Bill C-307 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (pregnant or nursing employees)

This enactment amends the Canada Labour Code to allow a pregnant or nursing employee to avail herself of provincial occupational health and safety legislation.

Canada Labour Code

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased to speak to this bill. As a number of my colleagues know perhaps, I am a nurse by training. At the end of my nursing degree, I wanted to specialize my training. I started working toward obtaining a certificate in occupational health and safety. I chose to pursue this area of expertise because I found it to be especially important.

Also, as a young woman of childbearing age—as most of my colleagues have probably figured out—this bill affects me personally. Many of my friends have experienced or are experiencing pregnancy and childbirth. To me, having the opportunity to speak to this type of bill was especially important.

I want to point out that the purpose of this bill is to amend the Canada Labour Code to allow a pregnant or nursing employee to avail herself of provincial occupational health and safety legislation.

Some jobs may present risks to a pregnant woman or her unborn child. From a medical standpoint, this can occur in several sectors: some jobs are not recommended for pregnant women. This can also depend on the person's health and the state of her pregnancy.

Right now, in Canada, some female workers have no choice but to temporarily leave their jobs because of the risk to their health and that of their unborn child. The problem is that, if they have a job governed by the federal legislation, they must do so without any compensation. They leave their job because of risks to their health or that of their baby without the right to any sort of compensation. It is not right. It does not respect gender equality at all. I think men would agree. Would a man accept being told that, for the good of his health, he has to leave his job but that he will not be given anything in exchange? It does not make any sense.

Right now, in Quebec—and unfortunately only in Quebec—women who are subject to the provincial legislation have recourse that is much appreciated by Quebec women: the Loi sur la santé et la sécurité du travail du Québec's preventive withdrawal provision for pregnant and nursing women, which states:

A pregnant worker who furnishes to her employer a certificate attesting that her working conditions may be physically dangerous to her unborn child, or to herself by reason of her pregnancy, may request to be re-assigned to other duties involving no such danger that she is reasonably capable of performing.

Of course, this provision in the law also applies in the case of an employee who is breastfeeding her child. For example, where dust or chemical emissions might be passed into the mother’s milk, a woman could claim the protection of the same provision. There is also provision for stopping work if reassignment is not possible. When a woman is pregnant, the first thing that is done is to see whether she can be reassigned elsewhere, or whether a method can be found for her to be able to do her work safely. The first thing that is done is not to send the woman home; it is to try to find solutions. If, unfortunately, there is no solution possible that would enable the woman to have a pregnancy that is free of risk for herself and her child, the employee will be allowed to take preventive withdrawal and still receive 90% of her wages.

What this means in concrete terms is that she will be able to continue to eat nutritiously and take care of herself during her pregnancy. This is entirely reasonable. When a woman is pregnant, she has to look after herself and take care of the child she is going to have. It is therefore entirely reasonable for women to be compensated financially so they are able to continue in the role they have chosen.

The NDP and I think this is reasonable. Protecting pregnant and nursing women when there is danger on the job allows them to stay afloat financially until they are able to resume their work in the usual way; this is a reasonable, justified and entirely appropriate measure.

The problem is that this provision of Quebec's occupational health and safety legislation does not apply to women working in federally regulated jobs, such as those in government, air and rail transport, banks, ports, and armoured car services. In such cases, the Canada Labour Code applies and it is much more restrictive.

Subsection 132(4) of the Canada Labour Code states the following:

the employer may, in consultation with the employee, reassign her to another job that would not pose a risk to her health or to that of the foetus or child.

So, it can happen if there is a solution. It is an option, but it is not an obligation.

Also, according to the federal legislation, the only period of leave with pay the worker is entitled to is the period between the time she ceases to work and the time a doctor gives her a medical certificate. As soon as she receives a medical certificate stating that she can no longer carry out her duties, she stops getting paid. That makes no sense. Families have changed over the past few years. More and more women are single parents and go through their pregnancies alone.

What is a woman to do when she is the only breadwinner in the household? Either she jeopardizes the safety of her baby by continuing to work, or she goes without an income, again jeopardizing her baby's safety. Without money, she will no longer be able to buy food and will have trouble paying for rent and electricity. Personally, I find that incredibly illogical.

Turning back to the medical situation. If a doctor considers the work to be dangerous for the health and safety of the future mother and of the fetus, the employer can reassign the employee. However, if reassignment is not possible, the employee in question has two choices: she can take leave without pay or remain in her position and risk the health and safety of her future baby or, indeed, her own health and safety.

As I mentioned earlier, the family's financial situation is often such that there is only one choice, and that is to continue to work and risk the baby's health. There is no justice in this.

In these situations, the Canada Labour Code places the financial burden of the pregnancy on the pregnant or nursing woman and her family. When a child is expected, the financial burden automatically becomes greater—I think that everybody understands that.

Right now only Quebec has a program of preventive withdrawal to protect pregnant and nursing women. However, women who work in federally regulated companies, who are governed by the Canada Labour Code and are not subject to provincial laws, have only the choice of continuing to work or requesting leave without pay.

This bill is intended to correct the injustice that separates those employees in Quebec who can take advantage of the aptly named preventive withdrawal from everyone else.

I listened to the speech by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour when this bill was introduced. Two sentences caught my attention.

She began by speaking about the relatively lower health and safety risks presented by most jobs under federal jurisdiction. In my opinion, there is something here that does not make sense. It is true that certain jobs do not pose much of a risk. The women in these jobs will not get a medical certificate, and will not be affected by this legislation. In other cases, there is a risk associated with the work performed. For example, in the case of postal workers, truck drivers, people who transport valuable goods or those who work in air transportation, it is clear that there is some risk associated with these jobs. It is important to encourage these women to have children and to help them juggle those responsibilities with their work.

In the second sentence that caught my attention she said that employees could try to take advantage of either their federal or provincial rights or remedies, choosing whichever system seemed to be the most advantageous under the circumstances.

I hope that everyone understands that our goal is not to toss money to pregnant women, but rather to restore justice. Women simply want to be able to keep their jobs and not have to make that decision. This is an important point to understand.

I would like to conclude by quoting Alexa Conradi, president of the Fédération des femmes de Québec. Personally, I think what she says makes a lot of sense.

Preventive withdrawal, as it exists in Quebec, is a fundamental benefit that all women need. It is a cornerstone of the policies on workplace heath and safety and work-family balance, and it is high time that the federal government followed in Quebec's footsteps on this fundamental status of women issue...a situation that strips employers of any responsibility and forces too many women to stay in jobs to the detriment of their health or that of their child.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for his bill.

I also thank my colleagues for so brilliantly expressing their opinions about this bill to allow pregnant or nursing women who are subject to the Canada Labour Code to avail themselves of provincial preventive withdrawal provisions when they are more beneficial.

The Quebec program known as “Pour une maternité sans danger” allows a pregnant or nursing worker who believes that her job poses a risk to her pregnancy or the health of her child to ask her employer for another assignment. She must obtain a doctor's note, which is submitted to her employer. If it is impossible for the employer to eliminate the risk or to assign the worker to other duties, she can use preventive withdrawal and receive compensation.

Quite by accident, I recently came across an article indicating that all pregnant American women have many chemicals, including some that have been banned in Canada since 1970, such as DDT, in their system. I am talking about the United States, which is not very far from us. We know that pollution has an impact on the environment and that it crosses borders.

Chemicals are used to manufacture non-stick cooking utensils, in industrial foods and in beauty products. Think of all the women who work in hair salons, spas and nail salons. They are constantly in conditions where they are breathing in chemicals. We know that these women who work for minimum wage cannot afford to leave their jobs.

This was the first time anyone had counted the number of different chemicals that can be present in the body of a young woman, one who is pregnant to boot.

The purpose of the study was not to link chemicals and their effects on health, but a number of chemicals were measured in concentrations that have been proven to be harmful to children, causing reproductive problems in boys, delayed neurological development from mercury poisoning, altered neurological development and thyroid problems.

These chemicals are able to pass across the placenta and reach the fetus. They can be found in the amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord blood and the meconium. Exposing a child to chemicals during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage and premature birth and also has an impact on the child after birth, not to mention the mother.

The point here is to protect pregnant and nursing women. People are perhaps not aware, but I live in a province, the only one in the country, where women have access to this kind of program. I can give many examples where this program has been extremely useful and has protected a pregnant woman and her baby. I am thinking of a particular woman who was expecting not just one, but two babies. For a first pregnancy, twins are already quite difficult, but in addition, this young woman worked in a rehabilitation centre for violent adolescents. So there was an additional potential danger that she might be hurt when one of the adolescents was aggressive. I can tell you that this was a familiar scenario.

In this kind of situation, there are two options: either the person withdraws from her employment because of the danger that it represents, or she is reassigned to other duties, for instance, administrative duties where she is not in danger.

There was another woman who had to spend the last four months of her pregnancy on bed rest. I am giving examples that I have come across in the various jobs that I have held. That decision was not particularly exciting, but it was necessary in order to prevent the woman from giving birth at a stage when the fetus’s vital organs, such as the lungs, are not fully developed.

I could also talk about all the women who work standing up in banks or other businesses, and God knows there are a lot of them. They have to stand up all the time. Their legs are tired. Being pregnant is tiring.

For these women and hundreds of others in Quebec, the special provisions on preventive withdrawal have enabled them to carry their pregnancy to term in a safe environment. This is a provincial program, administered by Quebec's occupational health and safety commission, the CSST.

The Canada Labour Code stipulates that an employee who is pregnant or nursing may cease to perform her job if she believes that, by reason of the pregnancy or nursing, continuing any of her current job functions may pose a risk to her health or to that of the fetus or child. The employee can request reassignment, if the medical practitioner determines that a risk exists. While waiting for the medical report, the employee continues to receive the wages and benefits that are attached to that job. If reassignment is not possible, the employee can take an unpaid leave of absence. I took these notes from a speech that was given previously by a member of the Bloc Québécois.

This bill is fair for all pregnant and nursing women in Canada whose workplace could be hazardous to the proper development of their fetus. For now, only Quebec has a preventive withdrawal program to protect pregnant and nursing women. This program allows women to receive up to 90% of their salary if their working conditions are deemed hazardous for them or their babies. Other Canadian women are only entitled to unpaid leave. We believe that this situation is unfair to women who do not live in Quebec.

This is a good example of a two-tiered system. It is completely unfair to nursing and pregnant women in Canada who live outside Quebec. The NDP is of the opinion that the federal government must meet its responsibility toward these pregnant and nursing women by offering them the same conditions as women in Quebec.

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

Continuing debate, the hon. member for Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel. However, I must inform her that I will have to interrupt her at about 6:55.

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the House to support Bill C-307, which will allow pregnant and nursing women who work under the Canada Labour Code to avail themselves of provincial legislation providing for preventive withdrawal. I would like to thank my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for this excellent bill. All legislation that improves the balance between work and home life will have a favourable impact on the status of women in Canada.

In 2006, Quebec assumed jurisdiction over the parental leave program. The province has given mothers more money, more flexibility and easier access to preventive withdrawal. The other parent also receives five weeks of parental leave, which is non-transferable. Less than two years later, the poverty rate among women in Quebec has declined by 15 points. This is not a coincidence. The most effective way to reduce inequality between the sexes is to make both motherhood and economic security possible, and put the emphasis on parental leave. This is our role as parliamentarians, and it is our duty, not only for women and mothers but also for men and fathers, and for children’s well-being and the economic future of Canada.

This bill is of crucial importance for two reasons. First, it ensures employment equity for women who work in an environment that may be dangerous to their pregnancy. Second, it promotes the idea that women must not be threatened by poverty if they decide to have children.

Bill C-307 protects women who work in jobs that are completely safe in ordinary circumstances, but may be dangerous to a pregnant or nursing woman. Bill C-307 gives women in those occupations the fundamental right to have children if they want to. Why would a woman truck driver or postal worker or flight attendant, or a woman firefighter or plant worker, have to choose between her and her child’s health and poverty or the option of not having a child? The answer to the question is obvious: she should not have to make that choice. No one should have to do that.

Reproductive justice is more than simply having access to safe, legal abortion. It is also a woman's right to decide whether or not to have a child. I therefore oppose any element that would systematically prevent women from exercising that choice, including poverty, discrimination and, in this case, barriers that women face in the workplace.

It makes no sense that this government recognizes that certain working conditions are dangerous to pregnant or nursing women, yet it refuses to recognize their need to receive their salaries when they cannot work. Women in these situations are forced to go on leave without pay. This is the height of hypocrisy.

Quebec is the only province that has a preventive withdrawal program to protect pregnant and nursing women. It allows these women to receive 95% of their salaries if working conditions are considered dangerous for them or their children.

However, women who work under the Canada Labour Code do not have the same luck. I therefore call on this House to support the bill for the well-being of all these women.

Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have left?

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

You have five minutes.

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thought I had a total of five minutes. In that case, I can present many more arguments.

I will take this opportunity to say that several aspects of the parental leave program do not make sense. This House should dispense with partisanship and improve the program.

First of all, parental leave benefits are inadequate with respect to income. Almost all other industrialized countries pay women much more than 55% of their income. In Europe, depending on the country, benefits range from 70% to 90%, and some countries even pay 100%. It is not surprising that the gender gap is significantly smaller. Common sense tells us that a woman with a young child needs more income to meet her needs and those of her child, not less.

The current parental leave system in Canada sends a message to women. It says that if they have a child, they must be supported by someone richer, and that if their family is having financial difficulties, she should not have children.

This message reinforces the model of a traditional family, which does not work for everyone and which is not always desired. The number of single parent families has been on the rise since the 1970s, and 80% of these parents are women. The current system discriminates against non-traditional family units and the bill introduced by my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie will ensure that Canadians living in these situations get better support.

The other inconsistency with the current program is that it includes parental leave of up to one year. However, most child care centres only accept children over the age of 18 months. Moreover, child care services are prohibitively expensive and difficult to access in most of Canada.

What is a woman without an income to do for six months, assuming that her employer is generous enough to keep her job open? Does she have to be wealthy enough to employ a nanny, or live for six months without an income? That is why I said that it is absolutely crucial that we fix the parental leave system in this country.

This bill will ensure that women working under the Canada Labour Code, who are pregnant or nursing, and who are in unsafe working environments, will have access to provincial programs. This is important because women and men are different—primarily due to the fact that women are mothers.

Consider the statistics: 60% of poor Canadians are women and 52% of single mothers with young children live below the poverty line. Statistically, women with children earn half what men do. Not only are these statistics regrettable, they have remained stagnant for a long time.

That is why we need a bill like the one introduced by my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie. Bill C-307, along with other parental leave measures, will help to close the gap between the sexes in Canada. The proof is in the pudding: consider Quebec and Europe where such parental leave programs exist.

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for his right of reply. The hon. member has five minutes.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to take a few seconds to thank my NDP colleagues for their eloquent speeches in support of the bill that I had the honour to introduce in the House. I use the term “eloquent” because these members were all young women, and I do not think that this was a coincidence. I would therefore like to thank the hon. members for Berthier—Maskinongé, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles and Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel for their excellent speeches.

I would like to continue—my voice is scratchy today—by saying that, basically, this bill seeks to protect pregnant or nursing women and their children. It seeks to put an end to an injustice, an inconsistency that exists simply because these women are working in jobs under federal jurisdiction.

When a women accepts a job, she does not necessarily think about this, but then she gets a nasty surprise when she realizes that the provision of the provincial legislation does not apply to her and that she thus does not have the same rights. This is therefore a matter of justice, rights, equality and consistency in our society. It will allow women in every province of the Canadian Confederation to avail themselves of the best provincial provisions available.

Quebec is at the forefront, but I urge all of the other provinces to step up because the safe maternity program works. It helps women. It helps workers. It saves lives. It prevents premature births. It is good for fetuses and future babies. It protects our children. This measure is necessary and should be completely normal in 2012 because we respect pregnant and nursing women. We respect their safety and health and that of their babies.

This issue will reveal how serious the parties are about supporting families. All of the political parties in the House say that they support women and families. This is an opportunity to really help them. Those who support family values will support Bill C-307. Those who want to help pregnant women will support Bill C-307. If the Conservatives and the Liberals are really serious, they will vote for this bill to protect women and children.

I urge all my colleagues in the House from all parties to support this bill because we can take action, make a difference and truly help people. This is not a far-fetched idea. It takes a doctor's note. There are criteria for determining whether the health of the woman or her baby is in jeopardy. The woman just has to go the doctor and get a note. Then she negotiates with her employer to see whether the employer can find her another job, another position in the company where she could continue to work without jeopardizing her health.

This is entirely reasonable and consistent with occupational health and safety. Practical measures can be taken in the field. We have to move forward. This is not unreasonable.

If a woman's job puts her health and safety at risk, why should she have to take leave without pay? That is what currently happens under the Canada Labour Code. The financial burden rests on the shoulders of the female employee and not on society as a whole. That is the problem and that is what this bill seeks to change.

To us, it is impossible to ask female workers to take on that burden. There are concrete examples. I was happy that members talked about trucking, young women who drive ten-wheelers, big trucks. It is unusual. It is not traditional, but these women are out there and they are not getting the support they need. They are basically not entitled to anything. It is the same for flight attendants. Members spoke a little bit about CUPE flight attendants, about Ms. Stringer, whom I worked with before. If you are a flight attendant, you do not become a mechanic or a pilot overnight. Pregnant women cannot be expected to be on their feet for hours in an airplane with a big belly.

If the members in this House want change and if they want to help the women and families of this country in tangible ways, they will unanimously support Bill C-307.

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

[Some hon. members]

Yea.

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

All those opposed will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.

[The Acting Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

In my opinion the nays have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Pursuant to Standing Order 93, a recorded division on the motion is deferred until Wednesday, May 9, immediately before the time provided for private members' business.