Lavigne was not a member of the Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) and not required to be.

"[3] Under the union's constitution they were allowed to use the fees collected towards the advancement of the "common interests, economic, social and political, of the members and of all public employees, wherever possible, by all appropriate means".

OPSEU put some of the money towards interests such as disarmament campaigns, the National Union of Mine Workers in the United Kingdom, health care workers' union in Nicaragua, and sponsored events for the New Democratic Party.

The practice was not unusual for similar unions, nonetheless, Lavigne opposed many of the causes supported by OPSEU.

He brought an application for declaratory relief against the union on the basis that the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act, which gave the unions power to allocate funds to causes of their choosing, violated his right to freedom of expression and association under section 2(b) and 2(d) of the Charter.