Evidence of meeting #5 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was families.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:05 p.m.
NDP
Brigitte Sansoucy NDP Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is addressed to Minister Duclos.
In your report, you mentioned that you would be happy to keep the committee abreast of progress on the development of a poverty reduction strategy. Last February 26, I introduced Bill C-245, which was in fact about the development of that strategy. And so I would like to know what has already been achieved, and what remains to be done.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
Thank you for the question.
The first stage began before the end of 2015, when I had the opportunity of discussing things with all of the territorial and provincial ministers by telephone, and of speaking to them about the mandate I had received, which we had announced to the population.
The second stage took place on February 4 and 5 in Edmonton, at the forum of ministers responsible for social services, where we began to discuss this important mandate and the ways of working together to develop this poverty reduction strategy.
Since the beginning of February I have been attending meetings practically every day with the various stakeholders, with a view to making both substantive and rapid progress. But sometimes there is a conflict between speed and substance, and trade-offs may have to be made. We want to do things as quickly as possible, but we also want to do them in the best possible way. With your support, and with the cooperation of all of the members of the committee, we will be able to make both speedy and substantive progress. I will be happy to keep you informed of the progress on that initiative.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley—Aldergrove, BC
I'll be sharing my time with Mr. Genuis.
I just have a couple of quick points, the first in regard to the wait times at Service Canada. I just brought that to your attention. We've received calls from constituents saying it's hard to get through to Service Canada. This is a recent situation, and hopefully you can look at that. The minister's been in government now for half a year, and this is a recent problem. So I don't know what has changed at Service Canada recently, but it is a recent problem.
In talking to the numerous stakeholders in Canada regarding seniors, there is a common request to have a minister for seniors. Now, Minister Mihychuk said that you have a minister for youth—and I believe that is the Prime Minister himself—and previous parliaments have had a minister for seniors. We find ourselves living in a unique time. One in six Canadians is a senior—I'm one of them. There are seniors around this table, Mr. Chair, and it's a growing number. It's one in six right now; in seven years it will be one in five; and in 14 years it will be one in four. There's this major shift in Canada, and Canada does not have a minister for seniors. I'd encourage you to maybe raise that around the cabinet table because it's very important and very concerning for a number of Canadians that there is no minister for seniors.
They are also asking for a national seniors' strategy. To spend money, and a lot of money without a plan.... You must have a target to be able to hit it, and so you must have a strategy. So there's a call for a national seniors' strategy and also a national palliative care strategy. That was supported in the last Parliament by Liberals and Conservatives, and the NDP, the Green Party, and the Bloc. There was almost unanimous support in the last Parliament for a national strategy on palliative care. It's critical. It's needed to take care of our seniors.
One last quick point, and then I'll hand this over to Mr. Genuis.
British Columbia is one of the economic engines in Canada and LNG is the future. We have a number of MPs from British Columbia. LNG is one of the cleanest sources of energy in the world, and if we get LNG—liquefied natural gas—shipped into Asia, it will provide a much cleaner energy source for Asia. Instead of burning coal, they would burn natural gas. It's safe, it creates jobs. What is unique right now is the real concern that you see expressed in B.C. newspapers about the decision on the LNG projects in British Columbia. The opportunity to get these billions of dollars in investments is right now, and there seems to be a delay from the government. I encourage the government, the ministers, to really consider this. If we delay, we may lose this opportunity that would benefit B.C. and Canada.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Mr. Duclos, I want to respond to your comments about income splitting, and then have you respond in turn, if that's all right.
You raised the issue of simplicity, and I find this a little odd because many, if not most, countries in the western world have some form of income splitting, including France, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, and the United States. There are other examples. I think if they can figure it out, we can too. It's pretty simple: families that are making the same family income pay the same rate of taxes.
You said this doesn't help the worst-off. It was a tax fairness measure that was capped, you'll remember, at $2,000 in terms of the benefit it paid out, which ensured that the benefits were proportionately for those at the middle and low end.
Doesn't this comment about the higher marginal tax rate discouraging workforce participation contradict your whole justification for raising taxes on top-income earners? You're raising taxes on top-income earners on the basis, presumably, that it won't have a negative effect on their participation in the workforce and their productivity, and yet in the context of income splitting you're arguing that having that same marginal tax rate on potential new entrants to the workforce has a negative effect. You can't have your cake and eat it too on those points. Right? You have to choose one or the other.
I'd be curious for your comments on those points.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
These are very good questions, but the answers will have to be limited.
Let me take one question and leave the other to Ms. Levonian, who will talk about Service Canada.
On the question on seniors, I think the important thing here is to recognize that the welfare of seniors belongs to all kinds of departments, and I happen to be one of those ministers who has a particularly important role to play in the welfare of seniors. With due respect, in the matter of a few weeks we've done quite a lot for seniors. We've increased the guaranteed income supplement, which benefited 900,000 seniors. We have moved the age eligibility to 65, therefore taking 100,000 seniors out of poverty per year. We have announced $200 million to construct housing for seniors, which is something that is quite important. We've also announced that we're going to index pensions for seniors according to the real costs faced by seniors. It's quite an important array of measures for seniors just in my department.
To have a minister of seniors would have to have visibility advantages, but what is important is that decisive actions are taken by government on this particular aspect. I would prefer to have ministers being decisive in their actions than a minister of seniors just being a communicator and perhaps a press person to sell policies decided and made by others in government. I say this with all due respect, of course, but I have an impression that seniors want actions and decisions as opposed to just media facilitators.
For Service Canada, I would perhaps let Ms. Levonian address that issue.
5:15 p.m.
Louise Levonian Chief Operating Officer, Service Canada, and Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Employment and Social Development
Service to Canadians is obviously something that's very important to Service Canada, as is ensuring quality service. We obviously have service standards, and we monitor them very closely, on Internet, on telephone, and in person. Generally speaking, those service standards are all met. The area of call centres is one where there has been difficulty over the last number of years, but it's not a recent phenomenon.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
As an MP from British Columbia, I feel the need to respond to my colleague on the other side who knows full well that, while we choose not to ram projects through without the proper assessment, LNG has been sent back because it has not met the environmental requirements as of yet, while we have passed the Woodfibre one, which has passed the environmental requirements. I just felt the need to say that.
My question is for Ms. Mihychuk.
I'm a big believer in EI programs. If we hadn't had some of the EI programs, I would not be sitting here as an MP, because seven years ago I could not find a job. I struggled with the middle-age gap; I struggled with wage gaps. I was just like everybody else: I struggled, too. It was self-employment work program that I was able to get on with Douglas College in one of our regions that allowed me to start my own business, which led me to where I am today.
Having said that, while extending the working while on claim pilot project is an important step in connecting individuals to the labour market and integrating EI claimants back into the job market more successfully, I'd like the minister to please elaborate on how this change in the employment insurance system, as well as other changes in support being offered to EI claimants, will support skills training and workers successfully re-entering the workforce.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
MaryAnn Mihychuk Liberal Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
The EI changes we have made are quite extensive. The working while on claim pilot project is one of those that have been going on for over a decade. Actually, it needs some resolution to make it a permanent program, but given that we have phase two coming up, we have decided to renew the pilot for a two-year extension. It will allow Canadians the opportunity to work while on claim, collecting EI benefits, and select the program that works best for them. It's more generous than what was available and will allow them to become familiar with a new career, perhaps, and also allow workplaces to work with those employees.
We've also eliminated discriminatory practices, such as NERE. We've reduced the deductible, giving more money to people upfront when they need it most, to pay the rent, put food on the table, and get a new outfit to go out and find another job.
We've also increased work sharing from 38 weeks to 76 weeks, helping small business, and at the same time reducing EI premiums from $188 to $161. That is 4¢ lower than we projected. I should say that it's projected to be $161; if everything goes as expected, it will be coming in at $161, a significant saving not only to workers, but especially to small businesses and employers. Additionally, we're providing extra help for those areas that, under other circumstances, would have been able to create new jobs more quickly. For those areas, we're extending benefits.
I think the program, through a number of both regular EI changes and special benefits, is there to help people when they need it most.
This is only phase one. There is more coming, including looking at compassionate care, flex time, and parental leave, which I'm excited about. It's a nice time to be looking at the overall program, especially that the committee is looking at providing input to that. That's going to be very important.
Thank you for your work.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
How do you think these particular changes are relevant to the current job market and increased rates of unemployment in particular regions? What do you believe will be some of the tangible outputs we will see from increasing incentives to re-enter the job market and improve skills training for unemployed and under-employed people, even if these may be in sectors that claimants may be less familiar with?
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
MaryAnn Mihychuk Liberal Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
One of the things that Canada has used is the temporary foreign worker program, for example, in those areas where we said we didn't have Canadians. Well, we have a government that is saying that it's Canadians first. It's very important that we provide training and opportunities to those people who are in those regions and who are looking for work.
Most Canadians I know want a job. There are indigenous people who have not worked, not been given an opportunity, and there is our disabled population. They come highly skilled and are willing to work. In addition, there are many women who don't have access to child care and are therefore not able to be active in the workforce. They're forced to take vulnerable jobs.
These changes are a step forward to making Canada the more inclusive country we all want. I think we're going to see increases in opportunities for Canadians, including indigenous Canadians, and young people whose unemployment rate is more than double that of the regular population. As they're educated, they still can't find work. This is an untenable situation that must be addressed. So we're going to see more people in the workplace and a more modern, flexible, and compassionate Canada.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
I would like to address that point you raised, Minister, of the particular situation that young people are facing in the job market and the rise in precarious work. Right now we know that about 39% of young people are facing precarious work. This is, of course, beyond the fact that we also have many young people who are simply unemployed.
One of the pieces, of course, that comes with precarity is the inability to access the social safety net. Many young people are unable to access EI because they simply don't have enough hours.
We've heard from many stakeholders, including the Canadian Labour Congress, the CCPA, and many others, who've talked about the need for a universal threshold of 360 hours. I'm wondering if this is something your government is looking at, to meet people where they're at in the current job market.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
MaryAnn Mihychuk Liberal Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
In budget 2016, we were able to increase the work experience. Employers will often say that young people need more experience and more training. We're able to provide more access to post-secondary education, more co-op opportunities, more apprenticeships, and more summer jobs where they can get real hands-on experience.
We're also eliminating the situation whereby young people would have to work sometimes twice as much as an average Canadian. That discriminatory action has been eliminated. Young people are going to work. We expect to see a change.
That's exactly why we have a minister for youth. The situation for young people is serious and deserves attention, and I'm very proud to be with a government that understands that.
5:25 p.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Just quickly, and still on the issue of precarity, we know that just recently an Ontario court came out with a decision on the Keenan v. Canac Kitchens Ltd. case. In that case the Ontario labour code was forced to look at the definition of “contractor”.
Given the situation that many people face in Canada right now in being defined as independent contractors and therefore being unable to access EI, I'm wondering what steps your department is taking to bring the labour code up to speed to make sure that precarious workers working on contract in workplaces under federal jurisdiction are able to access programs such as EI, but are also granted the same protections as other workers. Again, that's on the issue of workplace safety as well.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
MaryAnn Mihychuk Liberal Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
I want to thank the member for her question. She's obviously well read and knows these files very well.
On the issue of contributions and benefits to contractors, I'm going to pass it over to the deputy minister of labour. This is an area that is in my mandate and that we intend to work on, but I'll ask the deputy minister to give us a quick update.
April 11th, 2016 / 5:25 p.m.
Lori Sterling Deputy Minister of Labour, Department of Employment and Social Development
Thank you for your question on precarious work.
As you know, part III of the Canada Labour Code deals with labour standards. The court case dealt with who is entitled to wages upon dismissal. Minister Mihychuk has it explicitly in her mandate that she is to work together with Minister Duclos as part of the poverty reduction agenda. They are to review, as it says specifically in her mandate, “the Fairness at Work” report, which has in it several recommendations related to precarious work.
5:25 p.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
That's great.
I'm guessing at what the timeline is for that review.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
5:25 p.m.
Deputy Minister of Labour, Department of Employment and Social Development
On the timeliness of the review, we intend to start consulting on it. The report, as you may well know, is from 2006, and some of the recommendations have already been implemented. I think we're going to take our time in the fall to consult and then get directions on a future agenda.
