Mr. Benzen, good to see you. We followed some of your journey yesterday. It was a bit shaky, but it's good to see you in person.
Let me assure you, first of all, and on a personal note, throughout the pandemic, for most of it because conditions were better here in Newfoundland than in most of the country, my husband was running a restaurant. I heard about the costs, sometimes onerous costs, on businesses, and how government programs were affecting his business every day.
I'll say that in a colloquial way, but I can also tell you that, from our department's point of view, we pride ourselves in not only spending time with stakeholders, unions and organized labour, but speaking to employers equally as well. Taking both of those perspectives into consideration is incredibly important.
As I said before, and I'll say it again, the last two years have shown us what the cost of not acting now could be: productivity loss, quarantine, shutdowns, lockdowns. The economic cost of inaction is far greater. That said, we recognize there could be a significant cost to employers based on how this is implemented. We also recognize that employers have unique needs. We need to engage with stakeholders, with employers directly and with workers as we move toward implementation.
We committed to convening the provinces and territories to develop that national plan, because it's not just about federal workers. It's about strengthening the social safety net for workers across Canada, and not just employers within federal jurisdictions but, obviously, those within provincial and territorial jurisdictions as well.
We have to get it right, and we need to get it done. I don't mean to be sweeping in that, but we know what a lockdown has done.