An Act respecting employment equity

This bill was last introduced in the 35th Parliament, 1st Session, which ended in February 1996.

Status

Not active
(This bill did not become law.)

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament.

May 12th, 2021 / 5:15 p.m.
See context

Assistant Deputy Minister, Workplace Policies and Services, Treasury Board Secretariat

Tolga Yalkin

Yes, thank you, Minister. Very briefly, I have some elaborations on your remarks.

When it comes to the Employment Equity Act review, certainly we are supporting our colleagues at Labour Canada, but we're also, in a sense, not waiting for any changes to the Employment Equity Act, both to, as we've already discussed, release disaggregated data, but also to offer opportunities for public servants to self-identify at the subgroup level.

When it comes to the work that is ongoing in the context of Thompson and Diallo in the class action, certainly, as the minister has identified, we are aware and conscious that there are issues and opportunities and challenges when it comes to racism and discrimination in all organizations, including ours. We're approaching the exploratory discussions with the plaintiffs' counsel in that spirit. It's very early days yet, but we look forward to continuing this discussion with them.

May 12th, 2021 / 5:15 p.m.
See context

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Matthew, you're asking about three different things.

On the first one about the Pay Equity Act, which was passed in the earlier mandate—unfortunately, you were not here yet—you're obviously aware that this law was given royal assent in December 2018, and we looked forward to implementing this in the fall of 2020. Just a few months ago, a set of proposed regulations was published so that up to 1.3 million Canadians could at some point, when these regulations are approved, benefit from proactive wage equity opportunities.

The second thing is about the Employment Equity Act. I am supporting my colleague Minister Tassi in reviewing that act for the purposes that you have highlighted.

The third thing is about the class action and the importance of recognizing that there have been barriers over the past in people fulfilling their full potential. I'll turn quickly to Tolga Yalkin so that he can perhaps outline where we are at this particular stage.