The last part of the bill deals with pilot projects. Although the pilot projects are not uninteresting or bad as such, this is problematic in this context. As we said at the beginning, the Canada Labour Code is lagging behind other labour codes and the situation prevailing everywhere in terms of preventing all forms of harassment and violence. Having pilot projects could delay the adoption of regulations that would put in place protection measures. Since we are already behind schedule, we should ensure that the pilot projects do not prevent us from moving forward on the legislative and regulatory front. So we should not have pilot projects, because we urgently need a bill.
In conclusion, we would like to say that the bill is welcome in that it is aimed at integrating provisions into Part II of the code that would prevent and allow for intervention in situations of violence or harassment. However, we must insist on the importance of including provisions that define rights and obligations with regard to harassment and violence in the code, instead of in the body of regulations. As I said earlier, this is all the more true for the definitions of these concepts.
Moreover—of course, we are a union—we believe that preventing and protecting against violence and harassment in the workplace cannot be done effectively without employee participation through policy committees, workplace committees, and health and safety representatives. This is a workplace issue.