Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Minister, for appearing before the committee this morning.
Minister, I listened closely to what you said and I'm trying to understand. This is the second time you have appeared before our committee. I have a hard time understanding your reasons for defending this point of view. I think that, like myself, you grew up in Quebec. You are probably younger than I am, but you probably know about the labour dispute which lasted several months at Robin Hood. The employer sent in strike breakers and goons. Shots were even fired.
You surely also know about the labour conflict at Commonwealth Plywood Ltd—which involved people being gassed—as well as the disputes at Robin Hood, La Presse, and Pratt & Whitney, where police intervened with an anti-riot brigade to coerce workers into leaving the building, when in fact these people's jobs had been stolen. This is what happened between 1970 and 1976. You probably heard about this through the media, as we all did. I was a labour relations negotiator at the time. Let me tell you that since Quebec introduced its anti-strike breaker legislation, this type of thing has not happened again.
As for essential services, there have been strikes, including in hospitals, schools, and at the Société des alcools du Québec. These labour disputes lasted a long time. Don't think that workers are savages. When workers realize that their company might be in danger, or that the safety of the public might be threatened, they negotiate essential services with their employers. Even before the notion of essential services, negotiations were held, which led the Government of Quebec to adopt legislation on essential services and create the Conseil des services essentiels on the basis of the experience of both parties.
Mr. Minister, you say that this bill does not contain any measures providing for essential services. But this is the responsibility of the government. If you believe that the bill which is before us needs additional safeguards and provisions relating to essential services, it seems to me that it is up to the government to propose them, as the Government of Quebec did in the past. It was not the unions or workers that introduced legislation on essential services; it was the government. It was a democratic debate and the new law struck a balance.
Do you intend to introduce legislation on essential services? Or are you waiting for the unions to give you a sign?