Thank you, Mr. Brown.
I was born in Ontario and I am nevertheless delighted that Tommy Douglas opened the way to public health care and that all the other provinces followed suit. As for Mike Harris, providing school boards with fairly equal funding to ensure they could operate was evidence of a very socialist vision. I have a lot of respect for that initiative, even if it came from Mr. Harris. When we talk about developing society, various needs must be taken into consideration.
That said, you will never really be able to assess the impact of the bill on replacement workers in Ontario, since you didn't keep it for very long. In fact, immediately after the defeat of Mr. Rae's NDP government, the Conservatives axed the bill. Not much time passed. If you want positive examples of labour relations, look to Quebec and British Columbia. Compare the situation in those two provinces to what existed before and after.
You mentioned the chambers of commerce. The Conseil du patronat du Québec never took steps to prevent implementation of legislation prohibiting replacement workers in Quebec. The Council, along with the general public, clearly saw that a kind of social peace with regard to labour negotiations had been created. We are talking here about the 92% of workers who fall under Quebec jurisdiction, and not federal jurisdiction, meaning under the Canada Labour Code.