Human Resources Committee on Oct. 4th, 2011

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Do you work with fire protection services in first nations communities in terms of development of plans?

[Bayla Kolk]

Yes, we do. We go in and we educate. If there's a problem, we work with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs--formerly INAC, now AAND.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Would you make recommendations to that department in terms of resources? Because I know many communities simply don't have the resources around fire protection. Penelakut comes to mind, on Penelakut Island in my riding.

[Bayla Kolk]

To talk about resources, yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Komarnicki]

We'll move on to Mr. Shory.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for coming out this afternoon. It was interesting to hear the presentation, specifically when you were talking about the mandate.

You talked about labour cooperation agreements. I sit on the international trade committee as well, so it was interesting to hear that. All the time, though, these labour cooperation agreements are signed alongside free trade agreements, etc. I was curious--because this is also a learning phase for me in both committees--about what is the objective of these labour cooperation agreements, and what's the purpose of negotiating both agreements at the same time or alongside each other?

[Marie-Geneviève Mounier]

Thank you very much for the questions.

The objectives of the labour cooperation agreements I would say are threefold. What we're trying to do is have within them.... We use a standard framework in these LCAs. The first objective is comprehensive labour rights obligations, including the effective enforcement of national labour laws. So that would be one of the first components of these agreements. Then we include an independent, binding, and enforceable dispute resolution mechanism that would be fully enforced when the agreement comes into force. Also, where appropriate, we have some labour-related cooperation activities. The objective, obviously, is to ensure that when we enter into a free trade agreement with another country, their labour standards

are not such that our industries face unfair competition. The application of the labour standards and legislation of a country with which we are signing an agreement should not constitute an obstacle.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

As we all know, this Conservative government has a very ambitious free trade plan. I'm talking about the penalties. How do you enforce the penalties? Is there any difference between the current agreements negotiated in recent days and agreements negotiated in the past?

[Marie-Geneviève Mounier]

The first agreement we negotiated was the agreement in the margin of the free trade agreement. We have the North American agreement on labour cooperation, which was a little bit different. The dispute resolution is a little different there. There is a system of tiering, which we don't have in the other agreements.

In terms of dispute resolution, so far we've never had to impose penalties. We do have cooperative activities in some countries, so it helps advance the work. For instance, I was talking about the North American agreement on labour cooperation. The previous agreements only permitted complaints related to legislative enforcement. The new model requires that the very content of the labour law must be met. That would be, I would say, the main difference.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Do I have some time?

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Komarnicki]

You do. You have about a minute.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

I'd like you to elaborate on the enforcement and penalties point.

[Marie-Geneviève Mounier]

Okay.

For the financial penalties, there's a possibility of imposing financial penalties in cases of non-compliance, and this has been reintroduced. The penalties would be put into a cooperation fund and used in the offending country to help it resolve the matter that is under dispute.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

So what happened in the latest labour cooperation agreements with Colombia, Peru, Jordan, and Panama? They are described as the most comprehensive agreements ever negotiated by Canada. I'm sure the Government of Canada made sure that all the labour standards were met by these countries before we pursued all these free trade cooperation agreements with them. Do you say that by signing this kind of modern agreement, the government made sure that all the labour standards are met by these countries?

[Marie-Geneviève Mounier]

With these labour agreements, we're not only seeking a level labour agreement, but we also provide technical assistance, when appropriate. For example, if we have free trade partners, we help them build their capacity to meet their obligations contained in this LCA. So we have technical assistance projects focusing on a range of key issues, from migrant workers, occupational health and safety, labour inspection, administration. Also, all the sectors have mediation and conciliation implemented along with the LCAs.

In addition, I would say that any monetary assessment that's collected under the LCA itself would be paid to the complaining party who chooses to deposit into the cooperation fund. That in turn will be used to help resolve the non-compliance situation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Komarnicki]

With that, we'll maybe bring it to a close. You're well over your time, but that's fine.

We'll move on to Mr. Patry, for five.

[Claude Patry, NDP, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning ladies.

The temporary foreign worker program allows eligible foreign workers to work in Canada for an authorized period of time only if employers can demonstrate that they are unable to find suitable Canadians/permanent residents to fill the jobs and that the entry of these workers will not have a negative impact on the Canadian labour market.

What negative impacts on the Canadian labour market are taken into account when assessing whether temporary foreign workers are allowed to enter Canada?

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Komarnicki]

I'll interject here. The temporary foreign workers are probably not under your mandate or legislation, so I'm not sure you're able to answer that. If you are, you can; if not, we'll have to move on to a different question.

[Bayla Kolk]

That is in the skills and employment branch of HRSD, so unfortunately not with us.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Komarnicki]

It's not an area they deal with, Mr. Patry. If you could you take a different line of questioning, that would be fine.

[Claude Patry, NDP, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

I have another question, Mr. Chair.

Canada currently has a high rate of unemployment and many workers are looking for a job to earn a living to support their families. Under the temporary foreign worker program, how do we ensure that there are no qualified Canadians/permanent residents available to do these jobs?

[Bayla Kolk]

That truly is outside of our mandate. I did speak of our racism-free strategy, which is about inclusion. It is not a temporary foreign worker or an immigration program; it is about Canadians who are within those designated groups.

[Claude Patry, NDP, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

Okay.

You spoke earlier about health and safety as it pertains to the programs. Is this monitored by your organization?

[Bayla Kolk]

Yes, it is.

[Claude Patry, NDP, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

What type of monitoring do you do?