Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to rise and speak against very badly thought-out and very mean-spirited legislation. Once again we see the Conservative agenda at play. Through private members' bills, we see the government's true agenda and in this case we see an attack on working people and trade unions. It is totally unnecessary.
I have heard a lot from my colleagues across the way that this is about protecting workers. If I were not so upset by this whole legislation, I might even laugh out loud at such a ridiculous comment being made by my colleagues.
The trade union was given birth in the 19th century during the industrial revolution in order to give working people rights, in order to form a collective, a union, so they could take on the mistreatment, the horrible treatment of children in the labour force, people being killed in the mines, people being mangled in machines, people not being paid proper wages, with horrible working conditions. Unions were not given to working people. Working people came together and decided if they wanted to create a balance in this new industrial world, they needed to form a collective to be able to negotiate with the employer.
I believe that relationship has served us well. As one of my colleagues said previously, it has led to a reasonable work week, benefits, pensions, and I know these are things my colleagues across the way do not value. It has led to a lot of our social support systems that we all cherish. However, the union movement has also been one of the greatest elements in growing the middle class. It not only has grown the middle class, it has also been one of the key agents in bringing about positive social justice change and building a more equitable and inclusive Canada for everyone, whether they are newcomers or whether they were born here. It is the union that goes to bat for an employee when the employer is remiss in carrying out its responsibilities. Unions act as an advocate.
It is absolutely ludicrous for a government that has shown so little transparency, where we cannot even find out 90% of the information we need to be a real parliamentary democracy in order to carry out our role as parliamentarians. We need it and yet Conservatives in their spare time attack unions which represent working people. By the way, let me remind my colleagues across the way every time they talk about a union boss, every one of those union bosses has been elected through a democratic process, just as the Conservatives were elected to sit in Parliament.
Conservatives may behave like belligerent, sometimes aggressive bosses and display that behaviour in here, but they do not have to try to transplant that on others. Union bosses and union leadership are elected by the membership. The membership dues are voted on by the membership.
When I hear the kind of argument by one of my colleagues, who I have a great deal of respect for when we are on a TV panel, say that she has talked to one union member, I have some news for her. I talk to hundreds and hundreds of Canadians who tell me this is not the Canada they want, not what they voted for and not where they want to go.
We live in a country that respects parliamentary democracy and respects our democratic structures. I know there is no better example of a democracy than in a union. There are votes after votes. Because we are a democracy and unions work in a democratic way, that is how decisions are made. That is how we avoid anarchy. If everybody gets to do whatever they want whenever they want, that is a formula for anarchy.
Unions collect their union dues based on a membership vote. They do a report to the membership on a regular basis. Before any money can be spent on any of the different programs that the unions run there is a vote. Running an anti-poverty program should not be a sin. Running a program to fight racism should not be considered a sin by my colleagues across the way. Any time any kind of money is spent on programs that the membership wants and votes for, the membership also votes to allocate money to those programs. Is that not what democracy is all about?
My colleagues across the way try to shut down democracy in Parliament. Not only do the Conservatives want to create red tape galore, which would not only be a financial burden on the taxpayers but also on taxpayers who are union members, they want to add hours and hours of paperwork. For what, voyeurism, just for snooping? Is there no such a thing as privacy?
At the same time, I do not see in this legislation that the Conservatives want the same kind of transparency from banks. They say that it is because unions get tax breaks. Well, the amount of tax breaks that banks and corporations get is a thousand times greater than any tax breaks any union member gets on his or her fees.
What is the real issue? The real issue is that the government cannot stand criticism of the way it is doing business in the country. When it cannot take criticism, it does three things. First, in the House, it calls closure and time allocation and shuts down debate. It has found ways to attack charities and to scare them into submission in many cases. Now, through hours and hours of useless paperwork and attacks, it is trying to shut down the voices of people who are saying that they want a different kind of Canada, a kinder, gentler and more economically sound Canada that includes everybody, not just the banks and the big corporations.