Sneaky, wrong and hypocritical.
That’s how Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker described changes to regulations which he says strips rights away from young athletes.
Premier Wade MacLauchlan’s cabinet created the Employment Standards Act exemption in regulations in cabinet, rather than on the floor of the P.E.I. legislature. Those regulations exempted professional athletes, including junior hockey players, from certain sections of the act, including wages, paid holidays, overtime hours, reporting pay and notice of termination.
“When you change a bill, it has to be debated on the floor. You can’t make a statutory change without it being debated in the legislature, but the regulations surrounding an act, they can be changed by executive council,” Bevan-Baker said in an interview with The Guardian Thursday.
“I was upset because I have concerns about the workers’ rights — these young hockey players — who are being denied the basic protections of working here in Canada and Prince Edward Island and those changes were made, in my mind, a sneaky manner.”
Those basic protections would include being paid minimum wage.
Bevan-Baker says he would have liked to have seen changes to the act debated on the floor but admits the outcome would likely be the same with a majority Liberal government in power.
“We heard that government prides itself on being open and accountable and transparent, however this sort of behaviour is just absolutely the opposite of that,” said Bevan-Baker.
“Where these changes could have been debated in an open and transparent and accountable manner in the house, they weren’t. They chose to make those changes in the secrecy of the fifth floor and that is far from open and accountable as you can possibly get.”
Bevan-Baker asked Workforce Minister Sonny Gallant during question period if he would table all the documentation related to the decision to exempt athletes.
Gallant replied he will bring forward anything he is able to table.
Questions regarding the Employment Standards Act continued with Hannah Bell, Green MLA for Charlottetown-Parkdale.
Bell said she finds it “bizarre” that everyone involved in the business from coaches and managers to the concession stand vendors and the Zamboni drivers are protected under the Employment Standards Act, but not the people who play the game.
“Will you commit to repealing these secretive exemption regulations that unfairly exploit these young athletes?”
Gallant responded Thursday that he would “certainly look into it” and will “take it under advisement”.
On Friday, Gallant responded, saying part of the rationale for exempting athletes is that the CHL athletes, including those playing for the Charlottetown Islanders, do not fit the traditional arrangement for employment relationships that are covered by the Employment Standards Act.
“They receive training, physiotherapy, as well as academic support in the form of free tutors and university courses. For each year played with the team, players earn a $6,000 scholarship, which after four years; they would have accumulated $24,000 to apply to post-secondary,” said Gallant.
Gallant said the team also pays for all housing, food, travel, equipment and athletic development courses.
He says athletic employees still have protection under the Employment Standards Act for compassionate care, bereavement, reservist corps, protection from sexual harassment and continuity of employment.
“Government spoke with the Charlottetown Islanders and heard from some of their affected athletes in developing these regulations and government is open to continuing these discussions with the athletes,” said Gallant.
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