Missing the targets — Bill C-45: reforming the status quo to maintain the status quo

Abstract

The meek approach adopted by Canadian regulators to the grossly deviant conduct by the corporate owner and management of the Westray mine forced law-makers, brought under pressure by union militants and public disgust, to demonstrate that they have always believed in, and continue to be wedded to, profit maximisation, but only if pursued by virtuous private actors. After 12 years, the Westray Bill was given life. It does not challenge the logic of capitalism. The chase for profits by wealth owners continues to be seen as desirable and normal, and to be criminalised only in extreme circumstances. This paper sets out the assumptions that allow us to treat the catastrophic incidence of workplace harms as acceptable collateral damage to be subjected to administrative regulation and mediation rather than to the strictest sanctions available to law. This is achieved by underplaying the fact that, in our political economy, the purpose of production is profit, rather than need. The paper elaborates the way in which the logic of the Westray Bill reflects those capitalist-favouring assumptions and how the Criminal Code amendments have been drafted to maintain and perpetuate what should be seen to be an intolerably benign approach to workplace slaughter.