Release #: Vol. 84, No. 4
May 01, 2015

From Atop Parliament Hill

By ALPA Staff

With 2015 a federal election year in Canada, ALPA is focused on key issues facing the transportation sector that may be affected by the elections. Historically, transportation issues seldom become national election issues, and air transportation is unlikely to be a frontline issue. However, ALPA remains engaged as it continues to advocate for its members’ interests on Parliament Hill to advance the airline piloting profession and to improve pilots’ contracts and quality of life.

Labour reporting standards (C-377)

The Act to Amend the Income Tax Act (Requirements for Labour Organizations), C-377, is sponsored by Conservative party member Russ Hiebert (South Surrey–White Rock–Cloverdale).

This bill would force labour organizations to file detailed annual financial reports regarding an association’s revenues, expenses, and salaries and a detailed breakdown of spending on labour relations, lobbying, organizing, and collective bargaining activities. The information would be publicly available on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website.

It has passed through the House of Commons and was sent to the Senate. After a second reading, it was referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for consideration. The bill has recently been placed on the committee’s agenda for debate. ALPA has requested to appear before the committee to oppose the bill. After debate at the committee level, the Senate as a whole must consider the bill and vote on it at third reading.

As this session of Parliament winds down, the government will be anxious to see passage of its own legislation as well as passage of private members’ bills such as this that appeal to its conservative base and are targeted to an election audience. Having moved C-377 up for study signals the government’s desire to enact antiunion legislation before the coming election.

Flight- and duty-time regulations

Bringing Canada’s flight- and duty-time regulations into compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s standards and recommended practices and with scientific principles continues to be a long journey. The Civil Aviation Regulation Advisory Council (CARAC) Technical Committee created a working group in 2010 to review and propose amendments to the Canadian aviation regulations. The working group met 14 times over approximately 43 days between August 2010 and December 2011. It issued its report on Aug. 15, 2012.

The report then remained at Transport Canada headquarters for two years.

ALPA urged the Honourable Lisa Raitt, the minister of transport, to expedite the file. ALPA’s efforts were successful when, with impetus from the minister, CARAC issued a notice of proposed amendment (NPA) in September 2014 regarding flight crew fatigue management.

Typically when an NPA is issued, it’s open for comment from interested parties, Transport Canada considers the comments, and amendments are made as required. The revised NPA is then sent to the Department of Justice for legal drafting. When drafting is completed, the NPA is then published in Canada Gazette I.

However, in an unprecedented move Transport Canada, under pressure from the airline industry, chose to reopen the NPA. It created a Flight Crew Fatigue Management Focus Group, made up of industry and labour representatives, to reconsider the substance of the NPA. Transport Canada and industry convened on January 19–20, and the labour associations joined them on January 21–23. Despite assurances from Transport Canada that a full briefing would be given on any amendments to the NPA, as this issue goes to press it has not revealed what amendments were made. However, ALPA has been informed that the NPA has been sent for legal drafting.

The minister of transport has taken an active role in moving this issue forward. She has expressed personal interest in seeing that the flight- and duty-time regulations are amended.

However, with an election looming, the amount of time that she will have to focus on the NPA may be limited. If the NPA has not been through legal drafting and published in Gazette I before the dissolution of Parliament, the NPA may lose its most powerful advocate. It will remain to be seen whether flight- and duty-time revisions remain a priority of those who form the government.

Budget

The unexpected and marked fall in crude oil prices resulted in a fall in revenues for the Canadian government. The budget, initially expected to be tabled early in 2015, has been postponed so that the effects of the drop in revenue could be factored into the budget. As this issue goes to press, the budget was expected to be tabled in late April.

Many nonfinancial and nonrevenue issues have been included in proposed budget bills. Recent budgets have seen amendments to the Canada Labour Code and the Aeronautics Act. The government then limits debate on the budget, which ensures that the ancillary issues never get proper scrutiny.

The coming budget will require thorough review for issues that may negatively affect ALPA members’ interests.

Wait and see

Parliament usually takes its summer break beginning in mid-June. But when the writ is dropped to call an October election, it’s highly unlikely that there would be a fall session.

Government personnel must adopt a wait-and-see attitude as a differently constituted government may change positions or priorities. Unfortunately, this stalls any initiatives on issues important to ALPA, such as wet-leasing, foreign license validations, and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The inevitable result is that progress on issues will slow, then stop until the election is over. As a result, ALPA will reevaluate its legislative priorities depending on which party forms the next government to serve the best interest of its members.

This article is from the May 2015 issue of Air Line Pilot magazine, the Official Journal of the Air Line Pilots Association, International—a monthly publication for all ALPA members.

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