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Video: Labour Program's 110th Anniversary

Transcription

Narrator
The Department of Labour was created in 1900. Back then, Canada had a workforce of just two million people. Some 27,000 of them were organized into trade unions. Collective bargaining was in its infancy.

The main responsibility of the new Department of Labour was to protect and promote the rights of workers and to find solutions to resolve labour conflicts.

Much has changed over the past 110 years, but the Labour Program still attracts the best and the brightest.

We could not accomplish all that we do without the hard work and dedication of our extraordinary employees.

Mr. Howard Currie
I started in the Labour Program - I recall it was Canada Labour at that time - in 1944.

Ms. Chloé Black
I joined the Labour Program three-and-a-half years ago. I won a competition.

Mr. Krishnan Nair
I have been with the Labour Program for three years exactly, hired to deliver the new initiative of Labour called the Racism-free Workplace Strategy.

Mr. Jacques Maltais
I started in 2001 at Labour as an occupational health and safety officer.

Mr. José Carlos Bazan
I started in 2007 as part of an assignment. I was part of the Management Intern Program.

Ms. Linda L'Heureux
I've been in the Labour Program for 30 years. I am a Labour lifer, and there are a few of us left.

Mr. Howard Currie
When I joined the public service, Mr. R.B. Bennett was the Prime Minister, but that was in the mid ‘30s. But by 1944, it was Mackenzie King, I believe. Eventually, I served under Mr. St. Laurent, Mr. Pearson, Mr. Diefenbaker, and Mr. Diefenbaker's successors.

Mr. Krishnan Nair
My maternal grandfather was an official in the UN, in the ILO, the International Labour Organization. He instilled in me a respect for workers and an understanding of what government could do to extend protections to working people. It's almost like I was destined to be in this field.

Ms. Chloé Black
The Labour Program is very important. It directly affects about one million workers and employers, ensuring their welfare. It directly affects many Canadian citizens. It is very important.

Ms. Linda L'Heureux
What I like about the work in the Labour Program is that it actually really makes a difference.

Mr. Krishnan Nair
In some regions, for instance my region, as an RPO, as a Racism Prevention Officer, I was the only officer delivering that program. My interaction with my colleagues within the program, within the strategy, was done online, over the telephone, so I got to learn about the work of the other business lines—fire protection, labour standards, occupational health and safety—and so there was sort of that regional sense of solidarity.

Mr. Jacques Maltais
I am very proud to be involved in this great mission of the Labour Program because
safe and healthy workplaces, where economic vitality is ensured, allow us all as Canadians, to be who we are today.

Ms. Linda L'Heureux
In my time in the Labour Program, I've found that I've made a difference because the work that we do touches people. So having safe and healthy working conditions, fair employment standards, decent working standards, makes a huge difference.

Mr. José Carlos Bazan
For three years, I have seen how many times Canadian experts from the Labour Program have gone to other countries to share Canadian expertise, thus helping those countries develop a different vision of how things are done elsewhere in the field of labour. Canada has a good reputation and is much appreciated in this regard.

Mr. Howard Currie
We had first-rate people in our industry relations branch, mainly brought from Labour, and they were all very sincerely devoted. I know I was - I think most of my senior colleagues were really devoted to their work. And they usually came and stayed there.

The Department of Labour was a bit of a collection of odds and ends that didn't belong anywhere else. For example, I'm sure all of you know about the Halifax explosion - the worst accident that ever happened in Canada. Many people killed and a much larger number injured. So much so that the Government of Canada established the Halifax Relief Commission and provided relief - or welfare, whatever you wish to call it - to those who survived, and some of these were paid for life if they had permanent injuries, and that Commission disbursed to thousands of people benefits for decades and decades.

Mr. Jacques Maltais
In these extreme situations, where everything collapses, where everything is shaky, I think the Labour Program and its representatives remain beacons that people can turn towards to resolve difficult situations.

Ms. Linda L'Heureux
Working on the review of Part I of the Canada Labour Code from the very beginning was an amazing project. It took five years from its conception to the actual bringing into force of the amendments. I loved the parliamentary process. I loved preparing for that. I like watching how that unfolds. I thought that was amazing.

Mr. José Carlos Bazan
I had the opportunity to deal directly with the Labour departments in Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. I think I have seen for myself the gratitude those countries have for the help provided so they could meet their international commitments regarding fundamental rights and principles.

Ms. Linda L'Heureux
The work in the Labour Program actually really makes a difference. It doesn't matter where you are in the Labour Program, what particular branch or directorate; it all touches the lives of Canadians.

And it was something that I really enjoyed from the very beginning, and it's something that... I've been in the Labour Program for 30 years and that's why I've stayed.

Mr. José Carlos Bazan
I am certain we will meet the challenges of the future and that the Labour Program will always be recognized internationally. I am convinced of this. But there are clearly a lot of challenges. With all the globalization as well, I think we will have to adapt to a new reality. How will it be done and who will do it? I do not know, but what I do know is that the challenges will be interesting.

Mr. Jacques Maltais
I think that for the future of the Labour Program, the approach towards compliance will need to be reinvented.

Ms. Chloé Black
The younger the person, the more that person is affected by social media. It is part of our life; it will change the dynamic, it will change how we communicate all the programs, initiatives and all. It is part of the future; we have no choice.

Mr. Krishnan Nair
My grandfather would be very proud of me for the work I am doing in the Labour Program. I wish he was here now to see how far I've come. I think he would be very proud to see that I'm making a substantial contribution in the field of labour protection in Canada today.

Mr. Howard Currie
A plaque that was recently erected in the new federal building in Hamilton dedicated in my name - nothing could have pleased me more. Other than naming the building after me, but getting the boardroom named after me is not bad.

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Date Modified:
2012-02-07