Motion killed, bur MP's bill still alive

Conservatives killed a motion tabled by MP John Rafferty Wednesday that the NDP member hoped would turn critics of his pension bill into supporters.

The representative for Thunder Bay – Rainy River said a motion for his private member’s bill was killed when Conservative MPs refused to grant their consent in the House Wednesday. Rafferty said the motion was put forward in an attempt to compromise with the Conservative MPs who criticized the bill for being too risky for banks.

Rafferty’s Bill C-501 aims at securing pensions and severance pay for workers when their employers entered restructuring or bankruptcy proceedings. Despite reports published by other media, Rafferty’s bill has not been scrapped as a result of this failed motion.  

“The motion I tabled in the House would have allowed the Industry Committee to consider a compromise amendment to the bill that would have eliminated the risks to banks and secured creditors entirely while ensuring that pensions and severance pay of millions of workers was more secure in the bankruptcy proceedings,” Rafferty is quoted as saying in a news release issued by his office.

“Sadly, the Conservatives would not consent to the motion and thus rejected the very idea of reaching a compromise on the matter.”