Mr. Speaker, I will be using the 20 minutes or whatever portion of time you deem I have remaining.
At the outset I wish to indicate that I will endeavour to stay as relevant as possible during my remarks today. I know how important it is to the Speaker that we remain on topic when we address bills and that is my intention.
When I was unfortunately cut off from further debate on Friday, I was at that part in my presentation where I was talking about Bill C-19 as it relates to farmers and as it relates to the transport of farm products and commodities throughout the land. At the end of my remarks I said that despite government claims to the contrary, Bill C-19 will not guarantee that grain will be transported to its destination. I will pick up where I left off.
It was just a couple of years ago in 1995 when western farmers saw rail traffic come to a grinding halt. Now these farmers are haunted by the very real possibility of another rail strike or a lockout this spring because the agreement that brought an end to the 1995 strike expired in December. Bill C-19 will do absolutely nothing to stop that from happening.
As I discovered during debate on Bill C-4, an act to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act, which was rammed through the House under closure, this government gives farmers little priority. Farmers are not getting the attention and substantive legislation they deserve from this Liberal government.
On many occasions we have seen work stoppages in the national transportation and grain handling sectors. In 1987 there was a five day dispute between the railways and their union. Late that same year there was a 42 day work stoppage between Prince Rupert Grain Ltd. and the Grain Workers Union which resulted in some very heavy financial losses. In 1991 there was a 16 day dispute between the Department of Transport and the public service union. As I mentioned earlier there was a 20 day work stoppage in 1995 during a dispute between the railways and their unions.
In all of those cases the federal government followed through with back to work legislation. This is a patchwork method of ensuring the continuation of essential services. Both management and unions have little incentive to negotiate in good faith. Both parties come to rely on back to work legislation as a way to eventually end the work dispute but it is divisive and simply means that labour disputes will flare up again all too soon. This will certainly be the case this spring if the rail workers and management cannot come to an agreement. Grain farmers will be saying “Here we go again”.
These stoppages in our transportation system have very serious ramifications for our reputation on the international stage as a reliable shipper of farm commodities. As agriculture critic for the official opposition I can say that—