Labour peace at what cost?

Stephen Harper’s name will be praised in many Canadian homes over the March break thanks to his intervention in the Air Canada labour dispute. And no wonder. With 1.4 million people eager to fly on that airline over the next two weeks, the news that there will be no lockout of pilots or strike by mechanics and baggage handlers means relief and joy as countless vacations, as well as important business trips, are a go.

But if the government’s intrusion into this disagreement wins cheers, it also deserves closer examination because it is worrying, both on its own and as part of a pattern.

Air Canada is a private company that was involved in delicate labour negotiations with a private sector union. Under Canadian law, both of these parties have a right to go through the collective bargaining process unhindered by politicians. The government should suspend this right only under the most dire of circumstances. But the government has yet to fully or convincingly explain why it had to act as it did. Saying that a work stoppage would create massive inconvenience is no justification.

Ottawa abuses the law by forestalling Air Canada strike

The federal government’s decision to forestall another Air Canada strike will play well with the travelling public.

March break is on. A planned strike by Air Canada baggage handlers and machinists would have disrupted many a vacation.

But at the same time, the decision — nominally made by Labour Minister Lisa Raitt — is a clear abuse of the law.

Raitt took advantage of a section in the Canada Labour Code designed “to prevent an immediate and serious danger to the safety and health of the public.”

That section gives Ottawa the right to have a federal tribunal determine which, if any, services affected by a proposed labour disruption are essential.

The very act of making such a request prevents workers from striking and employers from imposing a lockout.

Air Canada Strike: Harper Defends Decision To Intervene

TORONTO - The federal government needed to intervene in Air Canada's labour disputes because a shutdown at the country's largest airline at a peak travel time could have taken a toll on the economy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday.

"The position of Air Canada is different," Harper said, speaking at Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport.

"It is far and away the largest airline in the country and a shutdown of service on that airline would have significant impact not only on airline service to Canadians but on the transportation system as a whole and potentially on the economy."

He said the parties need to find a way to resolve their disputes without affecting the Canadian public — a message also delivered by Labour Minister Lisa Raitt on Thursday when she blocked actions by the airline and two of its unions.

Raitt sent the disputes to the Canada Industrial Relations Board to see how a work stoppage would affect the health and safety of Canadians — a move she has used before to prevent a work stoppage by the airline's flight attendants.

Ottawa plans Air Canada back-to-work bill

The federal government has served notice that it will have back-to-work legislation on Air Canada's contract disputes ready as early as next week.

On Friday afternoon, the government served notice on parliament's order paper that it will have a bill prepared on the continuation of air services.

In an interview set to air on CBC Radio's The House program on Saturday morning, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt told host Evan Solomon that there is a mandatory 48-hour notice period for any new legislation.

So if the government wants to act early next week when a lockout deadline between the airline and its 3,000 pilots was originally set to expire, Ottawa must move swiftly to introduce the bill. The airline's 8,600 ground staff, which includes mechanics, baggage handlers and cargo agents, had also threatened to go on strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, March 12.

"We wanted to make sure at least we had something," Raitt said in the interview.

Ottawa readies Air Canada back-to-work bill

Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is preparing back-to-work legislation as a precautionary measure to ensure Air Canada’s flight schedule is protected from disruptions by the airline’s employees.

Her move Friday comes a day after she referred two Air Canada (AC.B-T0.950.011.06%) labour disputes to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, a manoeuvre that blocked ground crew from going on strike and thwarted management’s notice to lock out pilots.

“The Minister has placed a bill on the order paper,” Ashley Kelahear, a spokeswoman for Ms. Raitt, confirmed on Friday.

While it’s unclear when the bill might be tabled in the House of Commons, industry observers say Ottawa’s intent is to guard against any developments that might allow Air Canada employees to walk off their jobs.

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had planned to begin their strike at 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, while the pilots’ union faced being frozen out the same day.

Robocalls: Preston Manning Condemns Voter Suppression Calls

The patriarch of the modern-day conservative movement in Canada is calling for better ethical training for campaign workers in the wake of the robocall scandal.

But one-time Reform party leader Preston Manning also cautions against pointing the finger for the scandal at the Tories, saying the problem is much broader.

Manning condemned the idea of campaigns using robocalls to harass voters or divert them to the wrong polls.

"I've spent my life trying to get people to participate more in the political system and trying to vote more," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conservative conference sponsored by his Centre for Democracy.

"And the fact that there would be people out trying to work in the opposite direction is deplorable."

Elections Canada is investigating instances of voters being directed to non-existent polls in the riding of Guelph, Ont., and a Conservative party worker connected to the campaign there has since resigned.

Ex-Tory riding execs question Fantino's election finances

Three former members of the Conservative riding association in Vaughan, Ont., are asking Elections Canada to investigate the campaign's finances.

In sworn affidavits, Richard Lorello, Tracey Kent and Carrie Liddy allege possible irregularities in Julian Fantino's 2010 byelection and 2011 election campaigns.

Fantino won both with massive support from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and that of several cabinet ministers who visited the riding to lend assistance. Fantino is now in the cabinet as the associate minister of national defence, managing military procurement files.

"Quite honestly, having looked at all the documentation having to do with the Fantino campaign, I can't follow the money," Richard Lorello, who worked on Fantino's campaign, told CBC News.

The former Toronto police chief won by 964 votes in the 2010 byelection in 2010 and was re-elected in May 2011 with a margin of more than 18,000 votes.

Guelph Tory worker cancels meeting with Elections Canada investigator

On the advice of his lawyer, a key player in the 2011 Conservative campaign for Guelph is refusing to answer more questions from Elections Canada investigators probing fraudulent robo-calls in the riding.

Andrew Prescott, the deputy campaign manager for Conservative candidate Marty Burke, has already conducted one telephone interview with Elections Canada investigator Al Mathews.

But a source says Mr. Prescott cancelled a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Mathews that had been scheduled for Thursday in Guelph, Ont.

His lawyer advised Mr. Prescott against taking the meeting because of intense media focus on his role in the 2011 campaign, the source says.

Mr. Prescott’s decision could potentially slow down Election Canada’s efforts in the robo-calls probe but the watchdog has been gathering evidence for months from sources as varied as PayPal and telephone companies.

Elections Canada urged to investigate Fantino

Three former members of Vaughan’s Conservative riding association have asked Elections Canada to investigate the campaign finances of Tory MP Julian Fantino.

In sworn affidavits filed with Elections Canada, Richard Lorello, Tracey Kent and Carrie Liddy allege that there were irregularities in Fantino’s 2010 by-election and 2011 election campaigns.

The three former riding association members allege that Fantino’s fundraising chair, Sam Ciccolini, said at a January 2011 meeting that there was a second bank account belonging to the campaign that contained more than $300,000.

It is against election rules to have more than one campaign bank account.

A spokesman for Fantino dismissed any idea of wrongdoing.

“Any information suggesting the existence of a second election bank account is incorrect,” spokesman Chris McCluskey said in an email.

Robocalls: It’s time to call in the courts

The robocall affair puts us at the brink of crisis in our electoral democracy. Yet there appears to be an effort to stifle public outrage, and resolve any doubts in favour of the government, at this still-early stage in the affair. This effort traces to the Harper government, unfortunately, but also to some media commentators.

The fire brigade’s argument goes something like this. One, there is no evidence that the Conservative Party took part in the robocall affair. Two, there are few ridings in which Conservative victory is in doubt. Three, in any event, the overall federal election result is beyond question. All of these points are inaccurate or misleading. They point to a lack of concern for the integrity of the democratic process.

First, it is much too early to judge how many ridings were affected, and to what extent, by the fraudulent telephone interventions in the voting process. These interventions — both robocalls and live calls — are now associated with Conservative Party agents based on a range of reported information, including from Conservative sources. The information includes, among other things, the content and targeting of the robocalls and live calls, the past connections of RackNine to the Conservatives, the resignation of Conservative operative Michael Sona, and publicly reported statements of Sona.