House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 43% of the vote.
Revenue Canada June 15th, 2012
Madam Speaker, it is unacceptable. These dozens of jobs are vital to my region, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean. A Revenue Canada study tells us that 35 jobs in the SP1 category would disappear from the Jonquière tax centre; more good jobs cut in the region.
Can the government confirm this number of cuts? Can it tell us how these cuts will help the economy of my Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region?
Points of Order May 30th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, yesterday evening in the House, during my speech on Bill C-39, I used an English word that anglophones define a certain way. I will not repeat it in the House. As a francophone, to me that word means “to be taken for a ride” or “to be had”.
Since we are in the House of Commons and some of my colleagues were offended, I would like to withdraw the word and apologize to all of my fellow MPs.
Act to Provide for the Continuation and Resumption of Rail Service Operations May 29th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, we have a major dispute, a lockout, in Alma. We are seeing organizational changes being made. There is a lot of talk about pensions. That is being talked about here. The people and the unions are worried. They see what is happening in the paper and aluminum industries. They see that public and private pension funds are short of money. Yes, everyone is worried.
Act to Provide for the Continuation and Resumption of Rail Service Operations May 29th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, to answer the question, when I arrived in this House in 2011, I was retired. I am a factory worker and a former union president. I am not a puppet. I have a lifetime of experience behind me. I worked in factories for 35 years. I know how it goes.
I came here to work, regardless of party. I often say that in the House. I try to work with people to make progress for Canadians. That is what I want. Yes, I am disappointed because I expected we would be doing more for Canadians. That was my goal in this House. I can work with anyone in this House, if we are making progress for the country and our people. That is what I have in my mind. For the moment, yes, I am disappointed, because I have felt disrespected since 2011.
Act to Provide for the Continuation and Resumption of Rail Service Operations May 29th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I do not need to withdraw my remarks because I insulted no one. I come from the labour community. I have my language. I have my ways of thinking and speaking. I insulted no one. I named no one in this House.
I talked about the Conservative government, which is thumbing its nose at us, belittling us, regarding us with contempt. And I should apologize to them? I said nothing wrong. I gave my opinion. I was elected to represent the workers and to give my opinion. That is how it works, and I will not withdraw my remarks. If my colleague is unhappy, he should come and see me.
Act to Provide for the Continuation and Resumption of Rail Service Operations May 29th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, to begin with, I would like to say that workers have the right to organize, to choose their union and to negotiate. No contract, no work.
The employer also has rights. It has the right to manage its plants, to manage discipline, to manage labour, to organize the work, to negotiate collective agreements and to lock out workers. As we have seen here in the House, the employer has another right, and that is to call on the government to force workers back to work, despite their collective agreement. That is a new right, according to what we have seen in the House since 2011.
Regardless the colour of their party, every elected member of the Government of Canada has to listen to the men and women they represent. Unfortunately, since May 2011, I get the impression that the opposite is happening here, and I sense the contempt for workers.
I am a union worker. I feel the contempt; I feel it in my bones. That is what I am feeling in this House: contempt for workers. Yet they are the ones who keep the government working. They are the ones who contribute, who pay our salaries so that we can make decisions. They are entitled to keep the rights they have today, the rights our parents fought for.
Once again, we are presented with special back-to-work legislation. What a surprise. Were the Conservatives elected by large corporations or by Canadians? Do they think that Canadians gave them a mandate to scare labour organizations? I doubt it.
After what the Conservatives did to the employees of Canada Post, Aveos and Air Canada, now they are getting ready to stick it to the Canadian Pacific employees. The message they are sending to employers is crystal clear: if you have problems with your union, do not negotiate; we will introduce special legislation to force the employees back to work. The continuation and resumption of rail service operations legislation is unhealthy and irresponsible. Do you have any idea of where that will leave us at the end of the day?
What a great way to ruin democracy and humiliate those who want to stand up for their rights. The Conservatives want to make employees more dependent on their employers and to make secure jobs insecure, but at what cost? Let me remind you that we are talking about people who are free, free to choose, free to have the lives they want and free to say yes or no. It is a right people have here in Canada because they fought to have rights.
There is an imbalance of power because of a party that is systematically threatening the gains that unions have won in the past. The vast majority of Canadian workers, unionized or not, enjoy the rights for which workers have fought. No matter what the government says, it has to protect those legitimate rights that are essential to labour peace.
Sometimes, it seems that the government says one thing to voters and then does the opposite. At least that is what we are seeing from the other side of the House. I do not believe for a second that the government is impartial in its decisions. I do not feel that its actions are for the common good. How can it prove me wrong? The corporate tax giveaways give us a very good idea of how they see the common good.
I do not want to say that the Conservatives are acting in bad faith, but right now, their party is showing an intolerable contempt for Canada's low income earners. Their party is insulting the intelligence of those who understand their little game. In addition, the Conservative Party is denigrating unions, which are the source of almost all social movements in Canada. There is nothing to be proud of.
Do you see what is happening in Quebec at the moment? Ask your Quebec colleagues what has caused this crisis and its consequences. Do you not feel things sliding out of control? Always taking the same side is a huge risk. How much is peace worth in financial terms? I ask the question because telling the truth is important. Knowing the consequences, are my Conservative colleagues really going to keep putting social peace at risk in Canada?
Earlier, I heard some hon. members opposite say that the NDP was made up of people who are against everything. The Conservatives say that we are in the workers' camp and that it is too expensive when the country has to be saved. In my riding, factories have been shut down, jobs have been lost, workers have been locked out and plants have been moved to the United States. The cost to the community is in the millions of dollars. No one on the other side of the House has said a word. So the Conservatives have nothing to teach us about standing up for Canadian workers. This is bullshit, and that is putting it politely.
I must certainly take a moment to congratulate the workers at Canadian Pacific. Despite everything, they have maintained rail service to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver so that Canadians are not the victims of this labour dispute.
Nobody is surprised when the government tries to stir up panic by saying there is an urgent need to restore services, but nobody believes it either. We must condemn this abusive behaviour. Let us not allow this government to destroy social peace.
Surely we all know the story of the boy who cried wolf. I certainly do not need to remind anyone of that. This will end very badly in 2015.
If the government is in such a rush to intervene in workers' lives, let it start by creating good jobs and good working conditions for workers. The job market is collapsing, new jobs are mediocre more often than not, and Canadians’ standard of living is declining before our eyes. Those should be our priorities.
As I have said before, people have the right to be represented, to organize in unions, and employers have rights too. What I have seen in this House since May 2011, with Air Canada, Aveos and so on, it is that the government intervenes when it suits them. It does not intervene when there are job losses, or when plants relocate, even when it could have had something to say about that. Some of our dams and rivers belong to foreign capital interests. That is unacceptable.
The government's “we know best” attitude is insulting. It is insulting because we come from the union community and we are workers. The government should not spit on the workers. We are here this evening because it is the workers who pay our salaries.
Continuation and Resumption of Rail Service Operations Legislation May 29th, 2012
Madam Speaker, my question is for the minister.
What kind of impact will imposing a collective agreement have? In this case, there is the issue of the pension fund, which the company wants to reduce by 40%. That is a big part of the collective agreement, and reducing it will penalize the workers.
Do the Conservatives have a hidden agenda to set a precedent in Canada for reducing private sector pension funds in the future?
Canada Revenue Agency May 28th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, if there is one region that will be suffering from the recent Conservative budget, it is Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean. After they did nothing for the forestry industry and let jobs in the region vanish, now it is the survival of the Jonquière tax centre that is in jeopardy as a result of the ill-considered cuts in the Conservative budget.
Is the government going to reassure working people and families in the region and assure us that the Jonquière tax centre will not be affected by cuts at Revenue Canada?
The Budget May 17th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as a member of Parliament, it is my duty here today to denounce Bill C-38 as an affront to democracy.
This bill shows contempt for Canadians. Logically, this bill should be divided into six separate parts and each of those parts should be studied in a parliamentary committee.
Worse still, this bill further reinforces Canadians' distrust, as they no longer have any confidence in the Conservative government.
As parliamentarians, are we going to be forced to ask people to take to the streets to defend democracy? I am beginning to wonder if that is the only solution.
Is there not some way for us to work together in a positive manner, regardless of our political affiliation, in order to get results for Canadians and communities, and to make more compassionate decisions that reflect the wishes of the people we represent?
Arrogance always has its price. If the government goes ahead with Bill C-38, Canadians will remember in 2015.
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns May 14th, 2012
With regard to the Employment Insurance (EI) program and its administration: (a) how many overpayments have been made annually for the past five fiscal years by number and by amount, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (b) how many overpayments have been collected annually for the past five fiscal years by number and by amount, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (c) how many overpayments have been written off annually for the last five fiscal years by number and by amount, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (d) how many EI cases have been adjudicated annually for the past five years, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (e) what is the average caseload for EI inspectors annually for the past five fiscal years, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (f) what is the average caseload for EI adjudicators annually for the past five fiscal years, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) misrepresented versus non-misrepresented cases; (g) what is the EI Workload Status annually for the past five fiscal years, broken down by (i) region/province, (ii) year, (iii) total case intake, (iv) number of cases pending, (v) number of cases pending more than 29 days; and (h) excluding those on parental leave, what is the number of Service Canada employees on long-term disability leave in total and broken down by (i) EI call centres, (ii) EI processing centres?