The bank, itself a creation of a merger between the Provincial Bank and the Canadian National Bank, had closed a unionized branch and incorporated it in a non-unionized branch. The union complained to the Canada Labour Relations Board, which found that the bank had closed the branch for “anti-union reasons,” infringed the Canada Labour Code and ordered various remedies. But wait, there’s more: The Law Society will require, from firms with at least 10 lawyers or paralegals, an “inclusion self-assessment” every two years; will then publish “an inclusion index”; will “enact, as appropriate, progressive compliance measures” with companies and lawyers who don’t comply. Since then, one lawyer, Joe Groia, has asked the Law Society to consider an exemption for “conscientious objectors,” and another, Lakehead University law professor Ryan Alford, has filed an application in Ontario Superior Court seeking an injunction to halt the Law Society until the matter can be fully argued. Alford says the directives compel lawyers “to communicate ideas and in particular…to communicate political expression….

Source: National Post November 09, 2017 00:00 UTC