Madam Speaker, I have heard this question from a number of people in this debate. How does the law guarantee procedural fairness to both the union and the employer? I am going to mention four ways.
First, it provides the parties with meaningful input into the selection of the mediator. Each party will have 48 hours to provide a list of three people to the Minister of Labour, and if both parties agree on one person, the minister will need to name that party.
Second, the law allows each party to put all of the matters that it wishes to on the table. The mediator-arbitrator needs to consider every single issue put forward by both parties.
Third, it provides a 14-day period for the parties to continue to work things out in mediation, and allows the parties to extend that by seven days, by mutual agreement.
Finally, it allows the mediator to have the discretion to determine what is the best way to resolve each and every matter, by either using one method or another method that the mediator-arbitrator judges best to solve a particular issue.