Hon. Clément Gignac: Senator Yussuff, thank you for your involvement and the informative briefing you organized with government officials. We appreciate it very much.

Make no mistake, I think almost all of us recognize the impact of climate change and the necessity to accelerate toward a greener economy.

Having said that, I have a concern about the lack of collaboration or cooperation from provinces such as Alberta and Quebec, which have mentioned they have no interest in collaborating. Provinces are closer to employers’ and employees’ needs than the federal government.

You mentioned that this bill received the support of workers, industry, labour leaders and environmental organizations, but no commitment from provinces.

My question is this: In the absence of provincial commitment, could you reassure me that it will not be another example of red tape from the federal government with the creation of a new secretariat or council?

Senator Yussuff: First, let me thank my colleague for his question. I appreciate his participating in the briefing that was provided.

As you know, the provinces have their own jurisdictions and guard them intensely. I don’t need to give you any examples of that. I can assure you that for the success of the Canadian sustainable jobs act, provinces will have to be engaged in the process. The workers who work in their provinces will be impacted by it as a result of the shift to a low-carbon economy and, more importantly, measures that will be required will have to be collaborative.

Right now, as you know, the federal government transfers large sums of money to the provinces for training on an ongoing basis. Part of that ongoing effort will be around how provinces can support workers to get retraining and update their skills as they move from certain jobs to the new jobs that will be created within those provinces.

At the end of the day, all of that will require the provinces impacted by a shift to a low-carbon economy and the federal government to talk with each other to ensure they are not duplicating their efforts, but instead equally ensuring the resources allocated will go to support the workers, communities and an industry that wants to transform itself to ensure they are sustainable for the near future.

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