Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
If we look at this issue from a national perspective, no doubt we can come up with some very skilful interpretations and analyses, although they may be somewhat disconnected from reality. I represent the riding of Portneuf—Jacques Cartier. Last Thursday, AbitibiBowater, a pulp and paper company operating in the heart of my riding, shut down a plant that employed several hundred people. The plant workforce had been trimmed in recent years, to its current level of about 250 workers.
The company announced that the plant closure was a temporary measure. What we are likely hearing is a lie told by a company that wants to continue its forestry operations and make people believe at the same time that the plant can one day re-open.
The situation is not very reassuring and personally, I am torn by Ms. Brunelle's motion. We would like to help everyone that is having problems. That would be much simpler. However, if I look at what is happening in my riding to a company that has shamelessly gone into debt over the years by responding inappropriately to problems instead of improving...
The union has always taken a very hard line at the bargaining table, putting the company in a situation where it could not make changes for the better. Pouring federal dollars into the plant would only confirm to everyone that there is no solution, now or ever. Politicians, however, will want to buy some time.
To persist in the belief that helping huge multinationals and hard-line unions like the CSN will make things better down the road will only make things worse, at least for the company that shut down its plant in my riding last Thursday.
I would much prefer to sit back and let these officials work it out as adults and come to the realization that the forestry sector in Quebec is in a crisis situation. Suprisingly, the crisis is much worse for large multinationals and large unions than it is for small companies with about 100 employees. At present, almost all of these small companies are thriving because they have adapted to new market conditions. The large companies that have resisted change and the large unions lacking in humanity are responsible for the prevailing situation in my riding.
I would much rather wait until the funds become available to help those who are truly in need of assistance in the face of the crisis in the forestry sector, that is communities whose economic future depends on the threatened activity, instead of giving money to spoiled children who will always demand more and who will never resolve their problems if we continue to give them handouts.
