LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO
ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L'ONTARIO
Thursday 11 July 2002 Jeudi 11 juillet 2002
Thursday 11 July 2002 Jeudi 11 juillet 2002
The House met at 1330.
Prayers.
Hon Chris Stockwell (Minister of Environment and Energy, Government House Leader): On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I would move that we revert immediately to introduction of bills, waive the other routine proceedings and then recess the House until 3 o'clock. The House will be called back at 3 o'clock.
The Speaker (Hon Gary Carr): Is there unanimous consent? Agreed.
OK. Introduction of bills, then, and the Minister of Labour.
Hon Brad Clark (Minister of Labour): I seek leave to introduce a bill entitled the City of Toronto labour disputes resolution Act, 2002
Hon Mr Stockwell: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I think the bill inadvertently was not brought to the minister; I think it was tabled. Can I give an undertaking that we will get the bill in as quickly as possible? I seek consent to do just that.
The Speaker: To be helpful, and I'll look to the government House leader for guidance, what has been suggested is that we adjourn until 3 o'clock, we come back with introduction of bills -- hopefully we will then have a bill -- and then proceed from there. Is it agreed to by everybody? Agreed.
I will cause the bells to ring at five minutes before 3, as we normally would, so the members will know.
This House is recessed until 3 o'clock this afternoon.
The House recessed from 1334 to 1502.
Hon Mr Stockwell: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I seek consent that this House recess for 40 more minutes and come back and revert immediately to introduction of bills.
The Speaker: The government House leader has moved that this House recess for 40 minutes. Is it the pleasure of the House?
This House stands recessed for 40 minutes.
The House recessed from 1503 to 1543.
The Speaker: The government House leader.
Applause.
Hon Mr Stockwell: I'm truly humbled by the standing ovation from the Liberals.
Mr Speaker, the third party has some issues with respect to a clause in there and we'll need at least until a quarter after 4 to work them out, so I ask that we recess the House until a quarter after 4.
The Speaker: The government House leader has asked for the House to recess until 4:15. Is it the pleasure of the House? Agreed. This House stands recessed until 4:15.
The House recessed from 1545 to 1615.
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
CITY OF TORONTO LABOUR DISPUTES
RESOLUTION ACT, 2002 /
LOI DE 2002 SUR LE RÈGLEMENT
DES CONFLITS DE TRAVAIL
À LA CITÉ DE TORONTO
Mr Clark moved first reading of the following bill:
Bill 174, An Act to resolve City of Toronto labour disputes / Projet de loi 174, Loi visant à régler les conflits de travail à la cité de Toronto.
The Speaker (Hon Gary Carr): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
The minister for a short statement?
Hon Brad Clark (Minister of Labour): We'll decline a statement at this time.
Hon Chris Stockwell (Minister of Environment and Energy, Government House Leader): Mr Speaker: I seek unanimous consent for the following procedures to be implemented for consideration of Bill 174, An Act to resolve City of Toronto labour disputes, the back-to-work legislation introduced today:
(1) The orders for second and third reading of the bill may both be called today.
(2) Debate on the second reading stage of the bill shall be limited to 45 minutes, with 15 minutes allotted to each party. At the end of 45 minutes, the Speaker shall put every question necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill, without further debate or amendment. At such time, the bill shall be ordered referred for third reading.
(3) When the order for third reading is called, the Speaker shall immediately put every question necessary to dispose of the third reading stage of the bill, without debate or amendment.
(4) If any recorded division is required on any questions relating to Bill 174, the division bells will be limited to five minutes.
(5) Upon completion of consideration of the bill, the Speaker shall adjourn the House without motion until Monday, September 23, 2002.
The Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
CITY OF TORONTO LABOUR DISPUTES
RESOLUTION ACT, 2002 /
LOI DE 2002 SUR LE RÈGLEMENT
DES CONFLITS DE TRAVAIL
À LA CITÉ DE TORONTO
Mr Eves, on behalf of Mr Clark, moved second reading of the following bill:
Bill 174, An Act to resolve City of Toronto labour disputes / Projet de loi 174, Loi visant à régler les conflits de travail à la cité de Toronto.
The Speaker (Hon Gary Carr): Mr Eves, comments?
Hon Ernie Eves (Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs): This has been a difficult issue for a lot of people. Obviously we would like to see these disputes resolved at the bargaining table, where they should be resolved. We have been able to come forward with a piece of legislation that we believe is acceptable to all three political parties in the Legislature, but more importantly, acceptable to the people of the city of Toronto.
There definitely is, according to the chief medical officer of health for Ontario, a very good chance that there will be a public health hazard in the next few days. I think it is incumbent upon all of us in this Legislature as legislators to take preventive action now, as suggested by Dr D'Cunha, to prevent that from happening. Surely we shouldn't have to wait until we find there is a disaster or a health hazard or something has happened to somebody before we take decisive action.
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I would like to compliment members on all sides of the House for their co-operation in this matter, especially both opposition leaders, who have been very helpful in the resolution of this dispute, because I truly believe it is a non-partisan issue. I understand that there may be differences of opinion and there may even be differences in principle as to how you proceed with such matters. But at the end of the day, we're all here to do the right thing. In this case, the right thing is to protect the people of the province of Ontario, especially those residents in the city of Toronto, being its largest municipality. I believe we are taking the decisive action that is necessary, that is recommended by the chief medical officer of health.
I want to compliment, as I said before, the leader of the official opposition and the leader of the third party, who have been very helpful in bringing this resolution about. It isn't very often that the Legislature is called back for an emergency session in the middle of July -- I'm sure that many of us had other things we were attending to, especially with relation to our families, in other parts of the province -- let alone an agreement to proceed with three readings of an important piece of legislation in one day and to dispense with question period, which I personally appreciate.
Mr Gregory S. Sorbara (Vaughan-King-Aurora): It won't happen again.
Hon Mr Eves: Never say never, Greg. I think that truly does speak to the spirit of co-operation in this chamber today and in the city of Toronto today. I think the important thing now is to get those people who are employees of the city of Toronto, all 25,000 of them, back to work as quickly as possible, so that we can make sure the city is not only cleaned up, but that there are all these services that should be available to the citizens of Toronto and its visitors as quickly as possible, so we can prevent any potential health hazard from occurring and so people can get back to their normal lives.
Mr Dalton McGuinty (Leader of the Opposition): We're here today because the chief medical officer of health for Ontario told us we needed to act. That's why we're here, and that's why our party is supporting this bill.
The medical officer told us there is a real risk to public health. We've got garbage on the streets, which has been accumulating for some time now; we have restaurants that are going uninspected; and we have public health visits not being made to homes that would otherwise warrant public health visits. We're here today in order to eliminate a risk to public health.
At the same time, we have been very intent on ensuring that there is a fair process put in place that will provide for a fair resolution of the outstanding issues between the city and the workers. I can tell you that our caucus met on several occasions and that we have been very active in doing what we could to reach out to both sides.
My concern was that the positions that had been adopted by the parties in this dispute were being reflected by the government and the NDP as well. I hope people will draw some insight into how we will govern. We will not take sides; we will bring sides together. We will not reflect special interests; we will work to uphold the public interest.
I'm glad for the people of Toronto. I'm glad that the garbage will soon be picked up, that people will be able to enjoy a clean city. I'm glad that very soon children will be able to go to daycare, swim in the city's wading pools and participate in summer camps.
But I'm angry that it had to come to this. I'm angry that we had to abrogate collective bargaining rights, and I'm angry that Toronto's reputation throughout all of this has been compromised and that the sense of pride that so many of us feel for the city of Toronto has been affected.
I think it's important that we take the opportunity -- because to fail to do so would be to do an injustice to the importance of this issue -- to try to understand some of the underlying causes leading up to this problem.
The fact of the matter is that the Mike Harris and Ernie Eves governments have either neglected the city of Toronto for the past seven years or, in other cases, have actually inflicted severe damage to the city of Toronto. I'm talking in particular about the downloading exercise that the Provincial Auditor told us cost the city of Toronto some $140 million in additional financial responsibilities. This city simply lacked the flexibility to bargain in the way it should have been bargaining in this matter.
This city needs help with respect to public transit, public housing, infrastructure and schools. I can tell you that Toronto at this time, the beginning of the 21st century, should be flourishing; instead, it is struggling. This city needs a partner, and I can tell you that our government looks forward to being that partner. We look forward to helping the city of Toronto with their transit needs. We look forward to helping the city of Toronto meet their housing needs. We look forward to helping the city of Toronto with their educational needs. And we look forward to ensuring that we can properly leverage Toronto's greatest natural advantage, its diversity.
We look forward to putting the city of Toronto on a sustainable footing so it can properly assume its responsibilities. We also, at the same time, intend to put forward a proposal changing the governance structure for municipal council at the city of Toronto. We need a governance model that will ensure that the city of Toronto can act in an effective way, and they cannot do so at this point in time.
I am very concerned about the city of Toronto. I know it has always been high fashion to criticize the city of Toronto, but the fact of the matter is that Ontario needs Toronto at its best. We need it strong, we need it prosperous, we need it safe, we need it clean and we need it livable. We need its harmony and diversity. We cannot possibly sustain important government services like health care and education in other parts of the province unless our economic engine is firing on all eight cylinders, and the fact of the matter is, it's not.
The city of Toronto should be Ontario's and Canada's showpiece. It should not become known in the international community -- I recall that at one point in time the Economist magazine, I think it was, talked about Toronto as being New York run by the Swiss. That was the reputation this great city once had. Now we have a situation where Toronto is acquiring a reputation as a place where they can't pick up their garbage --
Mr Gerard Kennedy (Parkdale-High Park): Tent city.
Mr McGuinty: We've got tent city. We've got people living on the streets. We're neglecting our inner-city schools; we're closing them or they are in a state of disrepair.
It's time for us to begin to turn that around, and we look forward to participating in that effort.
I had the opportunity recently to participate in the Toronto city summit, and there are a number of wonderful ideas that are being put forward that will help put Toronto on the footing it properly deserves. We need a world-class city in Ontario, we need a world-class city in Canada, and that city, without a shadow of a doubt, has to be the city of Toronto. We need Toronto to become renowned for its arts and its culture, its universities, its research and development, for its business clusters. We need Toronto to become known throughout the world as a place where people want to come and visit and a place where people want to come and stay. That's what we need. We're not going to get that for this city unless we begin to turn things around, unless this government begins to move beyond its neglect of the city of Toronto, begins to move beyond its agenda for damage for the city of Toronto and, instead of spending another $2 billion in tax breaks for corporations, we begin to make Toronto a more livable and prosperous community.
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I'm not sure there are that many winners here today with respect to this issue. You've abrogated bargaining rights. The people of Toronto have been deprived of garbage pickup for some time and other important services, especially for their kids. But the important thing is that we have been able to resolve this. We are pleased that we were able to play some positive role in bringing the sides together, and I can tell you that we very much look forward to working with Toronto, the people in this community, to ensure that we put this city on a sustainable footing, a city that becomes known nationally and internationally not for the fact that it had trouble picking up its garbage but for the fact that it's strong, prosperous, safe, clean and livable.
Mr Howard Hampton (Kenora-Rainy River): It's not often that we can come to the Legislature and say we've all found something we can agree on, but in fact I think today we can say we've all found something we can agree on, and I want to thank a number of people who did an awful lot of work and who otherwise may not get credit.
One way we communicate in the world of politics and government is through this Legislature, so we speak to one another formally -- not always politely, but formally -- and sometimes things get accomplished that way. But oftentimes the most fruitful discussions are discussions that happen when this place is not sitting or when the so-called formal negotiations have been interrupted or recessed for a time. They happen through a phone call that is made to someone on the other side suggesting, "Why don't we talk?"
So I want to give credit to a number of people, but one person in particular whom I want to give credit to is Mr Ross McClellan. As many of you will know, Ross McClellan has worked with the Ontario Federation of Labour; he's a former NDP House leader. Ross took it upon himself to call someone in the Premier's office to say, "We need to have a talk." Out of that discussion, a lot of good things happened. There was a meeting of the minds on a number of issues, and I want to say thank you to the Premier for following up on those discussions between an official in your office and Mr McClellan.
I think members of the public need to know that there are really two essentials to what's happening here. The first is, you have to have a process that the two sides in disagreement can come together on. The process we've agreed upon is a mediation-arbitration process. It's not final-offer selection, it's not pushing one side against the wall; it's called mediation-arbitration. I think there's a recognition here that both sides can have confidence in that process.
A lot of that was worked out, as we know, yesterday and yesterday evening, where there was a coming together of minds that mediation-arbitration was the way to go. But the second critical part of the process is that you have to agree upon a mediator-arbitrator who will have the confidence of both sides. I think we all know that generally you're looking for someone or a number of people with experience, who have the knowledge, who have a relationship of trust and who are generally regarded as being fair and reasonable people. That was the finishing touch. Again, I give Mr McClellan a lot of credit for saying this is what needs to happen now and I give people in the Premier's office credit for following up on that, because I think the names that were finally agreed upon are those of people who everyone involved in labour relations would recognize are very credible people.
I want to share some time here with my House leader, Mr Kormos, because I want to recognize Mr Kormos, for New Democrats, did an awful lot of the spadework at meetings that went well into the evening.
Before I do that, however, I just want to say to all the people, not just of Toronto but people across the province, that the collective bargaining process is not always neat and tidy. Most of the time, 95% or 96% of the time, it is; 95% or 96% of the time it results in agreements that both sides can live with and work with, where both sides know where they stand and what resources will have to be put together. Three or four or five per cent of the time it requires the kind of work that has been engaged in over the last couple of weeks. It's not always tidy, it's not always neat, and I think the physical evidence is out there on the street for people to see that, but it is the process that, if you reflect across the world, works the best. So I just want to give credit to everyone who was involved in finally bringing this process this far. People in both union locals, who have done incredible work, yesterday evening were starting to put forward possible names of mediator-arbitrators, recognizing when they did this that it was going to be a risk.
I also want to recognize again that the government has done a wise thing here. Four days of debate, five days of debate, six days of debate would not have left anyone in a winning position. But I believe that by reaching this agreement, we've done a good thing for everyone. Most of all it is a good thing for the people of Toronto and it is, I believe, a good thing for labour relations in the province.
Again, I think good work has been done by a lot of people, and a lot of people deserve credit for that.
Mr Peter Kormos (Niagara Centre): Let me say first --
Interjections.
The Speaker: Stop the clock.
The member for Niagara Centre has the floor.
Mr Kormos: Thank you kindly, Speaker. Let me say first and as clearly as anything could ever be said that I believe, like my colleagues in the New Democratic Party believe we and continue to believe, that trade unions, the trade union movement, its membership and its leadership have done and continue to do more to create social and economic justice than any other institution in our society. I say to you, Speaker, that CUPE and its locals -- Locals 79 and 416 -- are there at that vanguard, have been and I'm confident will continue to be in the struggle for social and economic justice, not just for their own members but for all other working people, women and men across this province, be they unionized or not.
I want to tell you that my colleagues in this caucus, my leader Howard Hampton and I have been proud to stand shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm with members of CUPE Local 416 and Local 79 on their picket lines. We admire and applaud their courage, their tenacity and their solidarity. We admire and applaud their commitment to social justice, not only for their members, but for the working people in their community here in the city of Toronto.
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Let's make one thing very clear: it's never wrong to fight for good jobs and it's never wrong to fight for job security and it's never wrong to fight to ensure that your kids are able to work at the same jobs their mother or father did for a lifetime before they assumed retirement.
I say to you that I want to thank --
Interjections.
The Speaker: Order. The member for Niagara Centre has the floor. The House leader for the official opposition, come to order, please.
Member for Niagara Centre.
Mr Kormos: I want to tell you that I want to very specifically thank Brian Cochrane, president of Local 416, and Ann Dembrinski, president of Local 79, not only for their leadership during the course of what have been very difficult negotiations -- not difficult as a result of their commitment and their hard work, but difficult as a result of a city management and, more particularly, a mayor of the city of Toronto who abandoned the bargaining table literally months ago and very, very clearly did it in a most visible way over the course of the crisis during this strike, creating that crisis over the course of the last three weeks. These working women and men engaged in negotiations and resolved the vast majority of matters at issue between themselves and their employer, and they did it in a way that not only was successful but that produced positive, productive results for their members.
I want to thank Brian Cochrane and Ann Dembinski for their incredible hard work, along with so many of their colleagues, so many of them here in this members' gallery today, over the course of the last 32 hours as people in this assembly worked hard to negotiate and structure a piece of legislation that has as its primary goal the restoration of effective negotiations between these working women and men and their employer, and that facilitates their return to work while guaranteeing that that negotiation is going to take place under the supervision of a mediator with the inevitability of arbitration by a fair, unbiased, neutral arbitrator who is acceptable to both parties, one of the most critical elements of any arbitration that one could ever imagine. We'd better reinforce for people right here and now -- and I don't care what part of the multihundred-year history of arbitration one canvasses -- that the fundamental legitimacy of arbitration rests on the acceptance by both parties to a dispute being arbitrated that that arbitrator be a neutral, independent and fair player in the process.
These workers now are going to have an opportunity to complete the negotiations that were terminated by Mel Lastman with his intransigence around balancing and completing the responsibilities he has as an administrator, but the responsibilities that he similarly has to these CUPE members who are members of this Toronto community and taxpayers as well.
I want you to know that every member of this caucus has worked long and hard over the course of the last day and a half, speaking with CUPE members out there on the line, working hard with CUPE leadership, working hard with other trade union leadership and representation from the Ontario Federation of Labour, to develop a process for CUPE members that completes the job they began during their negotiations, but a job that Mel Lastman frustrated and indeed would have terminated had it not been for the perseverance of these members.
Marilyn Churley, Rosario Marchese, Michael Prue, all with their unique Toronto perspectives -- and I acknowledge that we from outside Toronto have a very different perspective of community than Torontonians. Many of us, like myself, are from what I call smaller-town, smaller-community Ontario. That doesn't make the work of public sector workers any less important in Toronto, but the way it's done is certainly far different.
Let me close by mentioning this: just as it is never wrong to fight for good jobs, just as it's never wrong to fight for job security, it is surely never wrong for people with a commitment to quality public services, whether it's at the provincial or the municipal level, to fight for the maintenance of those municipal public services. The struggle by these CUPE members, their locals and their leadership has been as much about the preservation and maintenance of quality municipal public services as it has been about anything else, certainly more so than it has been about wages. Their struggle has been about the future, not of themselves, but the future of their community and the quality of service in their community, and New Democrats stand with them in that struggle. New Democrats stand with these public sector workers at the municipal level, just as we stood with provincial public sector workers -- OPSEU -- during their long and difficult strike but a few months ago.
Let me say to you I am proud to have stood on picket lines with these women and men. I am proud to speak with them here in the Legislature. I am proud of my colleagues here in this caucus who have worked together as a caucus in solidarity with these working women and men to advance their best interests in what are and what were even far more difficult circumstances, with far more extreme consequences.
I am pleased to speak clearly and loudly, saying I have no qualms about being strictly on the side of working women and men. I don't see any need for balancing acts. What is in the interests of working people like these CUPE members is in the interests of all Ontarians and all Canadians. New Democrats have never been afraid to say that. New Democrats have never been afraid to stand with trade unionists. New Democrats have never been afraid to join in the fight with working women and men to advance the interests of those same working people. Thank you kindly, Speaker.
Hon Mr Stockwell: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I understand the speech just made by the House leader for the third party, and his very close personal friend whom he's worked closely with for the last little while, the president of Local 79. I just alert you that her name isn't Ann Dembrinski; it's Ann Dembinski.
Hon Mr Clark: Today is a historic day for the Eves government and it's a day of affirmation for me as the Minister of Labour. When the Premier called me on April 14 and advised me that he would like me to take on the responsibilities as Minister of Labour, he asked me to take it on in a manner that was conciliatory, that was based on consensus, and that I would reach out to the labour community and develop harmonious labour relations in the province of Ontario. That's what we have done, and I'm pleased to be part of a government that has done that.
The government's throne speech commitment was to deliver both responsible and responsive leadership, leadership with the strength to listen and the courage to act, blending common-sense solutions with a common sense of purpose. I'm proud to be part of a government that doesn't search for headlines but searches for solutions.
We have the profound responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all who live and work in the city of Toronto. This is a responsibility that we do not take lightly. We have shown leadership and decisiveness in introducing the City of Toronto Labour Disputes Resolution Act, 2002. This legislation would order a return to work of the striking city of Toronto workers and restore its public services. The people of Toronto deserve no less.
It's important to note that this is about health and safety. A threat has prompted Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr Colin D'Cunha, to recommend that we take action to prevent a potential risk to public health. Maintaining the protection of public health and safety can be balanced with the rights of employees and employers to participate in collective bargaining. Because both parties in this dispute cannot resolve their differences between themselves, people are at risk. That is something that we, this government, cannot stand idly by and tolerate. Negotiations between Locals 416 and 79 and the city of Toronto have indeed hit an impasse. All parties in this House recognize this and have agreed to unanimously support this legislation. We all share the concerns of Ontario's chief medical officer of health for the health and safety of those who live, work and raise a family in the city of Toronto.
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It would appear to me that we have unanimous consent. We have unanimous support for this bill because we all know that we cannot stand idly by. We cannot, we will not, risk public health and safety. We will not wait until someone gets sick. In this case, the collective agreements expired more than six months ago, on December 31 of last year. Since that time, the Ministry of Labour has worked diligently to bring the two sides together. For Local 416, a conciliator was appointed on January 24. She met with the parties 32 times before a no-board report was issued, and an additional 24 times after that as the mediator. The same effort went into the talks involving Local 79, here starting on February 4: 24 conciliation and 17 mediation meetings were held. From June 22 to June 26, marathon round-the-clock bargaining took place with the assistance of Ministry of Labour mediators, and yet, at the present time, the talks have stalemated.
Disappointed? Yes, we're all disappointed that the city and the union locals have been unable to reach an agreement. The government does not want to step in. We encourage collective bargaining. We asked them to bargain in good faith, to get back to the table. But unfortunately in this situation an impasse occurred. It is better for the parties to reach their own agreements, but when necessary, government intervention is the last resort.
We recognize that harmonious labour relations are best achieved and maintained when the workplace parties, the employers and employees, can resolve their differences at the bargaining table. The best solutions are always when the two parties are working willingly together to agree and accept the terms of the new contract. This provides an environment of stability for both the employer and the employee, allowing them the confidence to make important decisions for the future.
Today we do not have harmonious labour relations between the city of Toronto, its workers and the union. We also have a community at risk. It is the lack of these harmonious labour relations that has led to the conditions that have the potential to threaten the health and safety of our fellow citizens. It's not only an inconvenience; it's not about bad odours; it's the potential risk to public health. It's the potential risk for communicable diseases. This is not acceptable to the government. We will not, we cannot, accept a risk to public health and safety.
That is why we are here today. That is why all of the members of the Legislature have acknowledged the importance of this bill. The City of Toronto Labour Disputes Resolution Act, 2002, with all-party support, will quickly end the strike and get services back to normal. We on this side of the House trust that the city, the union and its members will work together to ensure a fast cleanup. The people of Toronto can reclaim their city.
Mr Dwight Duncan (Windsor-St Clair): I just want to stress the importance of free collective bargaining and the importance that working people have a level playing field. I believe that the resolution that all three parties came up with today provides that. There were difficult discussions between the House leaders of the three parties yesterday that, at the end of the day, fell apart on what we felt was an issue that they should not have fallen apart on.
This morning, when we spoke to the unions involved, we found participants who were willing to find a solution to the most difficult of the problems left from last night. Then this morning we began to speak to people across the province -- indeed, we had to track a number of them down throughout the country -- to see if they'd be interested in performing this task and this role. We found a dozen people who were interested and we were happy to pass those on early this morning. We spoke to someone in Nova Scotia; we spoke to somebody two floors below the labour minister's office who hadn't been spoken to; we spoke to a person at his cottage; and kept passing those names on.
The dispute resolution that was found in these discussions is one, in our view, that meets the needs of providing a fair and equal process. The third party deserves credit for having put that on the table yesterday and allowing us to get to the point where there was only one issue outstanding today.
The Minister of Labour deserves credit for responding affirmatively to a number of the initiatives. I think all of us would agree that we've got a solution that will serve the interests not only of resolving this strike and dealing with the needs of the people of Toronto, but more importantly, hoping to put free collective bargaining back on a level footing in the city of Toronto so that in the future these disputes can be avoided and the consequences accordingly avoided.
All of this is in the context of the history and tradition of free collective bargaining, the importance of working people having the ability to organize and bargain freely, fairly and effectively. There have only been a couple of occasions in the history of this province when that has been taken away. It has resulted in long-term problems -- problems around the social contract that remain today and have poisoned free collective bargaining and the relationship between public sector employees and employers.
This represents the efforts of a number of people. I applaud those who have stood and said that free collective bargaining must be at the heart of whatever the solution is. My leader led the way on that. This party continues to believe in and support the principles of collective bargaining. We believe this agreement reflects that.
We're happy that we've been able to find a number of people willing to serve as the arbitrator -- people who were acceptable this morning to the union, to the city and to the government; names that weren't put forward last night; names that came forward this morning. So I believe that what has been achieved today is significant, not simply because the immediate problem is being solved for Toronto, but because the principles of free collective bargaining remain strong and in place. Working people can count on their elected representatives to make sure that when those talks break down and the process no longer works, the elected political leadership will make sure that working men and women are on an equal footing with their employer, whether that employer is public or private sector.
That has been fundamental to the history and development of our prosperity in this province. It is fundamental to the fact that working people in this province have a higher standard of living than most places in the world. It is fundamental to the fact that our quality of life has been hailed year after year by the United Nations as the highest in the world, even among developed countries. The ability of workers to organize and bargain and get their fair share must be protected. This Legislature has done that, in spite of difficult odds. This process can resolve this situation.
But what we are most happy about is that the principle, the right, of working men and women and families to bargain freely and collectively has been protected. Now we can go forward, realizing that these problems can be solved. There is a level playing field for everyone. Now the difficult stuff begins. We're confident that everyone will come out satisfied with the resolution of this, but most importantly, that free collective bargaining, the right of working men and women to organize and bargain freely and fairly, has been protected in all of this.
The Speaker: Further debate? Seeing none, pursuant to the order of the House, I am now required to put the question.
Mr Eves has moved second reading of Bill 174, An Act to resolve City of Toronto labour disputes. It is the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
The bill is ordered for third reading.
CITY OF TORONTO LABOUR DISPUTES
RESOLUTION ACT, 2002 /
LOI DE 2002 SUR LE RÈGLEMENT
DES CONFLITS DE TRAVAIL
À LA CITÉ DE TORONTO
Mr Stockwell, on behalf of Mr Clark, moved third reading of the following bill:
Bill 174, An Act to resolve City of Toronto labour disputes / Projet de loi 174, Loi visant à régler les conflits de travail à la cité de Toronto.
The Speaker (Hon Gary Carr): Pursuant to the order of the House, I am required to put the question immediately.
Mr Stockwell has moved third reading of Bill 174, An Act to resolve City of Toronto labour disputes.
Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.
This House stands adjourned until Monday, September 23, 2002.
The House adjourned at 1700.