Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
This is the third time I have had the honour of coming before you. Today I will also have the opportunity to update you on the changes and progress that have taken place since our last meeting.
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I would like to recall the fact that Canada's workplace is where our nation's wealth is generated. It's where most citizens spend a considerable part of their lives. It is also where creativity and innovation take root. The quality of a workplace is therefore fundamental to the economic and social quality of life of citizens. So it is crucial that we focus on the quality of that workplace. Here's how we do that.
First, as members know, one of the main sectors of activity of the Labour Program is labour-management relations. We provide assistance for dispute resolutions. This assistance includes mediation and conciliation services in settling collective bargaining and other industrial disputes. Second, we must ensure we have the right laws, regulations and rules governing the workplace—developed to be flexible to the meet the needs of a changing world. Third, we achieve our objective through compliance and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules.
The role of our conciliation and mediation services in successfully assisting unions and employers in resolving their collective bargaining disputes is clear: 97% of all Canada Labour Code collective bargaining disputes finalized in 2006-2007 were settled without a work stoppage.
The context for modern laws, regulations and rules is that the nature of the Canadian workplace is changing. For many workers in western industrialized countries, this is a world that has been absolutely transformed in roughly the span of a single generation. Consider this: the percentage of women in the workforce increased from 42% in 1976 to 58% in 2004. Immigrants represent 70% of current population growth—up from 20% in 1976. Self-employment, autonomous workers, telework, casual employment and job sharing have all risen dramatically. The laws that govern our workplace have to keep pace with all of this change. Through modest steps, we are meeting this challenge.
The report entitled Fairness at Work: Federal Labour Standards for the 21st Century, prepared for the Government of Canada, makes a series of legislative and administrative recommendations on how to modernize key sections of the Canada Labour Code—fundamental legislation governing federal work standards and workplace conditions. This government continues to seek the views of business and the labour before we decide on a course of action.
Another component of our approach to modern legislation is the Employment Equity Act. In December last year, I was pleased to be informed that this standing committee will be undertaking the five-year review of this act. As mandated by law, this will be the third such review to be carried out since the passage of the act in 1986, when I myself was a member in the House of Commons. Your direction is required. Our government looks forward to working with you in this endeavour.
And here's another example of modern legislation: second-hand smoke in the workplace. I announced today that the government's decisions to amend the Non-Smokers Health Act to ban smoking rooms in federally-regulated workplace. Upon assuming the Office of the Minister of Labour, I asked the department to conduct testing of the quality of air outside smoking rooms in federally-regulated workplaces. I found to the government's satisfaction that there was no leakage of second-hand smoke. I took things a step further and asked the department to test air quality inside the smoking rooms, before people came to work, that is before they went in to the smoking rooms in the morning, when they were on break and a little later during the day.
These tests showed that the air quality inside smoking rooms was very poor—to say the least—even when they were not in use and deteriorated to dangerous levels as smoking increased in the room.
Mr. Chairman, amending regulations to ban smoking rooms will take time but I strongly encourage employers to close their smoking rooms as soon as possible and not wait for the new regulations to take effect. Perhaps you will have questions to ask me about this. If it is your wish, I can expand on this later.
The Wager Protection Program Act is another example of modern legislation. This important new program aims to protect workers who are the most vulnerable in a bankruptcy. The government will provide for the payment of unpaid wages and vacation pay of up to an amount equalling four weeks' maximum insurable earnings under the Employment Insurance Act, or approximately $3,000, to employees whose employers go bankrupt.
This government is moving forward on technical amendments to the legislation and is keen to have Parliament approve these amendments. So I urge the members of your political parties to move forward in reaching consensus on these amendments. We all know how important this legislation is for working Canadians, and we are ready to move ahead on its passage. As soon as there is a consensus, we will be able to move ahead quickly, in order to give the bill three readings and to refer it to the Senate for further consideration.
Allow me to give you one more example of the kind of new rules we need. New directives have been developed to deal with "refusal to work" situations which provide clarity and consistency in Labour Program decisions. Refusal to work is an essential right of federal workers when facing work situations that could be considered dangerous. The directives follow a three-step process.
First, parties should determine the normal conditions of employment. Second, inspectors should determine if there are deviations from that norm. And third, if there are deviations, inspectors should then determine if it constitutes a danger, thereby justifying the refusal to work. Additional initiatives based on modernized regulations are being developed and include new violence prevention measures and ergonomic regulations.
Before turning to our approach to modern enforcement, let me mention the importance of the need for consensus among workplace parties on new legislation. Even a carefully-crafted law or regulation can prove counterproductive if it is seen as one-sided. Good laws are therefore effective when they are backed up by effective enforcement. But it has also been shown that the most effective approach is to undertake the combination of activities aimed at gaining employers' compliance voluntarily before using the enforcement provisions of a law.
International responsibility, labour management collaboration, and self-regulation are the best tools we have in the modern workplace for achieving compliance with legal obligations. In this context, the role of government increasingly shifts away from blanket coverage by inspectors, and towards education, dissemination of best practices, dispute resolutions, audits, and inspection activities that are more actively targeted to high-risk workplaces and industries.
An example of our approach to modernization is the new Racism Workplace Strategy. One of the most effective ways to gain compliance of employers with legislation is to provide them with the information and the assistance they need to implement certain legislative requirements. For example, employers subject to the Employment Equity Act tell us they are having difficulties achieving the goal of equitable representation of visible minorities and aboriginal people, when members of those two groups experience racial conflicts in the workplace.
That is why we have introduced the strategy to provide information and assistance to employers in removing barriers and in recruiting and retaining members of those two groups in their workforce. I personally have been traveling across the country, meeting employers and employees and I saw the progress first-hand and encouraged continuing efforts to address the issue of racism in the workplace.
Recently we acted on federal pay equity. The government decided to improve compliance with existing requirements for pay equity. Rather than spending a lot of time discussing and attempting to reach consensus on new legislation, we believe that what is most needed is an effective strategy to ensure that employers are fulfilling their obligations.
My approach therefore is to provide information and education for employers, to offer assistance and facilitation for employers who need help, and to carry out the follow-up and monitoring of compliance. As a last resort, enforcement activity will be undertaken by the Canadian Human Rights Commission and tribunal.
Most employers under federal jurisdiction readily comply with their obligations under the Canada Labour Code to pay appropriate wages and overtime rates as required. However, sometimes this is not the case and employees file a complaint with Labour Program officials claiming that there are wages owing to them.
For example, in 2006-2007, the Labour Program assisted nearly 2,000 Canadians to recover their entitlements. In 2007, after investigation, it was determined that there was a total of $3.7 million in unpaid wages owed to employees. Once these employers were informed of their obligations, they voluntarily paid nearly $2 million of those unpaid wages. Where employers did not voluntarily comply, labour inspectors used the enforcement provisions in the Code and recovered almost $800,000 of the remaining unpaid wages for Canadian workers.
In the context of increased competition in the production of goods and services in a globalized economy, the effective enforcement of labour laws internationally is vital to ensuring Canada's competitive position. We are proud of what we've accomplished in Canada and we have an obligation to help out internationally. The Labour Program is providing technical assistance to partners in the Americas to help strengthen their administration of labour laws.
Our international commitment is reflected in Canada's ongoing active role in the International Labour Organization. And it is what guides our efforts under the international labour agreements we have concluded with Mexico and the United States, Chili and Costa Rica. We are currently working to finalize agreements with Korea and Singapore and we'll be pursuing similar agreements with other trading partners in the Americas.
I have highlighted for you Canada's efforts, through providing mediation and conciliation services, legislation and modern enforcement, in building a quality workplace.
We're working hard at getting it right because good labour laws mean safe and healthy work conditions and modern enforcement means fewer injuries at work and less absenteeism. Labour laws based on consensus mean fewer disputes and work stoppages. People can take pride in their workplace, be more creative and innovative.
All of this is done with a simple objective: enhancement of our quality of life in and outside of work, both on the social and economic fronts.
As always, I am pleased to work with the committee to meet the challenges of the dynamic, ever-changing workplace. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.