Articles

This is the latest in a series of bulletins on the contractual framework for IT Solutions projects for the implementation of information technology solutions.
Procuring effective IT solutions and ensuring they are properly deployed and successfully implemented is now a necessity for any organization seeking to maintain or optimize the effectiveness of its business processes. Such projects generally require the professional services of the editor of the desired IT solution or consultants familiar with the technology involved.

On November 5, 2018 the Quebec Superior Court decided that the exclusion of management personnel from the Labour Code (the “Code”) pursuant to section 1(l)1o thereof does not unduly infringe the freedom of association guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Canadian Charter”) and the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (the “Quebec Charter”), and is thus constitutionally valid, applicable and operative.

The Quebec Court of Appeal recently reminded us, in the matter of El-Alloul v. Procureure générale du Québec, that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”) protects the right to freedom of religion to the extent that the exercise of that right does not conflict with or harm an overriding public interest, including another Charter-protected right.

On November 29, the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered a decision of major importance for Quebec employers, in what has come to be known as the Steamatic case.

This matter involved the policy of the Commission des normes, de l’équité et de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (the “CNESST”), adopted in April 2015 based on an interpretation of a 2010 decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal (Société canadienne des postes v. Morissette, 2010 QCCA 291) whereby the date of a worker’s resumption of capacity to work and the end of the payments for his or her treatment always corresponded to the date on which the worker was informed by his or her physician or by the CNESST that he or she was able to return to work.

On June 21, 2018 the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (the “GGPPA”), published pursuant to Part 5 of the Budget Implementation Act 2018, received royal assent and established the federal standard for a compliant carbon pricing regime. The purpose of the GGPPA is to incentivize greenhouse gas emissions regulation broadly throughout Canada, notably considering the different policy initiatives in this regard across the country. The GGPPA will be implemented in those provinces or territories that either request the federal system or do not have a legislative scheme in place which the federal government deems compliant with the federal standard.

On October 11, 2018, in a highly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously dismissed an appeal brought by the Mikisew Cree First Nation (the “Mikisew”), concluding that the Federal Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the application for judicial review of measures taken by ministers exercising legislative powers, as they are not then acting as a “federal board, commission or other tribunal” whose actions are subject to judicial review.