ipolitics pod filibuster

8/6/2019 iPolitics POD Filibuster

1/31

June 23, 2011www.iPolitics.ca

Guitars, scotchand stolen sleep:

Mps underhouse arrest

When is a tWeetnot just a tWeet?

When it Gets turnedinto a tell-all tale

ablonczy? present.aMbrose? here.tiMMys? check.

late-niGht photosroM a late-niGht

vote

bill c-6:chanGes,

aMendMents,propositions and

iMproveMents

ilibuster:photos,

transcripts,analysis,tWeets,opinion.

Behind the scenes

of the libuster:

THE LONGEST DAY

roM the Website that brouGht you start to inish coveraGe o the ilibuster

One bill, 58 hours,no end of debate


2/31

june 23, 20112

June 23, 2011

One bill, 58 hours, 308 MPs. When all was said and done,Bill C-6 passed in the House by a vote of 158 to 113.

All day long, and all through the night, MPs were up and down in the House to speakfor or against legislation to get Canadas postal workers back on the job.

Fifty-eight hours later, it was on to the upper chamber where senators calledwitnesses, quizzed ministers, and discussed clauses and amendments.

iPolitics followed the debate from start to nish morning until night untilmorning. Here you will nd just some of what we saw, heard, photographedduring some very long days at the end of a short but hectic session.


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june 23, 2011 3

Some played guitar in the lobbyto unwind. Some broke open achoice bottle o 10-year-old scotch.Others caught naps on the couch

o a colleague, araid to leave the

building.

For three days, Canadas 308MPs ound themselves virtually

living in the halls o Parliament,

caught in the midst o the rst li-buster most current members o

the House o Commons have ever

known.

By the time the libusterwrapped up Saturday night and

Bill C-6 passed by a vote 158 to

113, members o the 41st Parlia-

ment were tired and bleary eyed.However, many o them had

also learned a lot more about par-

liamentary procedure and abouteach other. On both sides o the

House, rookie MPs bonded with

their new colleagues and many

had the chance to deliver theirmaiden speeches.

While the hours were gruel-

ling, some MPs ound their past

lives equipped them well or livingthrough a libuster.

For Conservative MP Kellie

Leitch, the long hours on the ooro the House o Commons pale in

comparison to some shis she has

worked as a doctor. Shelly Glover,Conservative MP or Saint Boni-

ace and a police ocer, ound the

time she has spent on stakeouts

staring at the same door or hourson end were tougher than her

shis during the libuster.

Green Party Leader ElizabethMays past experience in long-haul

negotiations helped her to go or

three days on a mere three hourso sleep. As the only member oher party in the House o Com-

mons, May was so worried shed

miss an important development

that she was araid to leave thebuilding. Instead, she slept on the

couch in Liberal MP Judy Footes

Centre Block oce.

I know not to drink too muchcofee, not to try to get wired, to

eat, drink lots o water, stay o-

cused on the work. I can do a ull48 hours without sleep.

Meals were a bit more o a chal-lenge. While ood was served in

the lobbies on either side o theHouse o Commons, there wasnt

always a lot o choice or vegetar-

ians like May. For example, Friday

nights supper in the lobby wasbee stroganof but May made do

with the noodles and salad.

May said it was even tougher

or Hoang Mai, NDP MP or theMontreal-area riding o Brossard-

Laprairie, who is vegan.

Te Bloc Qubcois our-person

delegation helped pass the time

late Tursday evening by breaking

open a bottle o 10-year old Macal-lan single malt scotch in the oppo-

sition lobby.

NDP MP Charlie Angus said al-

cohol was expressly prohibited inthe NDP lobby.

Te one diference between us

and some o the other caucuses is

that nobody has had any alcohol. I think it has kept us more on

our game.

Instead, Angus and other NDPMPs broke out their guitars to

unwind and pass the time. An-

gus said he learned Chilean songs

rom one o his new colleagues,Paulina Ayala, and Qubcois

songs rom Pierre Dionne Labelle.

Angus used to drive all-nightshis with his band beore he was

an MP, so he is used to doing a 12-

hour all nighter, although he ad-

mitted it was easier to do when hewas younger.

Im actually eeding of the en-

ergy o the new members par-

ticularly the Quebec caucus.Guy Caron, NDP MP or Ri-

mouski Neigette emiscouata

Les Basques, said the libuster

reminded him o his days in thestudent movement. He said the

guitar sessions in the lobby helped.

It was very serious inside (theHouse), but at some point we have

to unwind as well.

For Government House Lead-er Peter Van Loan, who said he

doesnt drink alcohol, it was Diet

Pepsi that got him through the

hours. I used to work night shis. I would work 40 hours on a

weekend two 20-hour shis

with our hours sleep in between.Daryl Kramp, Conservative MP

or Prince Edward-Hastings, was

sel employed or 40 years. imemeant nothing. One hundred hourweeks were sometimes the norm.

Earl Dreeshen, Conservative MP

or Red Deer, worked long hours

or years teaching and running aarm.

Jamie Nicholls, NDP MP or

Vaudreuil-Soulanges, said he

managed about six hours o sleepa night but instead o sleeping kept

nding himsel wanting to watch

CPAC to see how his colleagueswere doing.

Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDPMP or the east-end riding Mon-

treal riding o Hochelaga, gotthrough the libuster by tapping

into her past and the long hours

spent in union negotiations. It

was a very good experience, shesaid with a slightly tired smile.

We got so much experience in

less than a month so that whenwe return in September we will be

pros.

[email protected]

Guitars, scotch, and stolen sleep:Behind the scenes of the libuster

sat, june 25, 2011elizabeth thoMpson


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june 23, 20114

When I think about postal work-ers, the rst image that comes to

my mind is the postal deliveryellow who comes to my home.

His name is Gary and he pro-

vides mail service to my house.

At my house people are normallyhome during the day, so it is my

85-year-old stepmother who re-

ceives the mail. Like a lot o se-nior citizens and Canadians, a

relationship develops between the

person who delivers the mail and

amilies. It becomes quite a per-

sonal thing.When amilies celebrate the

important seasons and everyone

wishes each other well, it is oneo those cases where the services

that government provides comes

right up against the public in aparticularly intimate and impor-

tant way. I think we all want to

start this debate by realizing that

we need to appreciate the worko those who work in the public

service.

...

Efective labour relations in this

country really do rely on good

aith and we have not seen thatin the actions o the government

here. I, too, as was the member

or AcadieBathurst, was quiteshocked to hear the labour min-

ister describe the situation that

is acing us as a strike. Tat sim-

ply is not true. Tat was the mostbrazen example o propaganda

designed to try to turn peopleagainst these workers that I have

seen, and to see it right here in the

House o Commons is shocking.What we are acing right now is

a lockout. I we did not have the

lockout we would not have this

debate. We would not have thislegislation and people would be

receiving their mail. Te work-

ers who provide that service are

ready to go to work now, but theyare aced with a problem. When

they show up or work there is a

lock on the door and they cannotwork. Tey cannot go into thatsorting plant. Tey cannot go into

the post oce. Tey cannot col-

lect the bag o mail and deliver itto people like my mother-in-law

and lots o other people who are

waiting or their mail.

Tere is a simple solution tothis. I have asked the prime min-

ister repeatedly over recent days

to simply adopt this solution,

which I will say again: primeminister, take the locks of the

door and let us have our postalservice back.It is not a strike. It is a lockout

initiated by the management,

clearly supported by the govern-

ment. We say that it is supportedby the government because i the

government were sincere in sug-

gesting that the strike is causing a

problem or the Canadian econo-my, then it would be taking action

to make sure the mail was deliv-

ered as quickly as possible. Te

simplest way to do that is to take

the locks of the doors, but that is

not the objective, unortunately,despite what is being said.

Te objective is to interere

with the process between work-

ers and management to come toa air collective agreement. Tat,

unortunately, I must conclude, is

the objective.

Te government says it has tolegislate the workers back or eco-

nomic reasons, but i that were

the case, why did it shut down thepost oce in the rst place?

I would again ask the govern-

ment to order Canada Post to

take the locks of the doors. It isan agency o the government. Let

us remember that, and the actions

it has taken have compromised

the Canadian economy. Let usremember that, too. Tat could

be done now. A simple phone call

would get that process sorted out

within hours. I have no doubtabout it, i the prime minister

were to call the CEO, but by sid-ing with the employer here, andby pitting the workers against

the Canadian people as a blatant

attempt to try to divide and con-

quer, as we have seen this govern-ment do beore, the government

has essentially killed the incen-

tive to bargain.

Let us take a look at the impacton the average ull time postal

workers amily during the our

years o the agreement. It turns

out that it would be $857.50 taken

out o the pockets o the postalworkers amily. It is understand-

able why people would be upsetabout this, particularly when the

CEO is going to get a bigger bonus

by virtue o that very reduction.

A government that is preparedto do that to the postal workers,

we have to ask ourselves, who are

they prepared to do that to next?

Who is next?Actual ly, this is why the 33 mil-

lion Canadians ought to be taking

a very close look at this legislation

and asking themselves i they are

next. Will they be hit next? Will

there be user charges to deal withthe huge decit this government

built up, a record decit I might

say? (We are getting commentary

rom the commentariat over hereon the other side.) One is tempted

to respond by suggesting that the

massive corporate tax cuts they

implemented le them with thisdecit and i they ollowed our

advice they would not have one.

Also, what about pensions? Any-one across the country who has

a plan or when they will retire,

and, yes, many do not have a pen-

sion plan so we need to strength-en the Canada Pension Plan to

help all these people, but or those

who do have a pension plan, here

they are looking at a governmentthat is willing to come in and im-

pose on them the ollowing. Tese

workers would not be able to re-tire with the ull pension they

thought they had, which their

amilies understood would be

available or retirement, on whichall amily plans were dependent

on, which plan kept workers go-

ing on some o the worst weather

days when their job involved go-ing door to door or when a work-

ers arm was hurting as they were

sorting the mail.

hat worker was probably

Mail? Its personal thing

Why should anyemployers bargainin good faith if theycan count on thegovernment to stepin and impose whatthey cannot get atthe bargaining table?Where is this going toend?

o g j 23, o Jack Layton h w gg, b c6 w m m x m

b w gg . Layton 40 m w, , .h m w :

At the start of it all, Jack Layton explained why Bill-6 was in needof changes, amendments, propositions and improvements


5/31

june 23, 2011 5

thinking that at the end o theday he or she could retire with

a certain pension and would not

live in poverty. he work was

worth it. More time would bespent with amily because a lot

o the work is shit work. Prom-

ises are made to spouses and kidsthat more time will be spent with

them eventually, and a pension

will be there.

Everyone is rustrated when

something they were counting onis not available. When peoples

mail is not delivered, it is tough

and it is very tough or smallbusinesses.

I had a small business once and

I would be paying my contractors

but i the cheque had not arrivedrom the person I had the con-

tract with, it was tough. Tere are

small businesses right now that

are struggling because o thatsituation. Tere are other busi-

ness owners who rely on the mail

as undamental to their business.

We all know about those

particular kinds o businesses.

Tat is why, i we were serious

about these particular businesses,we would take the locks of the

operation and let the workers getback to work.

Why should any employersbargain in good aith i they can

count on the government to step

in and impose what they can-not get at the bargaining table?

Where is this going to end? Once

we allow this sort o thing to

get started, who knows where itcould go?

Tat is why we are proposing

that the laws be changed and

why we cannot support this leg-

islation, because it encouragesemployers everywhere to go out

and test the waters. Look whatthey got at Canada Post. Maybe

we can manoeuvre into a similar

position. Who do we have to call

in the government to get them onside? Who do we check in with? I

guess we will start with some o

those consulting companies that

seem to be populated by ormermembers o the party. Maybe we

will get some advice there but that

is a topic or another day.By sending a message that back-

to-work legislation could be the

new norm or labour negotiations

in this country, the whole notiono good-aith negotiations really

goes out the window and it is a

slippery slope that the govern-

ment wants to orce Canadiansto go down. I simply ask the gov-

ernment i this is really where it

wants to go because it is going tobe very dangerous.

Hand in hand with progressive

parties like the New Democratic

Party, collective bargaining hasbeen one o those engines or

progress or working people. I see

this as a legacy to build upon, notsomething to be torn down.

I am simply not going to sit and

watch the Conservative govern-

ment ollow in the ootsteps o

the U.S. Republicans and theirea Party riends.

We have all been watching oc-

currences in Wisconsin, where

the governor yanked collective

bargaining rights rom 175,000

public employees, and nullied

their rights to decent conditions,gender equality, and air pen-

sions. Tis particular governor isnot even hiding that this is an at-

tempt to cut down the number oworkers. It is not just in Wiscon-

sin, but Ohio, Indiana, and Idaho

are all attacking workers, using

the excuse o austerity.I summarize our essential posi-

tion here.

First, we must not be dividingCanadians in this place by talking

about 55,000 postal workers and

33 million other Canadians. It is

time we started to see each other

as all part o the same people whoare trying to accomplish the same

goals or our amilies. Tat is

what this is about. Tereore, I amasking that we see less o this di-

visive politics, particularly in this

debate because many Canadians

will be ollowing it.I do not want those who deliver

the mail or who sort it on our be-

hal, each and every day, to eelthat they are somehow less than

anyone else.


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june 23, 20116

This motion, which wouldsuggest a hoist motion, isto move this in six months,unlock the doors of Canada

Post, and for what? Dean Del Mastro

He suggests that if weunlock the doors that thiswould take us back to therotating strikes.

Jack Layton

They should go to the primeminister and tell him to pickup the phone, call the CEOof Canada Post, and tell himto unlock the doors.

Joe Comartin

These neighbours acrossthe country are waiting onCanada Post to unlock thedoors.

Rathika Sitsabaiesan

Canada Post needs tounlock the doors.

Sitsabaiesan

The member had said thatCanada Post must unlockthe doors.

Richard Harris

Could the member let heror the government knowthat if it were to unlock thedoors, problems would be

solved? Claude Gravelle(Nickel Belt, NDP)

Unlock the doors and getthe postal workers back towork.

Jasbir Sandhu

They asked me to tell thegovernment to unlock thedoors

Sandhu

Mr. Speaker, if thegovernment was seriousabout getting the mailmoving, it would unlock thedoors.

Jean Crowder

The government needsto unlock the doors. Thegovernment needs to putthe workers back to workby not legislating them, butlegislating the government

to unlock the doors and thelockout. Tyrone Benskin

Why will the governmentnot unlock the doors?

Dan Harris

Why did the Minister notjust introduce a bill thatordered Canada Post tounlock the doors

Chris Charlton

It must unlock the doors. John Rafferty

If the government wasreally interested indelivering the mail, allit has to do is unlock thedoors.

Claude Gravelle

Call on Canada Post tounlock the doors

Charlie Angus

Clearly, the governmenthas the power to directCanada Post to unlock thedoors

Linda Duncan

Unlock the doors. Irene Mathyssen

Please unlock the doorsnow.

M. Tarik Brahmi

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h Mm a, xm. t ceo g , Mp gg.t w w w mw mg g w w w g w. i m.

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june 23, 2011 7

ruth ellen brosseaubMg, npd

When I think about this, I try toput mysel in the workers shoes.

Ten I think about it rom all per-

spectives. I see not being able to

get ones mail. It is hard.However, being a Canada Post

worker and being locked out o

work and having ones rights vio-lated like this, that is brutal. Tat

is not right.

We really have to stand here and

ght or their rights. We have tostop the lockout. Let us get back to

work. Everybody back to work.

Mylne reeManagpM,

npd

We have to value our workers. Our

communities need every membero the community to be able to live

in dignity. It is upsetting to me

that the members on the other sidehave not quite realized that this is

not about specic groups o Cana-

dians, but about our communities

as a whole.

... At this point, I think we willprobably be elaborating more over

the weekend, but I am a bit too

tired to keep going right now.

pat MartinWg c, ndp

It is now my turn to kill 10 min-

utes, so I am going to set about do-

ing that.

We are all getting tired o hear-ing the same questions and an-

swers back and orth. We all know

we are engaged in this process toallow the parties to continue ne-gotiate in the absence o the dra-

conian and heavy-handed imposi-

tion o the terms and conditions o

their settlement, as ound in BillC-6.

However, it has been a useul

exercise in the sense that, over thecourse o 24 and 36 hours, as we

get more physically exhausted,

this side is getting grumpier and

starting to reveal a little bit more

about who they really are and what

their agenda really is.As they get crankier, they slip

of o the PMOs talking points

and start to reveal how they re-

ally eel about organized labourand about elevating the standard

o wages and working conditions

through ree collective bargain-

ing. We get insight and glimpsesabout how they eel about pension

plans, how they eel about dened

benet plans. We start to see what

they are really trying to do here istake on some big issues.

deence Ministerpeter Mackayc n, cpc

NDP members have wrapped their

arms around working people. I

have heard numerous reerences

throughout the debate this eve-ning to working people. I have a

very simple question or my col-

league rom Nova Scotia, whohas a ne bit o that maritime lilt

and lots o great rhetoric and ery

emotion and passion tonight.Tere is no ownership in work-ing people in any party in this

country, I assure him, and a lot o

working people are being afected

by this strike, he will be the rst toadmit. Small businesses, seniors,

individuals count on the mail ev-

ery day or their very livelihoodsand those o their amilies, to re-

ceive EI cheques, something very

undamental to a lot o people in

Atlantic Canada.

andreW cashd, ndp

oday a CEOs salary is 220 timesthe average workers pay. Whether

one is a small business person, a

worker, a big business person, or

running a medium-sized business,there is something wrong with

that.

laurin liurM, ndp

I am wondering i my hon. col-

league could tell the House aboutthe kind o precedent this back-

to-work legislation sets or uture

generations o workers enteringthe workorce, many o whom

will be young Canadians who

already all within the lowest in-

come brackets o our country, oour society.

eve adaMspm s M v af,

c

oday I was on the phone with aconstituent o mine. She runs a

small business and has been run-

ning it or 11 years. She was on the

phone with me three times today.Cash ow has become critical.

She runs a mail house. Her rev-

enue evaporated earlier this week,

she is looking or some stopgapnancing and on Monday she

needs to decide whether she is

laying of 16 people.

I am here today to implore the

opposition to please allow this

woman to get back to work andallow Canada Post workers toget

back to work. She questions what

really is being achieved by con-

tinuing these debates or some 17or 18 hours. Te point has been

made.

libby daviesv e, ndp

I guess now we are into about our

sixteenth hour. I have been look-

ing at this beautiul calendar onthe table in ront o us and it still

shows Tursday, June 23.I kind o eel like we are in thatmovie Groundhog Day, or what-

ever it was called, where it just

keeps going around. I guess it

might be Tursday or a while

ted hsukg i, l

I agree that what we are doinghere reminds us o that movie

Groundhog Day. But I remember

in that movie progress was made.

Bill Murrays character decidedhe just could not live the same day

over and over again and he tried

to do something to improve him-sel. I am wondering how we can

do the same?

david McGuintyow s, l

We have heard rom the NDP

labour critic that this was an op-portunity or his caucus to have a

learning experience. Some learn-

ing ex perience:How to Filibuster a Bi ll 101.

How to Posture or the Media

101.

How to Wrack Up Expendi-tures or the Canadia n axpay-

ers 101.

I NDP members want to team-

build, they can leave by the back

door o this building and climb

the Gatineau hills.

Everybody get back to workSeen and heard in the House of Commons on that very long June 23


8/31

june 23, 20118

Procedural wrangling by theNDP to stall the governmentsbill to orce mail carriers back towork could backre and reverse

gains as the party o the people,

according to some experts.

All day long, and all through thenight, MPs o all stripes rose in

the House o Commons to speakor, or against, a procedural bidto shelve the Conservative bill or

six months. Te marathon talk-

est was only a precursor to a po-

tentially much-longer libusterdebate on proposed amendments

and the main legislation. It could

take several days or more beore a

nal vote on Bill C-6.Te NDP move to postpone it

which will inevitably pass with the

Conservative majority is un-

usual, bold, and ultimately, could

prove counter-productive. Mi-chael Behiels, a proessor o histo-

ry and politics at the University oOttawa, believes NDP leader Jack

Layton has walked into a Conser-

vative set-up to cast his party as

hard-line le.Laytons trying to play to his

base, but in doing that, Harper

has him totally ramed, he told

iPolitics. Te damage will con-tinue to be inicted as they reer

to him as this radical socialist

whos under the iron heel o orga-

nized labour.Behiels said the stage is set or

Harper to realize his dream

o realigning Canadian politics decimating the Liberals in the

mushy middle, intensely polar-

izing the landscape, making Con-

servatives the natural governingparty.

And politics aside, Harper has

the recession and recovering

economy on his side to help winthe court o public approval on the

mail delivery issue. Conservatives

read reams o correspondencein the House o Commons romconstituents and business owners

worried about the nancial impact

o the mail stoppage.

Te NDP manouevre could be asignicant misstep with long-term

impact, Behiels said. In the short-

term, Layton has scarce optionsor an exit strategy that saves po-

litical ace.

Hes caught. Teres no way

out hes trapped, Behiels said.Te Conservatives laid the trap,

and now they have tools at theirdisposal to humiliate the NDP

and rame the NDP as radicalsocialists.

While all parties proess the ul-

timate goal is to end the strike assoon as possible, Queens Univer-

sity proessor Ned Franks doesnt

see the Conservatives in any huge

hurry to end the parliamentaryshowdown.

I think Harper is sitting in

the at position, because he can

let Parliament go on as long as it

wants, and ultimately hes going toget his way, he said.

Te already-weak public appe-

tite or political wrangling is wors-ened by the uncertain economic

climate. Franks said the risk or

Layton is that by solidiying sup-

port rom one sector, he is turningof the masses.

Hes got to ask what part o

his electoral support hes want-

ing to appeal to is it the orga-nized unions, or is the vast mass

o people in the Canadian centre

and slightly le who objected tothe Liberals or one reason or the

other and switched to the NDP,

or the Bloc to the NDP, he said.

I get the eeling that among mostCanadians theres not a lot o sup-

port or the postal workers.

Franks said the whole exercise is

a poor example o conducting in-dustrial relations rom evident

aws in the monopolized govern-

ment service, to punitive govern-ment legislation, to politically

driven manoeuvring in the Com-

mons. In the end, Layton may have

a tough time convincing the public

this is a ght based on undamen-tal democratic principle, and could

leave Harper the victor.

Hes a warrior. Hes a brilliant

tactician and strategist, and hasbeen against the Liberals and

probably will be against the NDP

opposition, Franks said. But

hes not a diplomat or a concilia-tor, and hed need those skills to

get out o this. But I think Harper

would much rather sit back and letthe opposition smite itsel to death

than ofer a diplomatic way out.

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said

the government will ght to thebitter end to pass the legislation

it deems necessary to protect the

ragile recovering economy. She

also urged Canada Post and the

Canadian Union o Postal Work-ers to return to the bargaining

table to settle the dispute on their

own, as parliamentary debate ap-peared set to drag on or days.

Were here to act or all Cana-

dians, not just ocus on whetheror not one party is being avoured

at the table, and let them have this

process that weve put in to the act

which is air and balanced, shesaid.

But the NDP also appeared

ready to dig in their heels.

I we can sit through SaintJean-Baptiste, Im sure the House

wont mind sitting through Can-

ada Day, said NDP deputy leaderTomas Mulcair.

Late Friday night, CUPW is-

sued a memo taking stock o the

massive support in the House oCommons, noting NDP and other

opposition MPs helped expose the

constant distortions and alse-

hoods spread by Canada Post andthe government.

Te union also praised the ral-

lies, demonstrations and occupa-tion o Conservative constituencyoces joined and supported by

student, women, anti-poverty, el-

low union, and other communityactivists.

Postal workers will never orget

this unprecedented solidarity, the

memo read.

With fles rom Meg Wilcox.

[email protected]

Filibustercould

backre,

experts sayri, june 24, 2011kathleen harris


9/31

june 23, 2011 9

Monday, june 24, 2011sonya bell

he Upper House lived up to itsname Sunday, with Senatorsdelivering a superior level o debateon the back-to-work legislation

than their Commons counterparts.

Senators called witnesses,quizzed ministers, and discussed

clauses and amendments to Bill

C-6 in detail . Observers praised the

senators or their substantive dis-cussion, in contrast to MPs steady

stream o talking points.

Tats despite sitting at their

desks or one-tenth o the time MPsdid.

Te Senate isnt televised so most

Canadians couldnt compare thedebates. But trust us. Weve got thenumbers on Sunday in the Senate.

41: Te number o times the 1997postal strike and its back-to-work

legislation were cited. Senators

compared and contrasted the two

cases. And Senator James Cowan,the leader o the opposition in the

Senate, dug up an old let ter Stephen

Harper wrote to the Calgary Her-

ald that year in which he voices his

real concerns about Canada Post.Cowan quoted:

Back-to-work legislation only

treats a symptom and not the real

problem with postal service inCanada. Te real problem is the

double monopoly in postal service.Te government gives post oce

management a monopoly over Ca-nadians mail, and then Canada

Post gives CUPW union bosses

the labour monopoly power to shutthe service down. Tat threat still

hangs over the heads o all Canadi-

an amilies and businesses. Its time

to end the double monopoly and togive Canadian consumers a choice

when it comes to mail serv ice. Only

ending the monopoly will ensure

that Canadians are never held hos-

tage by another postal strike.

7: Te number o times the 1991,

1987, or 1984 strikes were men-tioned. Chalk that up to institu-

tional knowledge.

91: Number o uses o clause,

as senators examined the bill bit by

bit.

Senator Cools picked out aclause, 11(2), designed to guide the

arbitrator, and brought it to the

attention o Minister Raitt duringher appearance.

Cools worried:I have never seen a clause like

that. Could you explain why the

words the short- and long-term

economic viability and competi-tiveness o the Canada Post Corpo-

ration would be inserted into the

bill? Could the minister begin by

telling us whether there is any dan-ger as to whether, in the short- and

long-term, Canada Post will be eco-

nomically viable and competitive?

6: Number o uses o subclause.

Now thats deep into the bill.

105: Number o uses o arbitra-

tor. Senators discussed the plan

to put the matter to an arbitrator

who will choose one side or theother, and how air a resolution that

might be.

32: Number o uses oamendment.

Senator George Baked proposed

moving an amendment to say thatthe bill should have been looked

at more careully in the House o

Commons, as many bills should be,

but especially this one.But perhaps the biggest difer-

ence in the two debates was what

wasnt there. MPs, in 30 diferent

ways, called or the government toUnlock the doors!

Number o times Senators grand-

standed with this order? Zero.

Since the Senate isnt televised, itshard to know. So trust us, we werethere, plus weve done the math

House vs. Senate?

Words and phrases that

came up again and again

during 58 hours of debate:

Words and phrases that

came up again and again

during 6 hours of debate:

In the House

By the numbers

In the SenateBy the numbers

Clause 91Subclause 6Arbitrator105Amendment32


10/31

june 23, 201110 7


11/31

june 23, 2011 11


12/31

june 23, 201112

For businesses and charities, the

threat o strike action and the real-

ity o rotating strikes have createdsignicant uncertainty about mail

delivery. Many businesses made

the dicult decision to move tomore costly private-sector provid-

ers to ensure their goods and let-

ters would be delivered.

Tough Canadas economic re-covery continues, it still remains

ragile. I am worried about the

impact o higher delivery charges

on businesses and their customers.Te situation is also afecting indi-

viduals in every Canadian amily.

Couples are wondering when ori their wedding invitations willmake it to their loved ones. Grand-

mothers and grandathers cannot

send birthday cards to grandchil-dren. Students are awaiting uni-

versity acceptances and course

material. Our men and women in

uniorm and their amilies are un-able to exchange all those impor-

tant letters.

Honourable senators, or Cana-

da Post, this work stoppage comes

at a critical time or the corpora-tion. Canada Post was strongly a-

ected by the global recession thatbegan in 2008, like many other

businesses. However, Canada Posthas also experienced increased

competition in its major business

lines, such as domestic letter mail.

Tese pose an extreme threat toCanada Post and postal service

providers around the world. De-

spite alling decline in domesticletter volume, domestic parcels

and ad mail at Canada Post re-

main protable, i only margin-

ally. Te unds rom those prots

are reinvested directly into thecorporation to help acilitate its

modernization.

In 2008, Canada Post beganmodernizing its plants, upgrading

its equipment and rationalizing

its processes all with a v iew to be-

coming more ecient and to posi-tion itsel or the uture.

Canada Post is also making its

acilities saer or its employees,but its cost-cutting and modern-

ization eforts may not be enough

to ensure it remains nancially

sel-sustaining. Te corporation

is hoping to improve its businesssustainability by working with its

employees on the shop oor and

through collective bargaining to

bring about greater ecienciesand more exible ways o provid-

ing its mandate.

As we all know, negotiations

with the Canadian Union o PostalWorkers have ailed, and this work

stoppage has cost Canada Post

dearly. It is compromising its abil-

ity to work and to build toward amore ecient and afordable mail

service to the benet o all Cana-dians. Tis dispute has alreadycost Canada Post more than $100

million. Tere is the long-term im-

pact o users who have switched to

electronic billing and many otherindividuals who may never come

back to Canada Post, and that

cost has not yet been calculated.

Te longer this labour disruptioncontinues, the greater the negative

efects will be on Canada Posts

uture.

Aer eight months o ailed ne-gotiations, this labour disruption

must end now. My colleague the

Minister o Labour has alreadyoutlined what has occurred. Tisback-to-work legislation recogniz-

es that giving the two parties more

time is not the answer. Tis legis-lation precludes a urther strike or

lockout, results in certainty o ser-

vice or Canadians and imposes a

process on the parties to resolvethis issue.

Tis is the only solution or em-

ployees, the employer and, most

importantly, Canadians.

Couples arewondering when

or if their weddinginvitations will makeit to their loved ones.Grandmothers andgrandfathers cannotsend birthday cards tograndchildren.

This workstoppagehas cost

CanadaPostdearly

a m

c

p, Mp Steven Fletcher

s

m m w g

m

, c

p , m,

c. h m

w :


13/31

june 23, 2011 13

CUPW president Denis Leme-lin used his appearance beorethe Senate to discuss the unions

approach to negotiations and tohighlight the act that rotating

strikes were implemented to en-

sure mail delivery was not inter-

rupted or the whole country.Bill C-6 was unnecessary, he told

the senators. It is unair because

it violates the right to bargain. Inaddition, this bill sets conditions

that are diferent than what could

have been obtained through bar-

gaining. Tis bill is completelyunacceptable.

Among those to question Leme-

lin was Senator Jane Cordy. Here

is part o their exchange.

Senator Cordy: Earlier this aer-

noon, Minister Raitt said in de-ence o Bill C-6 that all other av-

enues had been exhausted and that

is why the back-to-work legislation

was put orward. What is the posi-tion o the union? Were all avenues

exhausted beore the back-to-work

legislation was tabled and beore

the lockout happened, or thatmatter?

Mr. Lemelin: It is easy or theminister to say that because at that

moment we were in negotiations

and we were putting pressure onthe employer.

At the same moment Canada

Post decided to lock us out, the

government decided to table thislegislation. As soon as Canada

Post looked at this legislation andsaw this nal ofer selection, it isclear that they just sat down to

wait and said to the union, Let

go o all o your principles and de-

mands and just say Yes to whatwe are ofering.

It was unair to have this back-

to-work legislation tabled because

Canada Post decided to lock usout, so it should have been back-

to-work legislation on Canada

Post.

When we met with Minister

Raitt on June 8 or June 9, we o-ered then that, i the collective

agreement was put back into place,then we would go back to work

and continue to negotiate. We stat-

ed that publicly, I think on June 9

or June 10. Tat is what we oferedto do.

We said the same thing again

to Mr. Chopra, put the collective

agreement back in place and wewill go back to work.

Starting June 15, however, it was

easy or the employer to sit back,

relax and see what would come out

o this legislation. One could say

Canada Post had not been con-sulted on the legislation itsel, but,

or us, there was clearly a coali-

tion between Canada Post and thegovernment on this back-to-work

legislation.

Senator Cordy: So, you were will-ing to go back to work and negoti-

ate

Mr. Lemelin: Yes.

Senator Cordy: rather than

have Bill C-6.

Mr. Lemelin: Yes.

Senator Cordy: Tat is interesting.

This bill is completely unacceptableCUPW president insists it did not have to come down to C-6

It is clear that theyjust sat down towait and said to theunion, Let go of all ofyour principles anddemands and just say

Yes to what we areoffering.

his extraordinary bill hasbeen introduced in the Houseas a result o an unresolved labour

dispute between Canada Post and

more than 50,000 employees o the

Canadian Union o Postal Work-ers, Urban Operations Unit. Now

that the work stoppage has con-

tinued, regular postal service has

ceased. Canadians are turning toParliament or a solution. Tat is

what I am here to talk about today.

Context is important so that theextraordinary measures in the bill

can be better understood. Let me

start with three important points.

First, a reliable postal servicewithout interruption is an impor-

tant part o what keeps our econo-

my running smoothly.Second, when that service is in-

terrupted, or when the reliability

o that service is put into doubt,

it does more than just create aninconvenience, costs are incurred

and they are paid by Canadian

amilies and Canadian businesses.

Tird, many months havepassed since this labour dispute

began and there is no end in sight

in which the parties can reach a

settlement on their own.Given these acts, Parliament

has an obligation to act and to do

so in the best interest o the Cana-dian economy.

Context isimportant ...

Lisa Raitt onextraordinarymeasures


14/31

june 23, 201114

Senator Dallaire: You are the two

most senior ocials at Canada

Post. As such, you are accountable

or the successes and ailures oyour operations and those o the

corporation. Your role is twoold:

to manage resources, includinghuman resources, and to show

leadership.

When we look at this bill and

the reasons why, as leaders, wehave to resort to using back-to-

work legislation, I see a shortall

in terms o leadership, or perhaps

in management.Given that these issues are be-

ore us here in Parliament, I am

wondering what you plan on do-ing. On uesday or Wednesday,

when people return to work, I

want to know specically what

your reconciliation plan is oryour unionized workers who

have been prepared to continue

working despite this rather nega-

tive situation.

Mr. Chopra: Senator, you

made several comments about

leadership, and I could not agree

more. Beore I answer the question,I would like to salute your service

to the country, and your contribu-tions. You are certainly a great role

model or us to learn rom.Leadership matters, indeed. I

think leadership is about making

dicult choices. We could havemade the easy choice o taking

on a long-term cost burden. Tat

would have been the easy choice.

Te generation aer me would beasking why the tough choices were

not made to sustain the corpora-

tion or the long term. Canadians

expect their Crown corporations

management to take a long-termview and to nd the right balance.

When times are good, we have

been successul.Te second question you asked

was whether we are prepared with

a specic plan. Indeed, our desirewas not to reach a stage where we

have 12 days o rotating strikes.

Indeed, we did not oresee a sus-

pension o service under the cir-cumstances I explained earlier. A

lot o work needs to be done, andI can assure you that many people

in our human resources opera-

tions and many other aspects othe organization are working

on exactly the question that you

raised. It is not necessari ly just or

the sake o making sure that we dothis and welcome employees back

in a cer tain manner, but or longer

term healing. It is important that

employees understand why wewent through what we did.

At the same time, specic plans

are being drawn up with ourteams so that we can tell our su-

pervisors and managers how to

approach and handle questionsand answers.

Senator Dallaire: I will repeat my

question. You two are the lead-

ers. Te Canada Post Corporationlooks to you or its strategic orien-

tation, its mission, its culture and

its work environment. Te two o

you share these responsibilities.My question is specic. What do

you intend to say to bring about

a reconciliation with your subor-

dinates? What personal initiative

will you take? What arguments

will you use to eliminate the ric-tion caused by this business deci-

sion that, in the end, is unpopular

with your employees?

Mr. Ct: We started meeting

with our employees about threeor our years ago. A very spe-

cic communications plan was

established or our employees.

Last year, we met with employ-ees rom all our depots once or

twice. We visit the depots and the

work sites in all our major acili-

ties. We began this dialogue withour employees in order to explain

that the postal sector has reached

a turning point. Troughout the

world, the volume o mail is de-creasing by 4 to 5 per cent. Te

postal sector will have to adapt to

these changes.When the rotating strikes began,

we were very cautious, in order to

maintain good labour relations

and to ensure that there would be

Leadership is aboutmaking difcult choices,Chopra tells Senate

Canada Post president gets a grillingon leadership and reconciliation

o j 26, c p Deepak Chopra

coo Jacques Ct s

w x g w

mg x

m.

Chopra m m 17

2006, m g

gg w $3.2 .

amg q w x w

Senator Romeo Dallaire. h m

xg:


15/31

june 23, 2011 15

Everything depends onyour words. They will

live by what words youwill say, and you areaccountable for that.

no conict. Staf was instructed

on how to welcome employees on

their return to work. We wil l have

to resume the communicationsplan with our employees, explain

to them again what we want to

do and why, and that we had verylittle leeway.

Salaries take up 65 per cent o

Canada Posts revenue. Revenue

is declining by 3 to 4 per cent peryear. Last year, letter mail revenue

decreased by 4.5 per cent, with

each percentage point represent-

ing $30 million. With stable ordeclining revenues, we have very

little room to manoeuvre when

it comes to increasing employeeswages.

We tried very hard to explain

the situation to our employees. I

believe that employees have a air-ly good understanding o the situ-

ation. Our eforts in recent years

will help us when work resumes

this year.

Senator Dallaire: I nevertheless

believe that it is hard to say that

you have been successul given

that you were orced to resort tosuch a measure to close the gap

between what employees in yourorganization expect, through

their union, and what you haveproposed.

Tereore, I will repeat my ques-

tion. Your philosophy, Mr. Cho-

pra, has been articulated and peo-ple know it well. However, will it

be reintroduced when employees

return to work or will you wait orthe end o negotiations to resume

the dialogue?

Te Chair: Is there a reply?

Senator Dallaire: I want to know

what you will tell them on ues-

day, you as the leader. You arethe head o this whole thing. Ev-

erything depends on your words.

Tey will live by what words youwill say, and you are accountable

or that. What are the words o

reconciliation you will have, hav-

ing had to go through this processto bring them back to work?

Mr. Chopra: I I could answer

again on that point, the journey

that the company started almost

18 months ago o sharing withemployees why we need to do

what we are trying to do, i we be-lieve that is the journey, then we

have to continue the journey.As ar as healing is concerned,

the specic plans will include

having the small town hall s where

we can have those employeesask dicult questions. We have

never shied away rom answer-

ing dicult question to our ownemployees.

We go on the midnight shis,

the morning shis and the eve-

ning shis. Tere are specic

town halls that have happened or

18 months. Tere will be an evengreater need to ensure that we can

answer those questions, not just

at the most senior level but at theront line and middle manage-

ment levels. Tey need to be able

to answer those questions: What

transpired, why we are here andwhat is the way orward? Where

will the company go rom here?

I go back to the same thing:

Employees, in any organization,or or that matter in any institu-

tion, want to be part o the win-

ning team.Tey want to be part o someone

who will take the company or-

ward. Having that growth mes-

sage, understanding where we cangrow and where we cannot grow,

where we have to deend, we have

to be honest and upront.

Tat is the message we plan togive our employees, both our-

selves as well as our ront line and

mid-management.


16/31

june 23, 201116

I eel so rustrated. I eel l ike a mom

who wants to call time out. I eel

that all the members on all sides o

this House have good intentions

but we cannot seem to meet in the

middle.

I honestly believe we could get

people back to work.

We could open those doors i we

reduced the partisanship o the dis-

cussion and started trying to gureout where we could come together

because we want the mail to move

and we want the workers to be

respected.

Mr. Speaker, I enjoy standing up as

I have been in the House uninter-

rupted without sleep or 31 hours. I

mention this not with any sense o

bravado, but merely to apologize in

advance i anything I say is some-

what less than coherent.

I will speak to the motion in a

couple o ways. I nd the challenge

o being original, aer 31 hours o

debate, is my main obstacle. We

have heard a lot o very ne words

on all sides o the House, but it has

become, and I hope I do not ofend

anyone, a little repetitious.

Let us surprise the people o Can-

ada by having the members o the

41st Parliament act diferently. Let

us actually get together out in the

corridors perhaps people are al-

ready doing it and remove those

sections o Bill C-6 that are unac-

ceptable to at least this side o the

House.

Let us nd a way that gets the

postal workers back to work as

soon as possible which satises all

the needs o the people that we haveheard so much about, the people

who need their glasses, the deliv-

ery o ood to the north, services

to small communities. All o those

needs and hurts wil l be mended the

minute we take the locks of the

door and get people back to work.

People who want their mail deliv-

ered do not really care whether we

keep section 15 in Bill C-6 or not.

I beg o all o us in the next ew

hours that we nd a way and maybe

hoist ourselves out o hoist amend-

ments ...

One group o people in the House

believes the best way to get the mail

moving is to push through Bill C-6,

come hell or high water. One group

o people in the House thinks the

best way to get the mail moving

again is to ght as hard as pos-sible against Bill C-6 in the hope

that somehow, while we are in this

place in our suspended animation

o June 23, there will be some prog-

ress somewhere else that solves the

problem.

Te astest way to get the mail

moving, which I know is their No.

1 objective, is to change Bill C-6

through amendment that allows

all o us in this place to agree that

we have respected collective bar-

gaining rights, the labour laws o

Canada and Canadian workers andwe have acted quickly in the inter-

ests o all people, whether they are

small business people or amilies

waiting or cheques.

We should not allow ourselves to be

so enamoured by our own rhetoric

that we orget that the astest way

to get the mail moving is to amend

Bill C-6 so that we can al l agree, get

the mail moving and go home at

some point this weekend.

I feel like a mom who wants to call time out,Elizabeth May confesses during debate

Green Party LeaderElizabeth Mayw . a mm h, w m m. h m w g :

Three days, little sleep, plenty to ponder

I will begin by congratulating and

thanking Senator MacDonald or

a well-balanced speech, not sur-

prising given his background andhis instincts as I have observed

them over the years. His speech

was merciully ree o some o the

ofensive rhetoric that we heardrom the government side in the

House o Commons during this

debate.Frankly, it was almost righten-

ing to hear some o the reerences

rom some Conservative members

about union bosses and unionhalls, as i those were un-Cana-

dian places, alien, perhaps, even

seditious.

I have not heard tone like thatabout unions in this Parliament in

all o the time I have been here.

I think one would have to goback to the Winnipeg General

Strike to hear comments like that

rom leaders, or perhaps go back to

what Senator MacDonalds grand-parents and mine told us about the

miners strikes in Cape Breton in

the 1920s.

It is somewhat rightening tohear that tone o debate and argu-

ment in the other place. I do not

think I wi ll hear much or any o ithere.

It is somewhatfrightening tohear that toneof debate

s Lowell Murray sM Md wm g b c6.


17/31

june 23, 2011 17

he libuster over the ederalback-to-work bill or CanadaPost employees reveals the Con-servatives are prepared to act with

a heavy hand to protect Canadas

economic interests.

And while the Liberals workedto stake out the sensible middle

ground, the large absence o MPs

in the House reects the margin-alization o the once-mighty party.

Te NDP, in its new role as O-

cial Opposition, demonstrated it

will not roll over to give the rulingConservatives a ree ride espe-

cially on such undamental issues

as workers rights.

By going the libuster route,they did something very shrewd,

University o oronto political

scientist Nelson Wiseman told iP-olitics. Tey are the opposition.

Tey can use a lot o levers they

couldnt as the third party. Tey

made a statement that said, Werein charge.

While some observers believe

the NDP walked into a trap set by

the Conservatives, Wiseman in-sists the party was appropriately

exing its muscle while solidiying

its base, much as Stephen Harperhas oen been commended or

doing. Te strategic manoeuvringwon support rom the NDPs key

constituencies organized la-

bour and Quebec voters.

Allowing the Conservatives toquickly pass C-6 would have sig-

nalled the NDP was not yet ready

to be a erce opposition to theConservatives, he added.

Te Conservatives knew rom

the start that getting postal work-ers back to work and mail movingwas popular with most Canadians.

I believe the Conservatives rel-

ished the NDPs aggressive obsti-

nacy on the issue, as the majorityo public opinion is not sympa-

thetic to government employees

such as postal workers, Wiseman

said.Wiseman predicted many show-

downs and clashes to come with

Canadas new political reality, andNDP national director Brad Lavi-

gne said the Harper governmentshould not expect an easy ride just

because it holds a majority.Te opposition has many tools

and rom time to time, the leader

and his caucus will use the tools

at their disposal, he told iPolitics.We take the responsibility o o-

cial opposition very seriously, and

we will use the tools judiciously

and when warranted.Lavigne said the libuster o-

cially put the Conservatives on

notice that that the opposition is

strong, united and committed to

ghting against awed legislationand bad policy.

Yet by taking the hard-line on

the bill reusing to budge on

any o the NDP-proposed amend-ments the Conservative govern-

ment signalled it will exercise all

the powers it holds as a majority,

especially on money matters.Everyone keeps asking what

the message out o this is, Labour

Minister Lisa Raitt told CVsQuestion Period. Te messageout o this is, Parties, do your

deals yourselves, at your table.

I you think that governmentsgoing to go to Parliament and ask

or them to intervene, this is the

solution that youre going to get.

Because were going to give the so-lution thats best or the economy

which is a quick solution to the

matter, and were going to make

sure the economy is protected in

terms o service.Raitt rejected suggestions the

government was attempting to

kill unions or sidestep collective

bargaining. Te Conservativeswill not intervene in every labour

dispute, she said, but will step in

on national matters when there is

a risk to Canadas economy.Raitt denied the underlying

political strategy was to trap theNDP. She insisted the goal was to

introduce and pass appropriatelegislation, adding that govern-

ment did not anticipate the NDP

would wrangle to stall the bill.Troughout the libuster, the

Liberals attempted to stake out

ground as the moderate, middle

ground, suggesting debate overthe back-to-work bill clearly re-

ected the polarized dynamic o

a House o Commons divided be-

tween a neoconservative, hard-

right government and a socialisthard-le ocial opposition.

During most o the marathon,there were only a handul o Lib-

erals present. Wiseman said it be-

came starkly ev ident how margin-

alized the Liberals have becomeand how much work they need to

do to rebuild status.

Tey have a historic legacy, he

said, but thats about it.

[email protected]

Three long days on Hillsignal that Parliament

is in for a profound shiftin the next four yearssun, june 26, 2011kathleen harris

The message out ofthis is, Parties, do yourdeals yourselves, atyour table.

Labour Minister

Lisa Raitt


18/31

june 23, 201118

Drawn and quartered


19/31

june 23, 2011 19

Welcome to the New World OrderMon, june 27, 2011don neWMan

Watching the mini session oParliament that merciullyended on the weekend, it was pos-sible to see the unolding o thepolitical New World Order.

Te session dragged past its June

23 end date because the New Dem-

ocrats libustered the back-to-work legislation to end the Canada

Post lockout and strike.

As the ocial Opposition with

103 members, the NDP has thebench strength to keep the libus-

ter going in a way the party never

could beore.

No one is going to mess orga-

nized labour, in particular with

Stephen Harper and his majority

Conservative machine.Te only problem is that the peo-

ple directly afected by the back to

work legislation and the libuster the postal workers wanted

the MPs to stop talking.

Te workers correctly realized

their bargaining power was lostthe second the legislation was

introduced.

Better to let the bill be passed

with a symbolic protest, get backto work, and start getting paid

again.

But to the union movement back-to-work legislation is an anathema.

In principle, the NDP agrees.

So despite the act that the li-

buster was costing the posties and that its members wanted the

talking to stop it dragged on to

make the ideological point.

Te Conservatives have been just as ideological, o course. So

ar with the majority Harper gov-

ernment, there have been two na-tional strikes, Canada Post and

Air Canada, and two pieces o

back-to-work legislation.

Air Canada and its workers set-tled beore the legislation could go

through Parliament, but the mes-

sage rom the government was the

same as with the post oce: Noone is going to mess organized

labour, in particular with Ste-

phen Harper and his majorityConservative machine.

So with a Conservative Govern-

ment ready to order strikers backto work, and an NDP ocial Op-

position ready to deend the rightto strike, the next our years could

see a number o re-runs o thelibuster that dragged into MPs

summer holidays.

Conventional wisdom has it

that both the Conservatives andthe NDP will moderate and mi-

grate toward the political centre

in order to consolidate their recent

electoral gains.Conventional wisdom may turn

out to be correct. But not yet.


20/31

Have Berry, will bluster

Read on and decide for yourself.

Before the overnight sitting was confirmed,

Tony Clement asked a very relevant question,

by: ellen burch

The Bill C-6 libuster astold by MPs on Twitter


21/31

TITLE and words


22/31

22


23/31


24/31

24


25/31

Filibuster or bust


26/31

26


27/31


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28


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30/31

june 23, 201130

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june 23, 2011 31

June 25, 8:15 p.m.

After a completely unnecessary delay, Im nevertheless pleasedthat very soon Canadians will again have access to their postal

service, particularly small businesses and charities and, of course,this is the only thing that Canadians ever really wanted.

PM Stephen Harper

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