Human Resources committee  I would say that probably if we do negotiate standards on that front it wouldn't be so much in the labour cooperation agreements but would be international labour organizations, because we have a number of conventions dealing with that.

Human Resources committee  I'm not sure I have this information with me today. I'm sorry about that.

Human Resources committee  No, not really. Thank you.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for that. First, I should say that in the deck, instead of saying that we represent Canada, we should have added something along the lines of saying that we contribute to developing labour standards, because we're not the only ones involved in the ILO. Canada does co

Human Resources committee  To come back to your point on asbestos, I'm told it's a DFAIT-led file.

Human Resources committee  To come to your second point, I would say that legislation would be the last resort, because there's this whole process that I needed to--

Human Resources committee  I can say that participation in the ILO forum is done in consultation with the various departments that are involved, and yes, DFAIT does work in consultation with us.

Human Resources committee  After that part is done, our role is over. For instance, the minister would appoint an arbitrator, and then the arbitrator would work with the parties to get to an agreement. And there are different types. There's the binding final offer, for instance, where the arbitrator has to

Human Resources committee  If you want some more key statistics, I have some numbers. For instance, last year the total caseload for 2010-11 was 302 collective bargaining disputes handled. That gives you an idea of the scope.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the question. I think there are some cyclical effects. The collective agreements come to an end, and they need to be negotiated, so there's a cyclical effect there. One thing we are doing, and it was announced in budget 2011, is increasing preventive mediation serv

Human Resources committee  Not necessarily, because there's a period during which the parties are bargaining by themselves, so it's very difficult to anticipate.

Human Resources committee  I'm just giving a rough figure, because I don't have the exact figure. I would say that approximately 300 collective agreements are being negotiated each year. I would say that of these, over 90% end without a work stoppage of any kind.

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much for the question. Yes, indeed, we rely on a very professional team of mediators and conciliation officers in the program. The first thing that happens in a collective bargaining process is that either the employer or the union gives a notice to bargain to th

Human Resources committee  With these labour agreements, we're not only seeking a level labour agreement, but we also provide technical assistance, when appropriate. For example, if we have free trade partners, we help them build their capacity to meet their obligations contained in this LCA. So we have te

Human Resources committee  No, I think this would be also outside of the scope of.... That is not part of our responsibilities.