Thank you very much, Mr. Nadeau, for your appearance here this morning. We are very sorry for the interruption and we hope it will not happen again.
First off, I wanted to discuss these studies. Reference was made to the Fraser Institute and the Institut économique de Montréal. As we all know, these are essentially the same authors who have been saying the same things for years. What is surprising, when you look into it—and I took the time to read the studies—is that this is old data dating from the 1960s and to the mid 1990s. I can't recall the exact dates, but it would be nice if you refreshed our memory on this.
Not only are these studies based on old data, but they were done with large companies in Quebec, despite the fact that we know that small and medium enterprises are the driving force behind the Quebec economy. Also, they refer to the number of labour disputes, when, if you really wanted statistics, in order to compare similar things, you would not be comparing data for a province which has this type of legislation to that of another which does not. You would also not be comparing the duration or the number of labour disputes. The real statistics would be the number of days of work lost in a province such as Quebec or British Columbia, and the number of workers governed by the Canadian Labour Code and the provincial labour code. In Quebec, this is something we know very well.
I'd like you to refresh our memory on that.
Now, my main question has to do with respect for labour and management. We know that anti-scab legislation creates a proper balance between employers and employees, particularly during negotiations, but afterwards as well, as surprising as it may seem. We also know that the idea of having replacement workers makes no sense. In fact, there are countries which do not have anti-scab legislation because companies have never even considered replacing strikers or employees during a dispute. It simply does not exist. They don't replace the workers and that is how they strike a balance.
I'd like to get back to Mr. Regan's question. The city of Bonaventure in the Gaspé is a good example of why it is senseless to accept replacement workers. There was a dispute which lasted three years at the Bonaventure radio station. It was a small company. After two years, the 12 replacement workers asked for union accreditation. Obviously, they were denied, but it shows how senseless it would be to allow for replacement workers in a company when it can lead to such odd outcomes.
Mr. Nadeau, I want to remind you of my question, because my comments were somewhat long. I'm very sorry about that. Can you tell me exactly how you think anti-scab legislation can help to create a balance in the labour-management relationship?