- Parties: The applicant was London Civic Employees Union Local 107. The respondents were the Corporation of the City of London and Ian Anderson. 

- Subject Matter: On Sept. 13, 2022, the Governor in Council issued a proclamation setting aside a day to honour the memory of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 19, 2022. A collective agreement between the City of London and the applicant union, which represented the city’s outside workers, listed paid statutory holidays. The city refused to offer a paid holiday to the union’s members. The city believed that the proclamation did not fall within the wording of the Bills of Exchange Act, 1985 (BEA). The union filed a grievance. Arbitrator Ian Anderson, whom the parties appointed to decide the grievance, agreed with the city. 

- Ruling: The court ruled in the respondents’ favour and dismissed the application. The court deemed the arbitrator’s award reasonable. The court found the arbitrator’s distinction between the wording of the BEA and of the proclamation transparent, intelligible, and justified. The court saw no error in the arbitrator’s application of interpretive principles and in his approach to the government officials’ contemporaneous statements. The court found it reasonable for the arbitrator to consider the BEA’s purpose the overriding concern. 

- Date: The court released its decision on Dec. 4, 2024. 

- Venue: This was a case before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice - Divisional Court. 

- Amount: The court ordered the applicant to pay the city costs of $5,000, all-inclusive, in line with the parties’ agreement.