Peter,
In my previous message to you, I mentioned that "it is perfectly legal for
the federal government to discriminate against people because of their
economic status." I was unaware at the time I sent my message that the Chief
Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission had very recently
confirmed that point in the introduction to the 1997 Annual Report of the
Canadian Human Rights Commission. As the Commissioner wrote, "The
international community has recognized that economic and social rights
cannot be separated from political, legal or equality rights. It is now time
to recognize poverty as a human rights issue here at home as well."
I issue the following challenge to the "Project on Governance Implications
of Labour Market Polarization":
1. How do you respond to the Canadian Human Rights Commission's call for
recogniziing poverty as a human rights issue in Canada.
2. How do you respond to Lars Osberg's call for a "level playing field in
working hours" contained in his contribution to the Collective Reflection
advisory report on the changing workplace?
1. From the Introduction to the 1997 Annual Report of the Canadian Human
Rights Commission:
by Michelle Falardeau-Ramsay, Q.C.
Chief Commissioner
"There is also the issue of poverty, which reduces the effective enjoyment
of rights for many Canadians. Those who are most vulnerable in our society
by virtue of the various prohibited grounds of discrimination - women,
aboriginal people, and people with disabilities - are also most likely to be
poor. The international community has recognized that economic and social
rights cannot be separated from political, legal or equality rights. It is
now time to recognize poverty as a human rights issue here at home as well."
2. From the Chapter 7 of the Report of the Advisory Committee on the Changing
Workplace
by Lars Osberg
"The design of payroll tax-based programs such as Employment Insurance and
the Canada Pension Plan now encourages firms, when they need more labour, to
increase overtime hours rather than hire new employees. Employer premiums
for EI are payable only until workers reach maximum insurable earnings, and
employer premiums for CPP are payable only until maximum yearly pensionable
earnings are reached. Above those thresholds, each additional hour of work
costs the employer nothing in payroll taxation. Payroll taxes, like
employer-paid fringe benefits (e.g., supplementary health insurance) are
then a lump-sum cost per employee, which can be spread over more hours of
employment, hence the benefit to the employer of a longer work-week for
covered employees. Government also implicitly encourages businesses to pay
part of employee compensation in the form of such fringe benefits by
exempting their value from income taxation.
"On both equity and efficiency grounds, it would be desirable to level the
playing field. We do not allow, much less encourage, employers to pay
different compensation packages to individuals of different ages, and we
should not create government policy incentives that encourage different
packages for full-time and part-time workers."
Regards,
Tom Walker
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Vancouver, B.C.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(604) 669-3286
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The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
