Mr. Speaker, I would like to give members of this House the background which I feel is important regarding the negotiations in the railway labour dispute. As you know, most of the collective agreements, with very few exceptions, expired on December 31, 1993. Therefore, we have been without collective agreements per se since December 31, 1993, and negotiations have been ongoing.
We have tried to help the parties to find a solution. First, a conciliator was appointed, and then, in November 1994, my predecessor, the Minister of Human Resources Development, appointed a conciliation commissioner, Mr. Hope, to work out a solution with the parties. He submitted his report to the parties in February 1995.
Since then, negotiations have continued, but they have been strained, and, as you know, the unions decided to concentrate their efforts on pressuring Canadian Pacific. Fortunately, last week, three unions, representing approximately 3,000 people, reached an agreement in principle and Canadian Pacific was able to continue all of its other activities.
Unfortunately, last Saturday, there was a full work stoppage at Canadian National and VIA Rail. Following this work stoppage, I called all of the parties, that is the three companies and the union representatives from these companies, to a meeting. I met with them yesterday afternoon and I asked them to resolve all of the issues in dispute, or, at the very least, to reach an agreement
on the process which will lead to a solution to the dispute, which will be binding on the two parties.
I told them that the current government has faith in the collective bargaining process and, therefore, that we would regret being obliged to step in if the parties were unable to reach an agreement. I even advised them that it would be in the best interest of both parties, as much the companies as the unions, to agree at the very least on the process to be used to resolve the dispute, which would be binding on both of them.
Unfortunately, the parties did not come to an agreement, so that we find ourselves in this House at 12.30 p.m. on a Monday without any CN or VIA Rail services in operation as we speak, although some operations are still under way at CP. Even though some operations are affected, some others are still being carried out.
What is the impact of a complete work stoppage as we speak? Let us first look at the VIA Rail situation. The impact on the majority of passengers using VIA Rail services is, I think, quite obvious. I would remind the members of this House that VIA Rail serves at least 500 communities from coast to coast, which means that all its passengers have been paying the price since Saturday, especially those who commute to work by train. This morning, we witnessed the possible consequences for the population, especially in densely populated urban areas.
True, there are other means of transportation but when we look at what is happening, for example, around Toronto and Montreal, it is clear that not all passengers can be accommodated by public bus or even private car transportation. On this Monday morning, all these passengers, all these people were penalized by the work stoppage. I think that we should allow VIA Rail workers to go back to work as soon as possible, so that these people are no longer penalized.
It is true that the situation is different at CP Rail. Canadian National is not an operation serving the public but rather providing transportation services essential to the Canadian economy.
Needless to say this will have tremendous financial implications for the various train transportation users and industries that ship their goods by train. Many Canadian industries depend on the railway system. The impact of this withdrawal of transportation services may vary from industry to industry depending on the availability of alternate means of transportation.
Of course, bulk commodity shippers in general-commodities such as sulphur, potash and grain as well as mining companies, major electrical household appliance manufacturers and car manufacturers-are the main users of the train system. Many transport companies and associations, including the Canadian Industrial Transportation League, the Canadian Wheat Board and several car manufacturers, have indicated that a prolonged work stoppage would be extremely prejudicial to their operations.
It is clear that at the industry level, in various sectors like Western grain, this work stoppage may have a very major economic impact. As we speak, we are told that Canadian National is losing between $9 million and $10 million per day.
We can see right away how serious the situation is and how it can compromise this country's credibility as a reliable supplier, even on the export market. The impacts are tremendous. On the one hand, you have impacts affecting the public at VIA Rail and, on the other hand, economic impacts for several industries.
While we regret having to bring in back-to-work legislation-I repeat, regret, because we continue to believe that a negotiated settlement would be better-the government must assume its responsibilities and take action. That is why I hope that the opposition parties will realize what is at stake and give consent so that we can debate this bill today.
