Manitoba has suddenly become the nation's foremost laboratory for experiments in economic and social engineering.

In 2000, and with a wink to their brothers in the union movement, the NDP government introduced Bill 44, the Labour Relations Amendment Act, which took away the rights of workers for a secret ballot for union certification. Skip the vote: if 65 per cent of the workers sign union cards, it's automatically a union shop. In 2004, and by government fiat, the Manitoba Floodway project was closed to all non-union shops.

The latest blow to competition comes courtesy of a ruling by the Manitoba Labour Board, which has decided salaried employees must be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a week. A salaried employee at Nygard International filed a complaint against her employer demanding that she be paid overtime, regardless of the fact that she signed a contract to work "all hours required to be worked" in order to fulfill her duties.

There are a number of problems that this decision clearly illustrates. To begin with, we have an unaccountable, un-elected board that serves at the pleasure of the government of the day making decisions that have significant economic implications for taxpayers.

Furthermore, the Manitoba Labour Board ruling violates the freedom of contract. What is perhaps more alarming, this decision destroys a company's flexibility which is key to survival in a global economy.

In the short term, the impact of this decision will be devastating. In today's knowledge based economy, workers need the flexibility to set their own minimum and maximum working hours. Similarly employers need the ability to do the same to contain costs and compete with others in their industry.

Increased productivity and innovation comes from a respectful dialogue between employees and employers. But in Manitoba employers may have no choice but to pay overtime when workers rack up more than 40 hours - regardless of their contractual status.

Putting this into perspective - a smaller firm will be reluctant to take on more staff, but at the same time won't be able to pay out overtime - so they opt to do less work. Rather than having an expanding pool of working Manitobans and growing firms -- all things being equal, we'll have fewer taxpayers paying more tax.

If you were to visit the province's Department of Industry, Economic Development and Mines website, you will find a plethora of information for businesses currently operating in Manitoba and for those that could potentially relocate here. Everything from tax incentives to interprovincial tax rates is clearly laid out - but nowhere on this website will you find any discussion of Manitoba's vexatious labour policies that in their own way, contribute to keeping our province in the have-not category. So while other provinces are hanging the "open for business" signs on their borders, Manitoba is manufacturing a barbed-wire fence.

According to Robert Warren, Executive Director of the Asper Centre for Entrepreneurship, the "labour board may have interpreted the law correctly, but there are flaws with the law." This is where the Doer government can step in - amend the legislation that would nullify the decision made by the labour board and 'modernize' the law to reflect today's business realties.

Undemocratic union practices, automatic unionization, prohibition of non-union bidders on public works projects and now, overtime for all workers -perhaps this is what they mean by "Friendly Manitoba."