On Thursday November 22, 2018, Terry Sheehan presented a Private Members Motion, M-194. It was up for it’s the 1st hour of debate at the First Reading in the House of Commons.

M-194 attempts to define Precarious Employment in Canada:

The Motion proposes that the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) be instructed to undertake a study of precarious employment in Canada and be mandated to:

1. Develop a definition of precarious employment, including specific indicators, as well as examine current data, and options to expand available data; and,
2. Identify the role that precarious employment plays in the economy and in the federally-regulated private sector and the impact it has on the lives of individual Canadians.

Canada must be able to define precarious employment in a structured, cohesive manner so that we may recognize potential indicators and vulnerabilities which are uniformly identifiable across the country.  A national, standardized definition of precarious employment is necessary to ensure equality in services and opportunities for all Canadians.  Canadians work hard, workers need to be able to have a reasonable expectation of certainty in employment in order to make life decisions, big or small.

With precarious work federally defined, it would enable us to look to prevention, support, and the opportunity for innovation in both the public and private sectors.

By having the committee undertake a study, the necessary consultations, witness testimonies and research would be deliberated, thus providing the government with a comprehensive and informed definition of precarious employment in Canada.

Click here to see Terry present the bill in the House of Commons.