Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve has put forth a motion that calls for the government to give RCMP officers the right to
unionize and to bargain collectively under an act other than the Canada Labour Code.
Of course, he claims to have the best interests of the members of the RCMP at heart, and perhaps we should accept that at face value.
However, we would have to wonder if it is not just a small group of people with personal agendas who he is really out to represent today.
We also have to wonder what the hon. member thinks the RCMP stands to gain from what he has proposed here today. He contends that his motion was a follow up to the Sims report. However, let me read what the recommendation actually states on page 50 of the report:
The government should undertake a process to determine the appropriateness of RCMP officers having the right to organize and to engage in collective bargaining under a statute separate from the Canada Labour Code. Such a process should consider the interests of the members of the RCMP, existing associations of members, management and the public.
Let me say that the Reform Party supports the traditional role of the RCMP as a police force representative of and responsive to the population it serves in Canada's regions. The Reform Party also recognizes the right of workers to organize democratically, bargain collectively and to strike peacefully. However, there is an important distinction to be made between private and public sector collective bargaining.
Strikes in the private sector of course may cause some inconvenience to the public but they are primarily a contest between the employer and the employees. The employer loses profits, the employees lose wages and both sides know that either a prolonged strike or a bad agreement could put the enterprise out of business and could put the employees out of jobs. Incentives exist for both sides to seek a settlement in good faith.
The situation in the public sector is quite different. Because of the monopolistic nature of most public services like the RCMP, alternatives are not readily available in the marketplace.
Is the hon. member, through his motion, proposing that the RCMP should be given the right to strike? He knows all too well that the aim of a public sector is to inconvenience or even endanger the public in the hope that citizens will persuade or pressure the public employer to give into the union's demands. He knows that governments usually do not lose money in a strike. In fact, they save money by not having to pay their employees' wages during the duration of the strike.
Moreover, the member knows that the government plays two conflicting roles. It is not only a player in the collective bargaining process, it is also the supreme rule maker.
As we have witnessed time and again in this House, the government ends public sector strikes by legislating workers back to work. Is that what the member would like to see happen? I rather doubt it.
Members have heard me say repeatedly in the House that the Reform Party supports the final offer selection arbitration process when management impasses jeopardize health, safety or the national economy.
Finally, often arbitration gives labour and management the tools to resolve their differences. Final offer selection does not favour one side over the other and it eliminates the need for government interference in the negotiations. It puts the onus on both sides to reach an agreement and it can be used equally by labour or management to provide a permanent, just and effective settlement.
In preparation for this debate, I contacted members of the RCMP stationed in detachments throughout my constituency to find out what they thought about unions and the bargaining process. I found that there was zero support or enthusiasm for the creation of unions from within the ranks of the RCMP. I think that is a very important element to be considered in debating a bill of this type.
Last year, when RCMP officers appeared before the subcommittee on government operations, they testified that out of the over 1,000 members in Manitoba, only 15 wanted to unionize. In British Columbia, 156 RCMP officers, out of a possible 4,600, attended a meeting organized by union proponents to discuss organizing and half of those 156 left the meeting before it ended.
There is a mechanism within the RCMP to deal with labour-management issues that is part of the RCMP Act regulations. The division staff relations representative program, or DSRR program, has been in place for 20 years and it enjoys the support of the vast majority of members of the force. The officers in each division across the country elect at least one full time representative and two part time representatives.
The RCMP members serving in detachments throughout my constituency indicated to me that they are satisfied with this current arrangement.
Since there is virtually no support in the RCMP for a union, the hon. member's motion seems to me somewhat unnecessary. His efforts and energies might be directed to other areas deserving of his immediate attention. He should be suggesting ways for the government to reduce the debt, eliminate the deficit, balance the budget, give taxpayers like those hard working members of the RCMP a tax break that they most certainly deserve.
If the hon. member is concerned with the plight of the RCMP he would be willing to call for a tougher Young Offenders Act. I believe it would be very frustrating for an RCMP officer to
continually collar these people who are given a rap on the knuckles and then turned loose.
The hon. member would be advocating a get tough on crime agenda like the zero tolerance policies the Reform Party is proposing. He would be calling for a referendum on capital punishment for first degree murder for those who kill police officers and find out if there is support, and I suggest there is, in Canada for exactly that, capital punishment for first degree murder.
If the hon. member for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve were really interested in the well-being of RCMP officers, he would focus on issues that are of concern to the members of the force, concerns that we hear when talking to the members of the force on a daily basis.