Special legislation was imposed on us by Minister Filomena Tassi. I need to describe the circumstances of the dispute at the time. We had said that the employer had taken three measures against us and that if it withdrew them, the union would withdraw its notice to strike and people would return to work. The employer didn't withdraw them, the government legislated them and we had special legislation passed.
It imposed arbitration of disputes, which took place at the Port of Montreal. All that has resulted in is that all demands, both employer and union, that were on the bargaining table in 2020 and 2021 have been postponed to 2023. The problem has just been put on hold. It's a well-known fact that arbitrators avoid very specific places in collective agreements for fear of upsetting the balance between the parties.
The arbitrator took a year to hear us, and now that arbitration of disputes is done, the vast majority of respective claims are back on the bargaining table this year. So nothing was resolved by imposing arbitration of disputes through special legislation.
I don't want anyone to say I have a casual attitude, but I must point out that the legislation was passed when the Liberal government had a majority, whereas it did not when the strike happened at the Port of Vancouver.