Alexandra Mendes

[Softwood Lumber Industry, February 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the government just does not get it. What the Southern Governors' Association is calling on President Obama to do is to take extraordinary measures to punish the softwood lumber industry, claiming that Canadians are engaging in unfair competition. Once again, we see the Conservatives giving consent by remaining silent and putting off stopping the attacks on another Canadian industry.

Will it take that industry's collapse to get the government's undivided attention?

[Aerospace Industry, February 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, these people live in my riding. The minister has no right to insult their intelligence.

Over 2,000 people have lost their jobs in less than a week in the aerospace sector, and he tells them there is nothing he can do? This just will not do.

We have invested a lot to make our industry one of the best in the world. What is he going to do to guarantee that there will still be jobs once this crisis is over?

[Aerospace Industry, February 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Pratt & Whitney is laying off 1,000 employees, Bell Helicopter has sent 500 workers packing and Bombardier has slashed 710 jobs. All of this news, which is disastrous for the aerospace industry in Quebec, in less than one week.

Is the Minister of Industry still ready to say, as he did on Monday, that the aerospace industry is in good shape and does not need special federal financial aid?

[Social Housing, February 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation today announced a significant drop in housing starts in January 2009, compared to the same month in 2008. Especially in urban areas, this slowdown means major job losses.

What does the Minister of Finance plan to do to get the necessary money out quickly so that social housing construction can bring about even a partial recovery of housing starts across Canada?

[The Budget, January 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie has just stated very eloquently the flaws in the budget presented to the House by the Minister of Finance yesterday. We are convinced that a Liberal government would have done much more and much better to address the current crisis. We are also convinced that a Liberal government would not have crippled, as irresponsibly as the Conservative government did, our ability to react.

The leader of the Bloc Québécois is true to the mission he has always stated as his, namely to defend Quebec's interests and those interests alone. I must ask him though how it would be responsible on our part, as members of a Parliament that is barely three months old, to reject all the measures contained in the stimulus package proposed in this budget.

Under the watchful eye of this House, many of these measures will allow Canadians, including those who live in Quebec, to help kickstart the economy, something that the Premier of Quebec, Mr. Charest, has himself recognized as a fact. By voting in favour of this budget, we are first and foremost fulfilling our role as official opposition in a responsible manner.

[Industry, January 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, two of Quebec's flagship manufacturers, Bombardier and Alcan, just laid off nearly 1,500 workers. The unemployment rate in Quebec has reached 7.3%.

Why did the government not take preventive action in its November economic update? Why did the Conservatives do nothing?

[Violence against women, November 25th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and we are highlighting the start of a campaign to put an end to gender-based violence. The UN has asked Canada to take more action to stop violence against women, and criticized the serious cuts to the court challenges program.

When will the Conservatives realize that in order to put an end to violence against women, they will have to take women's equality seriously?