Debates of June 23rd, 2011

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

Shall the amendment to clause 8 carry?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Madam Chair, I believe if you seek it you would find agreement to apply the results of the previous recorded vote to this motion, with the Conservatives voting no.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

Is there unanimous consent to proceed in this fashion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Madam Chair, NDP members will vote yes.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Madam Chair, Liberal members will be voting yes.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Madam Chair, the Bloc Québécois votes yes.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, the Green Party will be voting yes.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

The amendment is defeated.

(Amendment negatived)

Shall clause 8 carry?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Madam Chair, if you seek it I believe you would find agreement to apply the results of the previous recorded vote to this motion, with the Conservatives voting yes.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

Is there agreement to proceed in this way?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Madam Chair, NDP members are voting no.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Madam Chair, Liberal members are voting no.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Madam Chair, the Bloc Québécois votes no.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, the Green Party votes no.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

Clause 8 is adopted.

(Clause 8 agreed to)

[See list under Division No. 27]

(Yeas, 158; Nays, 112)

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

(On Clause 9)

I will read the amendment proposed by the member for Windsor—Tecumseh:

That Bill C-6 in clause 9 be amended by replacing lines 23 and 24 on page 3 with the following:

“and duties of an arbitrator under sections 60 and 61 of”.

[Joe Comartin, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Madam Chair, just briefly, sections 60 and 61 of the Canada Labour Code provide authority to the duties and powers of the arbitrator. The attempt by the government, as drafted now in clause 9, is to limit the discretion and authority of the arbitrator.

I'll just mention one item. More specifically, because of the way clause 9 is drafted now, it does not allow the arbitrator in any way to conduct mediation. Anybody who has been involved in labour relations for 50 years knows the value of that tool to arbitrators. It oftentimes speeds up the process, makes it less costly, and most often achieves the result that we always want in labour management relations, which is that the parties reach a settlement themselves as opposed to, as in this case, having it thrust upon them because of the way it is drafted.

The only other point I would make is that it also allows the arbitrator to look at various methodologies in terms of when he or she is conducting the arbitration process. This provision as it is now, and the rest of clauses 8, 9, 10 and 11, will restrict the arbitrator to only using the final offer selection process, again severely limiting the arbitrator's ability to do the job properly.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Labour]

Madam Speaker, this clause is there to ensure that certain powers in the code that would be contrary to the intent of this legislation are removed from the arbitrator's abilities.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, I would urge members of this committee to think about even one small change in the way Bill C-6 is now drafted. This is reasonable. It is the Canada Labour Code, and greater flexibility in the hands of the arbitrator makes so much sense. I would hope that committee members might rethink this and that we would not just vote as a bloc again.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

Shall we apply the results of the previous amendment to this amendment?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

(Amendment negatived)

We will apply the results of the previous clause to clause 9.

(Clause 9 agreed to)

[See list under Division 27]

(Yeas, 158; Nays, 112)

(On Clause 10)

On clause 10, an amendment has been moved by the hon. member for Windsor—Tecumseh:

That Bill C-6, in Clause 10, be amended (a) by replacing line 35 on page 3 with the following: "matters; and" (b) by replacing lines 38 to 40 on page 3 with the following:

of the new collective agreement.