Port of Montreal Operations Act, 2021 (S.C. 2021, c. 6)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Port of Montreal Operations Act, 2021.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) The following definitions apply in this Act.

  collective agreement

  collective agreement means the collective agreement between the employers’ association and the union that expired on December 31, 2018. (convention collective)

  employee

  employee means a person who is employed by an employer and bound by the collective agreement. (employé)

  employer

  employer means the employers’ association or any of its members. (employeur)

  employers’ association

  employers’ association means the Maritime Employers Association. (association patronale)

  mediator-arbitrator

  mediator-arbitrator means the mediator-arbitrator appointed under subsection 8(2). (médiateur-arbitre)

  Minister

  Minister means the Minister of Labour. (ministre)

  union

  union means the Syndicat des débardeurs — Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 375. (syndicat)

• Marginal note:Words and expressions

  (2) Unless otherwise provided, words and expressions used in this Act have the same meaning as in Part I of the Canada Labour Code.

• Marginal note:Presumption

  (3) For the purposes of this Act, the union is deemed to be a person.

Port of Montreal Operations

Marginal note:Resumption or continuation of operations

3 On the coming into force of this Act,

• (a) every employer must resume without delay or continue, as the case may be, operations at the Port of Montreal; and

• (b) every employee must, when so required, resume without delay or continue, as the case may be, the duties of their employment.

Marginal note:Prohibitions

4 It is prohibited for an employer and for any of its officers and representatives to

• (a) in any manner impede any employee from complying with paragraph 3(b); or

• (b) discharge or in any other manner discipline, or authorize or direct the discharge or discipline of, any employee by reason of the employee having participated in a strike before the coming into force of this Act.

Marginal note:Obligations

5 The union and each of its officers and representatives must

• (a) without delay on the coming into force of this Act, give notice to the employees that, by reason of that coming into force, operations at the Port of Montreal are to be resumed or continued, as the case may be, and that the employees, when so required, are to resume without delay or continue the duties of their employment;

• (b) take all reasonable steps to ensure that employees comply with paragraph 3(b); and

• (c) comply with any order and request made under the collective agreement for the dispatch of employees to perform operations at the Port of Montreal.

Extension of Collective Agreement

Marginal note:Extension

• 6 (1) The term of the collective agreement is extended to include the period beginning on January 1, 2019 and ending immediately before a new collective agreement between the parties comes into effect.

• Marginal note:Collective agreement binding for extended term

  (2) The collective agreement, as extended by subsection (1), is effective and binding on the parties to it for the period for which it is extended, despite anything in the collective agreement or in Part I of the Canada Labour Code. However, that Part applies in respect of the collective agreement, as extended, as if that period were the term of the collective agreement.

Marginal note:Strikes and lockouts prohibited

7 Until the collective agreement, as extended by subsection 6(1), expires, it is prohibited

• (a) for any employer and for any of its officers and representatives to declare or cause a lockout against the union;

• (b) for the union and for any of its officers and representatives to declare or authorize a strike against any employer; and

• (c) for any employee to participate in a strike against any employer.

Mediator-Arbitrator

Marginal note:Lists of candidates

• 8 (1) The employers’ association and the union may, within 48 hours after the coming into force of this Act, each provide to the Minister a list of the names of up to three individuals that the employers’ association or the union, as the case may be, considers qualified to act as mediator-arbitrator.

• Marginal note:Appointment of mediator-arbitrator

  (2) If the two lists have only one name in common, the Minister must appoint that individual as the mediator-arbitrator, and if they have more than one name in common, the Minister must appoint one of those individuals. However, if the Minister does not receive both lists within the period referred to in subsection (1), or if the lists that are received within that period have no names in common, the Minister must appoint an individual of the Minister’s choice as the mediator-arbitrator.

Marginal note:Referral of matters in dispute

9 All matters relating to the amendment or revision of the collective agreement that are, at the time of the appointment, in dispute between the parties are deemed to be referred to the mediator-arbitrator.

Marginal note:Powers and duties of mediator-arbitrator

10 The mediator-arbitrator has, with any modifications that the circumstances require, all the powers and duties referred to in paragraphs 60(1)(a) and (a.2) to (a.4) and sections 61 and 84 of the Canada Labour Code.

Marginal note:Duties of mediator-arbitrator

• 11 (1) Within 90 days after the day on which the mediator-arbitrator is appointed or any longer period that the Minister may allow, the mediator-arbitrator must

  • (a) endeavour to mediate all the matters that are deemed to be referred to the mediator-arbitrator relating to the amendment or revision of the collective agreement and to bring about an agreement between the parties on those matters;

  • (b) if the mediator-arbitrator is unable to bring about an agreement between the parties in respect of any such matter, hear the parties on the matter, arbitrate the matter and render a decision in respect of the matter; and

  • (c) report to the Minister on the resolution of each of the matters that are deemed to be referred to the mediator-arbitrator and provide the parties with a copy of the report.

• Marginal note:Mediation period

  (2) Despite subsection (1), the mediator-arbitrator has a period of not more than 14 days after the day on which they are appointed to endeavour to mediate the matters referred to in paragraph (1)(a) and to bring about an agreement between the parties. That period may be extended for an additional period of not more than seven days if the parties agree.

• Marginal note:Contractual language — decision

  (3) Every decision of the mediator-arbitrator under paragraph (1)(b) must be worded in appropriate contractual language so as to allow its incorporation into a new collective agreement.

Marginal note:New collective agreements not precluded

12 Nothing in this Act precludes the parties to the collective agreement from entering into a new collective agreement at any time before the mediator-arbitrator reports to the Minister under paragraph 11(1)(c) and, if the parties do so, the mediator-arbitrator’s duties under this Act respecting the collective agreement cease on the day on which the new collective agreement is entered into and section 15 does not apply in respect of the new collective agreement.

Marginal note:Remuneration and costs

13 The payment of the remuneration of the mediator-arbitrator and the reimbursement of all costs incurred by the mediator-arbitrator in the exercise of their powers and the performance of their duties under this Act are the responsibility, in equal parts, of the employers’ association and the union, and the amounts owed are debts due to the mediator-arbitrator and may be recovered as such from the employers’ association or the union, as the case may be, in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Marginal note:New mediator-arbitrator

14 In the event of the death, incapacity or resignation of the mediator-arbitrator, the Minister must notify the employers’ association and the union that a new mediator-arbitrator is to be appointed and the following rules apply:

• (a) section 8 applies, except that the words in subsection 8(1) “within 48 hours after the coming into force of this Act” are to be read as “within two days after the day on which the employers’ association and the union are notified by the Minister that a new mediator-arbitrator is to be appointed”; and

• (b) the other provisions of this Act apply in respect of the new mediator-arbitrator as though they were the first mediator-arbitrator except that any period in this Act that applied in respect of the first mediator-arbitrator continues to apply in respect of the new mediator-arbitrator.

New Collective Agreement

Marginal note:New collective agreement

• 15 (1) Despite anything in Part I of the Canada Labour Code, but subject to subsection (3), beginning on the day after the day on which the mediator-arbitrator reports to the Minister under paragraph 11(1)(c) in respect of the matters that are deemed to be referred to the mediator-arbitrator relating to the amendment or revision of the collective agreement (in this subsection referred to as the “former collective agreement”), a new collective agreement consisting of the following is effective and binding on the parties:

  • (a) every agreement entered into by the parties, before the appointment of the mediator-arbitrator, in relation to the amendment or revision of the former collective agreement;

  • (b) every agreement entered into by the parties, after the appointment of the mediator-arbitrator, in relation to the matters that are deemed to be referred to the mediator-arbitrator relating to the amendment or revision of the former collective agreement;

  • (c) every decision rendered and every final offer selected by the mediator-arbitrator under subsection 11(1) in relation to the matters referred to in paragraph (b); and

  • (d) subject to subsection (2), every provision of the former collective agreement that was not the subject of any agreement referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) or decision or final offer referred to in paragraph (c).

• Marginal note:Power to alter provisions

  (2) The mediator-arbitrator may alter the wording of any provision referred to in paragraph (1)(d) to take into account any agreement referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) or decision or final offer referred to in paragraph (1)(c).

• Marginal note:Application

  (3) Part I of the Canada Labour Code applies in respect of the new collective agreement as if it had been entered into under that Part.

• Marginal note:Coming into effect of provisions

  (4) The new collective agreement may provide that any of its provisions are effective and binding as of a day that is before or after the day on which the new collective agreement becomes effective and binding.

• Marginal note:Amendments

  (5) Nothing in this Act is to be construed so as to limit or restrict the right of the parties to the new collective agreement to amend any of its provisions and to give effect to the amendment.

Enforcement

Marginal note:Individuals

• 16 (1) An individual who contravenes any provision of this Act is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable, for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues, to a fine of not more than

  • (a) $50,000, if the individual was acting in the capacity of an officer or representative of an employer or of the union when the offence was committed; or

  • (b) $1,000, in any other case.

• Marginal note:Employer or union

  (2) If an employer or the union contravenes any provision of this Act, it is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable, for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues, to a fine of not more than $100,000.

• Marginal note:No imprisonment

  (3) Despite subsection 787(2) of the Criminal Code, no term of imprisonment is to be imposed in default of payment of a fine that is imposed under subsection (1) or (2).

• Marginal note:Recovery of fines

  (4) If a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) and the fine that is imposed is not paid when required, the prosecutor may, by filing the conviction, enter as a judgment the amount of the fine and costs, if any, in a superior court of the province in which the trial was held, and the judgment is enforceable against the person in the same manner as if it were a judgment rendered against the person in that court in civil proceedings.