Jean-Yves Roy

[Criminal Code, February 6th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, before I start I would like to say that we will obviously support this bill. We find it interesting because it would eliminate the adjective illegitimate when referring to a child.

I also want to congratulate my colleague from Ottawa Centre for his insight and for introducing Bill C-408.

I will not use up my ten minutes as it would appear that we will have to consider another bill later. We will debate this at a later date.

I would simply like to state a very definite opinion regarding the bill. In Quebec, theses words have been removed from the civil code since 1994. In recent history, being called illegitimate meant a lot of things for children in their daily life.

Recently, I was listening to a program coming from the United States. I listened to children who had been labelled illegitimate, children who had been put up for adoption or institutionalized. They were telling their story. Today, they are between 40 and 45 years old or even less. They were talking about how they were treated when they were young and how the fact that they were branded illegitimate marked them for life.

Right here, in Canada, we have had the same kind of problems, including the Duplessis orphans. We have seen the way orphans were treated in orphanages in Newfoundland and nearby in Ontario. We have just seen what it was like to be considered illegitimate in our societies that are supposed to be free and respectful of individual rights.

We had yet another example in the debate just concluded in Ireland. In case my colleagues did not know, this debate has lasted for years in Ireland, and it has just concluded now. Our societies change. It is important, at least that is what the Bloc Quebecois thinks, that we take that word out of the criminal code. A child cannot be illegitimate. A child is the son or daughter of a mother and father. Being born cannot be illegitimate. Legally, a child cannot be illegitimate.

That is the gist of my argument. I want to see us go a little further. I have not yet seen the new bill the government intends to introduce, but I hope it goes a little further still. I hope that the Canadian government will look at what has been done with the revision of the Quebec civil code, and that it will at the very least draw upon what has been done, and well done, therein.

Certain words have been taken out. As far as is possible, I would like to see the entire Criminal Code looked at, not just the parts relating to children, as have been proposed by my colleague for Ottawa Centre—whom I again congratulate and thank—but a complete review of the criminal code in order to seek out everything that, in my opinion, does not do justice to people and still hangs on to what I would call stuff from the past. We are still dragging along baggage from the past, tradition that is, to my way of thinking, unhealthy, and this is particularly the case with the matter of concern to us at present.

Since we shall have to get back to the debate raised by my colleague, as I have said, I merely wanted him to know that we were in agreement with his bill. We hope that the one to be introduced by the government will go a little further still.

[Air Transport, February 5th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, recently Air Canada Regional announced that it was re-examining air connections to the Magdalen Islands and the Gaspé, on the dubious grounds of unprofitability. Consequently, it planned to discontinue them effective 2003.

Can the Minister of Transport tell us whether he has an action plan in mind for maintaining regional air services, those in Gaspé and Magdalen Islands in particular, and if he intends to make it public in the near future?

[Aboriginal Communities, February 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, according to the United Nations, the most serious human rights problem faced by the Canadian population at this time is the situation of our aboriginal people.

At a meeting in Geneva attended by some 300 participants from 30 or so countries, Roméo Saganash, speaking for the Grand Conseil des Cris, called upon all countries to follow Quebec's example. He went on to say that the October 23 peace of the braves represents a formidable step forward in the development of relations between a government and a first nation.

He could not fail to point out that Canada has not demonstrated the same interest as far as nation to nation discourse is concerned.

This coming February 7, Ted Moses, Grand Chief of the Cree, and Quebec Premier Bernard Landry will be signing an historic agreement, one which demonstrates Quebec's pioneering role as it does not hesitate to recognize the aspirations of aboriginal peoples and holds discussions in good faith, nation to nation.

[The Budget, January 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, before I begin, since I have very little time, I would like to go back to what the member for Scarborough--Agincourt said earlier in response to my question. He practically said, here in the House, that the people in high unemployment regions are not hard-working, that they lack imagination and that they are practically lazy. That was pretty much what he said in reply to my question.

I would like to know if other members of the House—unfortunately they will perhaps not have the time to ask me questions—if Liberal members as well as members from other regions of Canada also having trouble think the same thing, if they think that the people in outlying areas such as mine are lazy and incompetent and lack the imagination to get their economy going again.

I think that this statement is insulting. Not only is it insulting to the people of my region, but it is also insulting to the people in other regions of Canada. It is just as insulting to the people of Quebec as it is to those of the Magdalen Islands, who unfortunately are represented by a Liberal.

I will now proceed with my speech, because I do not have very much time. First of all, I would say that the last budget—and I said this earlier—contains no measures for remote areas, for regions experiencing difficulty. Not only does it contain no active measures that might have helped us out of our difficulty, but it contains passive measures, measures which harm the regions.

I will give an example concerning air transportation. I could supply figures. For a resident of the Magdalen Islands, airplanes are as necessary as roads and highways. Those living on islands in Quebec need airplanes to be able to access services, whether they be emergency health services, government services, or whatever. People need airplanes. In this connection, it is clear that, despite the fact that the federal government bailed out Air Canada, Air Canada is holding us to ransom.

In its budget, the government did not even ensure that the money which it invested in Air Canada, which has become a monopoly, would be used to serve the regions, which is what we were asking.

My colleague, the member for Charlevoix is in the same boat. Those of us from the regions are asking for at least some active measures that will assist us in having access to the same services to which the rest of Canada and Quebec have access.

For the people living in my riding, I think that the federal government is not only useless, but it is almost harmful, because of these air transportation measures, among others.

The federal government is hurting the regions. It takes away our money in taxes and then gives us practically nothing back in return. We no longer receive anything in economic development or in services.

I could give another example, which is similar to the one my colleague mentioned earlier, that of infrastructure projects. Let me give a concrete example. I will not talk about infrastructure in general, of the program that was created, of the foundation, which we all know is completely useless, and which will cause all sorts of problems for those of us in Quebec, and which will no doubt cause us to abandon the program if necessary, to finally be able to do some good work.

I want to talk about infrastructure that belongs to the federal government. Since I have one minute left, I will end on this. Part of this federal infrastructure includes harbours for small boats. Virtually all of these harbours are in a terrible shape. The federal government announced a few million dollars, but this represents barely 25% of the funding needed to repair its own infrastructure. We are not asking the government to invest in anything else, but it really should begin with cleaning up its own house.

[The Budget, January 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am a bit shocked by the comments that I just heard. They are telling me, the member for Matapédia--Matane, that Canada is the best country in the world, when the unemployment rate in my region is over 20%, and when the federal government, in its last budget, did not propose anything for regions such as mine.

In the year 2000, during the election campaign, several ministers travelled to my region and one of them announced a so-called special program to promote economic recovery in the Gaspé Peninsula. Well, we have yet to see this special program, even though it was announced over a year and a half ago.

Could the hon. member tell me to what extent the federal government proposed measures for regions such as mine, regions such as the Gaspé, where unemployment is very high?

[The Budget, December 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Drummond for her excellent speech. I have a simple question for her.

I would like to know if, in her opinion, yesterday's budget can help our economy get back on track immediately.

Will the measures proposed in the budget allow us to create jobs tomorrow, considering that, following the September 11 events, the economic slowdown and the number of jobs that were lost, concrete action is truly necessary to revitalize employment?

[Employment Insurance, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, how can the Minister of Human Resources Development remain impassive in response to the legitimate claims that her Liberal colleagues from Quebec misled people during the election campaign, by leading them to believe that employment insurance would be changed to meet their demands, to take into consideration the difficult economic situation that the regions are experiencing?

[Employment Insurance, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the Coalition-Chômage Gaspésie—Îles—Matapédia—Matane strongly denounces the unacceptable attitude of the government and of the Liberal member for the region, who refuses to support the unanimous report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development on changes to employment insurance.

How can the government and Liberal members allow the promises they made during the election campaign to be broken, in complete disregard for those who believed them and who trusted in them?

[Prebudget Consultations, November 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Stoney Creek began his speech by saying that steps must be taken to ensure that our economy remains stable.

Our finance critic, the member for Saint-Hyacinthe--Bagot, asked the Minister of Finance questions for weeks on end, even suggesting a plan of action to him, for the very purpose of ensuring that our economy remains stable, that it can get back on track in the wake of the events of September 11 and the recent crisis.

He also talked about what his constituents wanted, but we learned very little, except perhaps regarding highway infrastructures. He also said that, whatever it takes, we must hang on to a balanced budget, because this has been a hard won battle and an important one.

I would simply remind him that it is the majority of workers who have paid down the deficit, because of EI cuts.

Would his constituents, who are workers, not like to see the EI system reformed and the rules relaxed?

[Softwood Lumber, November 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the current dispute between Canada and the United States about softwood lumber is nothing new. Whenever an agreement expires, the U.S. industry tries by every possible means to slow down, if not to destroy, the Quebec and Canadian industries.

Yet, we have a free trade agreement with the United States. As their neighbour, we have had a most conciliatory attitude toward them. In Quebec particularly, our industry and government have done everything to eliminate any subsidy. It can be stated that, in Quebec, our industry is not subsidized and is not in any way competing unfairly with the U.S. industry.

The free trade agreement that we signed with the United States must be respected, and the government must act vigorously, and much more so than it has done since the beginning of the dispute, to ensure that this agreement is truly respected. All that the minister will say publicly is that discussions are taking place and are progressing well.

The time for discussions will have to end soon. It will have to stop soon. The time for action must come. Thousands of jobs are at stake at home, in our regions.

In the lower St. Lawrence region, where I come from, the softwood lumber industry includes some 38 companies that employ about 2,052 plant workers, and over 1,810 forestry workers. This illustrates how importance that industry is in our region. The attitude of the U.S. is jeopardizing the whole economy of that region. In the Gaspé Peninsula, which is another region that I cover, there are some 17 sawmills that employ 716 plant workers and 1,120 forestry workers. For a region of a little over 100,000 people that was hit hard by the moratorium on groundfish and was also hit very hard by the employment insurance cuts, any new loss of jobs is a real tragedy.

Moreover, people from both the Matapédia and Gaspé regions do not trust the current government at all to help them in a crisis situation. If the past is any indication of what the future holds, it is obvious that we cannot trust the current government.

As we know, Quebec is the second largest producer of softwood lumber in Canada, with 25.5% of the total production. In Quebec, some 40,000 jobs are related to this industry. The softwood lumber industry injects over $4 billion a year into the Quebec economy. This shows the importance of that industry in our province.

Add the fact that 250 municipalities in Quebec depend for their livelihood on the lumber processing industry, which provides all the manufacturing jobs in 135 towns or villages in Quebec. These towns and villages are at risk because of the attitude of the Americans. I point out that we have a free trade agreement with the United States, which was signed under the Mulroney government and must be honoured.

We in the Bloc Quebecois have defended this from the outset. We demand the full return of free trade. We want the Americans to honour their signature and to stop harassing us and our industry, our towns and our cities. We want this government to stop its palaver and two bit statements and get on with it.

On October 31, the 12.5% anti-dumping duties were added to the countervailing duties of 19.3% imposed last spring. Something vigorous must be done quickly. We also think it is time for a meeting of all stakeholders to examine Canada's strategy in the matter.

We are not satisfied and we are not alone. We also want the government to implement measures to come to the assistance of the considerable number of workers who have lost or will lose their jobs. By way of example, we propose the implementation of the unanimous recommendations of the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development on employment insurance.

We also ask that the Prime Minister intervene vigorously with the American president to get the anti-dumping and countervailing duties suspended until such time as the WTO has reached a decision in the matter Canada brought before it.

We want the Government of Canada to undertake a vigorous advertising campaign in the States so Americans will understand the consequences of their government's protectionist attitude, especially the fact that American consumers are bearing the brunt of the dispute.