Law Times

Page 6 OctOber 29, 2018 • Law times www.lawtimesnews.com Politics makes for strange bedfellows BY IAN HARVEY W hen North America's larg- est construction union rallies in support of Pro- gressive Conservative Pre- mier Doug Ford, it's the political equiva- lent of man bites dog. Yet, there they were, more than 250 members of the Laborers' International Union of North America, presenting Ford with a silver shovel. LIUNA is a construction union covering a diverse range of jobs from labourers to concrete workers with 100,000 members in Ontario alone and some 500,000 members across North America. One would expect them to be in the corner of the NDP or at least the Liber- als, like other unions. LIUNA, however, is not like other unions. They may be general labourers by name, but their expertise extends to tile and terrazzo setters, carpet install- ers, bricklayers, cabinet makers, cement finishers, form workers, house framers, roofers and literally dozens and dozens more, including carpentry. It's that last designation that is at the root of LIUNA's support for Ford and was critical in winning 905 votes for the Conservatives. Last spring, the Liberals under then-premier Kath- leen Wynne brought in a change to the Ontario La- bour Relations Act buried deep in the 2018 budget. It added a new section, 150.7, undoing a deal struck in the 1970s in which LIUNA won the right to represent concrete form workers at industrial, commercial and institutional job sites in On- tario. The changes ousted LIUNA and pushed 4,000 workers over to the Car- penters' District Council of Ontario, which claimed that, because they work with wood, they are, in fact, carpenters. This change was a bombshell and stirred up long-running animosities be- tween LIUNA and the carpenters. So, it was no surprise LIUNA Canada boss Joe Mancinelli launched a war on the Liberals, saying it "smells funny because this is political favouritism" and adding that the government was "ramming this through." By coincidence, the carpenters have been generous contributors to the Lib- eral Party of Ontario. In 2016 — the last year we have full numbers — they gave some $55,000 to the Liber- als, double what they gave the Conservatives and nearly three times what they gave the NDP. More interest- ingly, Steve Del Duca, former minister of Labour, was also the director of public affairs at the Carpenters' District Council of Ontario before running for MPP. That's some coincidence. But LIUNA is also a ma- jor political force and so Ford stepped up last April before the election, promising an end to such "backroom deals." In mid-October, he doubled down, reiterating his promise. Within days of the LIUNA rally, Ford took a chainsaw to the Liberal's former Bill 148, cancelling changes to the Em- ployment Standards Act, 2000, the La- bour Relations Act, 1995 and, most in- terestingly, ending the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2009. Ford's response to Bill 148 is Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, an omnibus already making provincial labour organizations howl. The province did not respond by deadline to a request for comment. Aside from freezing the minimum wage and cancelling new sick and emer- gency leave allowances, the ending of OCOT makes good on a long-standing Conservative issue stretching back to 2014 and Tim Hudak's platform. Aside from closing some doors that made it easier for unions to organize, freezing the minimum wage and can- celling new sick and emergency leave allowances, the scrapping of OCOT is a message aimed at big unions. OCOT was long seen as a "Trojan horse" that essentially gave the union control over how many apprentices en- tered the trades and where and how they could work. As such, OCOT became the unions' enforcement arm, sending in- spectors to sites to check for trade cards. Here's the thing, though. Despite the big display at the legislature, there's nothing in Bill 47 that fulfils the promise Ford made as premier to restore LIUNA's rights over the carpenters. It's conspicuous by omission, but we guess that work boot will have to drop later. LT uIan Harvey has been a journalist for more than 41 years, writing about a diverse range of issues including legal and political affairs. His email address is ianharvey@rogers.com. COMMENT u EDITORIAL OBITER By Gabrielle Giroday ©2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reli- ance upon information in this publication. Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. LT.editor@thomsonreuters.com CIRCULATIONS & SUBSCRIPTIONS $205.00 + HST per year in Canada for print and online (HST Reg. #R121351134), $199 + HST per year for online only. Single copies are $5.00. Circulation inquiries, postal returns and address changes should include a copy of the mailing label(s) and should be sent to Law Times One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto ON, M1T 3V4. Return postage guaranteed. Contact Keith Fulford at .............. 416-649-9585 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . or fax: 416-649-7870 keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Advertising inquiries and materials should be directed to Sales, Law Times, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON, M1T 3V4 or call: Sales Manager Paul Burton ............................................ 416-649-9928 paul.burton@tr.com Consultant, Strategy and Business Development: Ivan Ivanovitch ...................................... 416-887-4300 ivan.ivanovitch@tr.com Business Development Consultant: Kimberlee Pascoe .................................. 416-996-1739 kimberlee.pascoe@tr.com Account Executive: Steffanie Munroe ................................... 416-315-5879 steffanie.munroe@tr.com Law Times Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON • M1T 3V4 • Tel: 416-298-5141 • Fax: 416-649-7870 www.lawtimesnews.com LT.editor@thomsonreuters.com • @lawtimes Director/Group Publisher . . . . . . . . . Karen Lorimer Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Brown Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabrielle Giroday Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anita Balakrishnan Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patricia Cancilla CaseLaw Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Crawford Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phyllis Barone Production Co-ordinator . . . . . Jacqueline D'Souza Electronic Production Specialist . . . Derek Welford Wake-up call M uch has been written in these pages in the past year about the silence in the legal profession around mental health issues. Columnists such as Doron Gold have extensively described the sense of isolation lawyers feel in grappling with these problems and the unique host of factors that can exacer- bate the issues. High stress, the pressure of billable hours, a personal history of over-achievement and type-A behaviour, firm models that reward extreme and competitive behaviour and disincentivize work-life bal- ance are slowly becoming acknowledged as corrosive for the health of many. This is why a Law Times piece this week on the number of reports to the Discrimination and Harassment Counsel for the Law Society of Ontario should be read closely. As the #MeToo fallout wages on, the legal profession has been shockingly slow to catch up. "What was missing was the ability to cite data to say, 'There is a problem.' To date, there was anecdotal evidence," says Hum, one of the lawyers that works on the DHC. "I don't think people know that there is an issue in the profession." The figures that are in the report by the law society's Equity and Indigenous Affairs Committee indicate that 125 individuals — or about 21 per month — reached out to the DHC for a new matter from January to June of 2018, a 50-per-cent uptick compared to the last six months of 2017, when about 14 reached out per month. As the piece explains, behaviour that is de- scribed in the report includes discriminatory advertising for articling positions, persistent sex- ualized and predatory texting, verbal or physical threats, clients being mocked by opposing counsel due to a disability and demanding sex in exchange for legal services, among others. It's a wake-up call, indeed. LT Queen's Park Ian Harvey

• Cover