Mr. Speaker, we are now debating Group No. 3 which contains amendments proposed by the Reform Party.
I would like to speak specifically to Motion No. 5. The Standing Committee on Human Resources Development should have some scrutiny over the remuneration paid to the CLRB. The main estimates for 1996-97 show that the total program budget for the CLRB is $8,791,000. That budget is not broken down enough to show much detail. By bringing this to the board it would allow parliamentarians to scrutinize how the money is spent and on what it is spent: how much of it is wages, how much is travel, how much is expenses, et cetera.
Further, a motion suggests that part time members of the CLRB should be absorbed by the parties that are involved in the dispute. That should apply only to part time members and would go a long way in helping parties resolve their problems themselves rather than bringing so many decisions to the board. At least it would not be overloading the taxpayer to settle one argument after another.
Reform supports Motion No. 5. We agree that the board should have some scrutiny and knowledge of where the taxpayers' money is being spent in this particular area. We are not interested in micro-management but we are interested in the overall picture. If the matter did come to the standing committee it would at least give us an opportunity to question departmental officials.
There was a lot of talk in committee regarding the certification of unions and whether that can be accomplished for off site workers with or without their permission. Can it be accomplished only when a majority of the workers agree on the certification of a union or if the CLRB can decide when there was interference or at least undue pressure put on the employees.
To back up my point, recently there was a case where the majority of the people did not support the formation and certification of a union but the board ruled in favour of the union because the company suggested that the formation of a union might jeopardize jobs and it might have to shut down some of its operations. The board ruled in favour of the union and the union was certified without a majority of employee members wanting it. That is wrong. It is against our democratic principles. I believe that if a majority of the employees in any operation would like to certify a union then they should be allowed to do so. The key word here is majority.
There are several other amendments in Group No. 3 that I would be pleased to speak to at a later date.