Such appointments should not be made unless the Canada Labour Relations Board continues to experience difficulties maintaining an effective presence throughout the country. This has advantages in that it is cost-effective, and ensures that the board benefits from the experience of active labour relations practitioners. It also allows the part-time members to serve an ambassadorial function, representing the board in the community and the community within the board. However, it also suffers from serious disadvantages. Scheduling can be difficult, particularly for cases that take longer than expected.
Training is sometimes weak and difficult to coordinate.
Conflicts or perceived conflicts arise periodically. The difficulties with part-time membership are accentuated in a Board which must travel across the country and conduct its business in both official languages. Parties expressed understandable reluctance to see a two tier board where some members had more status than others. These problems are surmountable. Given our other recommendations, there is a need for a period of experimentation to determine how many members will be required.