Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to address Bill C-12 finally at third reading, a bill which may have become known as the Friday file because of its habit of coming up on Fridays every time it came before the House. I would like to thank my colleagues who stood in for me from time to time to make sure that someone from our party addressed the bill.
We are at third reading of Bill C-12, which will amend part II of the Canada Labour Code. It deals specifically with workplace health and safety for employees and businesses which fall under federal jurisdiction.
Workers, managers and even federal bureaucrats I am sure will all breathe a sigh of relief when Bill C-12 receives third reading and goes to the other place. Bill C-12 is an example of a consensus agreement that has been some 10 years in the making. I do not know why it should necessarily have taken 10 years. I am sure that the process could have been hastened a lot. I would admonish the government for taking so terribly long to get this done. We have heard about the possibility of amendments to part II of the labour code for some time, and finally we see that it has come to fruition.
I do not think that labour legislation should ever be changed on a whim. I am pleased that the government, when it decided to change it, went to the stakeholders, who realized that since these amendments were needed to reflect a changing workplace they should all work together to develop a viable solution.
I was also a bit disappointed that the government refused to negotiate on the labour-management consensus that called for a two tier appeal process. The appeal process in the bill does not meet their needs. This came through loud and clear during committee hearings.
In the current statute, decisions made by the regional safety officer can be appealed to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Under the streamlined provisions set out in this bill, the mandate of the appeals officer has been strengthened. Any decision rendered by the appeals officer will now be final, and the only recourse is to take the issue to the Federal Court of Canada.
The Canadian Alliance supports the removal of unnecessary red tape, but in this case a two tier appeal process could save the parties the hassle and expense of bringing a disputed directive to the Federal Court of Canada.
When the minister's officials appeared before the committee studying Bill C-12, they indicated that over the last 10 years about 1,800 directives had been issued by their officers. Of those there were only 179 appeals, or about 10%. Fifteen of them were appealed to the federal court and only two were because the appeals officer's ruling was overturned by CIRB. In light of the small number of appeals, the burden on the CIRB certainly would not be an onerous one. Yet the government chose to deny the stakeholders a second level of appeal.
If only 10% of the directives are ever appealed to the federal court, the inclusion of a two tier appeal process could cut the number of appeals to the federal court considerably. It may not be as lucrative for the lawyers, but it could save labour and management considerable time and expense.
The successful tripartite consultative process that spawned this legislation will hopefully bring about regulations that are equally acceptable to all parties. Indeed, when we were researching the bill and when we talked to stakeholders, we found very little resistance to what was in the bill from anyone.
Consultation with stakeholders does not just mean that the government gives a few representatives a chance to present their concerns and then unilaterally imposes the Liberal will. Unfortunately this is what happened in the case of the trucking industry. The government decided that this safety apparatus was essential and would be implemented according to its timetable without concern or regard for the impact on truck owners, drivers or operators.
All too often government consultation is just as one-sided as that. For instance, when the minister decided to implement the fair wage schedules it made little difference that the schedules were not necessary and had not been activated in years. Apparently it also made little difference that the consultation process was flawed. The fact that the surveys were botched did not seem to matter much to the minister either. In the end, it is the Canadian taxpayer who will pay the higher cost for contracts carried out at federal sites.
The success of the consultative process employed in developing Bill C-12 should be extended to all legislative and regulatory areas under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Labour. Bill C-12 is now on its way to the other place. The focus now turns to the much anticipated overhaul of part III of the labour code. The minister mentioned that in her speech. We could only hope that the minister and her officials will endeavour to reach the same kind of consensus obtained with the health and safety amendments.
Part III of the code may perhaps have the greatest impact on everyday lives of workers in the federally regulated sector. Amendments to this part of the code should stand as a model for the provinces to emulate. They should not be rushed into the House as a pre-election ploy as we saw with the health and safety amendments back in 1997. The government tabled those changes in April 1997 just days before the election was called. I cannot understand why it would take more than two years before Bill C-12 was introduced again.
I hope the minister will learn from Bill C-12 that she can bring in whatever it is on part III of the code and that we can discuss it and repair it where it needs to be.
Thanks to the groundwork laid by the tripartite group Bill C-12 was reasonable. It met with little opposition from any party in the House. We in the Canadian Alliance willingly co-operated at all stages of the debate. I ask the minister to ensure that it be proclaimed without further delay.