In July 2019 federal correctional officer, Glenn Collison, was attending a dog handler recertification course at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) training facility. Towards the end of the course Mr Collison was asked by a colleague whether he was happy to be leaving. He then turned away from the colleague and gave the middle finger to the CBSA building and another building.

The incident was reported to management and Mr Collison was disciplined by the Correctional Service of Canda (CSC) who deducted one day’s pay of CAD $285 (£152) (€183) as punishment for “giving the middle finger to a federal government building”. Mr Collison’s warden at the CSC, who imposed the discipline, considered his actions “disrespectful”.

The labour board adjudicator Mr Christopher Rootham, however, did not agree. Mr Rootham found that while Mr Collison’s actions were “puerile” they were not worthy of discipline as “buildings do not have opinions, and giving a building the finger is different from giving a person the finger.”

He ruled that Mr Collison should be reimbursed the one day’s pay with interest.