Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Pontiac.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in order to denounce Motion No. 10, moved by the government in order to muzzle parliamentarians and introduce back-to-work legislation for Air Canada.
This government thinks that because it has a majority it can do whatever it wants.
This government was elected less than a year ago and has already invoked closure more than a dozen times in order to muzzle parliamentarians and shove its conservative ideology down Canadians' throats. That happened with the elimination of the firearms registry, the creation of the pooled registered pension plans, the dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board, the bill to implement the last budget and the bill on the distribution of seats in the House.
Just yesterday, the government used its majority to muzzle the opposition and impose its crime bill, a bill that is widely rejected, particularly in Quebec.
I want to remind my colleagues that this is the same party that, when it was in opposition, denounced time allocation motions moved by the Liberal government. I have here, for example, a quote from the current Minister of Public Safety who, on November 27, 2001, said:
For the government to bring in closure and time allocation is wrong. It sends out the wrong message to the people of Canada. It tells the people of Canada that the government is afraid of debate, afraid of discussion and afraid of publicly justifying the steps it has taken.
This government seems to forget that, although it was elected to form the government, 60% of Canadians did not vote for it, and it has a duty to govern for all Canadians.
This is particularly true when we see new revelations every day about the Conservatives’ fraudulent practices in their effort to win power last May.
As columnist Vincent Marissal wrote this morning:
It seems that the Conservatives are not just allergic to debates in the Commons; they also abhor labour disputes. In this case, not only are they abusing the gag rule in Parliament, they are also wielding the bayonet to force the union members into line.
It is barely 11 months since I was elected, but this is the third time I have seen the government introduce special legislation to avert a strike or lockout. After Canada Post and Air Canada last June, here the Conservatives are once again twisting the arms of Air Canada workers.
It now seems that the right to strike and to bargain on equal terms is on the verge of extinction in businesses under federal jurisdiction, whether they are public corporations like Canada Post or private ones like Air Canada.
The strangest thing is that this ideological government is still telling us that it does not want to intervene in the economy, but to “let the market do its job”.
It does not intervene to help workers in the forestry industry. It does not intervene to help workers in the manufacturing sector. It does not intervene to help fishers and agricultural workers. It does not intervene to help taxi drivers and workers who are the victims of fluctuations in the price of gas. This is shameful.
However, when this government intervenes in the economy to correct imperfections in the market, we notice that most of the time it is to the disadvantage of working people. The Canada Post and Air Canada examples speak volumes.
This time, the government is telling us that an Air Canada pilots strike during the school break could have terrible effects on the Canadian economy. And yet this same government is telling us that the economy is fine, the job market is robust and we have the soundest banking system in the world. Either the government is exaggerating the impact of the labour dispute at Air Canada, the better to wield the club, or the Canadian economy is not as strong as it claims.
To come back to the labour dispute at Air Canada, we have to understand that the government is preparing to take the right to strike away from more than 10,000 Air Canada employees. In fact, the bill targets the company’s 3,000 pilots and 8,600 mechanics, baggage handlers and cargo agents.
In addition to denying Air Canada employees the right to strike, the government’s approach sends a very bad message to all employers governed by the Canada Labour Code. From now on, they need only impose or threaten to impose a lockout and the minister will come out with his gags and his bayonet and order the employees back to work.
Under this system, the employer will always be the winner, because workers will be deprived of their ultimate pressure tactic.
Let us remember that we are here today to talk about Motion No. 10, proceedings on Bill C-33. This weekend I had the pleasure of spending time in my riding and especially with young people in my riding. What I discovered was that young people are losing faith in politics and our political system. It is due to dirty tricks like this, time allocation motions and actions to limit debate, that young people are losing faith in politics. That is very discouraging to me.
This morning at a press conference the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment accused all those wanting a robust consultation process in environmental assessment of economic vandalism. The government continues to refer to the economy when it talks about back to work legislation and when it talks about labour conflicts. This begs the question: Are the real economic vandals the environmentalists who want the government to be responsible? Are they the first nations people who want robust consultation processes given by the government? Are they the workers who require just pay and the right to strike to put pressure on their employers? Is the real economic vandal the government that keeps giving tax cuts to oil companies and large corporations, that keeps giving tax cuts to corporations like Caterpillar that pick up and leave when the going gets tough?
We realize that when the government talks about the economy it does not take the economy seriously. We call on the government to listen to workers. I believe that the government should seriously consider the fact that Canadians are losing faith in our parliamentary institutions, especially since 60% of Canadians did not vote for this government and it refuses to govern for the majority of Canadians. For this reason I oppose Motion No. 10 on proceedings on Bill C-33.