EDITORIAL


In October, 1985, the Federal Government brought the Employment Equity Act (Bill C-62) to the House of Commons for second reading. This act is the official government response to the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Equality in Employment conducted by Judge Rosalie Abella.

Most of the groups targeted by this Act - women, visible minorities, the disabled and native peoples - are greatly concerned that Bill C-62 will not achieve its stated purpose "... to achieve equality in the workplace...". This concern is well-founded. The Act is seriously inadequate and does not fully address the issues involved in guaranteeing employment equity.

What does Bill C-62 give us? Federally regulated employers and employers doing business with the Federal Government, who have more than one hundred employees, as well as Crown Corporations, are required to publicly report annual data on their work force by sex, race and disability. A three-year moratorium exists before companies are required to report this information, meaning that those reports will not be available until June 1, 1988. While the Bill provides for employers to implement employment equity policies and to eliminate practices which act as barriers, no guidelines for doing so are set. The only enforcement of these provisions is that the employer may be fined for not filing statistical reports, this information is useful, and we agree that it should be collected and reported. Indeed, we have urged the government to do so, as data collection is an essential part of mandatory affirmative action systems because it allows for measurement of change. But, three years is too long to wait for data and nothing more.

What then, does Bill C-62 not give us? It does not provide for mandatory affirmative action systems, it does not provide for programs and it does not provide for adequate enforcement. In addition, no targets are set. There is no provision for anyone to analyze the reports, or to report the results of such analyses. Essentially, the Bill provides for voluntary programs with mandatory reporting of work force data. Past experience of women and disadvantaged groups indicates that without the requirement to report plans and results - nothing happens - no change occurs.

To achieve equality, much more is needed. We want to see employers required to file employment equity plans at the same time they report their statistics. Obviously, an effective mechanism for enforcement also needs to be established by the Act. If only the reporting of work force data is enforced, we will not have equality in the workplace, and that is what we need and deserve.

A Legislative Committee has been established to review Bill C-62. CCLOW, and many other groups, will be making representation to this Committee and the Government, asking them to seriously strengthen the Act so that the reporting of affirmative action plans by companies is mandatory, and that effective enforcement of those plans is possible.

Susan McCrae Vander Voet
Executive Director
CCLOW



Back Contents Next