Thank you for the question.
Effectively, in our opinion, the few changes we are proposing are essential, as this would save time. We have seen, for example, that Quebec's pay equity legislation has given rise to many challenges in the courts. We could now take advantage of this experience and avoid making these mistakes again.
I'm thinking in particular of the wording of clause 2, from which I recommended that the words “while taking into account the various needs of employers” be removed. Indeed, if these words remain, they become an interpretive tool for the entire proposed legislation, which is contrary to the spirit of such legislation and to the Constitution, for the reasons to which I referred and presented by Justice Abella in a Supreme Court decision.
The purpose of such legislation is to restore balance and justice. Women workers have the right to be paid based on the fair value of their work on the same basis as their male colleagues. If these words are included in the proposed legislation, they will have the opposite effect and will serve those who oppose such a rebalancing exercise, essentially employers who do not want to pay women what they should receive. So there will be legal challenges that will go all the way to the Supreme Court in I don't know how many years, eight, ten years, before a final judgment is rendered that will confirm that we were right. There is no reason why these words should be included in the proposed legislation.
The situation is the same with respect to retroactivity of payments as part of the process. My colleague Mr. Hennessy and the CLC talked about it. The Supreme Court has just rendered a decision on this issue, the same one I was referring to last May. This court ruled that Quebec's legislation was unconstitutional and contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it did not allow for retroactive payments. However, the bill contains provisions that say exactly the same thing, and there is no reason to justify it because it forces us to restart at the federal level the debate that was held at the provincial level.
These few changes, like what I had written on the issue of good faith, are basic principles. If this is not clearly reflected in the proposed legislation, the obligation to do something and whether or not it is a fault will be debated in court.