On July 31, 2012, Marianne Hladun, Regional Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (Prairie Region) submitted a response to the Consultation Paper on the Renewal of Labour Legislation in Saskatchewan
PSAC, along with the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and other unions throughout Saskatchewan, considers this "consultation" process to be constitutionally deficient because it does not comply with the decision of Justice Ball and does not constitute meaningful consultation. We believe that the entire process fails to comply with Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Significantly more time is required if unions are to engage meaningfully with the questions posed and the issues raised, and we are therefore unable to respond responsibly and meaningfully to this improper process. Our silence in response to many of the questions posed should not be construed as our having taken (or failed to take) a position in response to those questions, but rather as an indication of our inability to do so responsibly and reasonably within the time allotted by this deficient process. Significant research and analysis is required in order to respond, and insufficient time has been provided for those exercises to be completed.
The questions and issues that we were able to address with the given time are outlined in our limited and provisional response below.
Also included below are two documents prepared by the Canadian Labour Congress, which speak to issues of both labour standards legislation and labour relations legislation. The documents provide an excellent overview of the issues and set out various best practices, models and standards.
