Postal Strikes, Lockouts and Government Involvement

June 23, 2011: The official title: An Act to provide for the resumption and continuation of postal services/ Loi prévoyant la reprise et le maintien des services postaux (C-6)

The background is simple, sort of. Some postal workers began rotating walkouts/strike action a while ago. Management at the post office decided to respond by invoking a lock out. Eventually the government decided that the situation was hurting Canada’s economy or might be hurting Canada’s economy.

Tonight, as I was heading to downtown Ottawa for a meeting of Flickr folks, a storm was dumping plenty of rain on Kanata to the west of Parliament Hill and providing plenty of thunder and lightning for the residents of Gatineau across the river to the north of Parliament Hill.

Inside, in the House of Commons, debate had begun on Bill C-6 hours earlier. Although the Conservative Party has a majority, the opposition parties still get an opportunity to debate the pr0posed back-to-work legislation in the House of Commons under the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. At 20 -25 minutes per Opposition member, the 100+ Opposition members could keep talking/debating for many, many more hours! (UPDATE: FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011 – 9AM – Debate has gone on all night and is still going on! – Peace Tower shot seen below was taken at 9PM Thursday night i.e. 12 hours earlier! 4:30 PM  update – the debate continues and so do the storms that are passing through the region! Now Friday, 10:30 PM and it has been raining for about 5 hours and the discussion continues!)

Meanwhile, the debate in the House of Commons was still underway and the streets around Parliament were still dry.

Lights were still on in the East Block and I expect that it might be midnight or later before the Liberals and New Democrats stop talking. After all, with a majority government, patience is all that the Conservatives really need to get their legislation through the legislative process. Like it or not, that is how the process works.

The official title: An Act to provide for the resumption and continuation of postal services/ Loi prévoyant la reprise et le maintien des services postaux (C-6)

My next post is more mouth watering than debates in the House of Commons :-).

About Ron

Ron has long had an interest in photography and traveling and, in recent years, has had more time to devote to both activities. Long a Pentax user, Ron switched to Nikon gear when he went digital. The advent of the digital SLR camera, and the ease of the internet blogging process, has provided a venue for sharing his photography and travel experience at the local, national and international level. More about Ron
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1 Response to Postal Strikes, Lockouts and Government Involvement

  1. Pingback: Invitational International Chicken-Rib Cook Off – Sparks Street Mall, Ottawa, Ontario | MegaPixel Travel

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