Thank you, Mr. Allison.
I would look for some comments from Mr. Hogue and Mr. Law on the following question. When I look at federally regulated employees, I think of large networks that are spread out across the country, that are important infrastructure for the Canadian economy, possibly more so than is the case for provincially regulated employees.
When I see us embarking upon the slippery slope, my concern is the effect that doing so will have on the Canadian economy. I want to first of all get your comments on the repercussions it could have for the Canadian economy, but further, there is almost a fiduciary obligation on the part of the Government of Canada to keep labour peace. The Canada Labour Code recognizes the importance of maintaining essential services by giving Parliament the power to restrict a union's right to strike and to enact back-to-work legislation.
I think it is important to recognize that Parliament gave that power. Look at the Sims report. Since its adoption by the previous Liberal government in 1999, we haven't seen any use of back-to-work legislation. Why would we change course when we appear to be successful at seeing more labour peace today than we saw a quarter of a century ago? That trend appears to be continuing.
Ms. Davies mentioned that there was no consensus in the Sims report, but it did say that it wasn't appropriate to change course. Even the dissenting opinion was nothing to the extent as radical as this legislation is.
I wanted to get your comments on how you believe this is going to affect Canada in the long term. I would ask Mr. Law to speak first and then Mr. Hogue.