Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for the invitation to comment on Bill C-60 as it relates to industrial relations in Canada.

My name is George Smith and I'm a fellow in the School of Policy Studies and an adjunct professor in the School of Industrial Relations and the School of Business at Queen's University. Prior to joining Queen's in 2010, I had a 37-year career in Canadian business, practising industrial relations as the chief management negotiator for Air Canada, Canadian Pacific Railway, and CBC/Radio-Canada. I believe that I can offer you both the academic and practitioner points of view on the impact of the provisions of Bill C-60.

My interest here today is not to represent any party that may be affected by the enactment of this legislation, but rather to outline the significant potential impacts of the proposed legislation on free collective bargaining in Canada.

Please understand that I know about cost control in crown corporations. I was part of the privatization of Air Canada; the revitalization of the Canadian railway industry, including CN as a crown corporation; and the modernization of CBC's collective agreement. This involved tough bargaining, negotiating out what had been negotiated in to meet new competitive pressures. Free collective bargaining achieved these necessary changes. Was it easy? No. Did it work? Yes.

As it relates to the legislation before us, I must first note that this unilateral proposal to change collective bargaining in Canadian crown corporations is the antithesis of my multiple previous experiences with legislative reform of industrial relations in the federal sector. Those previous experiences often involved tripartite consultation with all interested parties before changes to the Canada Labour Code were made by the government in power.

These proposed amendments to the Financial Administration Act buried in Bill C-60 contradict both the spirit and intent of the Canada Labour Code as articulated in its preamble and create a role for government in crown corporation collective bargaining that is not contemplated in the Canada Labour Code.

The preamble in part reads:

AND WHEREAS the Parliament of Canada desires to continue and extend its support to labour and management in their cooperative efforts to develop good relations and constructive collective bargaining practices, and deems the development of good industrial relations to be in the best interests of Canada in ensuring a just share of the fruits of progress to all....

In my four decades of experience, the role of government in the collective bargaining process consistent with this preamble has been to support positive bargaining outcomes through federal mediation and conciliation services. This proposed legislation contemplates an active role for government as a player in the collective bargaining process, approving mandates and supervising negotiations.

Not only is this role contrary to the Canada Labour Code, but the adverse impact on collective bargaining will be significant. Unions will not know who the employer is if the government is controlling mandates in the backroom. Governance processes at crown corporations will surely be confused when CEOs and boards of directors have their powers to approve collective bargaining mandates superseded by Treasury Board, and the collective bargaining process itself will be negatively impacted by the unusual and unwanted presence of Treasury Board at the bargaining table.

Relationships between labour and management, which are fragile at best during stressful negotiations, will be strained to the point of breaking, with the negative consequence of ensuring labour disputes. There will be costs to the economy. In some, an already complex process will be complicated to the point where, in my considered professional opinion, it will become totally dysfunctional.

Finally, my comments must be taken in the context of previous interventions of this government into industrial relations that are inconsistent with the Canada Labour Code as written. Since May 2011 there have been five instances of back-to-work legislation that have cumulatively threatened collective bargaining in Canada, including the right to strike or lockout. As well, I might add that substituting interest arbitration for the right to strike has not achieved the desired bargaining outcomes in most of these cases. The CEO of Air Canada recently declared his collective agreement uncompetitive as he launched another cost-cutting process.

This heavy-handed, ad hoc government intervention has become enough of a pattern that a proper policy debate of the potential reform to the Canada Labour Code is absolutely necessary.

I urge you to consider the significant impact of these sections of Bill C-60 in this context and amend the bill. Alternatively, send these proposed amendments to the human resources committee to review them in the context of the entire Canada Labour Code. Or, ideally, recommend the creation of a tripartite consultative process under the auspices of the Minister of Labour to review these and other potential amendments to the Canada Labour Code.

The fundamental Canadian freedom of collective bargaining is being threatened. I submit that a full public policy debate is necessary before changes of this significance are made. Canadians deserve nothing less.

Thank you.

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