{"id":11819,"date":"2019-10-15T17:08:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T21:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/?p=11819"},"modified":"2020-11-27T11:11:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T16:11:34","slug":"leaf-granted-leave-to-intervene-in-pension-equality-case-fraser-v-canada-attorney-general-before-the-supreme-court-of-canada","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-granted-leave-to-intervene-in-pension-equality-case-fraser-v-canada-attorney-general-before-the-supreme-court-of-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"LEAF Granted Leave to Intervene in Pension Equality Case Fraser v Canada (Attorney General) before the Supreme Court of Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Motion-to-Intervene-Fraser-Blog-Post.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11652\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAF is pleased to announce that on October 11, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (the \u201cSCC\u201d) granted LEAF leave to intervene in the appeal before the SCC of the Federal Court of Appeal\u2019s decision in <em>Fraser v Canada (Attorney General)<\/em>. This case raises important issues regarding the substantive equality of women in the pension context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAF is seeking to advocate for a robust interpretation of s. 15 equality rights under the <em>Charter <\/em>to ensure that the SCC does not revert back to a formalistic and decontextualized equality analysis applied by the lower courts, which did not take into account the unique challenges faced by working women with multiple demands of caregiving responsibilities and women who face reduced pension income as a result of such responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Case<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Joanne Fraser, Allison Pilgrim and Colleen Fox (the \u201cAppellants\u201d) are former RCMP officers who participated in the RCMP\u2019s job-sharing program. Under the job-sharing program, two employees would split the hours of one full-time position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the RCMP pension plan, employees who job-share are not able to \u201cbuy back\u201d pension contributions for the hours they did not work. In contrast, employees who took an unpaid leave of absence were entitled to \u201cbuy back\u201d contributions for their time off. Employees who took the job-sharing option were overwhelmingly women with childcare obligations, resulting in their unequal access to fulsome pension benefits. The Appellants allege that their lack of ability to \u201cbuy back\u201d the pension contributions for the years when they job-shared was a violation of their s.15 equality rights under the <em>Charter<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">LEAF&rsquo;s Proposed Intervention<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAF will argue that the courts\u2019 analysis was improperly decontextualized from the gendered reality of caregiving obligations, which has been repeatedly recognized by the SCC and by international conventions regarding relevant international human rights obligations, including with respect to the gendered impact of pension scheme design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Caregiving obligations continue to be overwhelmingly borne by women, leading to female-pattern employment, including job-sharing, part-time employment, or other flexible work arrangements. In this case, the Appellants were required to make job-sharing arrangements to meet work and family obligations, resulting in negative consequences to their pension entitlements due to the pension plan design and application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lower courts\u2019 failure to conduct a contextual analysis led them to further err by introducing a new factor of individual choice to determine that there was no violation of s 15. The lower courts\u2019 reliance on personal choice as a relevant factor was misplaced and undermined a contextualized, substantive equality analysis. The lower courts further erred by failing to consider the proper role of comparison in the s. 15 framework in the context of female-pattern employment and substantive equality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, LEAF will argue that without proper regard for the relevant contextual factors, the lower courts further failed to appreciate the <em>effect <\/em>of the legislation governing RCMP pensions, and how, despite being facially neutral, the disputed pension plan provisions create and perpetuate disadvantage based on sex and family status. Whereas full-time male officers could \u201cbuy back\u201d their pension if they took an unpaid leave, the Appellant female officers whose family obligations necessitated them to engage in job-sharing were denied access to pension \u201cbuy backs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Additional Information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canlii.org\/en\/ca\/fca\/doc\/2018\/2018fca223\/2018fca223.html?resultIndex=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Federal Court of Appeal\u2019s judgment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAF is grateful to the <em>pro bono<\/em> counsel of Kate Hughes, Jan Borowy and Danielle Bisnar of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cavalluzzo.com\/\">Cavalluzzo LLP<\/a>, who will be representing LEAF before the SCC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund&nbsp;(LEAF) works to advance the substantive equality rights of women and girls through litigation, law reform, and public education. Since 1985, we have intervened in landmark cases that have advanced equality in Canada\u2014helping to prevent violence, eliminate discrimination in the workplace, provide better maternity benefits, ensure a right to pay equity, and allow access to reproductive freedoms. For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/\">www.leaf.ca<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For media inquiries, contact:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Danielle Bisnar, Partner<br>Cavalluzzo LLP<br>T: 416.964.5535<br>E: <a href=\"mailto:dbisnar@cavalluzzo.com\">dbisnar@cavalluzzo.com<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rosel Kim, Staff Lawyer<br>Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)<br>T: 416 595 7170 ext 2003<br>E: <a href=\"mailto:r.kim@leaf.ca\">r.kim@leaf.ca<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11652,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[191,186,25,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11819","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment","category-equality-law","category-featured","category-whats-new"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>LEAF Granted Leave to Intervene in Pension Equality Case Fraser v Canada (Attorney General) before the Supreme Court of Canada - LEAF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-granted-leave-to-intervene-in-pension-equality-case-fraser-v-canada-attorney-general-before-the-supreme-court-of-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LEAF Granted Leave to Intervene in Pension Equality Case Fraser v Canada (Attorney General) before the Supreme Court of Canada - LEAF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LEAF is pleased to announce that on October 11, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (the \u201cSCC\u201d) granted LEAF leave to intervene in the appeal before the SCC of the Federal Court of Appeal\u2019s decision in Fraser v Canada (Attorney General). 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