Senator Don Plett, Leader of the Opposition

Hon. Donald Neil Plett: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak briefly to Senator Tannas's amendment to Bill C-4. This amendment addresses the issue that Bill C-4 moves federal legislation away from what has increasingly become the norm in modern Canadian labour relations laws by returning to the old card check system, a process that allows unions to be certified without holding a secret ballot vote if a sufficient number of workers sign up as union members.

Foregoing a secret ballot vote poses a problem because automatic union certification may not reflect the true wishes of a majority of voting workers. As Charles Lammam, Director of Fiscal Studies at the Fraser Institute, said at committee:

Without the anonymity of a secret ballot, union organizers may pressure workers into supporting union certification. Any dissension or disagreement can become confrontational, especially when unionization is controversial. Some workers may be uncomfortable publicly voicing their opinion for or against unionization. A mandatory secret ballot certification vote provides the same basic protection of anonymity that all Canadians enjoy when electing their politicians. Allowing union certification without a secret ballot vote runs contrary to the goal of empowering workers.

We have heard the argument made that the secret ballot system causes fewer unions to be certified. This, honourable senators, is not an argument, nor is it a problem. This decision needs to be 100 per cent in the hands of the workers. The very fact that there is a difference in results when workers are able to indicate their actual wishes in a secret ballot system means that there is a problem inherent in the old card check system. Workers should be entitled to make an informed choice without fear of intimidation from colleagues or employers.

While I was not there for the committee's study on Bill C-4, I was present for part of the study of Bill C-525. I remember being very troubled then by the stories we heard of fear and intimidation that have impacted the certification process. In the committee's study of Bill C-4, the committee heard testimony indicating that union organizers do, in fact, lie with respect to union cards. One witness said that in some cases, "The employees might be told that the card is just to get more information or just to get a vote, but in card check jurisdictions, unionization is the goal and the result of this trickery."

The same witness stated fervently that "no labour board undertakes a proper review that every card is a legitimate, unforged, properly dated signature of the worker that the union claims it is." He even cited a very disturbing case of union card fraud in British Columbia.

The fact is that there is no more democratic or fair system for workers than guaranteeing them the opportunity to vote anonymously through secret ballot when deciding whether to approve a union, which is why seven of ten provinces have the same guarantee in place.

Honourable senators, as Senator Tannas mentioned, we received thousands of emails from unions and union workers across the country, many through a PushPolitics system or similar automatic email system arranged by the union leaders. And of course there were some personally written emails as well. I had the same experience as Senator Tannas. While there was certainly some avid opposition to the provisions set out in Bill C-377, not one email mentioned secret ballots — not one.

Lastly, there has been an argument made against this amendment that this was a campaign promise from the Liberals so that we should pass it without amendments. I don't buy this argument. If we are to simply blindly pass legislation that comes from the other place, why even waste our time calling in witnesses and studying it? While there could be an argument made that the financial disclosure issue may have influenced the vote of a few union bosses, it is evident in the correspondence alone that the secret ballot issue was not an election issue.

I also find the argument for unrestricted upholding of election promises by the upper chamber a little rich, certainly in this case, when we have been sent legislation from a government that, to put it delicately, has not made honouring election promises its number one priority.

Honourable senators, Senator Harder stated in his recent report that every day legislation like this is not passed, justice has not been done.

Senator Harder, when the Conservatives were in government, we were reminded constantly that we had only 39 per cent of the vote and that 61 per cent of Canadians did not vote for us. Well, senator, the same is now true. Let me remind you that 61 per cent of Canadians did not vote for the Liberal Party. So to suggest that we should just be rubber-stamping legislation without proper consideration, without debating sound amendments, because 39 per cent of Canadians voted for Justin Trudeau, does not fly.

How many of those 39 per cent of Canadians who voted for Justin Trudeau did so because he said he would remove the democratic secret ballot system for union certification? We all know that the answer is likely none.

We should not be passing faulty legislation or, in this case, simply faulty provisions, at all costs because it came to us from the other place. It is our job to study and improve legislation.

I read the committee transcripts thoroughly. Nobody has been able to effectively make the case for the necessity of the provision in question.

Honourable senators, the potential for intimidation is inherent in the old card check system. People need to know exactly what they are signing for, and they need to do it without fear, coercion or intimidation.

Whether it results in more or less certification of unions for federally regulated workers is irrelevant. All that matters is that the true wishes of the voting employees are reflected in the decision. A secret ballot is the only way to achieve that. For that reason, in the name of protecting the integrity of the certification and decertification process, and more importantly to protect the true wishes of Canadian workers, I will be supporting Senator Tannas' important amendment.

If this amendment passes, colleagues, I will be supporting this bill. I encourage you all to do the same.