Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy is calling for the creation of an all-party committee to begin work this summer on the issue of child labour.

The Quebec opposition member for Saint-Laurent expressed her concerns to the Ministers of Labour and Education, Jean Boulet and Jean-François Roberge, on Friday, in a letter obtained by The Canadian Press.

She wants a study into the possibility of imposing a minimum legal age to work, as well as a maximum number of hours that can be worked by a young person in Quebec.

"With the labour shortage that Quebec is currently experiencing, you are not unaware that the recruitment of young workers is becoming an increasing concern," she writes. "There have been numerous articles in recent weeks reporting on children as young as 11 or 12 already working in the middle of the school year. This is of great concern to us."

Unlike other Canadian provinces, Quebec does not have a legal minimum age for employment. With parental permission, a child can start working as soon as he or she wishes.

"But we all know that this authorization provided for in the law is often flouted by employers," wrote Rizqy, who co-signed the letter with Liberal labour critic Frantz Benjamin.

The Liberals are calling for an urgent meeting with the ministers in order to find solutions before the next school year starts.

Rizqy proposed the creation of a transparent committee, which would bring together elected officials from all political parties as early as this summer.

"I want to participate. (...) Let them open the discussion so that we can all work together in an intelligent way," she said.

She did not exclude the idea of hearing from different stakeholders in a parliamentary committee this fall.

"Because child labour is an issue that we should have seen coming and which is quite real," she said. "It is not true that a generation of teenagers will be sacrificed because we will not have been able to curb the problem of labour shortage."

She is worried about the risks associated with early work, including the impact on school dropout and work-related injuries (which jumped 36 per cent for those under 16 in 2021).

"It's possible for a young person to say, 'I don't need my high school diploma; I'm already making $26 per hour,'" Rizqy said.

Under the Education Act, a person 16 years of age or younger who has not graduated cannot work during school hours.

"A young person who finishes at 11 p.m., (...) arrives at home around 11:30 p.m. to midnight and then has school the next day. Do we think this is normal?" Rizqy asked.

She added that an 11-year-old child does not know his "limits" or the "rules of harassment in the workplace."

Last Tuesday, after receiving an opinion from the Advisory Committee on Labour and Manpower, Boulet committed to a "thorough reflection" on this issue.

He said he asked his department to "make an inventory of all the provisions that concern child labour. After that, I will make a comparison with the legislations in other provinces."

"We will do an impact analysis, then we will determine the need or not to perfect our articles of law," said the minister, who did not give a specific timeline.

The Quebec Liberal Party's election platform, released on June 11, is silent on the issue of child labour.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 17, 2022.