The following statement was issued today by Kevin Aylward, Minister of Environment and Labour. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

I am pleased today to inform the Honourable House of Assembly that I have received the report of the consultant whom I appointed in December 1996 to make recommendations on an employee/employer framework for labour relations on offshore oil production platforms that come under provincial jurisdiction.

Mr. Morgan Cooper (the consultant) engaged in dialogue with numerous stakeholders on this matter. Mr. Cooper met with 19 of the 28 organizations that submitted written briefs. Mr. Cooper also met with selected representatives from government, business and labour in Nova Scotia and Alberta, as well as in the U.K. and Norway.

The report is well presented and contains a total of 12 recommendations, many of which will require amendments to the province's Labour Relations Act to specifically address the labour relations processes that are to be applied to offshore oil production platforms. These include bargaining unit configurations, access, union representation and strikes and lockouts.

Mr. Speaker, government supports the report in principle, and we will be closely examining Mr. Cooper's report over the summer with a view to introducing the appropriate amendments to the act in the Fall Session of the House to give effect to the recommendations.

I want to personally commend Mr. Cooper on a very thorough job and thank him for his dedication to this very important and challenging task.