Applying the Charter John Nesbitt is an accounting clerk, employed by the municipality of Anytown, Alberta, in the town's financial services department. Like all municipalities, the town has an elected group of councilors and a mayor, who meet to set policy and enact bylaws under the authority of the Municipal Government Act of the province. A bylaw is a type of subordinate legislation. The town employs a large group of employees, from those who work out of doors maintaining streets and roads, to those who work in the town hall itself, serving the public and managing the complex business affairs of the municipality. Following a recent election, the newly elected mayor and councilors embark on a plan that, in their view, will improve the organizational culture of the staff and managers employed by the town. Two new complimentary bylaws are introduced and passed: the first bylaw makes it a requirement that all full-time, permanent employees of the municipality are required to reside within town limits. The motive for this bylaw is to demonstrate that the town is a good place to live, and employees who earn a living working for the town should be expected to live in the town. The second bylaw states that no full-time, permanent employee of the town is permitted to publicly criticize the decisions of town council. John Nesbitt lives with his family on an acreage sometres outside of the town corporate limits. He is a full-time, permanent employee who has worked for Anytown in the finances department for more than seven years, and he has no desire to move his residence or to seek new employment. Nesbitt writes a letter to the editor of the local newspaper; the letter is published, and is critical of the new residency requirement bylaw governing employees of the municipality. Nesbitt's supervisor advises him that he should write a letter of retraction to the newspaper, and asks what his intentions are regarding his future employment with the town. Nesbitt seeks legal counsel from a lawyer who believes that court action against the municipality, under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is warranted. Question 2 Not yet answered Marked out of 5.00 Flag question If, instead of being employed by a municipality, Nesbitt is an accounting clerk employed by a private business, explain whether he can use the Charter to question the validity of employment regulations made by his employer that appear to offend his rights. What other legislation provides protections to employees?
