Greg Fergus

[Situation in Indigenous Communities, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member and all hon. members for the debate tonight. Certainly, when I listen to this debate it is very easy to become overwhelmed by the challenges faced by our aboriginal youth, especially as symbolized by the crisis that we are facing in Attawapiskat.

However, my head, my heart, and my faith also convince me that the first nations indigenous communities and their youth, as challenging as the problems are, also have the resilience and the strength to deal with these problems if only we were to offer some form of co-operation with them.

Let me tell a story from my own riding of Hull—Aylmer, which is a place where a lot of first nations communities come. Parents come to study to improve themselves, to go to CEGEP or to go across the river to a college or a university, and oftentimes they bring their children. The children face a difficult transition of moving from school to school. Yet, let me mention one school in my riding, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School, where the kids got together and under the guidance of a first nations music producer, David Hodges, produced a fabulous video in which the elementary students themselves told their story. They wrote the song. They wrote the music. They produced the video. It really was a positive demonstration of what can happen when they come together. It was the first time that a lot of those students felt that they were paid attention to and they had that opportunity to express themselves.

There are many ways in which people in a community can take action themselves. I wonder if the hon. member would have a comment on that.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, March 22nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question is a good one. That is one of the reasons why the scope of this bill allows for a single national collective bargaining unit and not several collective bargaining units, which could have an effect in how the negotiations would happen with the municipalities and the provinces. That is the reason this was carefully taken into consideration. That is why the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, based on consultations not only with the RCMP but with officials and learning from other experiences of police forces across the country, came up with this model to ensure we do not take that into account.

Sometimes there is a cost to inaction. There is a cost to inaction by not allowing the RCMP to have the same kinds of collective bargaining rights that other police forces have enjoyed across the country. It is really important at this time to address this issue now, rather than allow this to lead to a crisis situation.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, March 22nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski takes this issue very seriously. I am very happy to hear of the support from the hon. member for, as we say in French, les grandes lignes de ces projets de loi. I am pleased to hear there is that kind of support.

The question she asked with regard to the harassment procedures is also a very important question and one which I would like to address.

First, as I said in my speech, the bill would provide the opportunity for the RCMP, its officers and reservists, to acquire collective bargaining rights, but it is narrowly circumscribed to deal with last year's court ruling.

With regard to harassment issues, which I know the hon. member takes very seriously and which we all in the House take seriously, there are procedures in place and ways in which we can deal with that outside of the legislative process. Our efforts should be to improve those procedures to ensure senior officers in the RCMP have the opportunity to address those issues internally. That is beyond the ambit of what we as legislators can actually draw together and provide in the bill.

We will take those issues seriously and we will be very supportive of the efforts of senior RCMP officers to address those questions.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, March 22nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Don Valley East. I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to rise today to support Bill C-7.

It is an honour to participate in this debate and take a stand on behalf of the members and reservists of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Today's bill seeks to uphold the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of RCMP members and reservists to engage in meaningful collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is a right that other police officers in Canada have enjoyed for many years. RCMP members and reservists have been denied that right, despite the significant contribution they have made to our proud, strong, and free nation over the past 143 years.

This bill would remedy that situation. It is a clear and reasoned response to the decision rendered by the Supreme Court on January 16, 2015. The court indicated that section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects a meaningful process of collective bargaining that provides employees with a degree of choice and independence sufficient to enable them to determine and pursue their collective interests. The court also stated that the current RCMP labour relations regime denies RCMP members that choice, and imposes on them a scheme that does not permit them to identify and advance their workplace concerns free from management’s influence.

I thank the Supreme Court for this ruling, and I am pleased to support this bill today, which would give RCMP members and reservists freedom of choice and independence from management, while recognizing their unique operational reality.

This bill was carefully developed from the results of consultations with key stakeholders. The initial consultations were held with regular members of the RCMP. The next round of consultations were held with the provinces, territories, and municipalities that have police service agreements with the RCMP.

There are some important features in Bill C-7. First and foremost, it gives access to independent, binding arbitration when the bargaining dispute resolution process reaches an impasse. Members of the RCMP bargaining unit will not have the right to strike, which is in line with the practices of other police forces across the country. Those who participated in the online consultation expressed a strong preference for this provision.

The bill will also create a single, nation-wide bargaining unit composed of RCMP members appointed to a rank as well as reservists. In order to be certified, an RCMP bargaining agent must have as its primary mandate the representation of RCMP members. Once again, regular members have shown strong support for these provisions. The bill also provides for the exclusion of officers at the inspector level and above from representation.

Lastly, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board will act as the administrative tribunal for matters related to the RCMP bargaining unit, as well as grievances related to the provisions of the collective agreement.

This bill is in line with the government's efforts to restore fair and balanced labour laws in this country.

Consider, for example, Bill C-5, which repeals division 20 of Bill C-59, the bill to implement budget 2015, introduced in April of last year by the previous government.

That bill gave the government the power to unilaterally override the collective bargaining process and impose a new sick leave system on the public service.

The Public Service Staff Relations Act was first introduced in 1977 in order to give public servants the right to organize and to bargain collectively. Guaranteeing collaborative efforts among the parties is crucial, as is increasing the capacity of the public service to serve and protect the public interest.

Our government has made it abundantly clear that it will not adopt an approach that does not take into account the bargaining process between an employer and a group of employees who want to reach agreements on employment conditions.

By repealing these provisions of Bill C-59, we are demonstrating our respect for the collective bargaining process. We believe in collective bargaining. Today's bill is a testament to our belief in that right.

We also believe in fair and balanced labour relations. Unfortunately, over the past few years, many basic labour rights have been undermined. Consider Bill C-377 and Bill C-525, for example, which will change how unions can be certified or decertified and will impose new financial reporting requirements on them.

Those bills were passed without the usual consultation process involving employers, unions, and the government, which was used during the reform of the Public Service Staff Relations Act. As a result, it is now harder for unions and employers to bargain in good faith.

Instead we must ensure that workers are free to organize, bargain collectively in good faith, and ensure safe workplaces for themselves. To make that happen, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour introduced a bill to repeal Bill C-377 and Bill C-525.

Bill C-4 restores the bargaining agent certification and decertification processes that were in place before June 16, 2015. Bill C-4 also amends the Income Tax Act to get rid of unnecessary requirements imposed on labour organizations and labour trusts with regard to releasing certain financial information.

As hon. members know, legislative measures are already in place to ensure that unions make that financial information available. Under section 110 of the Canada Labour Code, unions are required to provide financial statements to their members upon request and free of charge, which makes these requirements to produce extra reports unnecessary.

In conclusion, the bill being introduced today is consistent with our belief in fair and balanced labour relations. Every other police force in Canada has had the right to engage in collective bargaining for quite some time. This bill respects that right, while recognizing the particular circumstances of the RCMP as a national police force.

It is time for us to give RCMP members and reservists the respect they deserve. To that end, I am calling on all hon. members to show their support for RCMP members and reservists by voting in favour of this bill.

[Copyright, March 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we support the Marrakesh Treaty.

Many Canadians live with a disability that does not allow them to access printed material. They need to access this material to participate in our economy, so this government is working to address this challenge by facilitating persons with print disability to have access to works in large print and different formats, to provide overall a greater accessibility to these works. We are hoping that all members will continue to support the adoption of this law.

[Regional Economic Development, March 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, our regional economic development agencies are very important to the government and our plan for innovation. They are part of our plan to ensure that jobs are created in every region of Canada.

These will be good, export-oriented, innovation-based jobs. That is why all members of the House will show their support for our regional economic development agencies.

[Air Transportation, March 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the minister made it clear in the House that, on December 11, Bombardier approached the Government of Canada to ask us to help it out. We are studying its case as it knows this is a very complex file. We are doing our due diligence because there is one thing that we promised the people of Canada, which is whatever decision we make will be based on a solid business case and a solid analysis. That is something we believe in, that it is evidence based as opposed to just making decisions willy-nilly, as they do on the other side.

[Air Transportation, March 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, this government recognizes that Bombardier is part of a key industry and sector in our country, the aerospace industry, which employs more than 180,000 Canadians in high-quality jobs and represents more than $29 billion in economic activity. We are in discussions with Bombardier, and we are in discussions with the Government of Quebec. If there is a solid business case to be made, we will certainly present it to the people.

[Ottawa Race Weekend, March 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising today on behalf of my colleague from Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock to issue a challenge to all of our colleagues in the House of Commons.

As members all know, we have a very busy work schedule. Being a politician and staying in shape do not necessarily go hand in hand. That is why we joined the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. Together, we are challenging members to participate in one of the six events that will take place on May 28 and 29.

By participating, members will call attention to the importance of health and physical activity. I would also like to point out that the race is a fundraiser for the ALS Society of Canada. I encourage as many members as possible to participate.

I also encourage them to join us twice a week to train. Together we can change things and, at the same time, support our dear colleague and friend, the hon. member for Ottawa—Vanier.

[Business of Supply, March 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, let me reassure my hon. colleague and the entire House that the government and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development are working very hard on developing the innovation plan.

We have many elements at stake, and the aerospace industry is a key element of that. The reason is that the aerospace industry requires so much of an innovative economy. It requires us to be competitive. If Canada classes itself as third among countries in the aerospace industry, it is because we have made those investments in the universities and colleges to ensure we get the graduates who can compete in that. It takes a high degree of numeracy, of engineering for people to be part of the aerospace industry. It is the reason why being involved in the design and manufacturing of that industry is so economically remunerative.

Workers can make a lot of money in this industry. That is why these jobs are highly sought after by students in engineering, mechanical engineering, and many other fields. The average salary in this industry is quite high. As a government, our plan for innovation is to focus on jobs and promising industries.

I am not just talking about the aerospace industry. Last week, I spent a day in Sudbury, in northern Ontario, where I saw the extraordinary work of mining sector workers. That is where there is innovation. There is innovation everywhere and soon our government will be announcing policies to support it.