Federal messaging on unpaid interns changed with NDP's private member's bill

OTTAWA — Internal documents show the federal government's messaging on unpaid interns mysteriously changed last June.

The change came on the very same day the NDP tabled a private member's bill on the issue calling for full Canada Labour Code protections to interns.

Briefing notes and so-called House cards for Labour Minister Kellie Leitch — dated from August to October 2013 — stated that interns and volunteers are generally not considered employees and therefore aren't covered under the code.

But on June 16, 2014, a new House card was prepared for Leitch that indicated the code applied to all workers where an employer-employee relationship exists, including interns.

The code itself, however, doesn't make mention of interns or volunteers, unpaid or otherwise.

NDP MP Andrew Cash calls it "troublesome" that Leitch received contradictory advice about how federal laws applied to unpaid interns, adding it appears the messaging changed simply in response to the private member's bill.

Leitch's spokesman says the information provided to the labour minister was correct and consistent, and the change better reflected the Canada Labour Code.