Mandatory Retirement is Abolished in the Federal Sector

Thursday, December 15^th, 2011

Bill C-13 received Royal Assent today. The Bill repeals Paragraph 15(1)(c) of the Canadian Human Rights Act, the mandatory retirement exemption to the general prohibition against age discrimination that has been in the Act since it became law in 1978. The repeal of the provision will come into force one year from today, on December 15, 2012.

Raymond Hall, retired Air Canada pilot and counsel for the pilots, writes on his Fly Past 60 website:

The repeal of this provision marks a watershed event for the Fly Past 60 Coalition. Although we had very little impact, if any, on the government's decision to see things "our way," there is little doubt of two facts. First, as Victor Hugo once said, "All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come..." . Well, this idea's time came some time ago. But it came.

Second, it was our Charter challenge that brought this issue in the federal sector to the fore. We gave the government the impetus of the judiciary to say, "this is the right thing to do." And they did. After many, many attempts, they finally did.

So, now, we have effectively created two segments of Air Canada pilots, which is a new challenge for us. There are those who will turn age 60 after December 1, 2012, who will elect to leave their employment at a date and in the circumstances of their own choosing. And there are those who cannot benefit from this legislative change, who have been or will still be forced to leave their employment prior to December 1, 2012, and will have to persuade the Tribunal and the Courts that their termination of employment is contrary to law.

That fight is not over.

Finally, there is one more fight before us. In our view, this last fight is not nearly as significant as the prior fights, but it is significant, nevertheless. That is, Air Canada is still refusing to recognize the law. It is still asserting that the termination of pilots' employment at age 60 is a bona fide occupational requirement, by reason of the ICAO restirictions on the operation of flight by pilots-in-command who are over age 60. That fight continues, and we shall have more to say on it in due course.