Mr. Chair, I think the more we're discussing this, the more we're actually seeing the necessity to have it in place. If there is no contradiction between the Canada Labour Code and the Aeronautics Act, then it is advisable to have that option available to employees. It is an option. The specific wording of the amendment is “may make a complaint in writing”. It gives an avenue for that employee. It's “may make”. It's not an absolute; it's not a requirement. It is an option that employees have.
Very clearly, the Canada Labour Code needs to govern the discussions that take place at this level. Otherwise if an employee is punished, if that employee is disciplined, if that employee is dismissed, what we have is the SMS, because this is, as Mr. Bélanger correctly identifies, within the SMS systems of the act. We have what we received two weeks ago: the enterprise manager's simplified event review process of SMS-related non-compliance events.
So was there a contravention of the Aeronautics Act? Yes. Was this contravention committed by a person or enterprise governed by an SMS? Yes. Was the contravention internally reported and documented within the enterprise? Yes. Was the contravention committed intentionally by the enterprise? Yes. We lead to “the enterprise manager submits within 12 months a detection notice to aviation enforcement”.
If what we are doing is setting up a system—a very long, convoluted system—for an employee who has lost their job as a result of actions that we are trying to protect against by reinforcing certain provisions of this bill, then in a very real sense an employer can take disciplinary action against the employee. It may be in a couple of years. The company may be fined. Maybe the employee can go to court. But there is no protection. There is no internal system that allows that employee to reach out in an immediate way. The amendment here offers a 90-day timeline so the employee can move through the Canada Labour Code, through the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
It is not something that requires them to go to court. It is not something that requires them to simply trust in Transport Canada. It is something the employees themselves can do. That system of checks and balances we should want to see within Bill C-6, because certainly that's what witnesses called for: a system of checks and balances.
So what the amendments do is establish that system of checks and balances and give an option to the employee. It's not an obligation; “may make” is an option for employees to take, so that employees have the ability to move through an existing process and protect their job when they have been disciplined or dismissed unduly.
It doesn't make sense for us to set up a series of checks and balances but have in the end no ability for the employee to do anything except either trust in Transport Canada or essentially go through the court system. That makes no sense, because what it does is allow for a hollow shell. We're essentially saying to the employees, “We don't really want any actions to be taken against you, but if the actions are taken against you, we're not going to leave you with any options.”
I think to be consistent with what we have discussed thus far in the committee--Mr. Laframboise's amendment, the Liberal amendments that have come forward, and even the government's own amendments--we need a process for those employees, and that's what this amendment provides for.