Madam Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois was amazed to see that the definition of health, as amended in committee, with the support of the Liberal member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik, was changed in the bill at the report stage.
This unacceptable correction to the work done in committee is designed, and this cannot be said in any other way, to deny pregnant or nursing women workers adequate protection, regardless of the other provisions of this bill.
The definition of “risk”, to someone who has worked in occupational health and safety, influences the decisions made at various stages by experts, bosses and adjudicators. This is out of the minister's hands.
Our parliamentary responsibility is to read the texts. What, then, was this amendment passed in committee? I will read it.
It read:
“danger” means any hazard or condition that could reasonably be expected to cause injury or illness to a person exposed thereto—
But the following was added:
—including a woman who is pregnant or nursing and to the foetus of a pregnant woman—
These words are no longer in the bill at the report stage.
It read further:
—includes any exposure to working conditions that are likely to be dangerous to nursing mothers—
That too, which had been added and adopted by the committee with the support of a Liberal member, was withdrawn. This concerns me.
It means that, when the government says it will do something, it turns around and undoes it. Nobody better try to tell me that this is not significant, it is. What is incomprehensible once again is that this was passed by the committee.
Clearly it was not done to get the Bloc Quebecois to give the bill more support. We do not deny that, in some respects, the government tried to make improvements, but as concerns the health of pregnant or nursing women, the bill is far from what it ought to be.
This explains why, later on, we will introduce an amendment to enable working women in Quebec and the other provinces, at least, if they have better provisions, to benefit from Quebec's legislation and that of the other provinces, if they are better.
Under these conditions, the Bloc Quebecois is fiercely opposed to the bill. Women workers have long been waging these battles. It is unacceptable that women are not on an equal footing in a province like Quebec. Within a single establishment, women, because they are pregnant or nursing, have a plan that protects them, that protects the fetus or the child, and in other instances, there is no such plan. This is unacceptable.