Hon. Hassan Yussuff moved second reading of Bill C-50, An Act respecting accountability, transparency and engagement to support the creation of sustainable jobs for workers and economic growth in a net-zero economy.

He said: Honourable senators, today I rise to speak to Bill C-50, the Canadian sustainable jobs act. It is a piece of legislation that I am passionate about.

Why? It’s because this bill is fundamentally about workers, protecting their rights and interests, supporting their families and enabling their communities to grow.

Colleagues, we can no longer deny or avoid the environmental, societal and economic threats of climate change. We see it all around us, from increased temperatures, floods, fires and droughts. No part of our country is immune, and no part of our society or our economy can avoid being impacted. Climate change is causing economic change; that is undeniable. It is happening in every country — large or small, capitalist or communist, authoritarian regime or democratic society — around the world.

Change can be good, or it can be devastating. In large part, it depends on how well you recognize the change that is coming, and how well we can prepare for it.

The question, colleagues, that you are essentially being asked in supporting this bill is whether you want to recognize the change. If you do, it’s whether you want to prepare our economy and our workers for it.

Dr. Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, said:

The transition to clean energy is happening worldwide and it’s unstoppable. It’s not a question of ‘if’, it’s just a matter of ‘how soon’ . . . .

Senators, Bill C-50 lays the framework for how we can help workers and their communities deal with the effects that climate change will have on an economy and labour market that will inevitably be impacted.

Nearly every country in the world has committed to the Paris Agreement and the target to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That includes sectors like energy, transportation, buildings, manufacturing and beyond.

In Canada and around the world, that progress is being made because companies are ramping up energy efficiency and adopting low-carbon alternatives, while delivering the same goods that people rely on day in and day out.

The global commitment made nine years ago in Paris is not simply a political declaration. It has sent a signal to capital markets and, yes, to labour markets around the world.

The International Energy Agency’s recent report made it clear that trillions of dollars of investment globally are shifting away from assets that are incompatible with a sustainable, net-zero future — like unabated coal power — to those that are.

The Royal Bank of Canada recently forecasted that Canada can add 400,000 clean energy jobs on the path to net zero by the end of this decade.

In Canada, we are already seeing this first-hand. Consider the auto industry, where we have seen multi-billion dollar investments in the electric vehicle and battery supply chain, from companies like Ford, Volkswagen, Umicore, Michelin, Northvolt, Stellantis and just recently Honda in Alliston, Ontario. This is creating jobs for construction and auto workers from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, to Bécancour, Quebec, from St. Thomas to Windsor to Alliston, Ontario, and beyond.

Consider the hydrogen industry. Hydrogen is a zero-carbon fuel source that is incredibly energy-dense, and can be made in a variety of ways to reduce diesel and other heavy-emitting fuels.

Companies like Air Products, EverWind Fuels and World Energy are creating new plants and stations across the supply chain, from production and transportation to the end use of hydrogen. This means good jobs for workers in Stephenville, in Cape Breton, in the Niagara Region and in Edmonton, just to name a few.

Consider the building sector. As we see a boom in housing construction, we are also seeing a rise in innovation from modular housing in the use of low-carbon Canadian building materials like mass timber or steel made using electric arc furnaces.

All of this innovation means good jobs in Canada’s building trades sectors — for electricians — and other trades in every region of this country.

Innovations in agriculture and biofuels, in the nuclear industry, in electricity transmission and in renewables have also created the same high demand for one of our country’s most important resources: Canadian skilled labour.

For Canada to reach its full potential in becoming a global leader in many of these industries, we must ensure that we are able to meet this demand for Canadian workers, while also effectively equipping those same workers to succeed.

That is precisely what the Canadian sustainable jobs act is meant to lay the groundwork for.

Colleagues, I would like to now go through the main aspects of the bill in how it can help workers, and talk about some improvements to the bill that happened in the other place.

Senators, the Canadian sustainable jobs act is the result of years of extensive consultations and work across multiple government departments.

It has been shaped, in part, through the work of the Task Force on Just Transition for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities, which I co-chaired in 2018. It is supported by Canadian labour unions, industry, environmental leaders and experts in sectors including workforce training.

I now want to briefly go over the five key aspects of the bill and what they aim to achieve, and then I will highlight some of the improvements that were made to the bill as it went through the legislative process in the other place.

There are five key elements to this legislation as it intends to create a framework to support workers as they move to more sustainable jobs.

The bill includes guiding principles, a governance structure and transparency and accountability requirements.

First, the bill establishes guiding principles, including social dialogue, decent work, inclusive approaches and fostering strengthened global efforts.

Second, with the passage of this bill, the government will establish a sustainable jobs partnership council composed of representatives from labour, industry, Indigenous communities, environmental organizations and other experts. The council will have meaningful and frequent public consultations with Canadians, using the input they receive, combined with their expertise, to advise the government on strategies and measures to encourage the creation of more sustainable jobs while growing a net-zero economy.

Third, the bill will designate ministers responsible for implementing the act and the five-year action plans that are required.

Fourth, the bill will create a sustainable jobs secretariat to assist and coordinate federal actions.

Finally, the fifth element requires the development of updated action plans every five years.

These plans will report on the progress the government has made on prior commitments and will be designed to benefit communities and workers so they can seize the opportunities associated with the move to clean energy.

These are the core elements of this legislation that are critical to ensuring that workers have a seat at the table and that workforce policy is consistent with Canada’s climate policy.

Now, I would like to speak to the substance of the amendment process that occurred in the House of Commons. In close collaboration with workers, labour leaders, environmental organizations and other parties in the other place, the government further strengthened the legislation and added additional amendments that increased accountability, transparency and certainty.

For instance, the partnership council, reflecting the tripartite approach outlined in the Sustainable Jobs Plan, is now balanced between representatives of Indigenous voices, labour and industry, while reflecting the diverse perspectives of other stakeholders. This is important to deliver on the important principle of social dialogue while ensuring workers have a seat at the table so they can discuss their own future.

This legislation is also now linked to the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which will mandate that the sustainable jobs action plans detail and take into consideration the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. This further ensures workers’ voices are included in efforts to fight climate change, grow Canada’s low-carbon economy and ensure communities in every region of the country can benefit.

The legislation would also recognize the important roles that the provinces, territories and other levels of government play in the advancement of sustainable job opportunities.

While this legislation only affects areas of federal jurisdiction, the duties of the partnership council and the development of action plans every five years must include engagement with the provinces, territories and other levels of government.

Government-wide and cross-jurisdictional collaboration is an important factor in gathering analysis, input and growing new economic opportunities for workers.

This is also an important aspect of the sustainable jobs secretariat. With the goal of creating a coherent set of policies that reflect a whole-of-government approach to sustainable jobs, the secretariat will collaborate with each department in its respective area of expertise to support and help coordinate the design of the action plan measures across different governmental departments. The secretariat also now plays a role in external engagement, serving as a point of contact for employers and workers.

Senators, the sustainable jobs act has been thoroughly considered and strengthened over almost one year it has been in the other place to produce a bill that is supported by industry, workers, environmental leaders, labour organizations and beyond.

Ultimately, it is the need to support workers and the broad consensus across Canadian society in support of the sustainable jobs act that drove me to sponsor this piece of legislation. As many of you know, creating sustainable jobs and helping communities and workers in every region of the country during a time of global change is an issue I am very familiar with and am personally very passionate about.

In 2018, I co-chaired the Task Force on Just Transition for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities. The task force was mandated to engage with workers and communities in the provinces and territories directly impacted by the phase-out of unabated coal-fired electricity. We met directly with coal workers, coal communities and public officials in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This engagement informed advice to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on how to support workers and their communities. The task force’s final report was unanimously supported by all those who participated in this work.

Much of this advice is reflected in the sustainable jobs act, such as embedding principles in planning and legislative processes to ensure ongoing action by government is taken to support workers.

Co-chairing the task force was a very memorable experience of serving my country. At the time, I was also President of the Canadian Labour Congress, working to represent the voices of over 3 million workers.

When we agreed to support, of course, the phasing out of coal-powered electricity generation, not one of the unions that represent workers in those sectors dissented with that decision, because they recognized fundamentally what it would do for the environment, what it would do for climate change and what it would do for human health. But they also recognized that some of these jobs are the best-paying jobs that workers could possibly have. In many cases, they paid anywhere between $60,000 and $100,000 per year.

Despite that reality, the union supported the phasing out of coal-fired electricity generation in this country because they recognized that if they want their families and children to have a future, it is about recognizing the damage we are doing to the environment and to the climate and how we are destroying human health in our communities at the same time. Was it easy? No. Was it hard? It definitely was. But the conversations and the efforts to ensure we can achieve this as a country working together were more important than anything else we could do. We recognized that we cannot bury our heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge the reality and the changes occurring around us.

It is notable that Canada is among other countries, such as Germany, South Africa, Poland and many others, which also created task forces that went out to talk directly to workers and their community leaders about how they can phase out coal. Much of what we have done they are learning from.

These conversations enabled us to meaningfully talk about ways we can help individuals leverage their skill sets and to determine the steps the government needs to take to meet the needs of the workforce and build sustainable communities.

I know from experience there’s no substitute for these kinds of discussions, because creating good public policy requires that the government engage authentically with the workers whose lives are going to be affected by the decisions.

It is no exaggeration to say that those town halls were some of the most meaningful experiences I have had in my life, whether we were in Alberta to talk to coal communities and workers who were going to lose their jobs and what would replace that, or going to Estevan in Saskatchewan to a town hall to engage workers in their community about what these changes would mean to them and what we could do to help them, or going to Nova Scotia. I travelled across that great province listening to workers. We went to Cape Breton, in the coal community, to understand first-hand what will happen in those communities. It was not easy, but we recognized fundamentally that we have a role and a responsibility to talk to Canadians about the future we want to build together.

I knew that if we did not show up in person, if we failed to take the time to listen, we were not going to learn how we can do things better and truly support Canadian workers and their communities, because good policy starts with listening.

I am pleased to see that in the development of the sustainable jobs act and the interim plan, the government regularly engaged with Canadians throughout the entire process. The government was provided with input from Canada’s provinces and territories, as well as opinions and advice from workers and union representatives, historically marginalized groups, Indigenous peoples, advocates for civil society, industry experts and environmental organizations.

Over the course of the consultation process, many in-person discussions were held by officials, in addition to further engagement through other avenues. Their goal was to learn what people thought about certain elements that would be included in the legislation, as well as their opinions about the possible actions the government detailed in the discussion paper on a people-centred approach.

Also, the government took into consideration more than 75 comprehensive submissions from dozens of Canadian organizations on this legislation and sustainable jobs in general. They reviewed some 30,000 emails from across Canada to inform both this legislation and the interim Sustainable Jobs Plan that was made public in February of 2023, which I encourage honourable senators to review.

Also, I am aware that as this legislation passed through the other place, there was extensive engagement with members of the government and the caucuses of other parties in the House of Commons.

As I mentioned, there are many who have come out in support of this bill. The International Union of Operating Engineers said:

The Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act is a step toward a future that puts the interests of energy workers at the forefront of a low-carbon economy. . . .

By the way, these are the same workers who just built a pipeline, completed with their skills and labour, that now gives Alberta a second way to get their energy to market in the Pacific region.

The President of the Business Council of Alberta said:

The Sustainable Jobs Act represents an important opportunity for Canada: to shape our future and create jobs by providing the resources that the world needs—including energy, food, and minerals. . . .

The President of the Canadian Labour Congress said:

Workers need action now, we needed it yesterday, and we need to make sure that we get this legislation passed so all parties – labour, business, and government can sit down at a table . . .

A youth-led organization called re•generation said they support the plan and bill because it:

. . . will help ensure that green jobs are available for anyone who wants one. It will establish a partnership council to directly involve workers and communities in the transition, and allocate critical funding to green skills development and training.

The President of the Alberta Federation of Labour said:

Bill C-50 is about creating a framework for discussion on diversifying our economy so that we’re prepared for a lower carbon future. That’s good for workers, that’s good for business, that’s good for the country.

The Vice-President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers International said, “Through this legislation, the Government of Canada has demonstrated its commitment to protecting good-paying, highly skilled jobs. . . .”

The Executive Director of the Pembina Institute said:

Passing the Sustainable Jobs Act and getting the new Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council working will deliver the message, loud and clear: Canada is a great place to invest, with workers who are second to none and ready to get the job done.

Meanwhile, the head of Canada’s Building Trades Unions said they welcome Bill C-50, which is:

. . . aimed at addressing Canada’s transition to a net-zero economy, which brings forth key aspects including the creation of a Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council to provide meaningful consultation during the transition.

There are many more voices I could cite here, colleagues, who have been clear in their support for this vital and strengthened piece of legislation.

Honourable colleagues, let me end by saying this: The Canadian sustainable jobs act provides the government with a critical opportunity to support the creation of a fundamental anchor for a sustainable jobs policy. It shows Canadians that we are in it together for the long haul, however long that may take.

If passed, the Canadian sustainable jobs act will ensure that Canadian workers will continue to be at the centre of this deeply important work, and that the workers will have a seat at the table.

I urge you to reflect on the many important points contained in the legislation and the many amendments that were successfully made by the government and other members of Parliament in close consultation with stakeholders who care deeply about ensuring Canadian workers win at the end of the day.

Colleagues, this bill gives workers a seat and voice at the table that can impact the decisions that will affect their work, families and communities.

Now it is time for us to study and pass Bill C-50. It is my sincere hope that every member of the Senate will support this piece of legislation so we can ensure that Canadian workers win. I look forward to working with you on the passage of this bill. Thank you so much.

I will take any questions.