View cases - Stewart McKelvey

majority of this Court found a breach of s. 2(d). It held that the claimants were substantiallyunable to organize without protective legislation, and declared the law to be unconstitutional.This had the effect of nullifying the exclusion of farm workers from the LRA, but this Courtsuspended the declaration of invalidity for 18 months. The majority concluded it was notnecessary to deal with the s. 15 challenge.[6] In response, the Ontario legislature enacted the AEPA in 2002, which came into2011 SCC 20 (CanLII)force on June 17, 2003. In brief, the AEPA excluded farm workers once again from the LRA, butcrafted a labour relations regime for farm workers in Ontario. It granted them the rights to formand join an employees’ association, to participate in its activities, to assemble, to makerepresentations to their employers through their association on their terms and conditions ofemployment, and the right to be protected against interference, coercion and discrimination inthe exercise of their rights (s. 1(2)). The employer must give an association the opportunity tomake representations respecting terms and conditions of employment, and it must listen to thoserepresentations or read them (s. 5). The AEPA tasks a tribunal, the Agriculture, Food and RuralAffairs Appeal Tribunal, with hearing and deciding disputes about the application of the Act (ss.2 and 11). After limited efforts to use the new protections of the AEPA, the respondentsmounted a constitutional challenge to its validity.B. The Constitutional Challenge to the AEPA[7] The respondents argue that three more protections are required to meet therequirements of s. 2(d) of the Charter: (1) statutory protection for majoritarian exclusivity,