(Ottawa) Bill C-228, which aims to protect workers’ pension plans in the event of a company’s bankruptcy, is expected to pass Wednesday afternoon during the vote on third reading in the House of Commons thanks to the parties. opposition and possibly Liberals.
“It’s a great day! It’s something we’ve been waiting for 20 years, ”says Bloc Québécois MP Marilène Gill on the phone. This great day is for her the culmination of work that began seven years ago. On no less than three occasions – in 2015, 2019 and 2021 – she introduced a bill aimed at defending pension funds.
Since the “lottery” of private members’ bills only smiled on him the first two times, during this Parliament, Ms.me Gill worked with other MPs, including Conservative Marilyn Gladu – who was lucky in the draw – to advance his ideas through another similar bill, a choice so did Daniel Blaikie of the New Democratic Party (NDP).
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Mr.me Gladu explained the recipe that should allow him to pass a bill, whether or not the Liberals give their support: get to the heart of the matter. “I wanted to have only elements with which all the parties were already in agreement”, summed up the godmother of the bill.
For example, the legislative document proposes nothing in terms of group insurance protection, to the great displeasure of the NDP, who wanted it to be maintained, and the Bloc Québécois, who proposed compensation. The Conservatives opposed it, in part because it is difficult to calculate its value, said Ms.me Gladu.
The exercise is comparable to a negotiation where everyone had to make compromises, illustrated Mme Gil. ” The best is the enemy of good. We prefer to have a gain than nothing at all. […] Seeing a bill that has the chance to be adopted is huge. »
New Democrat Daniel Blaikie, however, criticized the Liberals for having blocked his amendment aimed at protecting severance or notice payments, and although these provisions would probably have won a parliamentary majority.
During the study of the bill, the chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance declared this amendment “inadmissible”, considering that it goes beyond the scope and the principle of the bill. The NDP challenged the ruling, saying it was “too narrowly interpreted,” and forced a vote that overturned the ruling and passed the provisions. Far from admitting defeat, the Liberals appealed last week to the Speaker of the House of Commons. Anthony Rota reversed the committee’s decision and reversed the amendment.
“Sabotage”
Mr. Blaikie also accused the Liberals of having made attempts to “sabotage” the bill, referring to a series of amendments that were defeated in committee. In particular, they tried, in vain, to convince their colleagues to give retirees a lower creditor rank than that proposed in the bill.
Andy Fillmore, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry, said, among other things, that the bill puts employers in “a situation of intolerable risk of bankruptcy and therefore job loss”. and that the best way to take care of retirees is with “preferential payment, not superpriority.”
In the end, the Liberal members of the committee nevertheless voted like their opposition colleagues to adopt the bill as amended.
But then how will the Liberals vote in the final vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday? Mystery and bubble gum. House leader Mark Holland’s office redirected The Canadian Press to that of whip Steven MacKinnon, who did not respond.
Questioned at the end of the afternoon on Tuesday on the sidelines of the work, the parliamentary secretary of Mr. Holland, Kevin Lamoureux, had just learned that Bill C-228 would be voted on the next day. He hinted it would be a free vote – which, among the Liberals, historically only applies to backbench MPs, with the cabinet still voting the same way. Mr. Lamoureux also said he would consult the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, before deciding how he would vote. The minister’s office, however, indicated that he is in Japan, that “he is excused” from the vote and did not reveal what he would recommend to Mr. Lamoureux.
Wednesday’s vote was rushed following a sleight of hand courtesy of the Bloc. They offered that the Conservatives take one of their turns so that the last hour of debate on Bill C-228 could be held more quickly and passed before the holidays.
“Very good news”, says the FADOQ
The adoption of this bill will be “very good news for retirees,” says FADOQ, an organization also known as the Fédération de l’Âge d’Or du Québec.
“Since 2005, there have been three private bills, two government bills on this subject, then none of them has been adopted,” said his spokesperson Philippe Poirier. -Monette.
Retirees are currently, roughly speaking, “the last to dip into the bowl” for payments that would make up for the deficits in their pension fund, he said. Once the bill is passed, they will no longer see just about everyone come before them since they will be among the priority creditors.
Mr. Poirier-Monette maintained that the retirees of Sears, Nortel Networks, the Cliffs mine on the North Shore and the MABE plant which was owned by General Electric would, for example, have been better protected if this law was in force during these major bankruptcies.
From now on, the courts will no longer be able to accept restructuring agreements if it does not include payments to pension funds that are in deficit, which recently forced the retirees of the Groupe Capitales Médias newspapers to initially suffer a loss of 30 % of their pension, he noted.
The bill is indeed a compromise. The FADOQ also believes that pension funds should be a guaranteed claim, like everything promised to retirees.
However, Mr. Poirier-Monette seemed to be walking on eggshells when commenting on the progress of the work. “We would have expected the Liberals to be more inclined to pass the bill quickly, not try to put exceptions, to somehow put a spoke in the wheels of workers and retirees,” he said. , noting in passing that they have “given a voice” to the financial sector.
Once the motion for third reading is adopted, the bill is sent to the Senate. The upper house can also propose amendments to the bill. If the bill passes without amendments, then it receives Royal Assent and becomes law, but otherwise both Houses of Parliament will have to agree on the same version of the legislative document.