General

Labour Minister: We will sit until back-to-work legislation passes

But the bill “isn’t even close to being passed,” says Lisa Raitt

The Conservatives are ready to sit through the NDP’s filibuster of the back-to-work bill that would end the Canada Post strike “until the legislation passes,” Labour Minister Lisa Raitt told reporters today. The bill is still far from being approved in the House, she said, but the government won’t back down. Raitt also said the Conservatives would consider changes to the bill, though she added that her party had only engaged in “general discussions about principles” with the NDP, and hasn’t yet received specific amendment proposals from the opposition. New Democrat lawmakers oppose a clause in the back-to-work bill that sets annual wage raises at between 1.5 percent and 2 percent until 2014. All 103 NDP lawmakers have unlimited time to speak at every stage of debate on the bill, potentially delaying its adoption for days.

Bloomberg

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