Tories drag out anti-scab hearings at Commons committee

More time allotted to hear corporate and business complaints about Bill C-257

Tory MP Dean Allison

Ottawa (10 Dec. 2006) - The Stephen Harper Tories are doing their best to drag out hearings on federal anti-scab legislation and prevent it from passing in the current minority parliament.

Bill C-257, co-sponsored by the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party, sailed through second reading by a vote of 167 to 101 in late October with only the Tories opposed. All opposition parties, including the Liberals voted in favour.

Second reading denotes approval in principle. Bills then go to committee for clause by clause study before being reported back to the Commons for final approval.

It is the 11th time anti-scab legislation has been introduced in parliament by the BQ. In all cases, the Conservatives have voted no, first in opposition and now in government.

Rescuing corporate friends

Two days of hearings were scheduled and, predictably, opponents lined up en masse to complain about the havoc the bill would cause if passed, even though similar legislation has been on the books for many years - and worked well - in Quebec and B.C.

Then, with time running down, the Tories once again rode to the defence of their corporate friends by bringing in a motion to extend hearings.

The resulting vote, a 4-4 deadlock, was then broken by the compliant Tory committee chair, Dean Allison, MP for Niagara West-Glanbrook.

It's not clear now how long the hearings will last or whether the bill will ever come back to the full Commons for a final vote. NUPGE