Many Questions and a Few Answers: Freedom of Association after Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, Mounted Police Association of Ontario and Meredith

Abstract

In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada returned once more to section 2(d) of the Charter (freedom of association). In recognizing a right to strike in Saskatchewan v. Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and striking down the labour relations regime applicable to RCMP officers in Mounted Police Association of Ontario v. Canada, the Court appeared to broaden the scope of the protected right. At the same time, however, the Court in Meredith v. Canada upheld wage restraint legislation as not infringing section 2(d). This article explores these cases and their antecedents, and argues that the Court's section 2(d) jurisprudence lacks coherence, and that many of the important questions about the scope of section 2(d) remain to be answered.