moved for leave to introduce Bill C-281, an act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Employment Insurance Act and the Employment Insurance Regulations.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the member for Hamilton Centre, and I are proud to introduce legislation today that would provide, in the event of a bankruptcy, that any back wages, benefits or pension contributions owing to employees would rank first in priority when distributing the assets of the bankrupt company, not at the bottom of the list as is currently the case. The bill puts workers first in the event of a bankruptcy.
It is also necessary to make consequential amendments to the EI Act so that benefits from the distribution of the assets of the bankruptcy are not clawed back as income from EI benefits.
The third element of the bill expedites the process by which employees can seek redress from the directors of the company should there not be enough remaining assets to distribute to make up the back wages, benefits or pension contributions.
It is an important bill. There are 10,000 bankruptcies a year. This is on behalf of Canadians and putting workers first in the House of Commons.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)