Mr. Speaker, the events of the last few days have exposed the many shortcomings of the federal labour relations legislation. The two special acts voted in over the last two weeks to bring workers back to work are the most recent examples of the warped effects of archaic federal legislation.
Cabinet is hiding behind proposed reforms to the Canada Labour Code which apparently are now being studied. Yet, the provisions on strikebreakers have been well known for several years. It has been 17 months since the Liberal government was elected, and still nothing has been done regarding the issue.
When the time comes to bring in laws denying workers their rights, the government can work quite quickly, but when it comes time to correct provisions which victimize workers, the Liberals are happy enough to adopt an intolerable wait-and-see policy.