Madam Speaker, it is with pleasure that I rise today to speak on Bill C-64. The purpose of this bill is to achieve equality in the workplace and to correct conditions of disadvantage experienced by certain groups, including women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.
This new act will replace the existing act, which was passed in 1986. It will apply to federally regulated employers and Crown corporations that employ one hundred or more employees.
The bill will extend the scope of the legislation to include the public service of Canada. It is a good idea to extend the scope of such a major piece of legislation. Perhaps it should be extended to all employers in the private sector, all employers in the public service of Canada and all portions of the public sector that employ not 100, but 75 employees, including the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Parliament and every federally regulated agency, commission and board.
The legislation requires the employer to implement employment equity by either eliminating barriers against persons in designated groups or by making such reasonable accommodations as will ensure that these persons achieve a degree of representation that reflects their representation in the Canadian workforce.
However, the obligation to implement employment equity does not require an employer to take measures that would cause him or her undue hardship.
This means that the employer is free to comply or not. With the help of legal counsel, the employer can easily demonstrate that hiring a person with a disability, for example, will cause undue hardship. The onus will rest with the employee. Who will dare challenge an employer who does not comply with the act?
We cannot say that much progress have been made in terms of employment equity since 1970, after the Commission of Inquiry on the Status of Women in Canada tabled its report. In fact, hardly any progress has been made.
Later attempts, in 1984 and 1986, were scarcely more successful. In 1993, aboriginal people accounted for some 2 per cent of the federal public service workforce; persons with disabilities, 3 per cent; members of visible minorities, 3 per cent, and women, 46 per cent, but were confined in lower-paid and precarious jobs.
Women account for only 17 per cent of the executive group, while the disabled, Natives and visible minorities have not yet reached the executive level. Representation is almost nil. The majority of them hold office, sales or service jobs.
It is too little too late, as the new legislation does not set any specific objectives for the department. Everything is left to the minister's discretion. This is a government panicked by unemployment, an increasingly challenged social program reform, phoney pre-budget consultations, casual budget preparation, cuts in essential services instead of fat-trimming, a caucus divided on several issues, including the Young Offenders Act, the firearms registration legislation, the amendment to the Canadian Charter prohibiting any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation, whether or not Quebec members should get involved in Quebec's referendum debate, the next Cabinet shuffle where many are called but few are chosen, and an anti-scab bill which is not forthcoming. I could go on and on about the differences of opinion within the Liberal caucus only a year after they came to office.
So the government tried to regain its prestige by introducing a bill. This employment equity bill, however, still creates dissension, the minister aiming for the status quo while other members join the Bloc Quebecois in asking the government to broaden the scope of the Employment Equity Act.
The guiding principle of the bill should be that anyone working for, subsidized by or doing business with the federal government or one of its boards, agencies or commissions is subject to the bill. We must go further. Employment equity policies should have been adopted a long time ago.
The minister thinks he can meet his objectives while the federal government is cutting its workforce. He will have trouble carrying out his plans in this era of cutbacks and hiring freezes. The minister's pensive expression in this morning's newspapers explains everything. In addition to the reform being
challenged, he is now faced with a bill showing his intention to maintain the status quo.
A sovereign Quebec will defend vigorously equal opportunities for women, disabled, natives, visible minorities and men.
These groups are still far from occupying their rightful places and enjoying the same conditions in most areas of public life. A higher proportion of these groups live in poverty. Their income remains lower than that of men, in general.
A sovereign Quebec will resolutely fight poverty by going to the root of the problem. Yes, it is possible to break the vicious circle of poverty and dependency, provided we increase employability without making distinctions between categories of people.
Why do we have to implement an act to restore a natural right? These people are victims of the current political system, with its inconsistent tax measures affecting the groups targeted by this bill, and duplication, because two levels of government operate in fields such as manpower training and family support.
Through sovereignty, Quebec will be able to patriate and restructure programs, so as to develop an efficient and consistent policy for these groups, namely women, aboriginal and disabled people, as well as visible minorities.
It goes without saying that the scope of the act must be extended. The federal government must really take concrete action regarding this depressing climate of discrimination experienced by women and the other groups targeted in the legislation. This part of our labour force has the right to take its place. We must strive to achieve equality and social justice. This is why the Bloc will introduce amendments to this bill, when it is examined in committee.