Health committee  I guess the question is what the appropriate piece of legislation is to deal with that. The Minister of Labour and the Non-smokers' Health Act are looking at occupational spaces, so where is the workplace and what are generally public spaces? The question would be what the approp

Health committee  I did want to say that through the jurisprudence they actually have somewhat defined what a safety sensitive position is. It's: A safety-sensitive job can be characterized as one in which incapacity due to drug or alcohol impairment could result in direct and significant risk o

Human Resources committee  Currently under part II of the Canada Labour Code, on occupational health and safety, we have 97 health and safety officers across the country.

Human Resources committee  Yes.

Human Resources committee  I don't know what the rationale for the government was, but at the time, the introduction of the ability for the minister to determine that a complaint would be frivolous, vexatious, or in bad faith was associated with the changes regarding the refusal-to-work process. If a refus

Human Resources committee  Are you speaking about the change from a designation model to a delegation model?

Human Resources committee  Yes, that was brought in at that time.

Human Resources committee  The officers that are put in place are delegated by the minister. Those officers are trained to make sure they consider facts, make impartial decisions, and ensure that those decisions are put in place. That's the approach that's taken currently with the cadre of officers with re

Human Resources committee  Employers would be required to potentially pay for a competent person if it was an outside third party and if there was an associated cost.

Human Resources committee  There isn't anything in the legislation with respect to reporting to Parliament, but there would be reporting to the labour program. Right now employers are required to report, on an annual basis, issues of serious injuries and fatalities in the workplace. The legislation envis

Human Resources committee  That's something we'll have to determine through the regulatory process.

Human Resources committee  Currently, in terms of the reporting with regard to the information the labour program receives now on incidents of injuries and fatalities, a report is rolled up and made available on the labour program's website.

Human Resources committee  That's not something that's included in the legislation, but as part of normal practices in the department, there are evaluations and audits done on programs. It's possible that in the future an evaluation or audit that would be done in the occupational health and safety program

Human Resources committee  I don't have that number in front of me. I'd have to get back to you.

Human Resources committee  There will be more knowledge and interest with regard to the legislation once we start doing some of the consultations on regulations. Before the end of the fiscal year, we intend to speak to stakeholders and others about their experiences so that we can understand the specifics