Mr. Speaker, on this International Workers Day, I wish to stress the generous contribution of workers to the promotion of their rights and working conditions in our society.
Like them, I feel that labour laws must help in the fight against social injustice. However, that view is not shared by the Liberal government which, during the review of Part II of the Canada Labour Code, refused to include measures allowing for the preventative withdrawal of pregnant or nursing female workers.
This is why, this morning, I tabled in the House a bill to allow pregnant or nursing female workers to avail themselves of the Quebec legislation.
This will eliminate the disparities between the Quebec and Canadian legislation in that regard and ensure adequate protection for pregnant or nursing women by using the Quebec preventative withdrawal model.
This is a concrete and convincing way by which the Bloc Quebecois contributes to workers' social progress and acknowledges a positive measure in Quebec.