Protecting Air Service Act (S.C. 2012, c. 2)

Marginal note:Arbitrator’s duties

• 29 (1) Subject to section 31, within 90 days after being appointed, or within any longer period that may be specified by the Minister, the arbitrator must

  • (a) determine the matters on which the employer and the union were in agreement as of the date specified for the purposes of paragraph 28(1)(a);

  • (b) determine the matters remaining in dispute on that date;

  • (c) select, in order to resolve the matters remaining in dispute, either the final offer submitted by the employer or the final offer submitted by the union; and

  • (d) make a decision in respect of the resolution of the matters referred to in this subsection and forward a copy of the decision to the Minister, the employer and the union.

• Marginal note:Guiding principle

  (2) In making the selection of a final offer, the arbitrator is to be guided by the need for terms and conditions of employment that are consistent with those in other airlines and that will provide the necessary degree of flexibility to ensure

  • (a) the short-and long-term economic viability and competitiveness of the employer; and

  • (b) the sustainability of the employer’s pension plan, taking into account any short-term funding pressures on the employer.

• Marginal note:If no final offer submitted

  (3) If either the employer or the union fails to provide the arbitrator with a final offer in accordance with paragraph 28(1)(c), the arbitrator must select the final offer provided by the other party.

• Marginal note:Contractual language

  (4) The arbitrator’s decision must be drafted in a manner that constitutes a new collective agreement between the employer and the union and, to the extent that it is possible, incorporate the contractual language that is referred to in paragraph 28(1)(a) and that is in the final offer selected by the arbitrator.

Marginal note:Proceedings prohibited

30 No order is to be made, no process is to be entered into and no proceeding is to be taken in court

• (a) to question the appointment of the arbitrator; or

• (b) to review, prohibit or restrain any proceeding or decision of the arbitrator.

Marginal note:New collective agreement not precluded

31 Nothing in this Part precludes the employer and the union from entering into a new collective agreement at any time before the arbitrator makes a decision and, if they do so, the arbitrator’s duties under this Part cease as of the day on which the new collective agreement is entered into.

New Collective Agreement

Marginal note:New collective agreement

• 32 (1) Despite anything in Part I of the Canada Labour Code, the arbitrator’s decision constitutes a new collective agreement between the employer and the union that is effective and binding on the parties beginning on the day on which it is made. However, that Part applies in respect of the new collective agreement as if it had been entered into under that Part.

• Marginal note:Coming into effect of provisions

  (2) The new collective agreement may provide that any of its provisions are effective and binding on a day that is before or after the day on which the new collective agreement becomes effective and binding.

• Marginal note:Amendments

  (3) Nothing in this Part is to be construed so as to limit or restrict the rights of the parties to agree to amend any provision of the new collective agreement, other than a provision relating to its term, and to give effect to the amendment.

PART 3General

Costs

Marginal note:Costs

33 All costs incurred by Her Majesty in right of Canada relating to the appointment of an arbitrator and the performance of an arbitrator’s duties under this Act are debts due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered as such, in any court of competent jurisdiction, in equal parts from, in the case of an appointment under Part 1, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the employer, and in the case of an appointment under Part 2, the Air Canada Pilots Association and the employer.

Enforcement

Marginal note:Individuals

• 34 (1) An individual who contravenes any provision of this Act is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable, for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues, to a fine of

  • (a) not more than $50,000 if the individual was acting in the capacity of an officer or representative of the employer, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers or the Air Canada Pilots Association when the offence was committed; or

  • (b) not more than $1,000 in any other case.

• Marginal note:Employer or union

  (2) If the employer, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers or the Air Canada Pilots Association contravenes any provision of this Act, it is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable, for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues, to a fine of not more than $100,000.

Marginal note:No imprisonment

35 Despite subsection 787(2) of the Criminal Code, no term of imprisonment is to be imposed in default of payment of a fine that is imposed under section 34.

Marginal note:Recovery of fines

36 If a person is convicted of an offence under section 34 and the fine that is imposed is not paid when required, the prosecutor may, by filing the conviction, enter as a judgment the amount of the fine and costs, if any, in a superior court of the province in which the trial was held, and the judgment is enforceable against the person in the same manner as if it were a judgment rendered against the person in that court in civil proceedings.

Marginal note:Presumption

37 For the purposes of this Act, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Air Canada Pilots Association are deemed to be persons.

Coming into Force

Marginal note:Coming into force

Footnote ^*38 This Act comes into force on the expiry of the twenty-fourth hour after the time at which it is assented to.

• Return to footnote ^*[Note: Act in force March 16, 2012.]