Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board Act (S.C. 2013, c. 40, s. 365)

Marginal note:Delegation by Board

24 The Board may

• (a) authorize the Chairperson to exercise any of its powers or perform any of its duties or functions, other than the power to make regulations; and

• (b) authorize any person to exercise any of its powers under paragraphs 20(d) to (f) and require the person to report to it on what the person has done.

Chairperson

Marginal note:Chairperson’s duties

25 The Chairperson has supervision over and direction of the Board’s work, including

• (a) the assignment and reassignment of matters that the Board is seized of to panels;

• (b) the composition of panels; and

• (c) the determination of the date, time and place of hearings.

Marginal note:Delegation by Chairperson

26 The Chairperson may authorize a Vice-chairperson to exercise any of the Chairperson’s powers or perform any of the Chairperson’s duties or functions, including powers, duties or functions delegated to the Chairperson by the Board.

Marginal note:Acting Chairperson

• 27 (1) If the Chairperson is absent or unable to act or the office of Chairperson is vacant, a Vice-chairperson designated by the Minister is to act as Chairperson.

• Marginal note:Absence of Chairperson and Vice-chairpersons

  (2) If the Chairperson and the Vice-chairpersons are absent or unable to act, or all of those offices are vacant, the Minister may designate a member to act as Chairperson but no member so designated has authority to act as Chairperson for more than 90 days without the Governor in Council’s approval.

28 [Repealed before coming into force, 2014, c. 20, s. 471]

29 [Repealed before coming into force, 2014, c. 20, s. 471]

Experts

Marginal note:Experts and advisors

30 The Chief Administrator of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada may engage on a temporary basis the services of mediators and other experts to assist the Board in an advisory capacity and, subject to the Governor in Council’s approval, fix their remuneration.

Protection

Marginal note:Board members and experts not compellable

• 31 (1) A member of the Board or any person who is engaged under section 30 is not competent or compellable to appear as a witness in any civil action, suit or other proceeding respecting information obtained in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties and functions.

• Marginal note:Chief Administrator and employees not compellable

  (2) The Chief Administrator or an employee of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada is not competent or compellable to appear as a witness in any civil action, suit or other proceeding respecting information obtained in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties and functions in providing services to the Board.

Marginal note:No disclosure of notes and drafts

32 Notes or draft orders or decisions of the Board or of any of its members are not to be disclosed without the consent of the person who made them.

Marginal note:Immunity from proceedings  — Board members, experts and others

• 33 (1) No criminal or civil proceedings lie against a member of the Board, any person who is engaged under section 30 or any person who is acting on the Board’s behalf for anything done  —  or omitted to be done  —  or reported or said by that member or that person in good faith in the course of the exercise or performance or purported exercise or performance of their powers, duties or functions.

• Marginal note:Immunity from proceedings  — Chief Administrator and employees

  (2) No criminal or civil proceedings lie against the Chief Administrator or an employee of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada for anything done  —  or omitted to be done  —  or reported or said by that person in good faith in the course of the exercise or performance or purported exercise or performance of their powers, duties or functions in providing services to the Board.

Review and Enforcement of Orders and Decisions

Marginal note:No review by court

• 34 (1) Every order or decision of the Board is final and is not to be questioned or reviewed in any court, except in accordance with the Federal Courts Act on the grounds referred to in paragraph 18.1(4)(a), (b) or (e) of that Act.

• Marginal note:Standing of Board

  (2) The Board has standing to appear in proceedings under subsection (1) for the purpose of making submissions regarding the standard of review to be used with respect to its orders or decisions and its jurisdiction, policies and procedures.

• Marginal note:No review by certiorari, etc.

  (3) Except as permitted by subsection (1), no order, decision or proceeding of the Board made or carried on under or purporting to be made or carried on under any Act of Parliament may, on any ground, including the ground that the order, decision or proceeding is beyond the Board’s jurisdiction to make or carry on or that, in the course of any proceeding, the Board for any reason exceeded or lost its jurisdiction,

  • (a) be questioned, reviewed, prohibited or restrained; or

  • (b) be made the subject of any proceedings in or any process of any court, whether by way of injunction, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto or otherwise.

Marginal note:Filing of Board’s orders in Federal Court

• 35 (1) The Board must, on the written request of any person or organization affected by any order of the Board, file a certified copy of the order, exclusive of the reasons for it, in the Federal Court, unless, in the Board’s opinion,

  • (a) there is no indication, or likelihood, of failure to comply with the order; or

  • (b) there is another good reason why the filing of the order in the Federal Court would serve no useful purpose.

• Marginal note:Effect of filing

  (2) An order of the Board becomes an order of the Federal Court when a certified copy of it is filed in that court, and it may subsequently be enforced as such.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

36 The Board may make regulations respecting

• (a) the practice and procedure for hearings and pre-hearing proceedings of the Board;

• (b) the use of any means of telecommunication in the conduct of its activities;

• (c) the hearing or determination of any application, complaint, question or dispute that may be made to, referred to or otherwise come before the Board;

• (d) the establishment of an expeditious procedure and matters that may be determined under that procedure;

• (e) the forms to be used in respect of any proceeding that may come before the Board;

• (f) the manner in which and the period during which evidence and information may be presented to the Board in connection with any proceeding that may come before it;

• (g) the time within which and the persons to whom notices, other than those referred to in subsections 130(1) and (2) of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, and other documents must be sent or given, and when the notices are deemed to have been sent, given or received; and

• (h) any other matters or things that are incidental or conducive to the exercise of the Board’s powers and the performance of its duties and functions.

Panels

Marginal note:Panels

• 37 (1) Subject to subsection (2), matters of which the Board is seized are to be heard by a panel consisting of one member.

• Marginal note:Three-member panels

  (2) If the Chairperson considers that the complexity of a matter requires it, he or she may assign the matter to a panel consisting of three members.

• Marginal note:Chairperson of three-member panel

  (3) If the Chairperson is a member of a three-person panel, he or she is to be its chairperson; otherwise, he or she must designate a member of it to be its chairperson.

Marginal note:Member’s death or incapacity

• 38 (1) In the event of the death or incapacity of a member of a three-member panel, other than the death or incapacity of the chairperson of the panel, the chairperson of the panel may determine any matter that was before the panel and his or her decision is deemed to be the panel’s decision.

• Marginal note:Chairperson’s death or incapacity

  (2) In the event of the death or incapacity of the chairperson of a panel, or of the member when the panel consists of one member, the Chairperson must establish a new panel to hear and determine the matter on any terms and conditions that the Chairperson may specify for the protection and preservation of the rights and interests of the parties.

Marginal note:Powers, rights and privileges

39 A panel has all of the Board’s powers, rights and privileges with respect to any matter assigned to the panel.

Marginal note:Panel’s decision

• 40 (1) A decision made by a majority of the members of a panel is the decision of the panel or, if no decision is supported by the majority, the decision of the chairperson of the panel is the decision of the panel.

• Marginal note:Board’s decision

  (2) A decision of a panel is a decision of the Board.

Witness Fees

Marginal note:Payment of witness fees

41 A person who is summoned by the Board to attend as a witness at any of its proceedings is entitled to receive fees and allowances for so attending that are equal to those to which the person would be entitled if they were summoned to attend before the Federal Court.

Annual Report

Marginal note:Obligation to prepare report

• 42 (1) As soon as feasible after the end of each fiscal year, the Board must prepare and submit to the Minister a report on its activities during the immediately preceding fiscal year, other than its activities under the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act.

• Marginal note:Tabling in Parliament

  (2) The Minister must cause the report to be tabled in each House of Parliament within the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives it.