Bill C-377 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (requirements for labour organizations)

This enactment amends the Income Tax Act to require that labour organizations provide financial information to the Minister for public disclosure.

Labour

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservative Party, whose attacks on unions are well documented, from Bill C-575 and Bill C-377, its anti-union bills that the Leader of the Opposition voted for, to continually choosing to use back-to-work legislation, as it did time and time again, we believe that the best deals happen at the bargaining table, which is why the minister has gotten the two sides of Canada Post together to try to find a solution that will work. We know that small businesses are hurting. Canadians in rural and remote areas are hurting. We will continue to look to help them, and we will get this resolved the right way.

Government Priorities

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C‑377 and Bill C‑525, some of the most anti-labour legislation in western history, passed in a previous Parliament. The spokesperson and main architect of those bills was none other than the current Leader of the Opposition. That makes him the most anti-union leader in Canadian history.

I invite that member to explain his position.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-377 and Bill C-525 will go down in history as some of the most oppressively anti-labour legislation ever passed in Parliament. One of the very first acts of this government was to repeal both of those pieces of legislation. The author of those pieces of legislation was none other than the Leader of the Opposition, its chief architect and chief salesman. He is the most anti-worker leader ever elected to the House of Commons.

Opposition Motion—Confidence in the Prime Minister and the Government

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time. Perhaps the member for Kings—Hants will even be nice enough to finish my speech.

I am honoured to rise today to speak about our government's strong commitment to fairness for Canadian workers in the face of a very hypocritical Conservative leader who is determined to weaken the labour movement in Canada. The member for Carleton is trying to wax poetic in the House today when he talks about workers, but make no mistake: The only workers' right he supports is the right of Canadians to work for less.

In contrast, it is an honour for me to talk about all the progress that has helped Canadian workers and their families have a fairer, more prosperous future.

Instead of standing up for workers, the Conservative leader now uses them as unwilling props in his latest parliamentary temper tantrum.

Let me tell members what the member for Carleton proudly supported. He supported two anti-union bills, Bill C-377 and Bill C-525, which sought to make it harder for workers to organize and undermined the ability of unions to fight for their members. We repealed those bills.

There is also the Conservative Party policy declaration that states it, “supports right to work legislation to allow optional union membership”.

On the other hand, the Liberals have been there for workers from day one. On this side of the House, we stand on our record, not empty slogans. We have made sure that federally regulated employees have access to up to 10 paid sick days per year. That helps nearly one million Canadians.

A growing share of Canada's workforce is now comprised of gig workers. Gig work can offer many benefits, such as flexibility and more freedom at work. However, these kinds of work arrangements can also deprive workers of the rights, protections and entitlements they deserve. Therefore, on June 20, we brought legislation into force to better protect gig workers in federally regulated industries against misclassification.

Last year, we announced five new clean-tech tax credits. We are investing $93 billion over the next decade in tax credits for carbon capture, utilization and storage; clean technology adoption; clean technology manufacturing; clean hydrogen; clean electricity; and EV supply chains. However, to get the full extent and benefit of four of those five tax credits, companies have to hire union workers or pay workers a prevailing union wage and create apprenticeships.

After question period and after the votes today, we will have the opportunity, myself or my colleague from Kings—Hants, to go into deep detail about the positive progressive record of this government for unions and workers. We will not be talking about things like the Conservative leader talks about, that the union contracts that pay workers a decent wage result in, “pointless”, “unnecessary inflation of costs that non-union firms with lower wages are good for competition”.

The Conservative leader is pretending. It is fake. We will have more to say later.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. leader of the Conservative Party would be laughable if his hypocrisy were not so ridiculous.

He stood up right now and, in his opening remarks, exposed himself. This man has never been to a picket line. He called it a rally for striking workers. The leader fought aggressively against card-check legislation. He was one of the loudest supporters of the anti-union bill, Bill C-377. Also, he is proudly one of the loudest proponents of the U.S. right-to-work legislation.

My question is simple. Despite all of his cosplay, we have seen he cannot even put on a high-vis vest. Has this member ever, once in his life, visited a picket line?

Labour

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, we would think this was not from the party that supported the anti-union, oppressive Bill C-377 and Bill C-525. We would think this was not from the party who has in its own policy handbook the fact that it will be bringing in right-to-work, Alabama-style legislation to the House. We would think this was not the party that refused to debate that very motion this morning in the House of Commons.

[Chad Collins, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Minister, welcome to the committee.

Some days it's very difficult to listen to some of the questions the Conservatives ask, both here at the committee and in the House, when they pretend to support unionized workers.

One thing I'm aware of is history. Representing my constituents in the province of Ontario, I think back to the days of Mike Harris and the common sense revolution, when tens of thousands of unionized employees took to the streets of Ontario because he undermined the collective bargaining rights of those workers.

History also reminds me of, most recently, of Premier Ford's 1% wage cap on government employees. That, again, is legislation by a Conservative government that completely undermines the rights of unionized employees.

Of course, we don't have to look too far back in history to the Leader of the Opposition, who was in my community not too long ago as part of his “make Canada great again” tour, courting unionized employees and officials. There was no mention, of course, of two bills, Bill C-377 and Bill C-525, which are probably some of the most anti-union legislation that we've seen to date.

There's a common theme here with one party both at the provincial and federal levels. It's hard on days like today to listen to some of these questions when they pretend to stick up for unionized rights and employees.

Can I get your take on that?

Reference to Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment]

Madam Speaker, who is next? That is the fundamental question. Today, the Conservatives seek to direct an RCMP investigation. Who is to say that tomorrow they will not direct an RCMP investigation into the affairs of unions and labour organizations? This is a dangerous precedent the Conservatives want to set.

Ten years ago, they passed legislation, Bill C-377, under the guise of transparency and accountability, aimed at destroying and weakening unions and preventing them the ability to represent workers. They are trying to do the same thing here. This is the danger of the precedent they are trying to set today. Who is next?

Opposition Motion—Confidence in the Government

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is great to rise this afternoon in this most honourable House and see many of my colleagues here today fighting and debating for their constituents. Earlier this week, I had the chance to rise and speak about a similar type of motion presented by the official opposition party. Let me simply start by saying this. Canada is the best country in the world, in my humble opinion. I am so delighted to be raising three daughters in Vaughan and to be fighting for them day in and day out.

I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Kingston in the Islands, my dear colleague and friend. The hon. member mentioned earlier that his mother came from Italy some 50-odd years ago. My father here came via Australia first, and my mother directly through Pier 21. It was a fascinating story. She took the train from Halifax all the way to Prince Rupert, from one end of the country to another, and brought us to a promised land. Canada chose us. Canada chose my parents, and I am so happy that Canada did and gave us this opportunity.

Canada is the best country in the world, not by accident. Yes, it is a work in progress, but Canada is the best country in the world because we do what is right. We take care of the most vulnerable citizens. We allow those who wish to create wealth and generate jobs to do so. We are blessed with bountiful natural resources and human capital. Peace, order and good government is our mantra. We have delivered for Canadians. I think of the Canada child benefit, a monthly tax-free benefit that goes to 15,000 families in my riding. I think of the Canada dental care plan, and how 7,200 residents, the majority of whom are seniors, are now receiving affordable and accessible dental care thanks to the Canadian dental care plan in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge.

I think of the early learning and national day care plan, something that all economists, right, left, centre, say is a great thing for female participation in the labour force and for affordability. It is a win for the economy, for families and for affordability. It is reducing costs. An average family in Ontario right now is seeing almost a 53% reduction in their child care costs and is saving nearly $10,000 in after-tax savings. That is real money in the pockets of my residents.

We put in place the Canada workers benefit that is helping lift literally hundreds of thousands of working Canadians out of poverty so that they can pay rent and afford groceries. We are helping Canadians. Canadians, including those in my riding, have gone through a lot. We went through COVID, a global pandemic. Our government was there with the CERB, the wage subsidy and rent subsidy. We helped businesses. We helped Canadians, because it is the Canadian thing to do.

I know my hon. colleague on the opposite side mentioned earlier that when we first came into power, we had to remove two of the most anti-union, anti-worker bills, Bill C-525 and Bill C-377. We removed those bills because we support Canadian workers. We have never been a chameleon when it comes to that. We have always stood beside Canadian workers of all stripes, in all industries and in all careers.

On seniors, we were the government that returned the age of retirement for eligibility for old age security and the guaranteed income supplement to 65 from 67. If that had been fully implemented, that would have cost retirees, at about $780 a month, times 12, by two years, over $15,000. Someone went off to Davos, Switzerland, and announced that they were going to be changing the retirement system, arbitrarily, with no consultation and no studies, and said that this was going to be right for Canadians. They themselves benefit from a very generous pension system, much like the official opposition leader does, who, by age 31 or 32, from what I have read, receives a beautiful pension and benefits. It is incredible.

We think about our economy, the investments our government has made in partnering with electric vehicle manufacturers, including Honda, Stellantis and Volkswagen. Those are real investments creating real jobs in Ontario and across this country.

I think about the partnership with the steel industry, having the steel industry workers' backs, the aluminum workers in Quebec, in Kitimat, in Trail. We have their backs and we have always had their backs.

We are not johnny-come-latelies to a party, like some of my hon. colleagues. I think of the investments in artificial intelligence and the things that are happening. Our support for Ukraine is undeniable. One does not flinch and one does not stop when dealing with a dictator, and we are dealing with one. One does not say they do not like the price on carbon so they are not going to vote for a free trade agreement with Ukraine. It is shameful.

Let us talk some matters. We had to respond to the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States and also to the European green deal. We responded with a number of tax credits and investment tax credits that have been put in place to help grow our economy and keep us competitive. That is what real leadership is about.

We all know that Canadians love their homes. Homes are not just people's greatest investments but are also places where we create memories with our family. I have three daughters, aged 13, 11 and three; and a beautiful wife who supports me in this endeavour. A person's home is their home, and we know that Canadians love to purchase a home. It is maybe not for everyone, but most Canadians want to be homeowners.

Changes have been taking place in the mortgage market. The mortgage industry has applauded the change by the OSFI, the removal of the stress test on non-insured mortgages. There was an announcement last week by the Deputy Prime Minister regarding a homebuyers' bill of rights and a renters' bill of rights. The mortgage cap is going from $1 million to $1.5 million. There is also 30-year amortization, which is in line with the OECD countries for first-time homebuyers. There are new builds: green builds and all other new builds. These are real changes.

I was happy to announce in the city of Vaughan $59 million through the fund we established to accelerate building, and it has been put to use. I have already made an announcement with the mayor of Vaughan. It is happening; houses are being built.

Opposition Motion—Confidence in the Prime Minister and the Government

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, one thing we know for sure is that the Leader of the Opposition did not ask for access to privileged information about foreign interference. That is very serious, because he says he wants to be prime minister, but he is not doing the work to find out what really happened. That says a lot about the leader of the Conservative Party, who is not who he claims to be. We know that he is no friend of ordinary people. He is no friend of workers at all. We all know he is a fake. When he was minister, he attacked workers' rights with Bill C‑377 and Bill C‑525.

We were there. I was there. I remember it. I do not want to relive those attacks on people, workers and public services.

[Michael Coteau, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the opportunity.

I want to thank all of our witnesses today. It's been a really good conversation. In fact, the witnesses on the previous occasion were also very valuable. Thank you for being here and speaking on behalf of Canadians, on behalf of organized labour.

I'm a big supporter of unions. When I first got to the Toronto District School Board, in 2003, we were trying to fix a lot of the damage that common-sense Conservatives did in Ontario to the education system. The last time common-sense Conservatives had power in the province, there was a complete dismantling of public education, to such a degree that we saw more than half of the school days gone because of that labour disruption.

We've had members here talk about the leader of the Conservatives' track record on the relationship with organized labour. The fact is that when Bill C-377 and Bill C-525 were brought into the House of Commons by the Conservatives, the leader of the Conservatives voted in favour of those bills. So it's not what he's going to do now; we just need to look at the track record of Conservatives to really understand what may happen in the future.

But here we are today, and the reason we're studying this specific topic is to let parliamentarians know and to let Canadians know that when we put in good legislation to support unions—and I think one witness said, “good legislative action”—it allows us to build a better workforce and increase productivity, but most importantly, it allows for families, for workers, to be protected and to have better-paying jobs. I want to take this opportunity to thank unions for weekends, for holidays, for workplace rules that prevent certain types of injuries, for child labour laws and for pensions. There are so many elements that come from organized labour, and I want to say thank you. I want to be on the record saying thank you for the work that folks do every day to preserve unions.

My big question—and maybe I'll go to you, Mr. Archer—is about what we can do to build on good legislative action in the House of Commons as parliamentarians to better support unions and to make sure, at the end of the day, that we get the legislation right, from all parties, and that we can continue, especially as the economy is changing. We're seeing fewer unionized jobs in certain sectors and a decline in unionized jobs. What can we do to strengthen unions in Canada?

[Bea Bruske]

Thank you for the question.

Both of those bills were egregious attacks on labour, quite frankly.

Bill C-525 made it much more difficult for workers in the federally regulated sector to organize and form a union. As we have all heard already, the pathway to the middle class is having a union card in your back pocket. Making it harder for employees to actually sign that union card and be certified to bargain collectively with their employer.... That bill stood in the way of that.

Bill C-377, of course, was the requirement for unions to do extensive reporting absolutely every time they bought new computers for their office, or every time they had to reimburse a worker based on a health and welfare trust fund claim that worker might have.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Thank you for that.

When I was going door to door in 2015, there wasn't a unionist.... Saint John—Rothesay is a very unionized city. It's a blue-collar town. There wasn't a unionist household that I went to that didn't talk about Bill C-525 and Bill C-377. Obviously, I had to quickly learn what Bill C-525 and Bill C-377 were. To call a spade a spade, they were obviously union-busting bills on redundant and unreasonable reporting, and difficulty forming or joining unions.

Obviously, there was a call for our government to reverse Bill C-377 and Bill C-525, which we did. I'm very proud of that.

My question is for you, Ms. Bruske. Can you just give us some comments and thoughts about Bill C-377 and Bill C-525, and how detrimental they were to unions in Canada?

Thank you.

[Chad Collins, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to both of the witnesses for attending today on this very important study.

Mr. Harvey, maybe I can start with you, because you represent the public service.

When I was first elected to the Hamilton city council in 1995, Premier Harris, the premier of the day, had his common-sense Conservative...common-sense revolution playbook that targeted public sector employees, and at the time, thousands of unionized public sector employees took to the streets because they were the target of government policies trying to erode some of the gains unionized members here in the province of Ontario had made over a course of decades.

I watched that with interest. Coming from the city of Hamilton, I know the importance of unions and what they do on behalf of their membership over a period of time and how hard they fight to secure some of the benefits and the gains that their members, in some cases, have fought decades for.

I watched with interest when common-sense Conservatives targeted unionized employees in the 1990s. That was overturned with a Liberal government, and those policies were reversed, thankfully. Then I watched, still as a city councillor, Prime Minister Harper with two pieces of legislation that again targeted unionized employees with bills C-377 and C-525.

It wasn't too long ago here in my province that Conservative Premier Ford targeted nurses and educators with a bill that was challenged in the courts. It was a bill he passed that undermined a collective bargaining process, imposing 1% caps on teachers, nurses and other public sector employees for a period of three years. Of course, the courts shot that down, thankfully, and reversed that legislation. The province is now in the process of paying tens of millions, if not billions, of dollars for that mistake.

I give you those as instances when governments—they all seem to come from the same party—attacked and demonized unionized workers by trying to paint a picture of them for the public as expensive and by saying they stand in the way of progress and that there is no benefit to the rights that they've secured.

In the legislation, whether I go back to Premier Harris or Premier Ford or Prime Minister Harper, the playbook from common-sense Conservatives seems to be the same, which is to try to chip away and erode the benefits and the pay packages that have been secured over a period of decades by union membership and by union leadership over that same period.

When legislation is presented and those public debates happen and you and/or your members are demonized by a level of government, what does that do to morale? What does that do to the leaders who have fought very hard for these benefits?

I know I've given you some examples that are out of province, but I think over the years you've probably followed some of these same stories.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I feel like I have to clean up a little bit of misinformation or disinformation that we heard from the Liberal member previously. The Conservative leader is on the record as saying that there will be no legislation from a Conservative government with respect to the right to work. It's the same thing with Bill C-377, which was mentioned by a Liberal member. It's official and it's public, so I just wanted to clean up the misinformation surrounding that.

I want to go back to you, Ms. Glode, for a couple of questions.

Did you speak about your concerns to the Liberal government with respect to the decision on the cod fishery? If so, what was their response to your pleas that they reconsider this decision in light of the effect it will have on your unionized workers?