44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 2, 2022 02:00PM
- Nov/2/22 2:35:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Premier Ford has just attacked workers, and not just any workers, but some of the lowest-paid education workers in the classroom. He knows that he is violating their charter rights. That is why he pre-emptively used the notwithstanding clause.
I have heard the Prime Minister's outrage, but that is simply not good enough. We know the Conservative leader and his party are not going to stand up for workers, but will the Prime Minister say today in this chamber what he is going to do concretely to stand up for workers and protect their charter rights?
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- Nov/2/22 2:35:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, using the notwithstanding clause pre-emptively to suspend workers' rights is wrong. To invoke the notwithstanding clause in a way that denies Canadians the right to collective bargaining before that bargaining has even reached an impasse is wrong. The clause must only be used in the most exceptional of circumstances.
Like the leader of the NDP, I call on the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, who supposedly stands for rights and freedoms, to condemn the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause to suspend people's fundamental rights and freedoms.
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- Nov/2/22 2:37:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause to suspend workers' rights is wrong. Invoking the notwithstanding clause to deny Canadians the right to collective bargaining before negotiations have even reached an impasse is wrong.
We will always stand up to protect workers' rights. We will always be there to protect Canadians' fundamental rights.
As my NDP colleague noted, it is sad to see the Conservative Party, which professes to protect people's freedoms, not stand up to protect people's fundamental freedoms.
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- Nov/2/22 2:49:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives continue to focus on me, we are going to stay focused on supporting Canadians, whether that is with measures the Conservatives oppose to deliver rental supports for low-income Canadians or whether that is to make sure all Canadians can send their kids to the dentist.
We heard the Conservative leader, for months, talking about rights and freedoms for Canadians, and now that a government is pre-emptively blocking Canadians' fundamental rights and freedoms, there is not a whisper from the so-called freedom fighter. When is he going to condemn the use of the notwithstanding clause pre-emptively?
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/2/22 2:51:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while Conservatives continue to play rhetorical games, the reality is Canadians need a Conservative Party that stands up for them, which is something they simply are not getting. It is not stepping up on rental supports for low-income renters; it is not stepping up on dental care for kids who need it, and it is not even standing up for the fundamental rights and freedoms that the Leader of the Opposition made a full campaign out of. Now he is nowhere to be seen on standing up for Canadians' fundamental rights and freedoms.
Will he condemn the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause?
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- Nov/2/22 3:19:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations and if you seek it, I believe you will find consent for the following motion: That, this House (a) reject any intervention aimed at restricting the collective rights of workers to freely negotiate their working conditions; and (b) condemn the use of the notwithstanding clause to destroy collective bargaining rights by Conservative Premier Doug Ford and the Government of Ontario.
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- Nov/2/22 4:41:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to seek leave for an emergency debate on the authoritarian use of section 33, the notwithstanding clause, on some of the lowest-paid public sector workers we have here in Ontario. This is an attack on the charter rights of not just the CUPE workers, but all workers across the country.
The $39,000 the workers make is not enough. These workers have had 10 years of deferred wages and many years at a 0% freeze. They are mostly women. The government's use, under Doug Ford, of the notwithstanding clause, pre-empting any kind of negotiations, shows the lack of faith they have in this process.
I stand today in solidarity with the leader of the official opposition in Ontario, Peter Tabuns, and my NDP colleagues in that legislature calling the government on its lies. Doug Ford is absolutely a liar. He is lying about the impacts that it has—
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- Nov/2/22 4:42:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, that rule only pertains to the members within this House. Given the premier is outside of this House, I will not withdraw my comment, because he is misleading Ontarians on the impact this will have on these workers.
This is serious and it is extortion. He is extorting these workers in order to negotiate in favour of the government. For these reasons and for that purpose, I think it is important for every worker across the country to pay close attention to the premier's use of the notwithstanding clause, because no doubt it will be used for workers in every province across the country unless we stand up for these workers here today.
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