Union des Employes de Service, Local 298 v Bibeault

Union des Employes de Service, Local 298 v Bibeault, [1988] 2 S.C.R. 1048 is a leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on judicial review in Canadian administrative law. In this decision the court first described the "pragmatic and functional approach"^[1] to determining the standard of review for an administrative decision and provided reasons for its desirability.

Union des Employes de Service, Local 298 v Bibeault
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: October 29, 30, 1986 Judgment: December 22, 1988
Full case name	Syndicat national des employés de la Commission scolaire régionale de l'Outaouais (CSN) v Union des employés de service, local 298 (FTQ) and Mr. Réal Bibeault and Labour Court
Ruling	Appeal dismissed
Court membership
Reasons given
Majority	Beetz

Background

A labour dispute in Quebec occurred over whether a subcontractor had to keep the same benefits as its predecessor. The judgment was the original decision that it did not and was maintained.

Opinion

The court replaced the 'preliminary questions' doctrine found in Syndicat des employés de production du Québec et de l'Acadie v. Canada Labour Relations Board, [1984] 2 S.C.R. 412, with the pragmatic and functional approach. This approach involves several considerations, such as the fact that "the court examines not only the wording of the enactment conferring jurisdiction on the administrative tribunal, but the purpose of the statute creating the tribunal, the reason for its existence, the area of expertise of its members and the nature of the problem before the tribunal."^[1]

See also

• List of Supreme Court of Canada cases
• Pushpanathan v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)