Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part today in this very important debate concerning the economic life of many communities in Quebec and in Canada. My colleague from Trois-Rivières was eloquent. We must intercede en masse to make the Conservative government rethink its position with regard to the use of the surplus. My colleague indicated that the surplus for the current year alone totals over $13 billion and is estimated at $8 billion for next year. That means that more than $21 billion over two years could be used to boost the economy in troubled sectors, as indicated earlier by my colleague.
What is wrong here is that these choices are guided by values that are not our own, that are not the values of Quebeckers. The Conservative values are based on a culture of war, a petroleum culture and a nuclear culture. Very significant budget items reflect these political choices, which in turn are accompanied by a series of secondary choices that shape the overall budget. I will try not to repeat my colleague's remarks because she provided a very descriptive analysis of the situation. I will seek to describe the political situation.
In ridings represented by Conservative MPs in Quebec, constituents often turn to us. This happens in ridings represented by Liberals as well, but in the past few months, this has occurred particularly in ridings represented by Conservative MPs, where people feel abandoned. In ridings represented by Conservatives, people feel abandoned.
Recently, on January 8, to be more specific, I was in the riding of Mégantic—L'Érable with my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska. We were there at the request of the workers. They told us that even when they call on their MP, he does nothing for them. They asked us to come see them and explain why the programs that existed before have been dropped and why they no longer receive any help today. They no longer get any help because of the cuts that were made in employment insurance. Older workers no longer get any help because in 1997, the Liberals eliminated the program for older worker adjustment, known as POWA.
We cannot always answer these requests, but from time to time we do meet with the people. On January 8, I went to the riding of Mégantic—L'Érable, represented by the Secretary of State (Agriculture), with my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska. Dozens of workers explained their situation to us. We held a press conference to outline the problems these workers are experiencing and the solution that should be found and recognized in the budget, the one that has just been brought down. In the days that followed, the Secretary of State (Agriculture), the Conservative member for that riding, said the following in the press:
We will work swiftly and enthusiastically with Quebec to support the vulnerable communities and laid-off workers through this new major national initiative to help them build a better future.
People were starting to be happy. They thought good things were coming with a statement like that. Immediately thereafter, the Conservative member called on my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska, who can back me up on this, and said, “I invite the Bloc member [from Richmond—Arthabaska] from a neighbouring riding to do the same”. He wanted people to be positive about the upcoming budget, which they were. He added:
This will certainly do more for the voters than the recent activities in my riding of Mégantic—L'Érable involving a useless press conference.
He called it “useless”.
He said it is useless to describe the workers' circumstances and ask for help for them because their industry is in crisis.
The Secretary of State added:
Fortunately, they have a government that is delivering results so as the turn today's economic challenges into opportunities for tomorrow and make Quebec and Canada stronger and more prosperous in the long term.
That is what he said in response to our press conference. He called it useless, as though what these workers are going through had no importance or meaning. If he says that what we did was useless, then he should also say the same thing about the statement by Quebec's finance minister, because she said exactly the same thing we did. Here is what she said.
The government likes to make a big show of saying that it is speaking on behalf of the workers in the industry, the people who are going through the crisis. But the government's values are not the values embraced by the people we represent. The hon. member should go and tell the workers and the companies—