Canadian Lawyer

www.canadianlawyermag.com 41 TOP LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT BOUTIQUES FEATURES traditional union collective bargaining . . ." says McGinnis. "I'm old enough to remem- ber when the postal workers union could basically shut the country down by going on strike. And there's no way that — like, that just doesn't happen anymore." In 2019, the federal government over- hauled the labour code, with some changes in force since Sept. 2019 and others later in 2020. The changes include increasing per- sonal leave of absences, increasing vacation and equal pay for temporary, part-time, sea- sonal and casual employees. There are also amendments to the occupational health and safety section of the labour code aimed at curbing sexual harassment and violence. Provincial governments also reformed labour and employment law in 2019. Canada's two westernmost provinces took starkly dif- ferent paths, with B.C.'s NDP government leaning toward unions and employee benefits and Alberta's United Conservative Party — by scrapping reforms made by their NDP prede- cessors — leaning toward employers. In Ontario, Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government — like Alberta — enacted labour reforms to reverse recent changes made by the previous government. David Whitten, a partner at Top Boutique Whitten & Lublin, says it appears that each level of government in Canada is pandering to the public with labour and employment reforms. "Thankfully, Doug Ford made some recent changes that are going to make us a little more nimble," Whitten says. But the changes coming so close to the Liberal former government's put some clients in a tailspin, says his co-founder Daniel Lublin. "What, definitely, I can see with many of my clients is they're like, 'What is the law now? And why is it changing so much?' It's eroded confidence in the system," he says. For Barrett, the Liberal reforms were "a fairly modest attempt to deal with the reality of how the workplace is changing." "The fact is that both labour and employ- ment law needs to be modernized in order to 2020 Top Labour & Employment Boutiques Fast and gradual change are both driving the need for labour and employment expertise C A N A D I A N L AW Y E R M A G A Z I N E 2020-21 TOP 10 Labour & Employment BOUTIQUE IN 2019, lawyers from Canadian Lawyer's Top Labour and Employment boutiques saw rap- idly changing government policy and more of the slow, decades-long evolution of the rela- tionship between labour and management. The 2020 Canadian Lawyer Top Labour and Employment Boutiques, listed alpha- betically, are Barteaux Durnford, Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP, Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP, Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP, Neuman Thompson, Rae Christen Jeffries LLP, Roper Greyell LLP, Sherrard Kuzz LLP, Turnpenney Milne LLP and Whitten & Lublin. The top five Union-side Labour and Employment Boutiques are CaleyWray Labour and Employment Lawyers, Cavalluzzo LLP, Goldblatt Partners LLP, Pink Larkin and Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP. Many of the changes in labour law can be traced to broader cultural changes, says Goldblatt Partners' Steven Barrett. There is a greater awareness of sexual harassment and racism, and cannabis and social media are both creating new issues in the workplace, he says. "None of these issues were as prevalent a few decades ago," he says. Another trend impacting labour and employment law has been moving steadily for decades: the decline of organized labour. Greg McGinnis, a partner at Top Boutique Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP, says he's seen labour unions continue to struggle to organize in the private sector. With fewer unionized workplaces, they wield less political power and hold less cul- tural relevance, he says. "Equality issues, environmental issues — those are bigger issues for people now than "Equality issues, environmental issues — those are bigger issues for people now than traditional union collective bargaining . . ." Greg McGinnis, Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP

• Cover