The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Do we have an agreement for five minutes?

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Honourable senators, do we have an agreement for five minutes?

Hon. Leo Housakos: Would Senator Miville-Dechêne take a question?

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

Hon. Kim Pate: Would you take another question, Senator Cotter?

Senator Cotter: I certainly would, Senator Pate.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Senator Cotter, I have three senators on the second round. Do you wish to ask for five more minutes to answer these questions?

Senator Cotter: I’d be happy to ask for five more minutes and I’ll try to provide briefer answers.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Ato Tagesse Chaffo Dullo, Speaker of the House of People’s Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Hon. Paula Simons: Minister, the airline industry, as those of us who fly often know, is experiencing a tremendous labour shortage. There is a shortage of pilots, ground crews, passenger service agents and air traffic controllers.

One of the things I have heard from people in the industry is that it is very hard to find people, especially pilots and air traffic controllers, because the training is long, complicated and completely unfunded. There are no universities, scholarships or the ability to access student loans.

What, if anything, is your department doing to try to find ways to bring more Canadians the skills they need to take those jobs?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

(At 5:40 p.m., the Senate was continued until Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at 2 p.m.)

Hon. Seamus O’Regan, P.C., M.P., Minister of Labour: Senator, I think this is the issue of contract flipping that you are referring to.

[Translation]

Yes, the Canada Labour Code has been amended to extend equal pay protection to workers when the contract moves to a new employer. This will ensure that workers affected by a new tender are not paid less than the amount set out in their previous collective agreement for the same or similar work. This provides more security and better protection for workers. Thank you for the question.

[English]

Hon. Seamus O’Regan, P.C., M.P., Minister of Labour: In this job, that’s probably the most loaded series of questions that I have ever heard in my career. There is absolutely no way, senator, I am going to comment on any of it. With all due respect — I think you appreciate why — I respect the table. I have learned to bite my tongue in this job — it is not easy for a Newfoundlander to do — but I do it because I want a deal. If you want a deal, then my job is to shut up and let them do the deal.

I am hoping no one has to brace themselves for anything. I obviously know parties on both sides of the table. This — just for the interests of senators — is not something that actually falls under my purview even though I have the title. It is the President of the Treasury Board; she is on one side of the table. The Public Service Alliance of Canada — led by a very proud Newfoundlander, Chris Aylward — is on the other side of the table. The best deals happen at the table. They do not come from the lips of the labour minister, even in this august chamber.

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Thank you, Senator Cotter, for your very interesting speech.

I read the bill carefully in preparation for your speech. You said one word that struck me. You said that it was a framework to move forward toward something. I also noted that the legislation is scheduled to come into force no more than 12 months after the bill is passed. I noted that the government must report on the consultations six months after the legislation comes into force and that the government must table a report on the proposed regulations in both chambers within one year of the legislation coming into force. That already means a delay of perhaps two years.

In the briefings you had with the department, was there any discussion of a realistic time frame for the first cheques or benefits to reach recipients? I suspect there could be an election within the next two years.

[English]

Senator Cotter: In one respect, if I may say, Senator Dalphond, the occurrence of an election will be rendered somewhat irrelevant, because the framework will be in place and the department will carry on putting the program together. I hate to use a golf analogy, but I’m a 30 handicap at predicting elections, so I’m happy that it’s off to the side.

The message I keep hearing, which is informal and nobody is prepared to make an absolute commitment, is that it will be possible to do the negotiations and put the regulations in place in 12 months, hopefully. Once that happens, I think benefits can begin to flow.

There will be an application process as the bill is presently constructed, so it does mean that people will have to apply. However, the language people talk about is a 12-month period, and I hope that’s correct; I hope that’s the longest it is.

Senator Downe is right that we have an important job to do. We need to do it in as timely a way as possible, because my feeling is that each month that goes by pushes the time by a month, and that means tens of thousands of Canadians remain in poverty for one more month. It’s really important for them for us to do the best we can do.

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Minister, this time my question is about a federal domain, airports. Service providers in the cleaning and security sectors were replaced. When that happened, the new contractor rehired people but did not offer them the same working conditions because there was no continuity of employment. Has this situation been remedied? I believe so, in accordance with the regulations, but if not, will it be done soon?

[English]

Senator Simons: What I heard from small publishers is that they would like changes in the mailing rate to make it easier to mail out their weekly papers. They are also really frustrated because Canada Post is outcompeting them in the flyer business. Now, flyers are not sexy, but they were the economic backbone of a lot of newspapers large and small, and what I hear from newspaper publishers is that Canada Post gives such great rates that the newspapers cannot compete. Now, Canada Post has a right to compete in the marketplace, but again, we have to consider the consequences of all these decisions.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Honourable senators, we were also shocked at the devastation caused by an earthquake which struck Turkey and Syria this past Monday, leaving more than 19,000 dead and many more injured.

Our thoughts are with the people of Turkey and Syria as they mourn those they have lost and work to recover from this horrific tragedy.

Honourable senators, please join me in rising for a minute of silence in memory of the victims.

(Honourable senators then stood in silent tribute.)

[English]

Hon. Yonah Martin: Minister, last week the Canadian Union of Brewery and General Workers sent a letter to the Prime Minister and Minister Freeland regarding the 6.3% inflation-based increase in federal beer taxes scheduled to automatically go into effect on April 1. The letter reads, in part:

We are headed into a recession. The Federal Government must avoid making the situation worse. It cannot rigidly stick to policies that raise prices and fuels higher inflation, which is exactly what raising federal beer taxes by 6.3 per cent will do.

Minister, what do you have to say to the 350 unionized workers employed at the Molson-Coors brewery in Toronto who may be very nervous about the security of their jobs due to the Trudeau government’s high tax policies? How does a massive increase to this tax help Canadians working in the brewing and alcohol beverage sectors keep their jobs?

Hon. Rebecca Patterson: Minister, I would like to ask you a question about the Pay Equity Act. We know that employers have until September 3, 2024, to publish their pay equity plans under this act. This means that about 4,600 employers have less than a year now to actually put these plans in place.

In her first annual report released last August, the Pay Equity Commissioner noticed that requests from employers seeking more guidance have been steadily increasing throughout the year.

Given the commissioner’s comments, are you confident that employers have sufficient time to develop comprehensive pay equity plans, especially given the pandemic-related interruptions since the act came into effect and given that decent work requires decent pay?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, we were all shocked and saddened to learn of the tragedy in Laval, Quebec, which left two children dead and a number of others injured.

Our thoughts are with their families, as we express our condolences for those lost, and our hopes for a full recovery by the injured.

Honourable senators, please join me in rising for a minute of silence in memory of those children who did not survive this tragic incident.

(Honourable senators then stood in silent tribute.)

Hon. David M. Wells: Minister O’Regan, welcome back to the Senate.

My question to you is related to your responsibilities as Minister of Labour and minister responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador, and it is about the energy transition. It is in two parts.

One is the just transition that we hear so much about. To be clear, the just transition — the front part of that is the phasing out of the oil and gas industry, which we’ve heard from your government. Can you tell us how that phasing out of the oil and gas industry is “just” for the Newfoundland and Labrador workers on all our offshore rigs and for all our onshore suppliers, who have gone through education to learn about their craft and get well paid and keep that money in their families and keep our communities alive and, in fact, fill the coffers of our province? That is the first part.

The second part relates to a comment from your cabinet colleague Associate Minister of Finance Randy Boissonnault, who said the cost of this will be $100 billion to $125 billion a year up until at least 2050.

Given that Canada has — that contributes to 1.5 —