“This past year has had an additional element of tragedy for workers, with so many frontline and essential employees losing their lives or becoming seriously ill due to COVID-19,” said Green Party Leader Annamie Paul. “The pandemic has laid bare the dangers the daily dangers workers face to provide us with goods and services, and we must do more to protect them.

“Many of those who put themselves in harm’s way during this pandemic are the very people who ensured that the rest of us received the care, food, transportation and vital services that kept our society functioning. Unable to work from home, with the measure of safety that would provide, these people had to face the daily anxiety and uncertainty brought on by this terrible health crisis. Worse, many of them were unable to get paid sick leave, or adequate childcare. We all owe them a debt of gratitude, and we also owe them the protection of being vaccinated without delay.

“The Green Party will continue to strive for policies that better protect workers, and today we focus on remembering those whose lives have been irrevocably changed because of their work. Our thoughts are with all the families, friends and communities who have lost loved ones, or who continue to live with the impacts of work-related injuries and illness.”

# # #

For more information or to arrange an interview:

Rosie Emery

Press Secretary

613-562-4916×206

rosie.emery@greenparty.ca

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OTTAWA – International Workers’ Day, known internationally as Labour Day and May Day is celebrated by workers around the world to honour the contribution that workers make to society.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the immense daily contributions of millions of essential and frontline workers to ensure our collective wellbeing and safety. Health care workers, grocery store employees, municipal workers, delivery staff, agricultural and food processing workers, transportation workers, teachers, childcare personnel, telecom employees and so many more.

“This crisis has underscored the fact that many of the workers who are risking their lives to care for us aren’t paid enough,” said Green Party Interim Leader Jo-Ann Roberts. “These are the unsung heroes and heroines of this pandemic. Once we move into the recovery phase, we need to make sure this changes so that essential workers receive fair and equitable wages.”

Ms. Roberts pointed out that the Green Party has long argued that Canada needs a universal Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) program to replace the current patchwork of income supports, such as disability payments, social assistance and income supplements for seniors. Payment would be set at a “livable” level for different regions of the country. “We need to ensure that all Canadians have their basic living needs met. GLI would bolster the incomes of those workers currently earning minimum wage,” said Ms. Roberts.

“The tragedy we are seeing in seniors homes across the country is a direct result of the lack of respect for the workers who do this vital work,” said Green caucus labour critic Paul Manly (MP, Nanaimo-Ladysmith). “One care home in my riding changed owners multiple times and each time the workers were laid off, the union was decertified, and then the workers were re-hired part-time at lower wages with no benefits. This tactic was repeated in privately owned care-homes across the country. Workers with part-time jobs in multiple care homes have led to the rapid spread of Covid 19 in these long-term care homes.”

Mr Manly said that International trade has created a race to the bottom for workers rights, wages and safety. “With each trade agreement that Canada has signed we have seen the hollowing out of our manufacturing sector as good paying jobs go overseas to countries with lower wages and standards,” he said. “In this crisis we are seeing the consequences of globalization. We rely on other countries for personal protective equipment for health care workers, for pharmaceuticals and even for food through the globalized supply chain.”

Mr. Manly noted that the new labour chapter in CUSMA (NAFTA 2.0) is a step in the right direction. “It protects the rights of workers in Mexico and brings their standards up towards the standards in Canada and the US. Respecting workers rights and the value that workers bring to our communities is a key lesson coming out of this COVID-19 crisis.”

# # #

For more information or to arrange an interview:

Rosie Emery

Press Secretary

613-562-4916×206

rosie.emery@greenparty.ca

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Overall I am supportive of the bill, but the part that troubles me is that it seems to be creating new duties on employees. According to proposed section 205.026, “Every employee at a workplace…shall take all reasonable measures to protect their own health and safety….” That is certainly appropriate, but does it create a legal hurdle to an eventual court case? For instance, if we were to have a tragic replay of a helicopter crash, which I hope we never will, would the employees’ conduct and execution of due diligence in protecting their own health stand as an obstacle to their pursuing a remedy?

Matthew Dube: Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her question. In these situations, we are really thinking about workers’ compensation.

I am not a lawyer—that may be an answer we often hear in the House—but I know that we have conducted an analysis and that we have considered that question. For example, the hon. member for St. John’s East has done a lot of work on this file.

When a bill seeks to make things easier for workers, the main thing is that they be given better tools. The legal processes that are in place will perhaps pose certain challenges, but once again, our priority is the health and safety of workers. In this regard, we are comfortable with the content of this bill, as long as the shortcomings that I mentioned in my speech and those that will certainly be raised in committee are taken into account. For now, this bill is a step in the right direction.

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“With the increase in back-to-work legislation, the collective bargaining process is at risk of being rendered ineffectual,” said May.

“Labour rights are human rights,” said Ms. May, “The Supreme Court has ruled that the right to collective bargaining is a constitutional right guaranteed and protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

The Harper Government has forced back-to-work legislation five times in the past five years: for Air Canada, Canada Post, and the Canadian National Railway.

“There is a disturbing trend where as soon as worker’s begin to organize, the Harper Government swoops in and forces everyone back to work.  It would be more appropriate for the government to allow the employers and unions to at least try to come to an agreement before such drastic measures are taken,” said May.

“It is not the federal government’s role to undermine negotiations. This has been happening far too often,” said May.

The Green Party of Canada supports pay equity and every worker’s right to fair wages, healthy and safe working conditions as well as working hours compatible with a good quality of life.

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The mainstream media is marking its report cards for the one-year anniversary under Harper Conservative majority rule. The bromides are calming—the Globe and Mail editorial gives the Conservative majority a positive spin—“more ups than downs”—while its reporter, John Ibbitson, wrote a piece nearly oozing with reverence for the prime minister.

It is clear we all have our biases. I only entered politics back in 2006 because I feared what a Harper minority government would do to decades of environmental law and policy. I have been very critical of the cuts to climate science, retreat from Kyoto commitments, and sabotage of climate negotiations internationally since 2006. But with that bias out in the open, I believe the last year has been the most devastating in Canadian history for parliamentary democracy, for charter rights, to collective bargaining and trade union rights, for evidence-based public policy, and for environmental law and protection. And, of course, the damage to climate policy was accelerated.

Here’s the evidence:

1. Abuse of democracy: Every piece of government legislation introduced since the election has had time allocation applied to limit debate, smashing through historical records. Parliamentary committees have been meeting increasingly in secret. Omnibus legislation, forcing massive legislative changes through one bill, has been used, further depriving Parliament of adequate time to analyze and improve legislation. The auditor general’s report on the F-35 issue makes it clear that Parliament was not given accurate information about the cost of the fighter jets, even after the true cost was known within cabinet. No need to detail here the simmering scandal of electoral fraud and robocalls.
2. Charter rights: The omnibus crime bill included nine separate pieces of legislation. Many sections involving mandatory minimum sentences arguably violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As well, the new refugee law, C-31, will require political refugee claimants arriving by boat (or anything the minister deems as “irregular entry”) to face automatic internment for up to a year without access to judicial review. This will include children between 16 and 18.
3. Collective bargaining: The intervention by the federal Parliament into Air Canada labour disputes (twice) and Canada Post’s lock-out of its workers undermines labour rights. So, too, does the Conservative party-supported private member’s bill to impose more financial transparency on labour unions than on other professional groupings, such as law societies.
4. Control of information: The Harper majority government has been the most closed and non-transparent in history. The number of people working in the Prime Minister’s Office has expanded, with its now over $10 million per year budget. Most of the PMO staff are described as “information officers”. Their job is to block access to information. No public servants or government scientists can speak to the media without permission; neither can they speak to MPs.
5. Evidence-free decision making: Once again the omnibus crime bill must be mentioned. A “tough on crime” agenda was unhinged from the reality of falling crime rates. No amount of evidence from criminologists that mandatory minimums do not reduce crime rates, nor that it was unwise to pass the bill without estimates for the cost of new prisons, made a dent in the Conservative majority mantra that any opposition MP who objected was siding with criminals and showed no concern for victims. The budgetary cuts are now disproportionately targeting Statistics Canada. Who can deny that the Harper brand of Conservatism is an evidence-free zone?
6. Assault on the natural world: The gloves are off. Harper and company have taken aim at environmental groups and First Nations opposed to the Enbridge supertanker scheme calling them “radicals” and labelling MPs who oppose the project as “against Canada”. While selling out our resources to China, without national security checks, Stephen Harper has promised Beijing the Enbridge project will proceed. In order to achieve this goal, come hell or high water, environmental laws are being eviscerated. And the sweeping changes are concealed in C-38, the budget implementation bill. The National Energy Board will now have jurisdiction over endangered species and navigable waters, if they occur in the way of any proposed pipeline. Meanwhile, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act is repealed (under C-38) with an entirely new approach to replace it. The new law will restrict the study of impacts of major projects to areas “under the legislative authority of Parliament”—confined to fish and migratory birds. Where, in the past, an environmental review at the federal level was the most rigorous and comprehensive, new federal reviews would be a joke by Third World standards. The removal of habitat protection under the Fisheries Act is also part of the budget bill. So too, repealing the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act and the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy Act. Meanwhile, $8 million has been freed up to harass environmental charities.

Canadians must not remain silent. It is not only one area of public policy or one ecosystem that is threatened. Canada, our values and our traditions, are at risk.

Elizabeth May is the leader of the Green Party of Canada and the MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands.

Originally published in the Georgia Straight.

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Seconded by Elizabeth May on February 1, 2012

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