As you know, New Democrats are happy to see the government finally introduce new anti-scab legislation, which is legislation we fought really hard for. We will keep fighting for it to pass so that workers would have far more power once companies can't replace them with scabs.
This new legislation would significantly increase the responsibility of employment and social development's regulatory board. The Canada Industrial Relations Board would need to make a determination on every strike. The board is already overburdened, so I would expect this massive new workload to come with new resources, but the opposite seems to be the case. The government wants to reduce ESDC's funding $3 million. It's critical that the public service gets the funding it needs when new programs like this are introduced.
Can you confirm that the board will get the funding it needs to meet these new responsibilities and that it won't be affected by the cuts?