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House Hansard - 154

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 6, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 154 - Feb/6/23
Mr. Terry Sheehan (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour, Lib.)
  • Feb/6/23 6:48:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni's continued work. I had an opportunity to visit the member's riding and I can tell us that it is a beautiful place with a very positive vibe and very great people, so I thank the member for raising this. We are following through on measures to better protect the mental health of workers in federally regulated industries. Members can see that this commitment is not only reflected in the Minister of Labour's mandate letter, which states that the minister will move forward with and secure passage of amendments to the Canada Labour Code to include mental health as a specific element of occupational health and safety and to require federally regulated employers to take preventative steps to address workplace stress and injury. Also, we have taken concrete actions since the government has been in power, since 2015. The steps we have taken to meet this commitment are numerous. We have moved forward on 10 days of paid sick leave for all federally regulated workers in Canada. We recognize that mental health is health, period. We have also worked closely with unions and employers to make sure that they understand our commitment to this question. I had an opportunity to be in British Columbia this summer, talking with the building trades and the BC Federation of Labour. We had excellent dialogue on this very subject and they had some really good ideas, as well, that we are looking at incorporating. We are also looking to push the right to disconnect in this new economy. We are going to prioritize the fight against violence and harassment at work. Last week, in fact, the Minister of Labour ratified convention 190 of the International Labour Organization, which aims to fight violence and harassment at work in every jurisdiction around the world. We are leading this fight. Addressing mental health is a complex issue and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. When it comes to changing policy and regulations, it takes a lot of research and consultation with stakeholders to get this issue right. That is exactly what we are doing. We had consultations with stakeholders between the spring of 2020 and the fall of 2021, to get their views on how the Government of Canada can better support the mental health of federally regulated Canadian workers. We held virtual engagement sessions with a number of key stakeholders and partners, including the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. We met with the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health, who are experts in this field. We are engaged with indigenous partners, employers, unions and non-governmental organizations. We have also invited interested Canadians to provide feedback. During our virtual sessions, we talked about various aspects, including barriers and, of course, solutions, solutions that went from clarifying legal requirements and increasing expertise to addressing the stigma and improving data and research. In other words, work is well under way and we will continue to move forward to make mental health a priority for federally regulated Canadian workers. Work is also ongoing to develop a right to disconnect policy, which would clarify the expectations around answering emails and texts outside of work hours. We can see that we have done a lot in this field. We continue to be committed to Canadians and we are leading the way. I look forward to continue working with all parliamentarians, as we move forward on this important issue.
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