Underneath the Golden Boy - Robson Hall Faculty of Law

210 Underneath the Golden Boy
The existence of consensus was also a major factor in silencing criticism in the
legislature and at the committee and report stages. The minister’s comments,
quoted on the title page of this paper, were in response to what can only be seen
as minimal criticism in the legislature. The review process dampened opposition
heckling, and quieted down the public at committee hearings following second
reading. That the Manitoba government has created a committee that can do
this strikes one as a major coup for any representational democracy.
Nonetheless, there are outstanding issues in the working lives of today’s
families that were not tackled by this process. The scope of this review was
decided by the government behind closed doors and, despite public demands for
wider scope, little was added. A more thorough canvass of workplace issues
(involving the public and properly researched) would reveal how well our
current employment standards legislation serves the goal of providing basic
protection to Manitoba workers.
If the public wants to see more change in employment standards legislation,
it would appear they need a petition from 92 CITI FM.