Press release
Bill no. 42 – The Quebec government misses the mark to protect victims of sexual violence

Montréal, November 24, 2023. – The QFL welcomes the introduction of Bill 42, An Act to prevent and fight psychological harassment and sexual violence in the workplace, and shares the Quebec government’s objective of taking action to protect victims of sexual violence. 

However, given that this bill stems from the report titled ‘’Putting an end to sexual harassment in the workplace: giving ourselves the means to act’’, tabled in March, and that many of the structuring recommendations are not retained, the FTQ wonders what analyses the government based its bill on.

“The objective was to simplify the lives of victims, but the bill seems to do the opposite. It does not allow work injury victims to assert their full recourse against their employer when necessary. Despite good intentions, the government is missing the mark,” deplores FTQ President Magali Picard, who also sits on the Board of Directors of the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST).

Because of the many grey areas in the concepts of violence, prevention and remediation, the QFL fears that this bill will have the effect of considerably increasing the number of cases of sexual harassment brought before the courts, which would directly go against the spirit of the expert’s report, which recommended, on the contrary, getting victims out of legal proceedings. Furthermore, the multiplication of avenues of appeal increases the administrative burden for victims who are willing to denounce. This increased complexity risks further discouraging them from pursuing their case.

Nonetheless, the QFL welcomes the imposition of a real prevention policy on employers, while hoping that the government will correct its aim and allow the CNESST to intervene if a prevention policy is incomplete, as proposed in the report by the government-mandated Committee to Analyze Remedies for Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault in the Workplace. The QFL intends to take part in the parliamentary consultations in order to shed light on this bill and share its recommendations.

The QFL, Quebec’s largest union federation, represents more than 600,000 workers.

Source : QFL

For more information, please contact :

Chu Anh Pham

Cell: 514 984-1460

cpham@ftq.qc.ca