Mr. Speaker, this motion would entirely remove the Minister of Labour's discretion to appoint conciliation assistance unless the parties were to consent to such an appointment. Presumably it would require the joint consent of both labour and management before the minister could make an appointment under the code.
Government prescribed conciliation services have had a long and distinguished history reaching back to the very beginning of this century when in 1900 the Conciliation Act established the Department of Labour and provided for conciliation of labour disputes. Over the years the system has been modified. Currently the minister has full authority to appoint not just one but two consecutive levels of conciliation and that without the agreement of the party.
The presenter of the motion does understand that conciliation works best when the parties are committed to the process. What he perhaps does not understand is that sometimes in labour disputes a party will want to have conciliation assistance but will not want to ask for it for fear that such a request will be taken as a sign of weakness. That is where leaving discretion to the minister to appoint can be of great value.
During the extensive consultation process leading up to the introduction of Bill C-19, representatives of labour and management organizations subject to part I of the code, while critical of lengthy delays in the current conciliation process found conciliation valuable and praised the services offered by the federal mediation and conciliation service.
The labour-management working group did not recommend that compulsory conciliation be abolished, only that the two stage process be replaced by a single stage which could take various forms. This consensus is reflected in a single stage, time limited conciliation process included in Bill C-19.
The Sims task force found that conciliation remains an important function and that the federal mediation and conciliation service is a resource that helps reduce industrial conflict in Canada. Over 90% of disputes referred to conciliation are resolved with the assistance of conciliation officers without resort to work stoppages. The task force—