Sheehan introduces legislation on precarious work

NEWS RELEASE
MP TERRY SHEEHAN
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OTTAWA – Yesterday evening in the House of Commons, MP Terry Sheehan put forth a Private Members Motion (M-194), asking parliamentarians to examine the needs and indicators of precarious workers in Canada in order to apply effective supports for all Canadians.

The Motion proposes to have the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) be mandated to undertake work with the goal of developing a definition of precarious employment, and to further identify how precarious employment affects both the economy and the lives of Canadians. 

“The nature of work is changing and we need to understand how it impacts our workers so that we can better protect Canadians and help employers recruit and retain employees. Jobs and the Economy in the riding of Sault Ste. Marie is always my focus. Any measure where we can protect or create jobs and help businesses grow is worth examination.”
- Terry Sheehan, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie

MP Sheehan says the goal of his Motion is to enable Canadians to thrive and to have the ability to support themselves with dignity and respect.  He goes on to say his motion goes hand in hand with the accomplishments the government has made over the last 3 years for children and families:

• Introduced the new Canada Child Benefit, the CCB is helping more families receive more money every month and has lifted 300,000 children out of poverty.
• Enhanced the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), which provides greater income security for close to 900,000 seniors.
• Supported more than 2 million hard-working Canadians who weren’t receiving the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB) with the strengthened Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) - lifting about 70,000 Canadians out of poverty.
• Doubled the number of students who got a summer job through the Canada Summer Jobs program and created almost 70,000 jobs for youth last summer—that’s double what was created under the previous government.
• Made additional employment and skills development opportunities for youth through investments of $395.5 million over three years, starting in 2017-18, in the Youth Employment Strategy.
• Cut taxes for nine million middle-class Canadians.
• 540,000 full-time jobs have been created in the last three years, and as a result, the unemployment rate is close to a 40-year low.

Sheehan says he wants to build on these accomplishments, and continue to improve the lives of his constituents.  He said tackling precarious employment is part of further improving quality of life for Canadians.

Included in the recently tabled Budget Implementation Act, were measures to modernize the Canada Labour Code. These Labour Code changes were created after extensive consultations to gain a real world perspective on developing effective policy. 

Between May 2017 and March 2018, the Government consulted with Canadians, stakeholders and experts on the changing nature of work and how federal labour standards could be updated to better reflect current workplace realities.

One strong message was repeated throughout the consultations: The way Canadians work has changed, but federal labour standards have not. These consultations also made it clear there are a number of complex issues related to federal labour standards and the changing nature of work that require more in-depth review and discussion.

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