Striking Kanata nuclear workers say Best Theratronics owner is flouting Canadian law

An idle Kanata nuclear company, a safety regulator's warnings about a lapsed financial guarantee and an absent owner complaining of losses in the tens of millions: Mounting fears about Krishnan Suthanthiran's plans for his medical manufacturing company Best Theratronics risk eclipsing the demands of the plant's striking workers, who for six months have been asking for a pay rise.

A federal labour board will hear an unfair labour practices complaint against Best Theratronics on Tuesday, after the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) issued two orders against the medical manufacturer earlier this month.

The union bringing the complaint hopes the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) will compel Suthanthiran to engage in negotiations with about 60 striking workers who walked off the job in May complaining of below-market wages and a collective agreement that expired in March 2023.

Unifor accuses Suthanthiran of flouting Canadian law by not negotiating in good faith.

"It's called union busting," said Lana Payne, the president of Canada's largest private sector union, which represents 44 of the striking Best Theratronics workers.

"It's why we have labour laws in this country to prevent those things from happening," Payne told CBC ahead of the hearings.

CIRB — a government agency which adjudicates labour relations in industries under federal jurisdiction, including nuclear sites — will hear Unifor's complaint over three days this week. 

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents 14 other striking Best Theratronics workers, has lodged a similar complaint.

While it all plays out, Suthanthiran is "missing in action," according to Payne.

"It takes two parties to come to terms to get a collective agreement," she said. "That means two parties have to participate in negotiations and bargaining, and that hasn't been happening here." 

Who is Krishnan Suthanthiran?

Suthanthiran is an Indian-born multi-millionaire businessman who runs a group of global companies manufacturing medical devices. Now a resident of Virginia, the septuagenarian studied at Carleton University in the 1970s.

Best Theratronics manufactures cyclotrons and medical equipment. It has a nuclear substance processing facility operating licence to handle radioactive material for manufacturing radiation therapy units and blood irradiators.

Suthanthiran's other Canadian interests include Kitsault, a B.C. ghost town that he purchased in 2005 that was abandoned by a mining company in the early 1980s. At times, Suthanthiran has pledged to transform Kitsault into a retreat for artists and scientists, or an LNG terminal. But nearly 20 years after he purchased the town, which he has renamed after his mother, these plans are yet to materialize.

While he did not agree to an interview, Suthanthiran sent CBC a statement complaining of difficulties operating in Canada and threatening to close Best Theratronics. 

"As a foreign investor, Suthanthiran has received little support from the Canadian government regarding investment incentives and opportunities," the statement read in part. "Instead, it seems the Canadian government has given its support to the actions of the unions, which has created the opposite effect — possibly forcing BTL to close down the Ottawa manufacturing facility."

In 2011, Best Theratronics received a $1.2-million grant from the Ontario government to generate employment in the province.

Suthanthiran claimed Best Theratronics had suffered "$30M dollars in losses over the last several years". As a private company, Best Theratronics does not issue financial statements, so it was not possible to verify this assertion. 

Suthanthiran did not respond to questions about whether he would negotiate with striking workers, but said in recent years he installed air conditioning at the facility, provided free cafeteria meals and "one or two whole frozen turkeys and/or gift cards to all BTL employees for Thanksgiving and Christmas, all at no cost to employees."

Nuclear safety warnings

For months, striking workers have said nuclear material at Best Theratronics could pose a safety risk.

On Nov. 6, nuclear regulator CNSC issued two orders against Best Theratronics, saying the company must take additional security and emergency preparedness measures, and reinstate its financial guarantee, a significant portion of which expired in 2021. 

As part of its nuclear licence, the company is required to maintain a $1.8-million guarantee to offset any future decommissioning of the facility

CNSC declined a request for an interview and did not say why it had allowed Best Theratronic's guarantee to lapse for several years. In a statement it said, "the nuclear substances on site continue to be stored safely and there are no risks to the public or the environment."

Suthanthiran now has a chance to respond to CNSC's orders. However, the CNSC spokesperson said, "failure to comply with an order can lead to further regulatory measures, including prosecution or licensing actions." 

Insolvency? 

Suthanthiran's threats to close the company are concerning, considering the fate of another of his companies, Unifor says. 

In 2011, Suthanthiran acquired a struggling Belgian nuclear medical company, which he renamed Best Medical Belgium. Soon afterward, the company shifted millions in assets to Suthanthiran's companies in Canada. Six months later, Best Medical Belgium declared insolvency.

Belgian authorities opened an investigation into potential money laundering, misuse of company assets and concealing assets, and called on Canadian authorities to seize records from Suthanthiran's offices in Canada. 

While Suthanthiran denies any wrongdoing, Unifor is fearful Best Theratronics could be similarly abandoned.

"In Belgium he left a mess there and there wasn't money to clean it up," said Unifor national representative Jan Malek.

Gilles LeVasseur, a professor of business and law at the University of Ottawa, said sometimes an owner will prolong strike negotiations while they plan to sell or close a company.

"So when you have these types of strikes going on, it's not just an issue of labour, there's also other initiatives or issues that are actually [occurring] behind closed doors, and that's what's sometimes causing the deadlock," he told CBC.

'Repeated entreaties'

In addition to bringing an unfair labour practices complaint, Unifor is also calling on the labour minister to intervene.

"We expect the minister to make sure that our members' rights are respected here," said Payne.

Challenged by shadow labour minister Kyle Seeback on why the government wasn't doing more to resolve the situation, Labour Minister Steven Mackinnon told the House of Commons last month: "We will not let workers down. We've made repeated entreaties to the owner to return to the bargaining table."

The government has appointed conciliation officers and mediators to assist in negotiations, government spokesperson Matthieu Perrotin said. 

"The parties are responsible for reaching agreements," he said in a statement to CBC. "The parties must put in the work at the table to get deals." 

Standing in the cold on the picket line on Friday, strike captain James Thuot said the company's workers just wanted "fair compensation." 

"The owner came to the table with a two year deal: zero per cent for two years," said Thuot, a machinist who has worked for Best Theratronics for 13 years.

"We're definitely not a greedy union," he said. "But to come with zeros, with the price of inflation and the price of and living these days, it just wasn't acceptable."