Update on Bill C-501
February 3rd, 2011 | Posted in Guidelines & Legislation | 1 comment »
Press Release from Bruce Hyer, MP:
Conservatives vetoed a motion in the House of Commons late Wednesday that would have allowed a compromise to be reached on Bill C-501, a New Democrat private member’s bill on protecting worker pensions and severance when their employers go under.
“I was in the House when most Conservative MPs voted against C-501.” said Bruce Hyer, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Superior North. “They opposed putting workers back-wages, severance, termination pay and pensions at the top of the creditors list because their friends at the banks said it was too risky for lenders.”
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty, who introduced C-501, subsequently introduced a motion Wednesday that would have allowed for a compromise on the bill.
“Rather than leave workers out in the cold like the current laws do, Rafferty’s compromise motion would have saved the hard-earned pensions and severance of workers, while eliminating the risks to Canadian banks and secured creditors.” said Hyer. “But Harper’s Conservatives opposed even this, and denied the unanimous consent of the House required to pass the motion.”
Rafferty said “The motion I tabled in the House would have allowed the Industry Committee to consider an amendment to the bill that would have eliminated risks to banks and secured creditors, while ensuring that pensions and severance of millions of workers was more secure in bankruptcy proceedings. Sadly, the Conservatives would not consent to the motion and thus rejected the very idea of reaching a compromise on the matter.”
Despite the setback, both Rafferty and Hyer vowed to continue to lobby hard to get C-501 passed at Third Reading in the House of Commons.
“There is a strong moral case that the pensions and severance pay of workers should come before banks and large financial institutions during corporate restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings,” Rafferty said. “It passed one vote already, so MPs clearly see the importance and necessity of such reform.”
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Government is voted in by the people to be for the people and this proves that the Conservative government will take the votes from the people and then side with the corporations leaving the people they are in power to protect out on our own, high and dry. This kind of thing will not go unseen and will not be forgotten. They can only cling to a minority as it has been since they were put in and I hope all workers in Canada remeber this with Bill C-501 and end the Conservatives free ride. We work for companies that can just declare bankruptcy at any whim, have the courts allow them to come out for any reason other than the proper corporate responsibility that once would have been needed to get out of financial ruin as what was once done long ago in the past and what is now, a forgotten era. It is a crime that the government and the courts will allows CEO’s to make millions in bonuses at the expense of the families that work for them all their lives so that we can be poor in our old age. I don’t know how any politician could allow this. I wonder how they would feel if we as Canadians put our foot down and said to them, You have placed our country billions of dollars in debt and therefore you are a risk to lenders! Therefore as Canadian voters, we are taking your pensions away. Have a nice retirement!