Procedure and House Affairs Committee on June 14th, 2006

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Are there any other comments?

Mr. Reid.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

I oppose this recommendation, and I do so on the following basis.

The reason you have polling clerks and DROs appointed by the parties that came first and second is that each of them keeps track of the other. It is a way of keeping the system honest. It works very well. In fact, it works so well that often what happens now is that the widespread abuses that used to occur on a partisan basis in the past have ceased to exist, and the DRO and polling clerk no longer have to be very partisan and in fact are quite collegial with each other.

With revising agents, it is done for the same reason. It would be the easiest thing in the world, if you know your neighbours, to go down the street and neglect to record the people who you think might be partisans of the opposing party and record just your own people. So each would keep the other honest.

So I think the system works. I understand that, to a large degree, this kind of thing may be a thing of the past in many ridings, but at the same time, I hate to tamper with something that has a long history of working well. If anything, our problem is that they don't do enough enumeration.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Mr. Simard.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

I'm just wondering if Jamie would know what the alternative would be. Is he saying that the Chief Electoral Officer would then name them?

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

No, he would hire them.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

He would hire them? Okay.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

But in the present system, even if we recommend names, they don't have to take them.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

They can tell us why they refuse them.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

They find excuses galore. They don't like the colour of their hair; they don't like this; they don't like that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Dealing with this specific amendment, am I understanding from the committee that we want to leave this, that we oppose this recommendation?

[Some hon. members]

Yes. That's right.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you.

We're moving on to section 1.8, on the right of Elections Canada employees to strike.

I'm going to try to remember some of the comments made during discussions at previous committees. I think the one comment that came up on this issue was, is it their right to strike for the election time only or throughout the year? But we're open for discussion now.

Mr. Hill, and then Mr. Proulx.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Based upon the discussion we had, I tend to agree that the status quo should be maintained where they don't have that right, and especially in a minority parliament situation.

As I recall the question and answer session, it was clearly revealed that in the uncertainty of a minority situation, we have no way of knowing when we might be into that immediate pre-writ and writ period. Therefore, I don't see how we can, in good conscience, allow the employees to strike, no matter how sympathetic we might be to their right.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

May I clarify? Right now, the employees have the right to strike. The recommendation is that the right to strike be removed, and it goes further, that it be removed both during and between elections.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

So at any time.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Well, I would agree with that.

Yes, it's all the time, basically.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Let's continue the discussions.

Mr. Proulx.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

First I thought it wasn't fair to remove the employees' right to strike, and Mr. Guimond had made a suggestion in regard to conciliation. However, when Mr. Kingsley explained to us that his personnel are probably already part of PSAC or PIPS, depending, that changes the situation in the sense that he does not have a particular union strictly for Elections Canada. So they benefit from the negotiations of their union, whether it be PSAC, or PIPS, or whatever.

So I'm not worried about removing the right. I don't mind removing the right to strike in the sense that they have to be able to continue to serve the Canadian public and they have the protection.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Next comment, please.

[An hon. member]

Do they have protection?

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Yes, because they're members of existing public service unions, presumably PSAC or PIPS.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Okay.

Mr. Godin.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I cannot support this. The right to strike is fundamental and belongs to the workers. The right to strike is even written into the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There is no evidence that there has been any problem in the past. It is just that somebody wants to take away their right to strike. There has never been any problem over the last 100 years.

I cannot support such a move just because it came to somebody's mind. You cannot take away the rights of workers just like that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Ms. Brown.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I have reservations about removing a right to strike, yet I understand the problem with minority governments. You wonder if we could just stick in that they retain the right to strike but lose it during the tenure of a minority government, so that he's never caught with people on strike. It's just an idea.