the 25
day time period is a finding of fact and, therefore, indicates a high degree of
deference.
[18]
Based on this analysis, I find that the standard of review
applicable to the question of whether the grievance was filed within the 25 day
time limit is the standard of patently unreasonable.
Decision
on the Time Limit
[19]
The Assistant Deputy
Minister held that the applicant was notified about his reclassification in
July 2002 and did not file a grievance until March 2005. She found that the
grievance was filed more than two years after the applicant became aware of the
reclassification and, thus, the grievance was not filed within the 25 day limit
provided in subsection 71(3) of the PSSRB Regulations.
[20]
The applicant in his
written submissions argued the 25 day time limit does not apply to employees in
the EX class . The applicant submitted that employees in the EX class are
excluded from the definition of “employee” in section 2(1) of the PSSR Act by
virtue of subsection (j) which excludes persons in managerial positions from
the definitions of employee and that since EX employees are not “employees” for
the purpose of the Act, the time limit in subsection 71(3) of the PSSRB
Regulations does not apply to them.
[21]
The interpretation of
the PSSR Act and PSSRB Regulations proposed by the applicant cannot stand in
light of the expanded definition of employee within the definition of
“grievance” in section 2 of the PSSR Act:
“grievance”
means complaint in writing presented in accordance with this Act by an employee
on his own behalf or on behalf of the employee and one or more other employees,
except that (a) for the purposes of the provisions of the Act respecting
grievances, a reference to an “employee” includes a person who would be an
employee but for the fact that the person is a person described in paragraph
(f) or (j) of the definition of “employee”…
[22]
Section 15(2)(b) of
the Interpretation Act, R.S., 1985, c. l-4, reads as follows :
15(2) Where an enactment contains an interpretation
section or provision, it shall be read and construed
(a) …
(b)
as being applicable to all other enactments relating to the same
subject-matter unless a contrary intention appears.
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15(2)
Les dispositions définitoires ou interprétatives d'un texte :
a) …
b)
s'appliquent, sauf indication contraire, aux autres textes portant sur un
domaine identique.
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[23]
Based on this
provision, the definition of “grievance” found in subsection 2(1) of the PSSR
Act which extends the definition of employee to “any of the provisions of the
Act respecting grievances” is an interpretation provision which should be
construed as applying to all other enactments dealing with grievances for the
Public Service employees since no contrary intention appears in the PSSR Act or
the PSSRB Regulations.
[24]
Moreover, section 16
of the Interpretation Act states that “Where an enactment confers power
to make regulations, expressions used in the regulations have the same
respective meanings as in the enactment conferring the power”. Section
100(1)(c) of the PSSR Act confers the power to make regulations in relation to
the procedure for the presentation of grievances, including regulations
respecting the time within which a grievance may be presented. The only logical
interpretation is that Parliament intended the regulations dealing with grievances
to correspond to the section of the PSSR Act which deals with grievances. If
the applicant’s proposed interpretation was adopted, then there would be no
provisions in the PSSRB Regulations dealing with grievances for managerial
employees. This is clearly not what Parliament intended since it specifically
expanded the definition in the PSSR Act to include such employees.
[25]
The expanded
definition of employees set out in the definition of “grievance” applies to
subsection 71(3) of the PSSRB Regulations and, therefore, the time limit set
out in that subsection 7 applies to the applicant herein.
[26]
At the hearing, the
applicant argued that the behaviour of senior members of the Department
amounted to an agreement pursuant to section 63 of the PSSRB Regulations to
extend the time limit to file a grievance on the matter of the applicant’s
acting pay. The applicant submitted that he had raised the issue of acting pay
with a number of his superiors, including the Assistant Deputy Minister, and
that he was told the issue was being looked into.
[27]
The respondent
submits that, even if the applicant’s superiors did tell him that they would
look into the issue, this does not amount to an agreement to extend the time
limit to file a grievance pursuant to section 63 of the PSSR Regulations.
[28]
I agree with the
respondent. I am satisfied there is no evidence to suggest that there was
an agreement to extend the timeline. The Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision on the
timeliness of the grievance is to be reviewed on the standard of patent
unreasonableness. She held that he knew of the circumstances giving rise to his
grievance in July 2002. The applicant submitted that he was not aware until
August 2002 when he received an amended posting confirmation that stated
“acting does not apply”, whereas the respondent submitted that an amended
confirmation stating that “acting does not apply” was sent out at the end of
March 2002. Regardless of which date the applicant was notified that he would
not receive acting pay, the applicant’s grievance was still not filed within
the 25 day deadline. The Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision that the
grievance was untimely is reasonable.
[29]
This judicial review
can be dismissed on this issue alone; nonetheless, I have examined the
Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision on the merits of the applicant’s grievance
as well.
Standard
of review for the decision to dismiss the grievance on its merits
[30]
The applicant argued
that the appropriate standard of review of the Assistant Deputy Minister’s
decision is correctness while the respondent argued that it is patent
unreasonableness.
[31]
The first factor is
the presence of a privative clause. As previously discussed, subsection 96(3)
of the PSSR Act contains a relatively weak privative clause suggesting only
some deference.
[32]
The second factor is
the relative expertise of the decision-maker. The applicant submits that the
Assistant Deputy Minister has less expertise resolving disputes than does this
Court. Moreover, the applicant submits that there was no evidence that the
Assistant Deputy Minister has any relative expertise in the resolution of
grievances. The respondent submitted that the Assistant Deputy Minister had
institutional expertise in the interpretation of Treasury Board Policy as a
result of the 23 years of experience she had in the management of human
resources in the Public Service and that the Court should give her some
deference.
[33]
The applicant also
submitted that the Federal Court of Appeal, in Assh at para. 44, held
that the informal nature of the grievance process under section 91 of the PSSR
Act and the fact that it is not independent of the employer suggests that a
Court should not afford much deference to internal grievance board decisions on
questions that are not purely factual in nature. I cannot give much weight to
this fact considering that the Supreme Court of Canada, in Vaughan at para. 38, dismissed the appellant’s
argument that comprehensive legislative schemes which do not provide for
third-party adjudication are not, on that account, worthy of
deference. The Court held that this is a consideration, but that in the
case of the PSSR Act, this factor is outweighed by other more persuasive
indications of clues to parliamentary intent suggesting that deference be given
to the PSSR Act grievance scheme.
[34]
The Assistant Deputy
Minister clearly has the expertise to determine whether a particular Treasury
Board policy applies to the Department, particularly where the policy is
related to her field of expertise, human resources. She does not, however, have
more expertise than the Court since the Court has expertise in determining the
scope and application of government enactments. Therefore, this factor suggests
only a little deference be given to the decision-maker.
[35]
The third factor is the
purpose of the Act and the provision in question. As previously noted, the
purpose of the PSSR Act is polycentric. The provision in question here is
section 5.3 of the Salary Policy. This provision is also polycentric as it is
intended to provide government departments with some flexibility in staffing
rotational positions. This factor suggests a high degree of deference.
[36]
With regards to the
final factor, the applicant submits that the question is one of law since it is
a question regarding the contractual employment relationship between the
applicant and the respondent. The respondent submits that the question at
issue is one of fact, namely whether the deputy head of the Department has
authorized the payment of acting pay to its executives in rotational pools.
[37]
I agree with the
respondent that the question is whether the deputy head of the Department
elected not to pay acting pay to executives in rotational positions under part
5.3 of the Salary Policy. However, I do not agree that this is a question of
fact. The determination of whether the Deputy Minister “elected” under part 5.3
of the Salary Policy to exercise his discretion not to pay acting rotational EX
employees acting pay is a question of mixed fact and law. This factor suggests
that the Court need not exercise much deference towards the decision of the
Assistant Deputy Minister.
[38]
Taken together, the
four factors point to the standard of reasonableness simpliciter.
Decision
to dismiss the grievance on its merits
[39]
The
Assistant Deputy Minister considered the merits of the applicant’s grievance
and held that the applicant was not entitled to receive acting pay as a
rotational EX employee as it was never department practice to provide
rotational EX employees acting pay and that the department was entitled to do
this under section 5.3 of the Salary Policy which stated that the general
policy is that EX employees in acting positions receive acting pay but that
department heads can exercise their discretion and not give acting pay to
employees in rotational EX employees.
[40]
The
applicant urged the Court to adopt two general propositions. First, that there
is a reasonable expectation of both an employer and of an employee that an
employee is entitled to be paid the salary that is attached to the job and,
second, that if the employer expects to pay the employee less than that, then
there is an obligation by the employer to bring that to the employee’s
attention at the outset, in clear and unmistakable terms.
[41]
The
Salary Policy is evidence that the first proposition is Treasury Board policy.
At issue here is the second proposition. Specifically, does the Salary Policy
or the PSSR Act require the employer to bring it to the attention of the
employee in clear terms when the employer intends to pay the employee less than
the salary attached to the job? And if so, did the Deputy Minister do so?
[42]
The
applicant submitted that no election was made by the Assistant Deputy Minister
since an election under part 5.3 of the Salary Policy needs to be in writing to
be effective (Gingras
v. Canada, [1994] 2 F.C.
734 [Gingras]) or,
alternatively, the election needs to be communicated (Blueberry River Indian Band v. Canada
(Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development), [2001] 4 F.C. 451 (F.C.A.)).
[43]
I am
not persuaded by this argument mainly because both cases are easily
distinguishable from this case. In Gingras, the decision under review
was a decision not to give RCMP members the bilingual bonus. The Federal Court
of Appeal in that case held that the Bilingual Bonus policy was not
discretionary and had the force of law. Therefore, the decision not to apply
the policy to RCMP members could not be made without a written evidence of the
decision. This is not similar to the case here which deals with discretionary
provisions within a Treasury Board policy. There is no doubt from the language
in part 5.3 which states that “deputy head may elect not to implement this
policy” that this provision is discretionary. I do not find Blueberry River to be relevant as it
deals with elections in the context of estoppel.
[44]
There
is nothing in the Salary Policy or its enabling statute, the Financial
Administration Act, R.S., 1985, c. F-11, which suggests that “elects”
requires more than a decision by a deputy minister. Although the evidence on
whether or not a decision was made by the Deputy Minister is less than
satisfactory, I cannot find that the Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision that
an election had been made to be unreasonable. She reasonably came to this
conclusion based on the fact that the Deputy Minister of the Department had
twice turned down proposals that executives in rotational positions would
receive acting pay and the fact that the department had never paid acting
rotational EX employees acting pay.
V. Conclusion
[45]
For the above reasons,
I am satisfied that the Assistant Deputy Minister’s decision to dismiss the
applicant’s grievance as untimely was not patently unreasonable and her finding
that the applicant was paid appropriately was not unreasonable.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS that the application for judicial
review is denied with costs.
“Max M. Teitelbaum”
FEDERAL COURT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: T-2044-05
STYLE OF CAUSE: Michel
Desloges v. Attorney General of Canada
PLACE OF
HEARING: Ottawa, Ontario
DATE OF HEARING: December 4, 2006
REASONS FOR ORDER: TEITELBAUM J.
DATED: January
23, 2007
APPEARANCES:
Dougald E.
Brown
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FOR THE APPLICANT
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Stéphane Hould
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FOR THE RESPONDENT
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SOLICITORS
OF RECORD:
Nelligan
O’Brien Payne LLP
Ottawa, Ontario
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FOR THE APPLICANT
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John H. Sims,
Q.C.
Deputy
Attorney General of Canada
Ottawa,
Ontario
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FOR THE RESPONDENT
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