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It is interesting that this government will certainly go along with a third party independent review of MLAs ' salaries , but when it affects their own salaries , they say , oh , yes , we will go along with that because we respect the process and they enjoyed the benefit of an increase , but when it is someone else 's salaries that are being reviewed by an independent body , in this case the Judicial Compensation Committee , the government comes by and says , no , no , we are going to go with our main man on the panel , Mr. Benson . " If the gift perishes in the process of transmission , it becomes the dead past , a mere memory . It is very easy to engender in a people a contempt for their ancient observances ; never did a man undertake that without succeeding . It was Doug Schmeiser , a constitutional expert in Canada , who said , when powerful politicians make statements essentially treating judges as civil servants , they betray a lamentable ignorance of the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers . What the government has done is by and large accepted merely the minority report , in other words , the government 's representative Mr. Benson , of all people , who certainly is an expert on pensions when he can look at his own pension scheme . So what is the wish of the committee , that we read all of them into the record and then pass them singly ? You are attempting to circumvent and to undermine and to destroy in a very subtle way the labour organizations of this province , and we will not go to you on bended knee and say that we are thankful that you did not take further steps with respect to the labour legislation of this province , because we will not kneel to you , Sir . What we are saying here is that the employee will have access to that information and that after they make a request to the board , that the employee will be able to discuss this information freely amongst the members of the bargaining unit , whether they be members of the union or not , but at the same time respecting the rights to confidentiality of the labour organization that is involved . I do not understand these things , and I am happy to have others speak at the committee if that is the committee 's wish . Mr. Reid : Mr. Chairperson , presenters who came before this committee last week indicated to this committee that there are times when the employers or the labour organization take certain steps to instruct people who are under their care , control and responsibility , but knowing that human personalities and human nature and people are able to make their own decisions independent of these two bodies , it seems to be reasonable to expect that there should be some counsel that could be afforded by both the employer and the labour organizations to what is and what is not proper conduct . While I do not profess to be an expert in these matters , and I am sure there are other members in this room that are , I believe that it would be more appropriate to have the existing collective agreement , even though it has expired , be the guide in dealing with the conditions under which employees are paid . It is clear that his intent is to undermine the labour organizations of this province . It would be in the best keepings if the minister is intent on wanting to bring into line any organization not complying with the will of the legislation , that we use it through the Labour Board itself as an unfair labour practice , and that we do not remove the rights of those organizations to be able to obtain the dues , as is permitted to them under the laws of this province and the laws of this country and have been upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada . Thus tradition , by its very nature , demands attention to the recipient as well as to the gift and the giver . Mr. Reid : Mr. Chairperson , I think it is important here that because the government clearly through their legislation wants the union organizations of this province to communicate with all of the employees in the bargaining unit with respect to use of dues for political purposes , if that is their will and their wish , and a right that has been afforded them under ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Levine case , I believe that the government should accept this amendment which would allow for those dues to remain internal to the union organization for those employees so wishing not to have their dues used for political purpose . " I feel it is necessary to put in place , so there is not an extensive period of time involved , that where there is undue delay in making a decision and holding that vote , there be an automatic certification process , because I do not want to have circumstances that we already know exist at the board , which is lack of funds to be a factor , or any other matter for that sake to be a factor , in allowing for an undue delay in the vote to determine whether or not the employees of the affected unit wish to become a member of a union .