Madam Speaker, I move:
That Bill C-64, an act respecting employment equity, be referred forthwith to the Standing Committee on Human Rights and the Status of Disabled Persons.
Madam Speaker, first let me address what I think is an important parliamentary landmark. In this case we are taking a bill after first reading and directing it specifically to a committee so that it can assist in the drafting of the legislation. It is an indication of the kind of parliamentary reform to which our government became committed after the last election. It would give an opportunity for members of Parliament to consult widely with all groups affected by the proposed bill and to ensure it reflects the broad base of concern.
I thank the House leaders for the opportunity to try a bit of a pilot project in bringing the parliamentary system more into the process of legislative development and blueprinting.
The bill warrants that kind of attention. It is in many ways a very significant piece of legislation because it affects 60 per cent of Canadians. It is something that goes to the heart of the whole question of equality in our society, ensuring we try to eliminate as many barriers as possible to prevent people from going to work.
Over 10 years ago when I was in the previous Liberal government as the minister of employment I had occasion to establish a royal commission under Judge Rosalie Abella who looked at the whole question of employment equity and made a number of recommendations. Unfortunately by the time her report was finished the voters had decided to put Liberals in the position of a sabbatical for a period of years and the government that followed only went forward in a partial way to meet the recommendations of the Abella commission.
I am very pleased today, having been part of the initial start on a new regime for employment equity, to be able now to fulfil the recommendations that were originally presented by Judge Abella on how we could work toward the elimination of systemic discrimination in the workplace. By systemic we mean practices, attitudes and developments that have occurred over many years. It does not mean that somebody is being outright bigoted, but it does mean that over time we have allowed the workplace, as we have in many other parts of society, to provide a series of barriers to various kinds of people.
In this case we have four designated groups: disabled Canadians, women, visible minorities and aboriginal people, all of whom feel they have not been able to secure fair, open and equitable access to the workplace.
In the previous legislation the opportunity to enforce and provide a strong sense of direction was not there. It was simply a reporting information based system.
We are undertaking in the legislation a series of very important further steps to complete and to bring up to date the kind of requirements we need to make employment equity really work.
I think this bill is fair, reasonable and very progressive. For the first time, the federal Public Service will be subject to the Employment Equity Act. Also for the first time, the Human Rights Commission will have the authority to ensure that employers meet their obligations. For instance, the commission may conduct audits of all public sector and private sector employers covered by this legislation.
Basically we are responding to the need to make sure there is proper and fair balance among all employers under the federal jurisdiction. For the first time the Public Service of Canada, involving over 250,000 employees, will be brought under the jurisdiction of this act.
It will require obligations to be met by the armed forces, the RCMP and other areas subject to the final discussions of the President of the Treasury Board to work out matters dealing with operational efficiency and effectiveness.
We have also been giving to the Human Rights Commission, an independent agency responsible to Parliament, the right to begin to enforce these actions by giving it a power to undertake workplace audits. Rather than simply being based on some kind of abstract notion, the Human Rights Commission will now have the responsibility of examining in a wide variety of workplaces exactly in what way they are meeting their requirements under the act to ensure that barriers are brought down, hiring practices are fair, training is offered and facilities are reconstructed to meet the specific requirements to ensure equitable, fair and just treatment in the workplace.
It is our primary hope that kind of audit will be done in a fully co-operative way. Up to this point in time we can say that most private employers have co-operated, because they recognize that employment equity is not purely a matter of human rights, as important as it is. It is also good business. It is good to make the best use of human talent and human resources of whatever kind and in whatever place.
There was an interesting article a month or so ago in the American business magazine, Business Week . The title was something we do not normally see on the cover of Business Week . It was entitled ``Inequality''. The point made in the feature article of the magazine was that one of the major deterrents to economic growth in the United States was the increasing inequality in society.
We are moving into an age where the workplace requires more and more investment in human capital, resources, talent and ability. If we have people on the sidelines, if we marginalize people, if we do not draw upon the best talents, we do not have the full resources brought to bear to make a productive society. There is no question there are barriers in the workplace that inhibit and prevent that from happening.
A good example in Canada is how some of our major banks which come under federal jurisdiction have begun in the last couple of years very major programs of minority hiring. I quote a vice-president of one of the major banks who recently noted the benefits of employment equity practices by saying: "It brings into our business an infusion of new ideas, a broader perspective, better decision making and a greater sensitivity to all approaches".
They are finding that employment equity has substantially added to the productivity and the performance not only of designated workers but all workers. By improving the operation of human resource planning, management and development inside the workplace, designed primarily to ensure fairness and openness, it provides avenues and open doorways for all workers to achieve.
That has met the test of efficiency. We know the ideologues will not believe it but people in business understand it. The people who understand how things work will believe it, but those across the way who scrape their knuckles when they walk will not understand it. Those who are in business understand how it works. That is why it receives that kind of support.
We have consulted very widely on this bill. We have talked to business, federal employers, aboriginal groups, labour groups and disabled Canadians; four million Canadians who have one form of disability or another and have been one of the strongest and most effective lobbies to bring about these kinds of changes in employment equity. They recognize that they have enormous talents to give.
As I have said in another context when we talked about social reform, one of the objectives is to bring down barriers so that people for example who are presently disabled now under many social programs in the provinces have to declare themselves unemployable to get a benefit. At the same time there are also barriers in the workplace.
As the federal government we are working to eliminate those barriers in our own workforce and in all those companies and organizations which come under federal jurisdiction.
What we are proposing today is a major step forward that will really have major benefits. It would clearly signal to over 60 per cent of Canadians that we are prepared to move actively on their behalf to secure fair, equal treatment in the workplace.
That is a message that is long overdue and one that will clearly represent a commitment to fairness in society and a more just treatment of all those Canadians who have felt that for reasons which had nothing to do with their talent or ability, but to open up for the first time the real merit principle. There is no merit principle if there are false barriers, false discriminations and false disincentives in the workplace. The real place we find merit is when one is judged on one's merit not by who one is or what one is, but what one can do.
Finally, I also believe that this will substantially aid and enhance the basic economic position of this country. It will mean we will be able to utilize and draw upon the full range of incredible talent this country has in all its people and not say to some they are second class citizens. Everyone is a first class citizen and is a first class worker under this legislation.