Moreover, it is an open question as to whether collective bargaining can be limited to the duty to bargain in good faith. Grounding its decision in international law, specifically International Labour Organization and United Nations Conventions that Canada has ratified, the Supreme Court of Canada has opened the door to the question of whether freedom of association also includes the right to strike. It is in this context that the s.1 analysis may play a more prominent role, as it did in the dissenting judgment of Deschamps J.

While it is heartening for people who are concerned with the dignity of workers that the Supreme Court has elevated collective bargaining to a constitutional right, it is unlikely that defensive battles fought in courts can turn the economic and political tide that has undermined the basis for transforming these rights into job security and improved wages for working people.