Human Resources committee  Every worker is left to their own choice. Some will join the union; some will look for work elsewhere. I should note that the agreement in B.C. is the subject of a lawsuit alleging, among other things, that depriving workers of the choice of which union to represent them is a breach of the freedom of association, which is a cornerstone of Canadian labour law.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. If you look to your province, you'll be familiar with the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge. It's a massive infrastructure project. All of those things you referred to are objectives for the community on that project, which is absolutely great. No one can argue with whether that's a good desire.

Human Resources committee  We, of course, support a shift toward a greener economy and everything to do with a more sustainable environmental impact on our lives. However, Canada is a resource-based economy. It is not wise to pretend that it's anything else, and so—

Human Resources committee  Why we say we support community benefit agreements is that, as we heard earlier, there are a lot of good community benefits to pursue in the spending of public money. To use a contractual tool like a community benefit agreement to interfere with the normal dynamic of a competitive marketplace by saying to that market, “Here are the benefits that we want to pursue within this community, and we as the government select only this group to pursue it with”, in our view is just a wrong-headed manipulation of the market.

Human Resources committee  It's hard to say there isn't enough oversight. There had been a relaxation of some of the enforcement. People are asking questions right now about how it could possibly have come to this. There are issues with regulation and there are issues with oversight, but most of the problems we are seeing manifested in residents' experience are simply rooted in a lack of funding to allow staff to have the time and resources necessary to care for residents the way they should be and the way they want to be.

Human Resources committee  Sorry, could you clarify?

Human Resources committee  No, it's absolutely not acceptable. Of all the issues we're facing in that sector, PPE is a critical one. You can only imagine the distress of these workers going right to the front lines, in direct contact with contagion, with an inadequate supply of PPE. It's unimaginable.

Human Resources committee  Of course, that's an oversimplification. There are plenty of non-public facilities that do an outstanding job. If you even think about the ways these homes are structured, many of them are affiliated with a cultural or faith-based background. When we even think about where we want to spend our last days, that's....

Human Resources committee  Yes. Generally, the funding problem is across the board. Certainly there are different nuances, and if you look at the industry as a whole, there is a wide range of not-for-profit and for-profit in public facilities. I'm not aware of any evidence that shows any direct correlation between outcomes and what type of home it is.

Human Resources committee  To refer to it as a “plight” is absolutely accurate. Workers across the country will experience different rates of return to some type of normal, but workers in the hospitality sector, particularly the hotel workers, are going to be suffering from low levels of activity in that sector for many months.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. Good day, everyone. I really appreciate the opportunity to meet with you today. CLAC is a national union founded on the belief that people, businesses and work communities flourish when workplaces are based on co-operation and mutual respect. We believe that co-operation and partnership between labour and management create more positive work communities and better outcomes for everyone.