Transport committee  My name is Jocelyn Dumais, and I am a construction contractor in the Ottawa area. I live in Quebec. October 19, 2001 is a little-known date on which the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Advance Cutting & Coring case, stating that the freedom to belong to a union also mea

Transport committee  In what sense?

Transport committee  Whether the project is at the Ottawa airport or here, on Parliament Hill, if the general contractor has signed an agreement with one of the unions and was awarded the contract, the construction site is not accessible to me if I haven't signed an agreement with that union. I'm pen

Transport committee  No, it's always through the general contractor. That is who has the contract—

Transport committee  In the area, it's SNC-Lavalin. It stops there. There doesn't seem to be any kind of policy in that regard.

Transport committee  No. Part of the problem is that there aren't enough people like me standing up for their rights, and so the system simply disregards us. If unions have more lobbying influence, unionized shops, by extension, have the advantage when it comes to obtaining contracts. In Canada, 77%

Transport committee  No.

Transport committee  Yes. When you're in business, you're ready and willing to compete with anyone, union or non-union. The only objection I have is that if I'm non-union, I can't compete with those who are in the union.

Transport committee  No, on the contrary.

Transport committee  I am suggesting that they have equal rights. I am also suggesting that the unionized shops holding the contracts not force their subcontractors to be unionized and not be permitted to keep non-unionized shops off constructions sites. That isn't the reality now.

Transport committee  It's just in Ontario. I live in Quebec, but I am an Ontario contractor.

Transport committee  I've never worked in Quebec, like many people in the Gatineau area.

Transport committee  Because of the unionization there.

Transport committee  No.

Transport committee  I'm not allowed, unless I bow to the law requiring me to unionize. As I see it, requiring me to unionize is like forcing me to go to church. I won't go. We have freedom of religion, so we should have freedom of association.