Bill No. 203 - Labour Standards Code (amended) - 2nd Reading

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : It wasn't my intention to stand. I think a lot of wonderful and appropriate things have been said, particularly by the member for Cole Harbour-Dartmouth. I want to share with my colleagues in applauding her for bringing this forward.

I think the Leader of the Official Opposition spoke of moments like these. Particularly those of us who've been around a few years, we can all recall the moments like these. The moments like these have two things in common, I would suggest. One is that they touch a nerve. Something is championed by a member that is personally important to them, and they or someone they're connected to can tell that story in a really compelling way that connects to all of us, and then there's consensus around it. That's one thing, and then there's the bravery of bringing that forward.

I want to remark, though, that moments like these also are filled with all of us telling our stories. While that's important, it also, I think, bears noting that there are lots of people who are not here telling their stories. The member for Cole Harbour-Dartmouth championed this. She decided that she wanted to get elected and put it forward, and she did it. For every member for Cole Harbour-Dartmouth, I would suggest there are hundreds more people in this province who have very pressing needs and desires that don't get heard here.

I guess I want to take a moment and recognize the collaboration, recognize the importance of this bill in particular. I think many people have spoken to this, but it does touch us all, and not only does it touch us all, but it is still taboo. Hopefully, this bill goes someway toward breaking down that taboo and making it okay to breathe when, perhaps, it was not thought of as okay before.

Also, I want to note that we ought to always be alive to the stories of the people in this province - particularly stories of people not feeling cared for properly or the ability to go about their lives in the way that they need to because of some invisible taboo. There are a lot of those out there. I think this is one instance of us breaking down that barrier. I applaud the government also for taking this on, but there are also so many more.

I hope that we can continue to work forward in this way. We can bring our stories here. But for every story of our own that we bring here, can we also bring someone else's in the way that the member for Cole Harbour-Dartmouth brought that of her daughter and son-in-law?