Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here today to discuss this very important issue. I can perhaps shorten the length of the wait.
I too was happy to join the Minister of Public Services and Procurement in meeting with the national president of CUPW and several of his colleagues to discuss this very issue. They presented us with a number of specific allegations and, of course, also made a number of general observations with respect to harassment and bullying in the workplace.
This is something that we take very seriously. In announcing our new vision for Canada Post, where we kept our promises around home delivery, where we kept our promise to renew the board of Canada Post, and kept our promise to change the leadership at Canada Post, we also made sure that we put the accent on improving the labour-management climate at Canada Post. We frankly agree that a healthy workplace is the sign of a healthy corporation, and that all sides, labour, management, and others, have an obligation to work together to create a harmonious work environment, free of bullying, free of harassment, for everyone.
Canada Post is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace, free from harassment, conflict, and violence. We must adopt a systematic approach to addressing reported cases of harassment. Canada Post is committed to addressing these cases quickly, professionally, and discretely.
Canada Post has implemented and is actively promoting workplace policies that reinforce this commitment. Employees have been provided with access to a toll-free hotline, managed by a third party, and are encouraged to call to report any kind of workplace incident.
As the Prime Minister said in Winnipeg, harassment, threats, and bullying are never ok, in any workplace in this country. He takes harassment at a crown corporation, within the responsibility of the federal government, extremely seriously, as we all do. We are at a critical time in our society, during which sexual harassment is finally a top priority.
That is why our government introduced Bill C-65. This bill, which is currently being considered in the other place, will create a more robust regime that better addresses harassment and violence in all federally regulated workplaces, including, of course, Canada Post. This legislation is part of a comprehensive strategy focused on three main goals: to prevent incidents of harassment and violence from occurring; to respond effectively to these incidents when they do occur; and to support victims, survivors, and employers in the process.
We are very proud of the progress we have made at Canada Post and working with our partners in the labour unions. We want to ensure that Canada Post continues to have a bright future. That is why we have renewed the board of directors. That is why we are renewing and will continue to renew the management of Canada Post. As well, that is why we are proud to stand here to say that we are with the employees in their desire to have a harmonious and productive workplace at Canada Post and, indeed, everywhere.