Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

To: BC Federation of Labour Officers

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

You are likely aware that Bill C-257 passed at a second reading vote in Parliament last week. The vote was 167-101, with the entire NDP and Bloc caucuses voting in favour. Most of the Liberal caucus and a few of the Conservatives also voted in favour. Attached (below) please find a list of how the BC MP’s voted, and provincial totals from across the country.

I would like to thank you, your organization and activists for the tremendous effort that helped to get this result. Some MP’s received huge numbers of calls and letters, and these undoubtedly influenced how they voted. BC Labour Councils did a great job of getting in to see all MP’s, many of them for second and third times.

However, there is still more to be done. There is apparently an opposition agreement to speed the Bill through third reading, but there will still be a need to encourage MP’s to vote the same way at that time. The opposing employer lobby started in earnest shortly before the vote and will continue into third reading. Similarly, we will need another strategy to get the legislation through the Senate in a timely way. Some of this will involve those same activists
putting in a little more effort.

Accordingly, I would ask that you keep this issue alive in your own unions. We have had a great victory but have not yet won the needed legislation. People need to savour the victory in that light.

Again, many thanks for your assistance in this campaign.

In Solidarity, David Rice, Regional Director, CLC Pacific Region

BC Members of Parliament Vote of Bill C-257 (Replacement Workers)

Members of Parliament voting in favour

• Riding: Member
• BC Southern Interior: Alex Atamanenko (NDP)
• Burnaby - Douglas: Bill Siksay (NDP)
• Burnaby - New Westminster: Peter Julian (NDP)
• Cariboo - Prince George: Dick Harris (Cons)
• Delta - Richmond East: John Cummins (Cons)
• Esquimalt - Juan de Fuca: Keith Martin (Lib)
• Fleetwood - Port Kells: Nina Grewal (Cons)
• Kelowna - Lake Country: Ron Cannan (Cons)
• Nanaimo - Cowichan: Jean Crowder (NDP)
• New Westminster - Coquitlam: Dawn Black (NDP)
• Newton - North Delta: Sukh Dhaliwal (Lib)
• North Vancouver: Don Bell (Lib)
• Okanagan - Shuswap: Colin Mayes (Cons)
• Richmond: Raymond Chan (Lib)
• Skeena - Bulkley Valley: Nathan Cullen (NDP)
• Surrey North: Penny Priddy (NDP)
• Vancouver East: Libby Davies (NDP)
• Vancouver Island - North: Catherine Bell (NDP)
• Vancouver - Quadra: Stephen Owen (Lib)
• Vancouver South: Ujjal Dosanijh (Lib)
• Victoria: Denise Savoie (NDP)
• Yukon: Larry Bagnell (Lib)

Members of Parliament absent from the house during the vote

• Riding: Member
• Vancouver Centre: Hedy Fry (Lib)
• West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country: Blair Wilson (Lib)

Members of Parliament Voting Against

• Riding: Member
• Abbotsford: Ed Fast (Cons)
• Chilliwack - Fraser Canyon: Chuck Strahl (Cons)
• Kamloops - Thompson - Cariboo: Betty Hinton (Cons)
• Kootenay - Columbia: Jim Abbott (Cons)
• Langley: Mark Warawa (Cons)
• Nanaimo - Alberni: James Lunney (Cons)
• Okanagan - Coquihalla: Stockwell Day (Cons)
• Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge - Mission: Randy Kamp (Cons)
• Port Moody - Westwood - Port Coquitlam : James Moore (Cons)
• Prince George - Peace River: Jay Hill (Cons)
• Saanich - Gulf Island: Gary Lunn (Cons)
• South Surrey - White Rock - Cloverdale: Russ Hiebert (Cons)
• Vancouver - Kingsway: David Emerson (Con)