Thank you.
Thank you all for being here today.
I am going to start with Mr. Guy. You mentioned Bill C-58. That's the bill that would ban replacement workers in federally regulated industries.
You intimated that places that ban replacement workers will have longer strikes and be more disruptive and less stable when, in fact, the longest, bitterest, worst strikes in Canadian history were generally those that involved replacement workers, because they took away the need for the employer to even talk to the workers. This whole bill is designed to basically level the playing field and make things more stable. British Columbia has had this legislation for decades. Quebec has had this legislation.
We heard at an earlier meeting of this committee, when we were studying the last Vancouver port strike, that it was over 50 years ago. It's not like British Columbia is a rampant place for strikes. Part of that is that it has the same legislation in the provincial jurisdiction that we are proposing for the federal jurisdiction.
I'm just wondering where you get this idea that banning replacement workers would make strikes last longer and happen more often. This legislation is designed to give workers the same rights that employers have. Those disputes tend to be solved more quickly because both the workers and the employers have their minds fixed and focused on finding a solution.