Our concern is that these changes don't pass the smell test when it comes to meaningful consultations. The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld meaningful consultations as a concept in labour relations. How can you have an arbitrator whose hands are tied as to what he or she can consider? How could that be meaningful consultation? How can you force individuals to strike when a significant percentage of their members cannot participate in that strike? How is all of that meaningful?
The government holds all the keys to the legislative closet. They hold all those cards, to use that analogy. The whole point of having a choice and giving that choice to the unions in terms of what route they choose was to recognize that unions are stacked when they're dealing with the government. We're not dealing with Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola can't draft legislation and say, “Go back to work”, or, “Here's wage restraint”. This government has used those tools, and our hands are tied.