David Yazbeck appointed to CSA Group Working Group establishing a Whistleblower Guideline in Canada

Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck is pleased to announce that David Yazbeck has been appointed to a working group established by the CSA Group to develop and publish a whistleblower guideline for Canada. The CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association) is a world leader in establishing standards in a variety of areas. Recently, CSA Group, together with the Bureau de normalisation du Quebec, established a national standard of Canada in... Read More

Board finds violation of statutory freeze

On April 23, 2013 the Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB) upheld the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s complaint against the Treasury Board and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The PSLRB found that the Treasury Board and CBSA violated the statutory freeze on terms and conditions of employment by terminating a long-standing practice of granting union officers full-time union leave with pay. This important decision clarifies the law on the... Read More

Welcome to Writing for Working People!

We are proud to introduce Ravenlaw’s new blog, Writing for Working People! Our firm has over 125 combined years of experience representing employees and unions in all aspects of labour and employment law. We have specialized expertise in a variety of areas, including federal public service employment, wrongful dismissal, human rights, administrative law, judicial review, and disability benefits. This blog is part of a new effort to share the benefit... Read More

James Cameron and Andrew Astritis present at 2013 Accommodation law Conference

On May 2, 2013, James Cameron and Andrew Astritis each presented at the 2013 Accommodation Law Conference in Ottawa, sponsored by Labour Law Online.ca, the Centre for Labour-Management Development.  Their presentations addressed Workplace Policies and the Duty to Accommodate, Discipline, Discharge and the Disabled Employee, Accommodating Family Status, Disabilities requiring special Accommodation, as well as a host of other issues: http://labourlawonline.ca/main.jsp?p=seminar_desc&seminarid=185&bndid=3&st=3 Read More

Navigating your Claim for Long-Term Disability (“LTD”) Insurance

If you cannot work due to illness or injury, you may assume your long-term disability (“LTD”) insurance benefits will provide a secure source of income replacement to cover your financial obligations and also to provide peace of mind, allowing you to focus on your health instead of financial worries. While this may be the understanding, disabled employees are often overwhelmed by daunting administrative hurdles when they attempt to access LTD... Read More

Federal Court Quashes Minister Ordered Forced Vote

On August 30, 2013, the Federal Court of Canada quashed an Order made by the Minister of Heritage, James Moore, and cancelled a forced vote on the Canada Border Services Agency’s (“CBSA”) employees in the Frontière/Border (“FB”) group. The Minister’s Order was made following a request by Treasury Board President Tony Clement for a forced vote on the employer’s final offer, dated May 6, 2013. Minister Moore ordered the vote... Read More

Ravenlaw.com introduces new Resources section

As part of the new and exciting changes to our website, we are pleased to announce the introduction of the Resources section, which will include informative articles on topics in our areas of expertise, and Writing for Working People, our new blog. We hope that these new resources will provide our clients and the community with relevant and useful information about workers’ rights in all areas of labour, employment and human... Read More

Congratulations to Morgan Rowe on the publication of her book on Disability Rights

Morgan Rowe recently published a book with Professor Ravi Malhotra of the University of Ottawa Law School entitled Exploring Disability Identity and Disability Rights through Narratives: Finding a Voice of Their Own. The book examines the life stories of twelve Canadians with physical disabilities, using their narratives to explore whether an advocacy identity helps or hinders dealing with systemic barriers for disabled people in education, employment and transportation. We all congratulate... Read More

Bill 18, Strengthening employment laws: strong mandate, or rushed half-measures?

Employment legislation has a huge impact on workers’ rights. However, employment lawyers know all too well that well-meaning legislation often fails to translate into better conditions for workers, because some workers are excluded from its protection, or it is difficult to enforce. Tomorrow, the Ontario government is set to pass Bill 18, a sweeping bill intended to strengthen existing labour and employment laws. While many of the proposed changes are... Read More

James Cameron and Andrew Astritis appear as co-counsel in Supreme Court of Canada

Ravenlaw is delighted to announce that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that pensioners at Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) are entitled to compensation for the $43 million of surplus pension contributions made to MTS prior to its privatization.  This ruling, worth well over $100 million with interest, ends a long legal battle for these workers and their unions. Congratulations to Brian Meronek, Kris Saxberg and Tomas Masi of D’Arcy... Read More