My first answer to you would be, yes, there is less violence today in Quebec than in the seventies, but that situation is not different across the country. It may have served its point then, but there is still violence today on picket lines in Quebec. I'm not saying I'm the same type of attorney as Mr. McDermott is--I don't have his experience--but I'm a practitioner. I practise labour law, I represent employers, and I do have to appear before Superior Court when there are conflicts because there is violence on picket lines. So disregard the fact that there is anti-scab legislation in Quebec. It has not removed all violence on the picket lines.
Take, for example, office workers who have nothing to do with the dispute and who report for work because they are not on strike, and who are exposed to vandalism and threats because they cross the picket lines to get to work. They are not replacement workers, they are people who keep working for the employer in another area. There are situations where you are forced to go to court for an injunction to stop people from committing acts of violence on the picket line.
In my opinion, there is no place for violence in labour relations. The enactment of anti-replacement worker legislation had an impact in the 1970's, when violence incidences were much more frequent. I could also talk about the 1980s, before I became a lawyer. I was a Montreal police officer back then, and I experienced some violent situations on picket lines. But I do not think anti-scab legislation is a miracle cure. It is not a panacea.