SUPREME
COURT OF CANADA
Between:
Laura Ravndahl
Appellant
and
Her
Majesty The Queen in Right of the
Province
of Saskatchewan as represented
by
the Government of Saskatchewan and
Workers’
Compensation Board
Respondents
‑ and ‑
Attorney
General of Canada, Attorney General of Ontario,
Attorney
General of Quebec, Attorney General of New Brunswick,
Attorney
General of Manitoba, Attorney General of British Columbia
Attorney
General of Alberta, and
Attorney
General of Newfoundland and Labrador
Interveners
Coram: McLachlin
C.J. and Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Abella, Charron and Rothstein JJ.
Reasons
for Judgment:
(paras. 1 to 29)
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McLachlin
C.J. (Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Abella, Charron and Rothstein JJ. concurring)
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______________________________
Ravndahl v.
Saskatchewan, 2009 SCC 7, [2009] 1 S.C.R. 181
Laura Ravndahl Appellant
v.
Her Majesty
The Queen in Right of the
Province of
Saskatchewan as represented
by the
Government of Saskatchewan and
Workers’
Compensation Board Respondents
and
Attorney
General of Canada,
Attorney
General of Ontario,
Attorney
General of Quebec,
Attorney
General of New Brunswick,
Attorney
General of Manitoba,
Attorney
General of British Columbia,
Attorney
General of Alberta, and
Attorney
General of Newfoundland and Labrador Interveners
Indexed as: Ravndahl v. Saskatchewan
Neutral citation: 2009 SCC 7.
File No.: 32225.
2008: December 17; 2009: January 29.
Present: McLachlin C.J.
and Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Abella, Charron and Rothstein JJ.
on appeal from the court of appeal for saskatchewan
Limitation of actions — Applicability of limitation
periods — Constitutional challenge — Pre‑Charter denial of benefits —
Equality rights — Claims seeking personal relief and declarations of
unconstitutionality — Whether statutory limitation periods applicable to claims
for personal relief — Limitation of Actions Act, R.S.S. 1978, c. L‑15,
s. 3(1)(j).
The appellant lost her widow’s pension benefit upon
remarriage on October 20, 1984 pursuant to s. 68 of the Saskatchewan Workers’
Compensation Act of 1978. After her remarriage, legislative amendments
ultimately provided for compensation to continue to be payable to a surviving
dependent spouse in case of remarriage occurring on or after April 17,
1985 — the date the equality rights guaranteed by s. 15 of the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into effect. These amendments did not
affect the appellant because of the date of her remarriage. In 1999, a special
Act provided for a lump sum payment to persons whose spousal pensions had been
terminated by virtue of remarriage prior to April 17, 1985, but the appellant
did not apply for payment. Rather, she brought an action in 2000 based on s.
15 of the Charter , seeking an order (1) reinstating her spousal pension
and awarding damages and interest and (2) declaring that the legislative
amendments and the 1999 Act were of no force or effect. Following an
application to determine a point of law, the Court of Queen’s Bench dismissed
the action as statute‑barred under s. 3(1)(j) of The
Limitation of Actions Act. The Court of Appeal ordered the reinstatement
of the prayers for relief relating to the declaratory action under s. 52
of the Constitution Act, 1982 , while confirming that the claims for
personal relief were barred.
Held: The appeal should
be dismissed.
Personal claims for constitutional relief are claims
brought as an individual qua individual for a personal remedy and must
be distinguished from claims enuring to affected members generally under an
action for a declaration that a law is unconstitutional. [16]
The Limitation of Actions Act applies to personal claims. Here, the cause of action arose on
April 17, 1985 when s. 15 of the Charter came into effect.
Before that date, the appellant had no cognizable legal right upon which to
base her claim. Subsequent attempts to lessen the discriminatory effects of
the 1978 Act did not create a new cause of action in her favour. There is also
no renewing cause of action arising with each pension payment not received in
this case because it cannot be assumed that the benefits which had been
terminated would have otherwise been paid. Since the appellant’s cause of
action arose on April 17, 1985 and the six‑year limitation period is
applicable, the personal claims were statute‑barred. [17‑18]
[20-22] [24]
The claim for a declaration of constitutional invalidity
and, if granted, what remedies are to issue, is for the trial judge to
determine. Any remedies flowing from s. 52 of the Constitution Act,
1982 , would not be personal remedies but rather remedies from which the
appellant, as an affected person, might benefit. [26]
Cases Cited
Applied: Kingstreet
Investments Ltd. v. New Brunswick (Finance), 2007
SCC 1, [2007] 1 S.C.R. 3; referred to: Canada (Attorney General) v.
Hislop, 2007 SCC 10, [2007] 1 S.C.R. 429.
Statutes and Regulations Cited
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 15 , 24 .
Constitution Act, 1982,
s. 52 .
Limitation of Actions Act, R.S.S. 1978, c. L‑15, s. 3.
Queen’s Bench Rules
(Saskatchewan), Rule 188.
Special Payment (Dependent Spouses) Act, S.S. 1999, c. S‑56.01.
Workers’ Compensation Act, R.S.S. 1978, c. W‑17, s. 68.
Workers’ Compensation Act, 1974, S.S. 1973‑74, c. 127.
Workers’ Compensation Act, 1979, S.S. 1979, c. W‑17.1, s. 98.1 [ad. 1984‑85‑86,
c. 89, s. 25].
Workers’ Compensation General
Regulations, 1985, R.R.S., c. W‑17.1,
Reg. 1 [am. S. Reg. 15/1999, s. 2].
APPEAL from a judgment of the Saskatchewan Court of
Appeal (Gerwing, Lane and Smith JJ.A.), 2007 SKCA 66, 299 Sask. R. 162,
[2007] 10 W.W.R. 606, 43 C.P.C. (6th) 201, [2007] S.J. No. 282 (QL), 2007
CarswellSask 297, allowing in part an appeal from a judgment of
Pritchard J., 2004 SKQB 260, 251 Sask. R. 156, 50 C.P.C. (5th) 161, 119 C.R.R.
(2d) 372, [2004] S.J. No. 374 (QL), 2004 CarswellSask 398. Appeal
dismissed.
Robert E. Houston, Q.C.,
for the appellant.
Alan F. Jacobson,
for the respondent the Province of Saskatchewan.
Leonard D. Andrychuk,
Q.C., and Christy J. Stockdale, for the respondent the Workers’
Compensation Board.
Michael H. Morris
and Sean Gaudet, for the intervener the Attorney General of Canada.
Robert E. Charney
and Rochelle S. Fox, for the intervener the Attorney General of
Ontario.
Isabelle Harnois, for the
intervener the Attorney General of Quebec.
Gaétan Migneault, for the
intervener the Attorney General of New Brunswick.
Michael Conner, for the
intervener the Attorney General of Manitoba.
Jonathan G. Penner,
for the intervener the Attorney General of British Columbia.
Roderick S. Wiltshire,
for the intervener the Attorney General of Alberta.
Written submission only by Barbara Barrowman, for
the intervener the Attorney General of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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The judgment of the Court was delivered by
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[1]
The Chief Justice — This
case raises the question of whether a statutory limitation period applies to
personal claims for constitutional relief, and if so, how the limitation period
affects such claims.
[2]
The following constitutional question was stated by this Court:
Is s. 3 of The Limitation of Actions Act,
R.S.S. 1978, c. L-15, constitutionally inapplicable to the appellant’s claims
for personal relief, including damages, reinstatement and other monetary
remedies, in an action alleging that s. 98.1(5) of The Workers’ Compensation
Act, 1979, S.S. 1979, c. W-17.1, and related legislation is of no
force or effect to the extent that it breaches her rights under the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms ?
[3]
The appellant falls into a group sometimes known as the “pre-Charter
widows”. Before the equality provision of the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms came into force on April 17, 1985, workers’ compensation
legislation provided that pensions to survivor spouses would cease upon
remarriage. The appellant, who held a widow’s pension, lost her benefit upon
remarriage on October 20, 1984, and hence brings this action.
[4]
The action has not yet proceeded to trial. The Court of Queen’s Bench
of Saskatchewan held that the appellant’s cause of action was subject to s. 3
of The Limitation of Actions Act, R.S.S. 1978, c. L-15, and was
statute-barred. The majority of the Court of Appeal of Saskatchewan allowed the
appeal and ordered the reinstatement of the prayers for relief relating to the
declaratory action under s. 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982 , while
confirming that the claims for personal relief were barred. Smith J.A.,
dissenting, would have allowed the appeal in its entirety.
I. Facts and Legislative
Framework
[5]
On November 17, 1975, the appellant’s former husband died of injuries
arising out of his employment. Subsequently, the appellant began receiving a
monthly pension as a surviving dependent spouse pursuant to The Workers’
Compensation Act, 1974, S.S. 1973-74, c. 127. Beginning on February
26, 1979, the appellant’s compensation benefits were paid pursuant to The
Workers’ Compensation Act, R.S.S. 1978, c. W-17 (“1978 Act”).
[6]
On October 20, 1984, the appellant remarried. Until the time of her
remarriage her compensation benefits as a surviving dependent spouse were being
paid pursuant to the 1978 Act, notwithstanding the enactment of The Workers’
Compensation Act, 1979, S.S. 1979, c. W-17.1, on January 1, 1980
(“1979 Act”). On her remarriage, the appellant’s benefits were terminated
pursuant to s. 68 of the 1978 Act which provided as follows:
68. — (1) If a surviving dependant spouse
marries, the monthly payments to the spouse shall cease but the spouse shall be
entitled in lieu of them to a lump sum equal to the monthly payments for two
years.
[7]
The Workers’ Compensation Amendment Act, 1985, S.S. 1984-85-86,
c. 89, amended the 1979 Act by the addition of s. 98.1, which
provided that from the date it came into force (September 1, 1985), remarriage
would not result in a termination of benefits. Section 98.1 did not apply to
the appellant as it only applied to surviving dependent spouses who remarried
on or after September 1, 1985.
[8]
On March 11, 1999, an amendment to The Workers’ Compensation General
Regulations, 1985, R.R.S., c. W-17.1, Reg. 1, reinstated spousal pensions
for persons who had remarried between April 17, 1985 (the day the equality
rights provision of the Charter came into force) and August 31, 1985 (S.
Reg. 15/1999, s. 2). The reinstatement was effective only from the day the
section came into force. Again, this amendment did not apply to the appellant
as she had remarried prior to April 17, 1985.
[9]
On May 6, 1999, The Special Payment (Dependent Spouses) Act, S.S.
1999, c. S-56.01, was enacted. It provided for an $80,000 payment to persons
whose spousal pensions were terminated by virtue of remarriage prior to April
17, 1985 (and required the surviving spouse to execute a release). The
appellant did not apply for the payment.
[10] On
March 31, 2000, the appellant commenced this action claiming the following
relief, as set out in para. 30 of her Amended Statement of Claim:
a) A declaration pursuant to Section 52 of the Constitution Act
1982 that Section 98.1(5) of The Workers’ Compensation Amendment Act
1985 is unconstitutional and of no force or effect;
b) A declaration that Section 98.1(5) of The Workers’
Compensation Act, 1979 c. W-17.1 is unconstitutional and of no force and
effect;
c) A declaration that The Special Payment (Dependent Spouses)
Act is unconstitutional and of no force and effect;
d) An Order reinstating the Plaintiff’s spousal pension;
e) Damages;
f) Interest in accordance with The Pre-Judgment Interest Act;
g) Costs;
h) Such further and other relief as the Plaintiff
may advise and this Honourable Court may allow.
[11] The
applicable limitation provision in effect at the relevant time was
s. 3(1)(j) of The Limitation of Actions Act. It
stated as follows:
3. — (1) The following actions shall be commenced within and
not after the times respectively hereinafter mentioned:
. . .
(j) any other action not in this Act or any other Act
specifically provided for, within six years after the cause of action arose.
II. Judicial History
A. Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench,
2004 SKQB 260, 251 Sask. R. 156
[12] The
respondents applied to the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench for
determination of the following point of law pursuant to Rule 188 of The
Queen’s Bench Rules:
Is the Plaintiff’s cause of action . . . subject to Section 3 of The
Limitation of Actions Act and thereby barred by virtue of the operation of
Section 3 . . .?
[13] Pritchard
J. dismissed the action in its entirety. She characterized the claim as a s.
24 Charter claim, which she found to be subject to s. 3 of The Limitation
of Actions Act, a limitation period of general application. And
since it was “common ground” that the action was commenced outside of the
six-year time limit, Pritchard J. determined that the claims were
statute-barred.
B. Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, 2007 SKCA
66, 299 Sask. R. 162
[14] Gerwing
J.A., writing for the majority, found that nothing in the material warranted
immediately striking the claims seeking declarations of invalidity (set out in
subparas. 30(a) to (c)), since applications for declarations of invalidity are
not generally governed by limitations statutes. However, she found that the
remaining claims (subparas. 30(d) to (h)) were for relief of a personal nature
and, whether claimed under s. 24 of the Charter or flowing from a
declaration of invalidity under s. 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982 ,
were subject to the limitations statute and had been correctly struck out as
they were statute-barred. Gerwing J.A. severed the portions of the appellant’s
claim seeking declarations of unconstitutionality from the claims seeking
personal relief.
[15] Smith
J.A. agreed that s. 3 of The Limitation of Actions Act could operate to
limit the extent of the appellant’s relief flowing from a s. 52 declaration.
However, she disagreed with Gerwing J.A.’s conclusion that the appellant’s
claims were statute-barred. In her view, if the appellant could persuade the
trial court that her case was one of ongoing discrimination, based on her
continuing status and repeated each month she does not receive a monthly
benefit, the claim was not out of time. Smith J.A. would have reinstated all
of the appellant’s claims.
III. Analysis
A. Does Section 3 of The Limitation of Actions Act Apply to the
Appellant’s Claims for Personal Relief?
[16] It was
argued below that statutory limitation periods do not apply to personal claims
for constitutional relief. Personal claims for constitutional relief are
claims brought as an individual qua individual for a personal remedy.
As will be discussed below, personal claims in this sense must be distinguished
from claims which may enure to affected persons generally under an action for a
declaration that a law is unconstitutional.
[17] The
argument that The Limitation of Actions Act does not apply to
personal claims was abandoned before us, counsel for the appellant conceding
that The Limitations of Actions Act applies to such claims. This
is consistent with this Court’s decision in Kingstreet Investments Ltd. v.
New Brunswick (Finance), 2007 SCC 1, [2007] 1 S.C.R. 3, which held that
limitation periods apply to claims for personal remedies that flow from the
striking down of an unconstitutional statute.
B. Are the Appellant’s Personal Claims
Statute-Barred?
[18] In
order to determine whether the appellant’s personal claims are statute-barred,
it is necessary to pinpoint when her cause of action arose. In my view, her
cause of action arose on April 17, 1985 when s. 15 of the Charter came
into effect. The appellant was denied benefits pursuant to the operation of s.
68(1) of the 1978 Act. However, she had no cognizable legal right upon which
to base her claim until s. 15 of the Charter came into force. On April
17, 1985 a claim that the non-receipt of benefits pursuant to s. 68(1) of the
1978 Act discriminated against her on the basis of marital status became
actionable. Although the appellant does not directly challenge the
constitutionality of the 1978 Act, it is the operation of the 1978 Act that
ultimately forms the basis of her discrimination claim. (These reasons assume,
without deciding, that a challenge to a pre-Charter denial of benefits
would be a permissible application of the Charter .)
[19] Before
this Court, the appellant argued that a new cause of action arose when the
government adopted remedial legislation reinstating the pensions of persons who
had remarried on or after April 17, 1985, and passed The Special Payment
(Dependent Spouses) Act. This cause of action is said to rest on the
under-inclusivity of this remedial legislation. The appellant did not benefit
from the remedial regulations since she had remarried prior to April 17, 1985.
She chose not to apply for the $80,000 lump-sum payment under The Special
Payment (Dependent Spouses) Act, but instead brought this action on
March 31, 2000.
[20] This
argument cannot succeed. The appellant’s cause of action must be based, as
explained above, on the unconstitutionality of the 1978 Act. Subsequent attempts by the Legislature to lessen the discriminatory
effects of legislation do not create a new cause of action in her
favour. The remedial provisions did not affect her position in any way.
[21] In her
written materials, the appellant, relying on Kingstreet, asserted that
her personal claims are not statute-barred because the limitation period is
rolling in nature, applying anew to each pension payment that she did not
receive. However, it is clear that such a result is dependent on a new cause
of action arising with each event.
[22]
In Kingstreet, a new cause of action was
said to arise each time a payment of tax was made under unconstitutional
legislation. This case is distinguishable from the present case. As stated by
this Court in Canada (Attorney General) v. Hislop, 2007 SCC 10, [2007] 1
S.C.R. 429:
Where the government has collected taxes in violation of
the Constitution, there can be only one possible remedy: restitution to the
taxpayer. In contrast, where a scheme for benefits falls foul of the s. 15
guarantee of equal benefit under the law, we normally do not know what the
legislature would have done . . . . [para. 108]
The renewing cause of action argument cannot succeed as it assumes
that the benefits which were terminated would have otherwise been paid.
[23] In
this case, there is but one cause of action which arose on April 17, 1985, when
s. 15 of the Charter came into force.
[24] Since
the appellant’s cause of action arose on April 17, 1985 and the six-year
limitation period set out s. 3 of The Limitation of Actions Act is
applicable, the appellant’s personal claims, which were commenced almost a
decade out of time, are statute-barred.
C. The Claim for a Declaration of
Constitutional Invalidity
[25] The
Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the appellant’s right to maintain her claims
for a declaration under s. 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982 that the
impugned legislative provisions were unconstitutional insofar as they operated
on discriminatory grounds.
[26] It
will be for the trial judge to determine whether a declaration of invalidity
should be granted, and if so, what remedies if any should be granted. Because
the appellant’s personal claims are statute-barred, any remedies flowing from
s. 52 would not be personal remedies, but would be remedies from which the
appellant, as an affected person, might benefit.
[27] It is
important to distinguish the appellant’s personal, or in personam, remedies,
brought by her as an individual, from an in rem remedy flowing from s.
52 that may extend a benefit to the appellant and all similarly affected
persons. As stated in the factum of the intervener the Attorney General of
Ontario:
Where legislation is found to be unconstitutionally underinclusive, the
prospective remedial option chosen by the court might extend the benefit at
issue through severance or reading in, or it might suspend the operation of the
declaration of invalidity to allow the government to determine whether to
cancel, modify, or extend the benefit at issue. If the unconstitutional
underinclusive benefit is extended to include the [appellant’s] Charter claiman[t]
group, whether through the court’s s. 52(1) declaration or through government’s
response to the court’s s. 52(1) declaration, the [appellant], like any
otherwise eligible person [in the claimant group], reaps the benefit of the s.
52(1) declaration, even if the claimant does not obtain a personalized remedy
from the court. [para. 45]
IV. Conclusion
[28] The
only issue on this appeal is whether the appellant’s claims for personal relief
are statute-barred. For the foregoing reasons, I conclude that they are.
[29] The
appeal is dismissed and the order of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal
affirmed. I would answer the constitutional question in the negative.
Appeal dismissed.
Solicitors for the appellant: Stamatinos Leland &
Campbell, Kamsack, Saskatchewan.
Solicitor for the respondent the Province of
Saskatchewan: Attorney General for Saskatchewan, Regina.
Solicitors for the respondent the Workers’ Compensation
Board: MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman, Regina.
Solicitor for the intervener the Attorney General of
Canada: Attorney General of Canada, Toronto.
Solicitor for the intervener the Attorney General of
Ontario: Attorney General of Ontario, Toronto.
Solicitor for the intervener the Attorney General of
Quebec: Attorney General of Quebec, Ste‑Foy.
Solicitor for the intervener the Attorney General of New
Brunswick: Attorney General of New Brunswick, Fredericton.
Solicitor for the intervener the Attorney General of
Manitoba: Attorney General of Manitoba, Winnipeg.
Solicitor for the intervener the Attorney General of British
Columbia: Attorney General of British Columbia, Victoria.
Solicitor for the intervener the Attorney General of
Alberta: Attorney General of Alberta, Edmonton.
Solicitor for the intervener the Attorney General of Newfoundland and
Labrador: Attorney General of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s.