Industry committee  If you characterize the Auto Pact as a free trade agreement, I'm with you, but I think that was—

Industry committee  That one-for-one is gone now. They've abrogated the Auto Pact. We're still benefiting from it, but it's a legacy. It's not part of the free trade agreement. We're afraid we're going to see a lot more job loss—not just to the United States but also to Korea. And wait until China

Human Resources committee  Thank you. Sir, I'm the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. And with me is our secretary-treasurer, Hassan Yussuff. We are elected to represent 3.2 million Canadian workers, and we speak for them. I want to start off by telling you that, for the record, 911 is a provinci

Human Resources committee  The whole purpose of a strike and/or lockout is that it's an economic sanction to move the party to resolve a dispute. Our experience is that if employers or employees feel no economic pressure, then the dispute will linger and carry on. But the fact of the matter is that it woul

Human Resources committee  Here is a small point: in British Columbia, the federation there will not sanction a picket line unless essential-service designations are agreed to or sanctioned by the British Columbia Labour Relations Board.

Human Resources committee  First of all, the best answer I can give you is that the unionization rate of the telecoms is fairly high. The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union is scheduled to testify, and they do have a very high density in that area, but don't make the mistake of associating wage

Human Resources committee  The last telecom dispute involved Telus. It was over merging two bargaining units into one and the provisions of the new agreement. It had very little to do with remuneration and everything to do with how you could merge two collective agreements into one.

Human Resources committee  No, there has been no move. They have made amendments to the Labour Relations Code, and they're a very ideological government there that doesn't have a lot of regard for organized labour. They took away automatic certification and other things that were put in, but they didn't to

International Trade committee  Thank you, Chair. Thank you for this opportunity to contribute to your study on the environmental and human rights impacts of the proposed--now concluded, I guess--Colombia trade deal. Our congress is the voice of 3.2 million working women and men across this country. The Colo

International Trade committee  I guess it's a matter of respect for the process. I would expect this committee's report would be important and a guide to the negotiators and the representatives of the Canadian government. I would have hoped they would have taken into consideration the concerns that all the pre

International Trade committee  I'm not sure there's much they can put in that would satisfy. First of all, the way we read the labour rights side agreement, it seems that if someone is caught murdering a trade union activist, they get a fine of up to $15 million. That doesn't warm our hearts. The basic thing

International Trade committee  No.

International Trade committee  Given our experience and the feedback we've been getting from workers on the ground, I don't think you can make a deal with this government that would have any respect from us. We don't think this government has any respect for the rule of law in their own country, and as we keep

International Trade committee  Is that right? Well, maybe you will.

International Trade committee  I think Colombia has to demonstrate by its behaviour and its attitude that it respects the kind of democracy that we practice in this country. I think we should do trade deals only with nations that have the same respect for democracy and human rights that we have. Our Prime Min