Manitoba could become the latest province to prevent employers from forcing women to wear high heels.
NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine has tabled a private member’s bill that would stop employers from making their workers wear footwear that “is not of a design, construction and material appropriate to the protection required for the worker's work or does not allow the worker to safely perform their work."
The wording is similar to a B.C. law targeting high heels that was introduced by Green MLA Andrew Weaver and passed in 2017 with the support of former Liberal premier Christy Clark.
“In 2017 it should not be a thing that employers are actually still able to require women to wear high heels in the workplace,” Weaver said at the time.
The Manitoba bill can only pass if it gains the support of Brian Pallister’s ruling Progressive Conservatives, who are considering the proposal.
“I think there's going to be a robust conversation about what's appropriate and I think that it's important for all Manitobans that they wear the appropriate footwear that works for them,” PC MLA Colleen Mayer told CTV Winnipeg.
Ontario passed a law in 2017 that says employers “shall not require a worker to wear footwear with an elevated heel unless it is required for the worker to perform his or her work safely,” with the exception of “performers in the entertainment and advertising industry.”
The Liberal MPP who introduced the Ontario bill, Cristina Martins, said that high heels can be dangerous.
“I have staff that have worked in the food and hospitality sector and have experienced first-hand, or witnessed first-hand, colleagues having to wear high heels and undergoing foot pain and injuries,” Martins told CTV News Channel at the time.
Podiatrist James Hill said at the time that high heels can cause a higher incidence of bunions, musculoskeletal pain and injury.
With a report from CTV Manitoba’s Jeff Keele
