Evidence and legal test<\/p>\n
The hearing proceeded on the basis of detailed written \u201cwill\u2011say\u201d statements and cross\u2011examinations conducted by videoconference, supported by dozens of exhibits. The seven pilots testified at length about their Christian faith and how it shaped their objections to COVID\u201119 vaccination, including beliefs about the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, opposition to abortion and the use of fetal cell lines, and the role of conscience as an expression of God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n
Hayes found the pilots to be truthful witnesses, stating that there was \u201cno question of personal integrity\u201d and that their testimony \u201cwas given honestly in my estimation.\u201d He wrote that their evidence was delivered \u201cwithout apology, embarrassment, reservation, or hint of proselytization,\u201d and that there was \u201cno indication that their testimony was contrived or tailored in any way to conceal or advance an improper objective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Air Canada\u2019s Workplace Accommodation Manager, Sam Eichenwald, who had determined more than 500 exemption requests across several bargaining units, also testified. Hayes said he was \u201cquite satisfied that he did his best in the circumstances, acting in good faith throughout,\u201d but nevertheless examined the structure of the employer\u2019s exemption process.<\/p>\n
Findings against Air Canada and order<\/p>\n
Hayes framed his analysis under the Supreme Court of Canada\u2019s Amselem decision, which focuses on an individual\u2019s sincerely held, subjective religious belief and its nexus to the practice in question. He noted that \u201cthe jurisprudential landscape with respect to exemptions on the grounds of religion\/creed in the context of a mandatory COVID\u201119 vaccination policy is well\u2011established.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arbitrator found that the religious objections of the seven pilots \u201cwere never hidden\u201d and that they \u201ccomplied with employer requests from the beginning.\u201d He concluded that \u201cif focus had remained on the Amselem baseline \u2018subjective religious belief\u2019 requirement without diversion \u2013 Air Canada should have allowed their requests for religious exemption from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Evidence and legal test The hearing proceeded on the basis of detailed written \u201cwill\u2011say\u201d statements and cross\u2011examinations conducted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23684,228867,49,48,19081,44],"class_list":["post-606284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-air-canada","tag-air-line-pilots-association-alpa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-covid-19-vaccination","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}