Graeme Moore
January 18, 2005
Derrick O'Keefe

1. What are the ways in which the legislation and enforcement of Child Labour laws have changed in B.C.?

Moore: Well basically B.C. has gone back a century. Instead of the work-start age being 15, it’s now 12. So, a child can lawfully go to work in British Columbia at any endeavor within B.C. jurisdiction at age 12, with only the parent’s say-so. There’s no restriction as to what hours they work, and when they work. They can work at the graveyard shift, if that’s okay with the mother and father and employer, then that’s all right. They can work as many as 35 hours a week, in weeks when school is not in session, or when there are fewer than five school days in a week, or twenty hours a week when there are five school days in a week.

2. Maybe you could tell us about how the enforcement regime has changed. You used to work for the Employment Standards Branch?

Yes that’s right, I worked for it for 21 years, and what has changed is that the director of Employment Standards, instead of being the agent that enforces the minimum standards – the basic standards of compensation and conditions of work – has become a mediator between two parties in a dispute, a wage dispute, so employees are expected to engage in what’s known as self help, to take up with their employer, or former employer, their entitlement to employment standards. And if that’s unsuccessful then they go to the director, who, rather than investigating the complaint to determine its merits, sets the matter in dispute to be mediated. And, if mediation does not settle it, then it goes off to be adjudicated, and a decision is made. So what has happened is the caseload has dropped by 60 to 70 percent.

3. Is it true that B.C.’s child labour laws are now the most lax in Canada and the United States?

Yes, where there are child labour laws, B.C. is the most lax and the one with the least government involvement. It certainly is the youngest work-start age in North America. No other jurisdiction has a work-start age as young as twelve. In fact, in federal jurisdiction in the United States, the work-start age is not until 18. Before 18, there are considerable restrictions on employment of children and, indeed, in the United States you cannot work in any location, in any economic activity, under the age of 14.

4. You authored a report on child labour for the B.C. Federation of Labour that was released last September. Was part of that work to try and document how prevalent the use of child labour has become in this province?

No, it was to highlight the risk of starting children at work, full-time work -- because quite frankly, 20 to 35 hours per week, 35 hours per week is full-time – without any government involvement, without any assurance that the child’s health, welfare and education do not suffer. The concern was that parents, out of need and, perhaps, out of greed, would see their children as an income source or as a revenue stream rather than as a child that ought to be out playing or who ought to be at school rather than at work.

5. So we can see that the pressure to put kids to work is related to the Liberals broader agenda, which has been layoffs and cuts to public services like welfare.

It’s more than that, actually, in that it has opened up the pressure on low-wage jobs, because now youth aged 15, 16, 17 are competing with youth 12, 13, 14, so in turn they compete against youth who are 18, 19, 20. So what’s happened with the first job, work entry minimum wage of $6 an hour for your first 500 hours of paid work experience, and when a child’s work-start is as young as 12, it just opens up the labour pool to a flood of applicants for low skill, low wage employment.

6. And could you comment on the specific impact of this legislation on farm labour in B.C., as I understand you looked specifically at the case of the Fraser Valley?

Again, with children being able to work as young as twelve, that means that the entire family’s out in the field picking berries, without any constraints regarding the child’s health and welfare and schooling, other than they cannot work more than 35 hours a week. But they can work up to 8 hours a day, longer if the director of Employment Standards approves. Really, what has happened is that, effectively, if you wish to employ a child in British Columbia there is no government involvement and there is no meaningful government constraint.

7. This legislation was passed late in 2003 with very little publicity. Do you think it’s fair to say that Gordon Campbell’s government has not, as of yet, paid a political price for this legislation, and if so then why is that the case?

Well, I think that this has not been on the radar screen because, quite frankly, there is the attitude that the child is the property of the parent. And, indeed, for families in need, families that are receiving social assistance, the income earned by the child is not even declared by the parent, let alone taken into consideration when determining the amount of financial support. So there’s a terrific inducement for children who are on welfare to work, because the money that they bring home is beyond reach of government.

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