Thank you. I want to thank the committee for this opportunity.
The AJC is the exclusive bargaining agent for 2,700 federal lawyers. We're prosecutors, we're counsel at the Department of Justice, and we also provide legal services to various tribunals and agencies.
Before becoming a so-called union boss, I was a drug prosecutor enforcing the government's tough on crime legislation. I will be returning to my prosecutorial role at the end of my term with the AJC.
To begin, I would be remiss as the representative of federal lawyers if I didn't address the issue of due process. I know you've heard a lot on that, but it bears repeating because it's so fundamental to who we are as Canadians. Make no mistake, using massive budgetary omnibus bills to significantly alter several long-standing and complex pieces of legislation is an assault on due process.
Bill C-4 contains many elements that have absolutely nothing to do with budgets or finances. Respectfully, we question how a bill that is 308 pages long, contains 472 separate clauses, affects at least 29 different pieces of legislation, and amends or repeals 70 legislative measures can seriously be considered a true budget bill, or seriously considered at all, folks, in light of time constraints and debate limits imposed on this entire process.
We know that omnibus budget bills are not new. In 1994, then MP Stephen Harper criticized such a bill—which was 21 pages and entirely related to budgets—as being, and I quote, “so diverse that a single vote on the content would put members in conflict with their own principles”.
The scope and breadth of Bill C-4 negates your ability to even know its full impact. Further, division 17 of the bill brings drastic amendments to the PSLRA, a fundamental piece of legislation, albeit not perfect, that has been a reliable tool for labour relations for the past 50 years. These amendments, make no mistake, denude employee protections and powers. I will elaborate upon that in a moment.
Due process has taken a hit, folks, since the law reform commission was forced to close its doors in 2006. Never have we needed more such an informed and independent voice. Contrary to past practice, these amendments were crafted without any consultation with any stakeholder—not with unions, not with labour law specialists, not with academics, not with anyone.
We question this bill's constitutionality. Advanced consultations would have minimized the vulnerability of these changes to challenges under paragraphs 2(b) and (d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Our highest court has confirmed on several occasions that collective bargaining is the fundamental right of every Canadian employee. This right can be limited only minimally, and only in exceptional circumstances. This bill bestows upon the employer the exclusive right to determine who can arbitrate, who can strike, who is essential.
Further, when a union is allowed to participate in interest arbitration, the adjudicator's ability to consider relevant factors has been severely constrained to the point where it can be argued that the outcome is already determined. Bill C-4 contravenes several of our international labour obligations as well.
Let's talk about costs. You are a finance committee, and that's the lens through which you are all tasked to look. For a government that constantly trumpets its desire to streamline operations and save money, Bill C-4 will have the opposite effect. Let me tell you why. Changes to the PSLRA remove the workers' right to choose between interest arbitration and strike action. What does that mean? Forcing federal workers to strike rather than go the interest arbitration route will affect the services Canadians receive and serve to frustrate labour relations even further.
We need only remember the Quebec prosecutors and civil lawyers who were recently forced into this exact situation.