The Manitoba Court of Appeal upheld a $19.4-million Charter damages award compensating University of Manitoba professors, following the government’s unsuccessful appeal. The compensation addresses lost earnings, interest, and strike costs due to the province’s secret intervention in contract negotiations that led to a 2016 campus strike. Myers LLP successfully argued that the University of Manitoba Faculty Association’s right to association under the Charter had been breached. This precedent-setting case opens the door to further Charter damages remedies and may have implications beyond labor and employment issues. The government has until the end of September to request a follow-up appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
