Last week the federal government introduced a new piece of legislation, C-58, which is aimed at banning the practice of employers bringing in replacement workers during a contract dispute.
Experts say the legislation is the culmination of decades of work by the labour movement in Canada, while it also represents the fulfilment of a key demand in the Liberal-NDP confidence and supply agreement.
Here’s what you need to know about the new piece of legislation.
What does the bill do?
The bill has two main components. The first makes it illegal for employers in federally regulated industries to bring in replacement workers to continue operations previously executed by unionized employees during a legal strike or lockout.
Federally regulated industries include sectors like banking and telecommunications, totalling over one million employees. Around a third of those employees are unionized, according to the federal government. The legislation does not, however, apply to the federal public service.
The bill also sets out penalties for breaking the rules — $100,000 per day for employers — as well as some exceptions, such as for non-unionized contractors hired before notice of a lockout or strike, or in cases where there could be a threat to health and safety, property or the environment.
A second part of the bill details new processes for what are called maintenance of activities agreements. These new rules force unions and employers to negotiate early in the bargaining process (within 15 days of a notice of strike or lockout) which services would continue in the event of a dispute. If they can’t agree, the matter gets referred to the Canada Industrial Relations Board for a decision within 90 days.
“It’s a good bill [from the perspective of] what organized labour has been arguing for with regards to anti-scab legislation, as it’s called by unions and working people, versus the management term, which is replacement worker,” said Charles Smith, an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan specializing in labour politics.
“This has been one of labour’s key legislative demands for the last 50 years. And I think on that level the labour movement is going to be celebrating today,” he said.
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Smith said the bill could reduce large-scale disruptions by forcing more deals to be made at the bargaining table.
Larry Savage, a professor of labour studies at Brock University, also noted that the bill could reduce potential violence on picket lines and mitigate the damage to workplace cultures following a contract dispute.
“At some point all work stoppages end and workers have to return to their jobs. But the resentment that’s caused by the use of scab labour, that lingers. It poisons labour relations and it inevitably leads to lower workplace morale,” he said.
What are people saying about it?
As Smith noted, the bill is being hailed as a major victory by the labour movement.
“This legislation is a step toward levelling the playing field. It will be good for the economy and good for labour relations, it encourages unions and employers to resolve their differences in the very place designed for that to happen, the bargaining table,” said Lana Payne, national president of Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, last week.
“Workers have called for anti-scab legislation for decades, as it has been a missing piece of Canada’s federal labour law,” said Bea Bruske, head of the Canadian Labour Congress.
“I think the anti-scab law was pretty high on the labour movement’s wish list,” Savage said.
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Business groups this week expressed opposition to the legislation, arguing it would weaken key services and increase labour disruptions.
“There’s a reason why similar bills were always voted down in the past. They put too much power in the hands of large unions, and they are a threat to the economy as a whole. It looks like this bill is introduced for political reasons and not because it’s necessary,” said Jasmin Guenette, vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses.
Savage said previous, opposition-led attempts at labour reform have often been derailed following pressure from employers.
“They’ve usually faltered because Liberal MPs got cold feet and switched their votes on second or third reading based on pressure from the business community,” he said.
“The dynamics are a little different this time around as a result of the confidence and supply agreement. But we should expect strong business opposition to this bill.”
Savage and Smith both said similar provincial legislation in Quebec and British Columbia had not led to a noticeable increase in contract disputes leading to strikes or lockouts.
What are the politics involved?
The anti replacement worker legislation was a key demand in the Liberal-NDP confidence and supply agreement. The two parties worked closely on the legislation, and the resulting bill closely mirrors previous NDP proposals, Savage said.
In an event announcing the legislation Thursday, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan repeatedly made note of his close working relationship with NDP deputy leader and labour critic Alexandre Boulerice.
So part of the motivation behind the bill is to fulfil that confidence and supply requirement, Savage said. And as a “transactional” party, he noted, it was clear that the Liberals are trying to shore up support with unions.
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“The other thing that’s happening here, though, is that I think the Liberals see this as an opportunity to use the legislation as a wedge issue to undermine recent Conservative efforts to build up support amongst blue collar union members,” said Savage.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been making a concerted political push to garner the votes of working Canadians. But Smith said this bill presents the party with a challenge, and a choice between the newer attitude on labour and older Harper-era positions.
“When you look at the Conservative record, especially since Harper, there’s no appetite for the reforms that the labour movement has advocated for. And I think Poilievre is very much in that corner,” he said.
Poilievre’s office did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News on the party’s position.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has crafted an agenda focused on affordability and economic growth. (Ethan Cairns/Canadian Press)
What’s next?
Smith said one puzzling aspect of the legislation is a clause that says it will come into force 18 months after it receives royal assent.
O’Regan said Thursday that was largely to give the agencies responsible for handling labour disputes and the new processes enough time to adapt to the new regulations.
Savage said the labour movement is probably hoping this legislation will have a cascading effect throughout the provinces, where legislation mirroring the proposed federal law could crop up.
Smith also noted that the legislative win might translate to a greater political push in the next election.
“Given all the things we’ve been seeing in the last 12 months with regards to strikes and struggles and labour wins, this I think puts a little wind in the political sales of the labour movement in as much as it actually shows that those struggles can have political meaning,” he said.
He said that the political momentum labour might glean from the bill may or may not translate to victories at the polls for labour-supported candidates, but the momentum is there.
BATHURST, N.B. – RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn’t reveal any new information.
In an emailed statement, the RCMP said 20 people participated in the search for evidence in the case of Madison Roy-Boudreau of Bathurst.
The release said the search occurred in the Middle River area, just south of the girl’s hometown.
Police have said the 14-year-old’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide investigation.
The RCMP said the search “did not reveal any new information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.”
There are no plans for another search until police receive a tip or a lead pointing to a new search area.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
VICTORIA – A middle school in Victoria was forced into a lockdown after a man entered the building without permission, and police say they had to use a stun gun to make an arrest.
Victoria police say officers received multiple calls around noon on Monday of an unknown male entering Central Middle School, leading staff to set off emergency procedures that put the building under lockdown.
Police say its emergency response team arrived within minutes and found the suspect, who “appeared to be in a drug-induced state,” in the school’s library.
A statement from police says the suspect resisted arrest, and officers had to use a Taser to subdue the man.
He’s being held by police and has been assessed by emergency medical staff.
Police say the man was not armed and there were no continuing safety concerns for students and staff following the arrest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver knows what it’s like to form a minority government with the NDP, but says such a deal to create the province’s next administration is less likely this time than seven years ago.
Weaver struck a power-sharing agreement that resulted in John Horgan’s NDP minority government in 2017, but said in an interview Monday there is now more animosity between the two parties.
Neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority in Saturday’s election, raising the prospect of a minority NDP government if Leader David Eby can get the support of two Green legislators.
Manual recounts in two ridings could also play an important role in the outcome, which will not be known for about a week.
Weaver, who is no longer a member of the Greens, endorsed a Conservative candidate in his home riding.
He said Eby would be in a better position to negotiate if Furstenau, who lost her seat, stepped aside as party leader.
“I think Mr. Eby would be able to have fresh discussions with fresh new faces around the table, (after) four years of political sniping … between Sonia and the NDP in the B.C. legislature,” he said.
He said Furstenau’s loss put the two elected Greens in an awkward position because parties “need the leader in the legislature.”
Furstenau could resign as leader or one of the elected Greens could step down and let her run in a byelection in their riding, he said.
“They need to resolve that issue sooner rather than later,” he said.
The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.
Neither Botterell nor Valeriote have held seats in the legislature before, Weaver noted.
“It’s not like in 2017 when, you know, I had been in the (legislature) for four years already,” Weaver said, adding that “the learning curve is steep.”
Sanjay Jeram, chair of undergraduate studies in political science at Simon Fraser University, said he doesn’t think it’ll be an “easygoing relationship between (the NDP and Greens) this time around.”
“I don’t know if Eby and Furstenau have the same relationship — or the potential to have the same relationship — as Horgan and Weaver did,” he said. “I think their demands will be a little more strict and it’ll be a little more of a cold alliance than it was in 2017 if they do form an alliance.”
Horgan and Weaver shook hands on a confidence-and-supply agreement before attending a rugby match, where they were spotted sitting together before the deal became public knowledge.
Eby said in his election-night speech that he had already reached out to Furstenau and suggested common “progressive values” between their parties.
Furstenau said in her concession speech that her party was poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.
Botterell said in an election-night interview that he was “totally supportive of Sonia” and he would “do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”
The Green Party of Canada issued a news release Monday, congratulating the candidates on their victories, noting Valeriote’s win is the first time that a Green MLA has been elected outside of Vancouver Island.
“Now, like all British Columbians we await the final seat count to know which party will have the best chance to form government. Let’s hope that the Green caucus has a pivotal role,” the release said, echoing Furstenau’s turn of phrase.
The final results of the election won’t be known until at least next week.
Elections BC says manual recounts will be held on Oct. 26 to 28 in two ridings where NDP candidates led B.C. Conservatives by fewer than 100 votes after the initial count ended on Sunday.
The outcomes in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat could determine who forms government.
The election’s initial results have the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, and the B.C. Conservatives in 45, both short of the 47 majority mark in B.C.’s 93-seat legislature.
If the Conservatives win both of the recount ridings and win all other ridings where they lead, Rustad will win with a one-seat majority.
If the NDP holds onto at least one of the ridings where there are recounts, wins the other races it leads, and strikes a deal with the Greens, they would have enough numbers to form a minority government.
But another election could also be on the cards, since the winner will have to nominate a Speaker, reducing the government’s numbers in the legislature by one vote.
Elections BC says it will also be counting about 49,000 absentee and mail-in ballots from Oct. 26 to 28.
The NDP went into the election with 55 ridings, representing a comfortable majority in what was then an 87-seat legislature.
Jeram, with Simon Fraser University, said though the counts aren’t finalized, the Conservatives were the big winners in the election.
“They weren’t really a not much of a formal party until not that long ago, and to go from two per cent of the vote to winning 45 or more seats in the B.C. provincial election is just incredible,” he said in an interview Monday.
Jeram said people had expected Eby to call an election after he took over from John Horgan in 2022, and if he had, he doesn’t think there would have been the same result.
He said the B.C. Conservative’s popularity grew as a result of the decision of the BC Liberals to rebrand as BC United and later drop out.
“Had Eby called an election before that really shook out, and maybe especially before (Pierre) Poilievre, kind of really had the wind in his sails and started to grow, I think he could have won the majority for sure.”
He said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the election, saying polls were fairly accurate.
“Ultimately, it really was a result that we saw coming for a while, since the moment that BC United withdrew and put their support behind the conservatives, I think this was the outcome that was expected.”
— With files from Darryl Greer
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
