Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak briefly on Bill C-20. In particular I would like to speak on a whistleblowing amendment which the committee was dealing with.
Before I do that I want to pay tribute to my colleague from Nickel Belt who has been working with me on this issue for quite some time. If not for his excellent work on this issue in the very early stages, I do not think we would have been able to see this amendment before the House as part of Bill C-20, legislation which will hopefully sail through the House of Commons early this afternoon.
I want to thank him because I know his constituents will be as happy as my constituents and consumers all across the country when they see that the government has taken action on important issues dealing with consumer rights. It deals also with the question of the ability of the consumer or a member of a corporation or an organization to speak out when they see something wrong taking place in their place of work or within their organizations.
The amendment deals with everything under the Competition Act. Any organization already covered by the Competition Bureau or by a federal statute, this amendment deals with them.
The motivation behind it really has to deal with the question of gasoline prices, the oil industry across the country as well as with people who either work or have anything to do with those types of industries.
It has three components to it. It is a whistleblowing amendment. In other words, an employee or a retailer can speak out when he sees something wrong.
In the past when we had a consumer, a worker or a retailer who wanted to speak out they went before the Competition Bureau, which remained confidential up to a point.
At some point in the process that confidentiality cannot be maintained because they will have to bring the name of the individual forward before the court.
This legislation makes it imperative that the identity of the individual who brings forward information to the Competition Bureau remains confidential.
The other element of the proposal deals with prohibition. In the past many retailers or employees of companies feared reprisal. They were afraid that if they were to speak out and if their employer found out these individuals would take action against them and would at some point let them go.
This amendment prohibits employers or contractors from dismissing or retaliating against someone who speaks out if that person is under the belief that something wrong or something illegal has taken place.
There is a third component to this proposal which deals with offence and punishment. This amendment would make it a criminal offence for an employer or a contractor to take action against an employee because this employee or retailer has spoken out.
What this government is doing is sending a very strong message across the country to those who are thinking about playing around with the consumer and also to those who know of someone who is doing something illegal. This government is telling those who are trying to do something wrong that it is a criminal offence and the government will take action against them. This government is telling consumers and retailers who might be speaking out that it will defend their right to speak out.
It is a great day for our democracy because now, for once and for all, we can say we have another loophole that we have closed. In the past we had many people who phoned our offices and told us they could not speak out because of fear. This amendment deals with this.
At the same time this amendment sends an unequivocal signal from coast to coast to say that we want to see fairness in the marketplace, we want to see transparency in the marketplace and we want to see consumers protected in the marketplace.
This amendment would not have seen the light of day if not for the assistance of my colleague from Nickel Belt as well as the parliamentary secretary, the staff members of the department who have co-operated at every level and the people in the Competition Bureau who came forward and responded to questions that were posed to them by members of the committee.
I want to say how delighted I was to have been able to join the industry committee which has adopted this amendment unanimously. I thank every member, including the chair, for a job very well done. It crossed all the boundary lines of both sides of the House and every one of my colleagues has supported it.
To that extent I want to say it is excellent news and I want to tell my colleague from Nickel Belt congratulations, felicitations and good luck. It is my hope that this bill will become law very quickly, go to the Senate and receive royal assent so we can get on with the business of this House to deal with other issues.