Wage Restraint in Manitoba: Is Freedom “Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose”?

Federal and provincial governments have, over the last 50 years, passed legislation from time to time freezing the wages of public sector workers, but their power to pass such legislation has become both murkier and more constrained over the past 15 years due to the Supreme Court of Canada’s evolving jurisprudence on the right to collective bargaining under the Charter. The recent experience of the Government of Manitoba with the Public Services Sustainability Act is illustrative. This article analyzes the latest wage restraint regime in this province, the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench decision that declared it unconstitutional, and the Manitoba Court of Appeal decision that reversed the ruling of the lower court. Three interesting aspects of Manitoba’s experience with a potential s. 2(d) Charter breach are examined in detail: the necessity to consider government action in addition to legislation; the requirement to incorporate the lack of consultation and negotiation into the analysis; and the need to examine the impact of the overall wage restraint scheme on bargaining power. These three issues are extremely relevant to policy-makers considering the implementation of wage restraint legislation, and to the litigation currently underway in other provinces, such as Ontario.