Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
It's pretty funny to hear that. I'm sorry for laughing, but it's pretty hard to keep a straight face.
First, I'd like to thank the officials for being here. And Mr. Duggan was able to answer some of my questions about the possible impact of not having a definition for “essential services”, that is, the ability to arbitrate that the government was conferring upon itself. I submitted the answers that we have received to the expertise of jurists from the Association canadienne des juristes, including a jurist specializing in labour law. They told me that it was absolutely arbitrary, given that no section or category of employees would be excluded right off the bat from being considered an essential service. They also felt that it would open the door to costly court action that would be harmful to the public interest. According to them, it also went against good and sound workplace relations. They stated that it would open the door to increased court action to determine, at the end of the day, what an essential service is, instead of resolving it using a perfectly valid bargaining process.
It is very difficult to determine what the government is trying to achieve, aside from imposing its capricious will on every situation in its labour relations with public service employees. It's quite appalling. In the end, all the government is doing is throwing oil in the frying pan. And I certainly hope things don't blow up in our face, but I do expect to see a marked increase in the likelihood of labour disputes because of this kind of arbitration. I wouldn't blame anyone for wanting to challenge that kind of arbitrary measure to opt out.
I won't go on any longer. I think I've been fairly clear. In any event, the testimony was so dense and it's unbelievable that the government party is still turning a blind eye to reason, especially to the expertise that was really convincing and eloquent.