Supreme Court gives Ottawa 4-month extension for rules on RCMP collective bargaining

The federal government will have four more months to draft new legislation that would give RCMP members and reservists the right to collective bargaining, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled today.

TheRCMPis the only police service in Canada without the right tounionize.

• RCMP one step closer to collective bargaining rights
• RCMP officers have right to collective bargaining, Supreme Court rules

The SupremeCourt ruledone year ago that members of the RCMP have the right to collective bargaining as other public servants do. The court gave the federal government one year to draft new legislation, a deadline that would have expired on Saturday.

The Liberal government had asked the top court for a six-month extension.

Today, the court granted the Liberals a four-monthextension.

The court gave no reasons for its decision.

The Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada acknowledged today's ruling ina written statement.

"MPPAC has for manyyears been at the forefront of the fight to recognize the constitutional rights of RCMP members and remains focused on its goal of becoming the independent police association chosen by RCMP members to represent them,"RaeBanwarie, the president of the association said.

"The new legislation, once introduced, will provide the road map for making this goal a reality."

Ina separateruling issued Friday on the government's request for an extension on an assisted-dying law, the court noted Parliament had been dissolved for four months last year for a federal election, and gave the government a four-month extension on that basis.

Treasury Board spokesperson Jean-Luc Ferlandsaid the government was pleased with the decision, noting the government had already announced its intention to table legislation by the end of February.

"The new labour relations framework will ensure that RCMP members can exercise their charter-protected right to engage in collective bargaining by providing a labour relations regime that both complies with the Supreme Court's decision and reflects the particular operational policing environment of RCMP officers," Ferland said in an email.