The BC government flushed close to nine hundred thousand dollars down the toilet last year when it rented portable washrooms for health-care strikes that never materialized.
But Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid says they had no choice.
"It's actually the law, so within the current collective agreements, if there's going to be job action there has to be safe, secure space provided for the workers -- including bathroom facilities. In some of our health-care facilities you could carve that out within the facility, but in others it was impossible. And we looked as if there was going to be labour action, and so the health authorities did what they are -- it's imperative for them to do it."
The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation says the legislation needs to be revisited.