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Posted
March 8, 2005 |
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By
Peter O'Neil |
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Workers who fail port
security to get easier appeal
by Peter O'NeilOttawa proposes compromise to appease unions, employers March 5, 2005, Vancouver Sun OTTAWA - Transport Minister Jean Lapierre has proposed a compromise to appease port unions and employers upset with a planned security screening system aimed at weeding organized criminal gangs out of ports in Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax. Lapierre told The Vancouver Sun he's setting up a streamlined appeal process for workers denied security clearance, a move that answers some, though not all, of the complaints. “I'm going to put within my system an appeal which is going to be much faster and less expensive, that is not going to become a lawyer's dream,” Lapierre said. But the minister bluntly rejected union management demands that he rewrite the planned regulations in the $21-million plan. “At end of the day, public interest requires that we have secure ports, and we are going to go ahead with that,” he said. “I'm trying to be very pragmatic, but I'm not going to back off on security.” The screening, to be launched first in the three major Canadian ports, requires workers to provide extensive financial and personal information, including the names of spouses, former spouses and in-laws. They must also provide details on various activities over the past five years, such as associations with organized crime groups and information on where they've lived, worked, and travelled. Lapierre said he is setting up an alternative appeal route for the thousands of workers who currently would only be able to challenge Transport Canada's decision at the Federal Court of Canada. He said he'll set up a review process within his own department that can, depending on the circumstances, go all the way up to the deputy minister's office. The set-up is aimed at providing a fresh look even if it's Transport Canada bureaucrats assessing the judgment of their colleagues, he said. “We would have a Chinese wall in between” the two groups of bureaucrats involved in security clearances and appeals, he said. “And in the end I still hold responsibility for issuing the cards.” Two groups, the B.C. Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, wrote to Lapierre last month, warning of “serious consequences” if the plan wasn't changed dramatically. Longshore union president Tom Dufresne said the government needs to go further. “I think the whole process is still too invasive and too subject to abuse,” he said in an interview. Dufresne cited the statement this week from RCMP Insp. Doug Kiloh, in charge of security of the Port of Vancouver, who said the port isn't controlled by organized gangs like the Hells Angels - even if some workers are members of those groups. “The RCMP publicly stated that the waterfront is not overrun with crime, and not overrun by organized crime. So I see no need to gather that information,” Dufresne said, suggesting the money should be spent on better port policing. Employers spokesman Frank Pasacreta said Lapierre, who has promised to improve efficiency and capacity at West Coast ports, has made a positive first step. But he said the Liberal government will jeopardize the B.C. economy by creating an excessively bureaucratic process that doesn't recognize the need for a mobile port workforce. “If we can't process these background checks fast enough, we're not going to be able to get the qualified people we need in the right place at the right time.” Pasacreta said he's also concerned some port workers will seek other lines of work rather than submit to the process. - 30 -
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