VOLUME 133 NUMBER 170 1st SESSION 35th PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Monday, March 20, 1995 Speaker: The Honourable Gilbert Parent HOUSE OF COMMONS Monday, March 20, 1995 The House met at 11 a.m. PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS _______________ (1105 ) Prayers [English] _______________ GRAIN EXPORT PROTECTION ACT [English] The House resumed from March 2 consideration of the motion that Bill C–262, an act to provide for the settlement of labour POINT OF ORDER disputes affecting the export of grain by arbitration and to amend the Public Service Staff Relations Act in consequence RAIL STRIKE thereof, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. John Maloney (Erie, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I have the Mr. Peter Milliken (Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of honour and privilege today to speak to a bill introduced by the the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speak- member for Lethbridge. The bill seeks to make it illegal for er, in light of the very serious rail strike that is currently tying up anyone, employee or employer, to cause any cessation of work at the rail system in our country, I seek the unanimous consent of any stage of the progress of grain from the premises of the the House to introduce a bill, notice of which was given Sunday producer of the grain to export. morning by means of a special Notice Paper, entitled an act to provide for the maintenance of railway operations and subsid- It should be obvious that the bill would affect a large number iary services. of Canadians, indeed everybody who comes near the grain, from the farmer who grows the grain to the trains and ships which I seek the unanimous consent of the House to permit the bill to carry the grain. It would directly affect my riding of Erie whose be introduced and given first reading at this time. economy includes the entire spectrum from grain production to Mr. Speaker: My colleagues, I wish to inform the House that the marine industry. in accordance with a representation made by the government, I wish to focus on one aspect of the bill and what it brings to pursuant to Standing Order 55(1), I have caused to be published the labour relations atmosphere with the government’s own a special Order Paper giving notice of introduction of a govern- employees. That is the provision in the bill which would amend ment bill. In just one moment I am going to lay upon the table the Public Service Staff Relations Act by adding new criteria, the relevant document. limiting the right to strike. However, I have a point of order from the member for The bill seeks to add to the Public Service Staff Relations Act Kingston and the Islands. Is there any comment? I invite in section 2 and subsection 78(1), words which have the effect of comment only for the reason that I thought the hon. member for prohibiting employees from engaging in any strike activity in Laurier—Saint–Marie was rising to his feet before I put the areas related to ‘‘the orderly progress of grain from the premises question. There being no comments, is there unanimous con- of the producer of the grain to export’’. sent? When the Public Service Staff Relations Act was introduced Some hon. members: Agreed. almost 30 years ago, legislators included a unique concept to Some hon. members: No. labour legislation. This was the notion of designating employees as essential and denying them the right to strike. That is to say Mr. Speaker: Unanimous consent is not given for the that employees whose duties included functions which were introduction of the bill at this time. performed in the interest of the safety and security of the 10689 COMMONS DEBATES March 20, 1995 Private Members’ Business Canadian public, those employees could not engage in a strike. Of interest to members, parliamentarian operations were If one was to search the Canada Labour Code or other labour designated an essential service. Hansard continued to be codes, one would not find many examples of such a concept. printed, along with commission reports and other parliamentary publications. As well, simultaneous translation services contin- In my opinion, this is a good, reasonable and justifiable ued to be offered. concept. Employees of the federal government and numerous other federal institutions should not be in a position to withdraw These are some of the examples of services considered services which would cause harm to the safety or security of essential for the safety and security of the public, and for which Canadians. the public service employees could not withdraw services. This provision has stood the test of time. When public The central theme throughout this list is: these services are servants engage in strike activity, a number of their colleagues essential for the safety and security of the Canadian public. It is continue to work and provide essential services to the public. evident that the current provisions of the Public Service Staff The last public service strike provided us with many examples Relations Act have by and large served the Canadian public of this provision. well. By tinkering with these provisions and including the notion of economic hardship in the grain industry, are we trying Both air and marine search and rescue operations continued. to fix what is not broken? Ice breaking continued. Mariner’s charts and maps continued to be produced and updated, and the all important function of It is an unfortunate but accepted reality that strikes will cause providing notices to shipping carried on. As well, the fisheries inconvenience and maybe even economic hardship to some. If patrols were maintained and employees involved in this func- we are to accept that employees have the right to strike to put tion continued to provide a service to the public. pressure on their employer, then we must accept the results. If it is our view that strikes should not cause hardship to anyone, then Air operations continued and airport facilities were main- it is my suggestion that all strikes be declared illegal. tained. Weather observations continued. Forecast were prepared and communicated to users. Of great comfort, notification bulletins affecting aviation safety continued to be produced and (1110 ) disseminated. This bill starts along this road. It is heading toward a Naturally prison guards and correctional services are deemed destination that can only bring grief to employer–employee an essential service and continued to perform their tasks. All relations in the country. I would not argue that the movement of those employees, including those who provide care and security grain is not important to Canadians. Obviously it is. However, I for inmates, medical care, food, heating and all those functions do not believe that the production or movement of grain is necessary to maintain the system, continued to perform their essential for the security of the public. The movement of grain duties. is, like many other commercial activities, an important econom- ic activity in the country. Health care was maintained by designated employees in such areas as poison control, hazardous product identification, medi- If we were to introduce the idea that there can be no strikes or cal support at federal hospitals, ambulance drivers and dental lockouts in the grain industry which sector would be next? Is it and chronic care in isolated areas. Also designated were some the auto industry? Is it the shipping industry? How about employees who were involved in research related to health care forestry services? In certain sections of the country ore produc- which used laboratory animals. tion is extremely important. Should we consider banning work stoppages there? If we are to use economic criteria I am Essential to Canadians, income security programs such as UI, confident that every member of the House could cite an enter- family allowance and the Canada pension plan continued. This prise worthy of consideration for a bill such as this. included the processing of new claims as well as issuance of benefits. I would like to remind members that in many jurisdictions police are given the opportunity to withdraw from their jobs. Employees involved in customs and immigration control Medical practitioners and teachers also have this ability. remained on the job. Included among these essential jobs were employees responsible for the primary inspection of meat and As I mentioned, if we accept that employees have the right to fish products imported to Canada. strike and to exert pressure on their employer, then they must be permitted to do so. The introduction of a provision in the Public Not surprisingly, the provisions of the Public Service Staff Service Staff Relations Act prohibiting strikes in one specific Relations Act also preluded those involved with national securi- area, be it grain handling or some other industry, begins to erode ty from striking. Included among these were the civilian and this right. Employees either have the right to strike or they do federal employees who provide support to RCMP operations. not. 10690 March 20, 1995 COMMONS DEBATES Private Members’ Business The provision restricting the right to strike in the federal [Translation] public service to those performing services essential for the safety and security of the public is a restriction but I think it Mrs. Francine Lalonde (Mercier, BQ): Mr. Speaker, I can be reasonably argued. In addition, this provision has been listened with great interest to what the hon. member had to say, in place for almost 30 years and still allows the public service and I realize that the grain industry is very important to the employees to withdraw services.