Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to thank the committee members for having us here today.
I fully agree with what my colleague Robert Ashton said.
I represent the Syndicat des débardeurs du port de Montréal, a group of nearly 1,400 men and women who work in longshoring at the Port of Montreal. Our concerns have already been raised in questions prior to our arrival here, but I will highlight them anyway.
Our biggest concerns were with the Marine Transportation Security Act and some of the clauses that the bill seeks to add to it to give new powers to the Minister of Transport. These are subclause 6.1(1) on interim orders, on page 38 of the bill, and subclause 17.4(1) on emergency injunctions, on page 44. We were wondering whether these new powers concerning emergency directions and interim orders could contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically section 2, because it would affect unions' freedom of association and the right to strike, as my friend Mr. Ashton said. This right is recognized as essential for unions to negotiate with employers on an equal footing every four or five years.
Earlier, in response to a question from Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, Mr. Bijimine said that these provisions would not affect the unions' right to strike or their bargaining power. There was also a lady who said that these provisions were intended to give greater powers to the minister in exceptional circumstances such as the COVID‑19 pandemic. However, that's not what's written in the bill, which makes no reference to COVID‑19. Therefore, I respectfully submit that these powers would not be limited to such circumstances.
If granting such powers doesn't disregard the Charter and the unions' freedom of association, and if it doesn't contravene the Canada Labour Code or the rights it recognizes for both employers and unions, and if it doesn't contravene international treaties that Canada has signed, the bill should mention that. These provisions must not affect the Charter or the Code, and they must not contravene international treaties that Canada has signed in the past. The International Labour Organization's Freedom of Association Convention was adopted in 1948 and ratified by Canada in 1972, and the supervisory body for that international convention specifies that ports are not essential services. If there is no desire to interfere with our right to strike, the bill should mention that.
Finally, I'd like to share with you, once again, our concerns about the minister's appointment of the port authority chair. The Montreal Port Authority and our boss, the Maritime Employers Association, are buddy-buddy. When the association takes legal action to delay the bargaining process or our right to strike under the Canada Labour Code, the port authority and the association are as thick as thieves. They're represented by the same law firm, which is fighting the longshore worker's union to take away our rights.
When I see that the minister could directly appoint a port authority chair, I'm concerned. In fact, it would be a “political” appointment that would interfere with our labour relations, since the Montreal Port Authority interferes in our labour relations with our employer association. So, I'm concerned about that possibility.
Thank you for listening. Mr. Ashton and I look forward to answering any questions you may have.