PSAC Pay Equity Bulletin

Federal government appeal dismissed

The PSAC’s quest for pay equity for our members working for a number of separate employers is back on track. At a hearing on October 23, Federal Court - Trial Division Justice Tremblay-Lamer didn’t need much time to consider the federal government’s appeal of an August 14 decision denying the government’s motion to dismiss the PSAC’s case without a hearing. She dismissed the appeal from the bench. The original decision denying the government’s motion had been issued by a prothonotary of the Federal Court. 

While the government has managed to delay any real action on the case for almost a year, a date has been set for the next stage of the process. The government must now file a statement of defence by November 9.  

The government has 30 days in which to appeal Justice Tremblay-Lamer’s decision to the Federal Court of Appeal. In the meantime, the case will proceed.  

The case affects PSAC members employed by the Office of the Auditor General, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Communications Security Establishment, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Statistical Survey Operations and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (the former Medical Research Council).