REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

Friday, December 12, 2014

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has the honour to present its

TWENTY-FIRST REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-525, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act (certification and revocation— bargaining agent), has, in obedience to the order of reference of Tuesday, October 28, 2014, examined the said bill and now reports the same without amendment.

Your committee has also made certain observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

BOB RUNCIMAN

Chair

OBSERVATIONS to the
Twenty-First Report of the
Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (Bill C-525)

Subsequent to the completion of the committee’s hearings on Bill C-525, and during clause by clause consideration, the committee was made aware of a minor drafting error concerning clause 9 of the bill.

This clause amends section 64 of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, S.C.c. 22, s. 2, which addresses the criteria that the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board must consider before ordering that certain representation votes be taken. Clause 9 of the bill deletes paragraph 64(1)(c) of the Act and moves its contents to new paragraph 64(1.1)(c).

Paragraph 64(1)(c), however, remains referenced in sections 39(d) and 100(1) of the Act, which are not being amended by Bill C-525. The committee heard evidence that while this omission is not trivial, it will not prevent the Board from obtaining information necessary for it to discharge its duties with regard to existing paragraph 64(1)(c) of the Act.

While regrettable, the committee proposes that the bill be adopted and that the drafting error be corrected in future legislation prior to Bill C-525 coming into force.