Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I feel compelled to make a comment. A lawyer, I'm not, but I've had the privilege of sitting on the Standing Committee of Justice and Human Rights, like my colleague Brian Jean. And yet his comment on judges' frivolous attitude towards government restraint and accountability made me flinch, considering the government's handling of the whole Nigel Wright/Mike Duffy affair. Be that as it may, I'll come back to the issue at hand.
Ms. Roy, the first time the committee met to study Bill C-4, we heard from public servants. Some of the answers they gave me were especially troubling. When I asked Dennis Duggan whether any sectors or employee classes could be completely excluded from the definition of “essential services”, he had this to say:
“Excluded, off the top of my head, no.”
I then asked him what recourse a bargaining unit or union would have if the government improperly designated a class of employment as an essential service. I asked him whether the matter would have to be brought before the courts, and he answered,
“As I mentioned earlier, the initial process would involve a consultation period with the bargaining agent in question, but beyond that it would be judicial review.”
I'd like to hear your views on this troubling shift towards judicial intervention.