''Sobeys Stores v. Yeomans and Labour Standards Tribunal (NS)''

989 Year 989 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to he ...

1 S.C.R. 238 is a leading

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

case on determining if a

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...

has the authority to hear a dispute, and more generally, the interpretation of section 96 of the

Constitution Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

Background

Sobeys Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...

, a

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

grocery chain, dismissed Yeomans, an employee of ten years. Yeomans made a complaint to the Director of Labour Standards of Nova Scotia for dismissal without just cause under the s. 67 of the Labour Standards Code. The Director held that Yeoman's claim was valid and ordered Sobeys to reinstate him. This was affirmed by the Labour Standards Tribunal. Sobeys appealed the ruling to the

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal for Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia Court of Appeal or NSCA) is the highest appeal court in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. There are currently 8 judicial seats including one assigned to the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. At any gi ...

on the basis that the tribunal did not have the constitutional authority to hear the case. Namely, that the tribunal was encroaching on the exclusive jurisdiction of the Superior courts, granted by section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867. The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal found in favour of Sobeys. The Supreme Court reconsidered this issue and in the process revamped the evaluation of section 96. The Court held that the tribunal did have the authority to hear the case, overturning the Court of Appeal.

Reasons of the court

Justice Bertha Wilson, writing for the Court, held that the Act establishing the tribunal did not violate section 96 of the Constitution. Analysis of section 96, Wilson states, involves a three-step test established in

Re Residential Tenancies Act, 1979 ''Reference Re Residential Tenancies Act (Ontario)'', 9811 S.C.R. 714 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the jurisdiction of superior courts provided by section 96 of the ''Constitution Act, 1867''. The Court formulated a three-step te ...

. The Court must 1) assess the historical conditions of the judicial system in 1867; 2) assess whether the provincial tribunal is exercising a judicial function; and 3) assess the context of the tribunal's exercise of power.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobeys Stores Ltd. V. Yeomans And Labour Standards Tribunal (Ns) Canadian administrative case law Canadian constitutional case law Supreme Court of Canada cases Labour relations in Canada Canadian labour case law 1989 in Canadian case law Sobeys Labour relations in Nova Scotia Canadian tribunals Jurisdiction Canadian federalism case law Nova Scotia law