Article content continued

If the application is accepted, the CFLPA hopes it would establish a precedent for players with seven other CFL teams based in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

“We have applications prepared for all provinces,” Ramsay said.

“We have given a certain amount of time to allow the process in Alberta to take place. We knew going in that there was something on an expectation that it could be a lengthy process with the number of points brought up in that review.”

Ramsay said injury rehabilitation had always been a priority for the association, but the Alberta review process provided an opportunity to push ahead. Further motivation came, he added, from the CFL’s legal position during court proceedings in Bruce’s case.

Before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the CFL said the arbitration process set out in the collective agreement with the CFLPA allowed for fair compensation and rehabilitation for injured players, so there was no need for an exception to previous Canadian rulings that unionized employees could generally not seek relief in court for injuries.

The court sided with the league in its March 2016 ruling, which was upheld earlier this year by the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Bruce’s lawyers have filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

“The position that the CFL took in that court (hearing) does not allow for the members to be fairly rehabilitated through the court system,” Ramsay said. “Now, prior to that, players used to be able to go through the courts to find a solution to injury issues, and the position that the CFL took and the subsequent ruling of the courts closed that door to that remedy by saying the only option would be to go through the collective agreement, knowing full well that our collective agreement (benefit coverage) was capped at 12 months.”

Those 12 months of coverage relate only to specific injuries, such as a knee or an ankle or a shoulder, and the clock starts ticking on the date of the injury. A CFL “veteran” whose has played more than six games also receives general medical benefits until the first day of the following season. A “rookie” with less than six games of experience has only injury-related coverage for 12 months.

A CFL spokesman said the league would decline to comment on the topic.