Tories' Senate gambit shows Harper still runs the party and the party still holds Parliament in contempt

The Conservative Opposition's threat to use its majority in the unelected Senate to thwart the Trudeau government's plan to repeal two anti-labour laws passed when Stephen Harper was still prime minister is a very telling indication of that party's true commitment to the principles of democracy.

It is also a powerful signal of who remains in control of that party -- viz., Harper himself, not the supposedly kinder, gentler Rona Ambrose or any of her likely successors.

Bills C-377 and C-525, as they are still commonly known, were a couple of vindictive anti-union gestures dressed up as "transparency" and "choice."

Senators Find Mistakes In Tory Bill C-525, Pass It Anyway

OTTAWA - The Conservative-dominated Senate has discovered inadvertent drafting errors in a bill targeting labour unions — but is poised to pass it anyway.

Conservatives used their majority on the Senate's legal and constitutional affairs committee Friday to reject Liberal amendments that would have corrected the mistakes in C-525.

Amending the bill would be tantamount to killing it, they argued.

Another salvo in Conservative government's war against working people: Bill C-525

Yesterday the Conservatives launched another salvo in their war against working people.

Conservative backbencher Blaine Calkins unveiled a private members bill (C-525) that will make it far harder to form a new union and much easier to decertify an existing one.

The legislation will eliminate so-called automatic card check in the federally-regulated sector (telecommunications, banking, transportation etc.). For decades, union certification under the Canada Labour Code has operated this way: a majority (50 per cent +1) of the members of a workforce are required to sign membership cards and pay $5 to certify the union. Bill C-525 proposes to eliminate this model for federally-regulated sectors.