She/Her Paula Knopf decided to become an arbitrator while attending her first arbitration hearing as an articling student in 1975. She was called to the Bar in 1977 and soon began Fact Finding and Mediation training with the Education and Colleges Relations Commission. That led to Ms. Knopf beginning to arbitrate in the early 1980’s. Ms. Knopf is an active mediator and arbitrator in the private and public sectors. She has been chosen to resolve disputes in Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Iqaluit, travelling as far north as Pond Inlet to hear cases. She has been named as a roster arbitrator in many collective agreements. Ms. Knopf was the Chair of the Ontario Education and Colleges Relations Commission from 1991 – 1997. She was a member of the 1996 Federal Task Force that made the recommendations for changes to Part One of the Canada Labour Code contained in the Report entitled, Seeking a Balance. Ms Knopf also served as a part-time Vice Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board and the Grievance Settlement Board. Ms. Knopf feels her most significant contribution to the labour relations community has been through her teaching and mentoring. As an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School from 1999 to 2006, she taught a Labour Arbitration seminar to countless students who have become leading practitioners in Ontario and other provinces. Ms. Knopf was also the Director of two Arbitrator Development Programs, leading to the successful careers of several much-needed new arbitrators and mediators across Canada. She also takes pride in her individual mentoring and support of colleagues. Ms. Knopf has focused her career on the importance of professional responsibility, competence, and ethics through publications, public addresses, and professional activities. To that end, she has authored several articles and contributed to many texts. She was the Director of a recent Interest Arbitration Skills Program for the Ontario public sector community. She has also helped to develop and present educational programs for the Ontario Labour-Management Arbitrators’ Association (OLMAA) and the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA). Her professional activities include being named the President of the OLMAA and the NAA’s Vice President, member of the Board of Governors, Chair of the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Grievances, and Co-Chair of two Program Committees.

Born and raised on a wheat farm in Gravelbourg, one of the few French towns in Saskatchewan, Rick studied political science as an undergraduate at the University of Saskatchewan and law at Queen’s University in Kingston. Since then, Rick has built the largest union-side labour law firm in Saskatchewan, where he is held in high regard, not only by unions, but despite his adversarial role as a union-side lawyer, by employers and employer counsel. Rick’s record of mentoring union-side lawyers is proverbial, as is his readiness to instruct the profession through educational seminars. Less well known is, as Justice Crystal Norbeck has written, “Rick’s passion for protecting and advancing human rights in his work in addictions and mental health.” Besides acting as an advocate in the field of human rights, Rick has been a key player in the development of labour law in Saskatchewan and across Canada. His impact on the evolution of the Charter of Rights cannot be overstated. In the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour case, Rick led the team of lawyers who persuaded the Supreme Court of Canada to establish the right to strike as an essential element of freedom of association under the Charter. No case has had a more significant and lasting effect on the rights of workers in the history of this country.

Following graduation from University of Toronto in history and political science and from Osgoode Hall Law School, Brian established a flourishing practice in labour law, first at Heenan Blaikie and then at Fasken’s in Toronto. In fact, he is Canada’s leading counsel for employers in the realm of federal and international labour law. In his domestic practice, Brian has acted as a lead advisor to major Canadian employers like Canada Post, Air Canada and Telus. He is counsel to FETCO, the principal association representing federally regulated employers, and on the international stage has been a member of the ILO’s governing body. His contribution, however, transcends that of a purely partisan lawyer. In recognizing the importance of addressing the “social deficit”, and in promoting the need for dialogue between labour and management, Brian has sought to bring together disparate groups with a view to accommodating their opposing interests while providing remedies for the denial of justice to individuals. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, where he lectures on “International Developments in Labour and Human Resource Policy”. No one in Canada has done more to advance an understanding of the importance to business of human rights. In this regard, he has been instrumental in pioneering dispute resolution mechanisms designed to heal divisions and resolve conflict. His contribution to the development of labour law – including the elimination of child labour, forced labour and human trafficking – has been and continues to be important and indeed irreplaceable. Brian has been widely recognized for his professional achievements and contributions to the practice of law. He is ranked by Chambers as a senior statesperson nation-wide and is a recipient of the Canadian Freedom of Association Award presented by the Canadian Industrial Relations Association.