A Committee Launches an Inquiry into the Trucking Industry

The Canadian Press

(Ottawa) – A House of Commons committee is set to launch a study on labour standards in the trucking sector after the Bloc Québécois called on the government to put an end to the phenomenon of “discount drivers.”

The transport committee is beginning a study on a business model in the industry whereby trucking companies classify drivers as incorporated workers rather than employees.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has called this model “the single largest tax, labour misclassification, safety, and human trafficking scheme in Canada,” arguing that it manipulates the tax base and endangers the health and safety of Canadians on the road.

The study will include at least six meetings, and the committee is expected to summon the Minister of Transport as well as the Ministers of Labour and Revenue.

Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval, the party’s transport critic, held a press conference Monday with representatives from the trucking industry to discuss what he described as unfair labour practices.

They presented ten recommendations to the federal government, including the launch of a formal investigation into the exploitation of drivers and a ban on temporary foreign workers operating as incorporated workers.