Introduction
On May 15, 2001, Labour Minister Jean Rochon tabled Bill 31, An Act to amend the Labour Code, to establish the Commission des relations du travail and to amend other legislative provisions (the "Bill"), in the Quebec National Assembly.
The Bill makes some major structural changes in that it provides for the:
- abolition of the two-tiered decision-making system (labour commissioner and labour court) and its replacement by just one authority, the Commission des relations du travail (la "CRT");
- granting of new decision-making powers to the CRT comparable to those already vested with the Canada Labour Relations Board;
- transfer to the CRT of jurisdiction over recourses against unlawful and wrongful dismissals resulting from various Quebec statutes.
