Thank you, Chair. Thank you, committee, for having me here today. I'm pleased to be here to speak to you on behalf of FETCO about Bill C-65.
By way of background, I should tell you that FETCO stands for Federally Regulated Employers—Transportation and Communications. That's a mouthful, so we usually go by the acronym of FETCO. Our members are all federally regulated firms in the transportation and communications sectors. We've existed as an employers' association for over 30 years. We are generally large employers in the federal sector, encompassing nearly 500,000 employees and representing well-known firms such as Air Canada, Bell, CN, CP Railway, and Telus, to name a few. Our members are almost exclusively predominantly unionized firms, and we have a rich history of tripartite collaboration within the federal sector.
Our key message today is this: FETCO members are highly supportive of the spirit and intent of Bill C-65. We support the minister's commitment to ensure employees have access to an efficient and effective process when they bring forward complaints of violence or harassment in the workplace.
Canadian workplaces should be free from harassment and violence, period. To this end, our member organizations typically have in place workplace policies that are already largely consistent with the process that will henceforth be mandated under part II of the Canada Labour Code via this bill. We are committed to doing all that we can as employers to improve these processes where deficiencies might exist.
FETCO members applaud the minister and senior officials from ESDC on the work completed to date on this matter, especially related to the comprehensive consultation that has been undertaken over the past 18 months, which we expect will continue once the bill becomes law. This bill, I believe, in fact comes from that consultation. The consultation work dates back to June 2016. In tripartite meetings held on harassment in the workplace, FETCO members noted that government has heard and subsequently responded to concerns raised by key stakeholders. Bill C-65 acknowledges these concerns, which are related to the protection of privacy in the process, the role of the workplace committees, and the responsibilities of the ESDC health and safety officers.
FETCO members also appreciate that government has chosen to provide a broad framework via this piece of legislation but to allow some of the details to be worked out by the parties via the regulatory process. As an example, we are pleased to see that the definition of “harassment” will be tackled by a regulation, thereby allowing two things: first, that the definition can be revised on an ongoing basis in a more seamless manner via a regulatory review; and second, that key stakeholders—of note, representatives from both the labour and business communities—can be involved in developing these important definitions.
FETCO's review of Bill C-65 has resulted in two specific concerns that we hope your committee can consider in your ongoing review of the bill. In fact, I think it's fair to say that our concerns are probably more on the operationalization of the bill through the regulatory process, but I'd like to raise them at this table nonetheless.
First, we would appreciate it if the government provided greater clarity on the potential intersection of this new ESDC harassment process under Bill C-65 with the investigatory powers of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Our hope is that there would be a single clearly defined process for all harassment complaints. Bill C-65 and the Canadian Human Rights Act provide dual opportunities for such complaints. Each, however, has specific language that could refuse complaints that are being heard elsewhere. It would add certainty if government provided clear direction that these clauses would be used when dual complaints on essentially the same issue are filed.
Second, Bill C-65 speaks to the appointment of a competent person to investigate all harassment and/or violence complaints. We request that government provide greater clarity on this process, as there is already some confusion in this space under the current violence investigation process. Specifically, we request that government acknowledge competent persons can be employees in the organization in question and that the employer would retain the ultimate responsibility for appointing the competent person, as long as they meet the clear criteria that are outlined under regulation. The process should not necessarily default to an outside investigator.
In conclusion, I'd like to repeat our key message: Canadian workplaces should be free from harassment and violence, period. FETCO members are highly supportive of the spirit and intent of Bill C-65. Our members' current practices generally align with this bill. We support the minister's commitment to ensure that employees have access to an efficient and effective process when they bring forward complaints of violence or harassment in the workplace. We are pleased to be part of this solution.
Thank you.