Mr. Speaker, I will speak to the Group No. 9 amendments. Many people over the last four years since I became involved in politics, and even before, have told me that unions are a bad thing and if they had their way they would outlaw unions completely. I have had many people tell me
that unions are so powerful they do extreme harm to the economy. I respond to them by saying that I do not agree at all.
I believe that unions play a very useful role. I believe that collective bargaining must be allowed to take place wherever it possibly can. I believe that under certain circumstances we have to find a more efficient and more useful mechanism for solving a problem. Those are cases when innocent victims are involved who are neither labour or management. Of course several different groups fall into this category, grain farmers among them.
When members of the Bloc say that in all cases labour and management have to work it out no matter how long the strike might last, are they really thinking about the other people who are involved in certain situations? In particular, people who in many cases in the past have lost their businesses, their farms, have suffered severe economic hardship as a result of both sides, labour and management, causing stoppages.
This is the case with grain farmers and any other captive shippers. We have to take a look at solutions to the problem of one disruption after another which are usually settled by back to work legislation. Such legislation without a doubt does not involve labour-management negotiations.
In the grain handling industry 19 times in the last 20 years the House has brought in back to work legislation to end a dispute. Labour and management have given up on the process. We have proposed the use of final offer selection arbitration so that there will be no work stoppage and so that labour and management do negotiate to the final agreement, hopefully never using the final offer selection arbitration. However, knowing it is there is important.
This group of amendments deals with replacement workers. Of course members of the Block feel, and I think I am being fair, that there should be no case where replacement workers can be used. I believe in Quebec it is the law that replacement workers cannot be used.
The legislation does not say that replacement workers will not be used. Instead in a roundabout way it states that the Canada Industrial Relations Board will decide whether replacement workers will be allowed or not. It is very unclear to labour and management what situations would warrant the Canada Industrial Relations Board's deciding whether replacement workers would be used. This kind of uncertainty cannot possibly be good for labour or management. Therefore we cannot support any of these amendments that would outlaw the use of replacement workers entirely.
While we do want the collective bargaining process to take place, I have defended it to many people who say that it should be outlawed, that the unions are just too powerful and harm the economy. I have defended the absolute necessity for collective bargaining to be available to labour and management and I will continue to defend it. However, there are situations where we must be able to get round it.
Certainly this solution of using the Canada Industrial Relations Board to determine when replacement workers should be allowed is totally unacceptable.
It should be obvious to members of the government and of the Bloc that the way to solve the problem is to never have these work stoppages in the first place, especially in industries where innocent victims are the ones who pay the dearest price. Of course, grain farmers are one group that has paid the price 19 times in the last 20 years. It has cost many of them their businesses and their livelihood of choice as a result of these continual work stoppages in which they have no say. They are left out. They truly are innocent victims.
In cases where there is a captive shipper or a group of victims the obvious solution is to never let the stoppage take place. We have suggested using final offer selection arbitration as a way of providing that outcome.
This group of amendments is one that would not be supported by farmers. I do not think we would find one farmer in western Canada who would support this amendment that would outlaw replacement workers.
I have some letters from constituents who said things like this. One is from Myron Zajic from Edgerton, Alberta in my constituency: "I am writing to you in support of the amendments to the labour code which prohibit the longshoremen from striking in Vancouver and Prince Rupert. I am an Alberta grain farmer and I have been appalled by the number of times we have been held hostage over grain handling disputes at the west coast. To maintain our foreign markets and to keep the flow of grain moving and keep our agriculture economy going we must stop these interruptions. Please support this amendment".
The next one is from Dale Hallett from my constituency who made this comment about labour disputes on the west coast: "Labour disputes on the west coast, one, disrupt the flow of grain; two, increase direct cost to grain producers; three, damage Canada's reputation in world markets;" a very important point that he has brought up, "and four, impair the economy of Canada and western Canada in particular". He said support that amendment.
I have a stack of letters of people who have said to support that amendment. They certainly would not be telling us to support Bill C-66 if they knew that part of this bill gave that kind of power, the kind of power to outlaw the use of replacement workers, put into the hands of the Canada Industrial Relations Board. They would not support any piece of legislation that would do that. They will not support this piece of legislation for that reason and others.
If we can get our amendment supported which would put in place final offer selection arbitration, it changes the game. That would prevent many of these stoppages and would help to solve the problem for the long term, not just tinkering. This legislation does provide a bit of useful tinkering in that it would at least ensure that grain which reached the coast would be loaded but it has no impact whatsoever on getting that grain from the local elevator to the coast in the first place.
It does not solve the problem and on balance when we look at this group of amendments and the other group of amendments it is going to take that final offer selection amendment to be supported for this legislation to really provide any positive change at all.