Finance committee  All I can say is that all of the employers that are members of FETCO recognize the responsibilities to treat people fairly, and they do have obligations to do that. As for this notion of some kind of self-regulatory process, I just don't understand how that would work. I think em

Finance committee  I'm satisfied with the direction that this legislation is going in. I think we would prefer that it not necessarily be fully played out in a regulatory process, because that could create uncertainty down the road, but we do believe in the importance of having a dialogue with all

Finance committee  I'm not quite sure that I understand your question with respect to so-called self-policing.

Finance committee  —it is covered, as all employers are required under part 3 of the Canada Labour Code to provide a policy with respect to sexual harassment. All employers in the federal jurisdiction take this matter very seriously. We cannot tolerate sexual harassment, whether it be of anybody

Finance committee  For the purpose of clarification, FETCO represents mostly private sector employers. Certain companies that are crown corporations also participate in FETCO. So we represent private sector employers. We think that establishing these criteria in this bill will be helpful to inter

Finance committee  Firstly, we would prefer that most of the matters dealt with within in this bill be in legislation rather than in regulations, because that would provide immediate clarity. We believe it's important to have a consultation on the matters that would be properly included in regula

Finance committee  Yes, I think it's in the right direction.

Finance committee  First, I'd like to make a comment just for clarification. We recognize the value of internships for students and people who are associated with recognized educational institutions. We also believe there is a very important component of internship programs that should apply to p

Finance committee  You know that you can't prevent people from taking actions they think are appropriate, but I don't think it's necessary to concern ourselves with lawsuits. We believe employers and interns can benefit from the balance that is necessary to give them the training they need, so the

Finance committee  —we recommend that internships be permitted to last for a full 12 months. This will allow a greater opportunity for an intern to get more in-depth experience where it would be beneficial to do so. The bill provides for regulations to be made for certain labour standards to apply

Finance committee  Thank you, Chair. My name is John Farrell. I am the executive director of the Federally Regulated Employers—Transportation and Communications. FETCO represents most of the major federally regulated employers in Canada. A list of FETCO members is attached to appendix A of my writ

Human Resources committee  I believe the major disadvantage is that there's no clear evidence that all of the potential union members have had an opportunity to seriously consider the question of unionization and to express their opinion behind the screen of a ballot box in a secret ballot vote. When you t

Human Resources committee  I beg to differ. I did not at all speak about.... I would never use the word intimidation. That was not part of my presentation.

Human Resources committee  No, I did not. You never know. I think that whatever system is in place, there's potential for skulduggery. It may happen or may not happen, but I think that a secret ballot vote is a much more appropriate approach to determine the wishes of employees.

Human Resources committee  I spoke with Mr. Calkins prior to the bill being tabled because I felt this was a road being considered. I pointed out to him that it was important to companies in the federal jurisdiction that we have proper pre-legislative consultation. I had no discussions with Mr. Calkins abo