Sudbury expat appointed to Newfoundland labour board

Sudbury expat Brian Gatien has been appointed vice-chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Relations Board.

Gatien, a labour relations and employment law lawyer, used to live in Sudbury, but moved east when his partner, former Sudbury Regional Hospital CEO Vickie Kaminski, was recruited to head up Newfoundland’s Eastern Regional Health Authority.

He has since established a labour arbitration/mediation practice in Newfoundland and Labrador and maintains representation of a number of select clients in Northern Ontario.

In his new position, Gatien will act as the neutral chair of panels hearing applications and complaints under the province’s labour legislation, according to a press release.

This includes the Labour Relations Act, as well as statutes covering labour relations in the public sector, the fishing industry, education, health care, along with cases under the Labour Standards Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Smoke-Free Environment Act.

Gatien served as the commissioner on the Industrial Inquiry Commission into the 18-month-long labour dispute between Vale and the United Steelworkers in Voisey's Bay, Newfoundland.

The strike lasted from July 2009 until January 2011.

Gatien has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Laurentian University, a Master of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business, York University and a Juris Doctor degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, the press release said.

He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1980 and the Bar of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2009. Gatien also holds the designation of Certified Human Resources Professional.

He has practised law exclusively in the areas of employment and labour relations for more than 30 years. In addition, he has taught at the college and university levels at several institutions and has made seminar and conference presentations provincially, nationally and internationally.