Madam Speaker, New Democrats are committed to challenging all forms of discrimination that prevent full participation in our economy. Although updates to the Employment Equity Act are long overdue, they still will not be under the tree this year.
On Monday, the Employment Equity Act review task force released its recommendations to include Black Canadians and 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians in the federal Employment Equity Act as listed groups. The task force notes that, while Canada has shown leadership on other 2SLGBTQI+ issues, we are lagging behind other parts of the world on employment equity. It also notes that transpeople are particularly at risk of employment discrimination and resulting poverty.
The White Paper on the Status of Trans and Gender Diverse People, which has the support of the Canadian Labour Congress, also recommends this addition to the Employment Equity Act. All it would take would be to add eight words to include both of these groups.
After over a year of consultations, the labour minister needs to table legislation to get this done.