Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Hello, colleagues. Thank you for welcoming me once again this morning.
Every time Bill C‑378 get through another stage, I am so pleased because the goal is to make workplaces safer, to stop harassment and violence in the workplace and to ensure employees can exercise their rights. That means former employees, because the bill pertains to them.
Let me begin with a quick reminder. This bill will give former employees more time to lodge a complaint. Since 2021, as a result of the changes made to the Canada Labour Code in 2018 by Bill C‑65, former employees have three months to file a complaint. Three months is better than nothing, but it is hardly any time at all. I think we can all do more to give them more time. The benchmark I used, perhaps selfishly, is the bill I introduced myself when I was Quebec's labour minister, Bill 176 from 2018, which overhauled labour standards in Quebec.
Now we can see that it was a wise choice to allow current and former employees—no distinction is made between the two in Quebec—two years because it has produced results. It has allowed former employees in particular enough time for recourse.
Mr. Ali and Ms. Hong, thank you for being here today and spending some time with us. We will need your input, even though the bill has the unanimous support of all the political parties. That demonstrates how concerned we are with the safety of current and former employees and giving them better working conditions.
Ms. Hong, I would like you to give us an overview of workplaces in the public service and those in the private sector that are federally regulated. In reading the report by your department entitled “Annual Report 2022: Taking action against harassment and violence in workplaces under Canadian federal jurisdiction”, we note that there has been an increase in incidents undermining workplace safety, unfortunately. I am referring to incidents of violence and harassment. Those are also reported in the public service, and in fact I believe the trend is especially strong there.