Human Resources Committee on Sept. 24th, 2026

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

It's a long list. I met with every industry you can think of, with the Canadian Construction Association, and, of course, with my alma mater. I did my aerospace training at BCIT, one of the premier aerospace institutions in this country, and I have a strong relationship there.

To complement some of the work that government is doing with respect to supporting our skilled trades institutions through different apprenticeship pieces, along the way I've continued to have a lot of conversations with them to help develop this.

As I mentioned to our colleague before this, much of the conversation I had was about the varying challenges that are happening between industry standards in different jurisdictions. Again, it's ensuring that people have that ability. It came from so many different trades industries: electrical, mechanical workers and plumbers. If you look at some of the big pieces we're working on in British Columbia, such as the expansion of the port there, there are several skilled trades that work at the port, such as mechanics, etc.

I've had several conversations along the way and, really, many of the pieces in this bill come from those conversations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Harrison. Your combined time is up.

Ms. Larouche, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Bains, I have some more questions about your bill and I'm going to tell you a bit about why I voted the way I did yesterday.

Chapter 7 of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, which covers labour mobility, already provides for the recognition of diplomas and trades. These arrangements are negotiated in good faith between the provinces with federal participation. From that perspective, your bill could be seen as centralizing because it would enable the federal government to assume powers it doesn't have. It could also be seen as paternalistic towards Quebec because it would prescribe an approach for a province that already possesses the expertise required to train workers.

Lastly, the Government of Quebec is asking for what it has previously requested: an unconditional transfer of the funding announced in the 2026 spring economic update and the team Canada strong initiative for training skilled trades workers. The 2026 spring economic update allocates $2 billion over five years starting in 2026‑27 and $262 million per year after that.

What are your thoughts on Quebec's request for an unconditional transfer?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

The translation cut out at the final part.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Ms. Larouche, can you repeat your question?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Just repeat that final part.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

In light of my two comments, first, what are your thoughts on chapter 7, which already covers labour mobility?

Second, what are your thoughts on Quebec's request for an unconditional transfer?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

I think if we go back to a previous answer I provided to you.... You're continuing to indicate that there's no level of respect there. The consultation in itself allows for the work to be done together and for making sure that not only the standards but, if you look at the funding you're talking about—the apprenticeship program, etc.—it's available for everyone and not just unionized, but non-unionized. Any employer can provide that. The Government of Quebec, even in 1995, acknowledged in the Canada-Quebec labour market agreement at that time that this was needed.

This is not an intrusive piece of legislation, which is what you're trying to indicate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Larouche.

Mr. Bexte, you have five minutes.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to sub in today on the HUMA committee. I look forward to an interesting discussion on this private member's bill.

Congratulations, MP Bains, for presenting a bill. That is a milestone in any parliament.

I do have questions, though. Regardless of the nobility or the objectivity of the work, I'm very concerned about accountability and unintended consequences. Often what we do and what we implement results in exactly the opposite happening, so I would like to dig into that a little.

I would suppose your effort is to look at differences or at least provide a forum across provinces to address the differences in their accreditation systems, but provincial standards are often designed for their specific local needs and requirements, or at least we can presuppose that. You want to avoid a race to the bottom. That would not be a good thing either.

By harmonizing to a higher standard, might we not introduce a barrier to labour mobility by overshooting the requirements?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

That's a possibility for sure if we're looking at a higher standard, but ultimately, if the goal is to ensure that different jurisdictions can meet occupational safety or health standards, whatever the industry standards are for whichever profession we're talking about, it's not about overshooting. It's about complementing one another. I think that's the key.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I appreciate that, but that again is the nature of an unintended consequence. We haven't accounted for that. We haven't looked at that specifically to see how we're going to attend to it.

I guess it comes down to another question about how you are going to measure success. Are there any particular metrics on current mobility versus new mobility and what happens if we don't reach that target?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

At this moment, if we're trying to build the things we're trying to build as a nation, we understand the challenges that we're facing and we have to meet the moment. The objective for us right now is to ensure that we can build the things we need to build. We have to respect and look not only at jurisdictions but at each industry, and the leaders of those industries will be participating in the process.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

We're diverting from the thrust of the question, which is measurability. You have a technical background. I assume you can appreciate the notion that you can't improve what you don't measure. This is an axiom in engineering, science and other areas of applied research. What are we going to measure to evaluate the success of this legislation? What are we going to measure to say that our efforts were worth it or not?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

I think that's a fair question. It requires careful monitoring. What you're asking may be an outcome of the consultation. I mean, ultimately, I think a failure to the imminent is sort of a self-defeating thing. We have to keep working towards this. That's why consultations are important. I think if you look at the different people who will be working towards this, we'll need to meet those standards.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

If this doesn't work or achieve any measurable success, or if the conflicts that arise out of it interprovincially are insurmountable, then what? What are the consequences?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Do you know what? I think the key thing to look at here is that we need to find the strength in leadership and ensure that it does work.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Fair enough.

I'll cede my time, Chair. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

You have 21 seconds left.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I'll cede my time to Mr. Genuis.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Go ahead, Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

What's your position on the decision of the government to cancel completion grants for trades workers earlier this year, introduce uncertainty and then reinstate them later?

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Are you talking about completion grants for apprentices?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Exactly...yes.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Again, to Mr. Bexte's comments, we need to ensure that we're rewarding people who are completing things.