Monique Guay

[BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION ACT, 2009, February 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to this bill. Because this is the first time I have made a speech since the election, I would like to greet my constituents, who, for the sixth time, gave me a mandate in this House with a wonderful majority. I cannot thank them enough. They can be proud of the job I will do, and I will work very hard for them.

We all know that an economic crisis like the one we are going through affects not only companies and municipalities, but all the men and women in Quebec and Canada. We asked that the budget include exceptional measures that we considered imperative and that all Quebeckers wanted. Instead, the government cut these measures.

The government cut $1 billion from our equalization transfer payments. Imagine how that will affect job creation, assistance for businesses and families and help for our day care system in Quebec. All that money from equalization transfers would have helped carry on all the wonderful work that has begun in Quebec.

But that money has been cut this year, and it will be cut in the years to come. The government is going to do everything it can to chip away at Quebec, in any event. Quebec will always be penalized, and that is unacceptable. The National Assembly had reached a consensus on this. The government has written Quebec off. I cannot wait to see how the Conservative members from Quebec are going to react during the next election campaign and how the Liberal members from Quebec are going to boast about this budget they voted for.

The securities commission is also a priority for the Bloc Québécois. There again, there is a consensus in Quebec. The government wants to create a pan-Canadian securities commission. Once again, they want to duplicate the work that we have already done. We do not need it in Quebec. We already have a solid structure in place; we have our own commission. Henceforth, we will be dealing with a commission to be headquartered where? Probably in Toronto; certainly not in Quebec. That is another budget item.

These are the two main reasons why we will vote against the budget implementation bill. But that is not all. There are a number of other factors at issue that are of grave concern to me as a woman.

There is the matter of pay equity. My colleagues in this House and I are not the only ones to have fought for it. There are so many groups of women who fought for pay equity. My mother fought so that one day we would have equal pay for equal work. That is not too much to ask. And now we will be unable to appeal to the courts; we will be prevented from having the same salary. In this House, as my colleague said yesterday, men and women receive equal pay. But that is not the case elsewhere. I have been in that situation several times. I have seen cases in my riding. You just cannot imagine. Women come to me to ask what recourse they have. They do the same work as a man but are not entitled to the same wages. Sometimes they have to work even harder.

This is an injustice that should no longer exist and one that the Conservative Party, once again, did not pay any attention to. It is unacceptable to take us back in time, unacceptable for women. With such a position, there will be fewer and fewer women in all spheres of elected activity—I mean municipal government, boards of directors, and at the provincial, even the federal level. Fewer and fewer women will want to get involved, because women are not recognized as equal to men. The battles will begin again, the same ones as 40 or 50 years ago, because our government is moving us back in time instead of ahead.

I can tell hon. members that my recent discussions with some women were in that vein. They were not interested in getting involved, because they would never achieve pay equity. This is an aberrant situation and one we will challenge.

There are some that say that people in the arts are living high off the hog. That is wrong, totally wrong. There is plenty of artistic activity in my riding. There are plenty of musicians and painters, and they do not have an easy time of it. They are really just living on the poverty line. What is more, they have just had funding taken away from them. These people travelled abroad often and I myself have travelled to Japan with a delegation of artists. I did this at my own expense in order to give them a chance to gain recognition and meet with Japanese artists. Now they will not be able to do this any more. Foreign artists will be encouraged to come here but our artists will not be encouraged to travel elsewhere. This is another aberrant situation. Are we going to just close up like an oyster?

There is another point I want to make. This Conservative government is taking a piecemeal approach. It has no vision for the future. There is a budget for two years but the measures it contains will not be renewable. I will not even address the Kyoto protocol. We can see that there is nothing in the budget to encourage sustainable development or the measures already in place.

In my riding, CEVEQ has been conducting studies on electric automobiles for 10 years, which is fantastic. They are studying vehicles from California and electric buses, things that we could eventually use here. The government is showing no willingness to make the environment a priority in this House.

I look at youth today—my daughter is studying architecture and the environment and is looking at the current potential to build green buildings and homes. We have extraordinary possibilities ahead of us, but the government is not doing anything to actually implement them.

Geothermal must also be studied. I was not very familiar with it, but my daughter explained to me exactly what it is. It is the future and so we must seriously consider it. It does not pollute. There are a number of products that do not pollute, such as solar and wind energy. Why are we not investing in these areas instead of, once again, investing in oil companies?

I was reading an article this morning in which the Conservatives said that Bombardier did not need the government's help. Ottawa is saying that Bombardier does not need the government's help. It is unbelievable. They just laid off 1,300 people. Bell Helicopter laid off 600. And yet we are being told that these businesses do not need help. We have to take a serious look at reality and react accordingly. The government has a role to play and it must do so immediately.

To conclude, we are against the implementation of this bill.

[Canadian Products Promotion Act, February 10th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-306, An Act respecting the use of government contracts to promote economic development.

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has a long history of innovation. We have been working on this bill for some time. Given the current economic situation, it is more important than ever that this bill be debated and passed in this House.

The purpose of this bill is to promote economic development in Canada and Quebec by ensuring that, in the procurement of its goods and services, the Government of Canada gives preference to Canadian products while complying with its international obligations, including NAFTA.

This bill also states that the price of a Canadian product may not exceed by more than 7.5% the price of a non-Canadian similar product. It also states that, to ensure fair treatment of all provinces, the Government of Canada shall not, in a fiscal year, obtain more than 50% of the value of its products from a single province.

I hope that the members will give this bill special consideration and that it will help the economy, which must overcome some serious challenges. I hope that my colleagues will vote in favour of this bill.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, February 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I also want to congratulate my colleague. I was in charge of environment for many years. We can see that he is definitely in charge of his file. He is pushing for a healthy and unique environment. We should have this kind of environment in Quebec and in Canada.

I will broach another subject that he knows a lot about, and that is not going well at this time. In my riding, large companies such as Bell Helicopter and Bombardier, announced huge lay-offs last week, and the two-week waiting period has really added to the workers' unhappiness. The fact that the benefit period for employment insurance has been increased by five weeks does little because, in the meantime, the majority of people looking for work may have found it. It is the two-week waiting period that really hurts them. As well, there is the issue of the measly 55% of their salary when they only make $20,000 or $25,000 a year.

There is also the whole question of pay equity for women. We have worked for years to have the same salary: equal pay for equal work.

I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on these two subjects, which are a priority for us in the Bloc Québécois

[Pierre Bourgeois, February 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to highlight the exceptional contribution of a good-hearted man who recently retired as director of the City of Saint-Jérôme's police service.

Pierre Bourgeois is a kind and generous man. People call him a “rainbow-maker”. He masterfully resolved labour conflicts and organized peace missions abroad. He also initiated the construction of Saint-Jérôme's new police station.

The City of Saint-Jérôme's police force, the many stakeholders who have worked with him all these years, and the members of the Ordina-Coeur foundation can be proud to have crossed paths with him.

My Bloc Québécois colleagues and I would like to thank him for his valuable contribution, and we would like to wish him the very best in his future endeavours.

[Louise Forestier, December 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, a celebrated Quebec singer, Louise Forestier, has won the 2008 Francophonie prize from the Académie Charles Cros for her album titled Éphémère. Co-written with her son, Éphémère is a collection of new compositions, which are filled with the spontaneity and instinct of an artist whose career spans almost 40 years.

The Académie Charles Cros was created in 1947 and is named after the poet and self-taught inventor. The academy, headquartered in Paris, is composed of some fifty experts in music criticism and sound recording who choose the recipients of annual grand prizes for original, high-quality musical recordings.

After having honoured artists such as Vigneault, Leclerc and Desjardins, the jury chose Louise Forestier because of her true Quebec voice, her culture and her way of life. Once again the academy has highlighted Quebec's contribution to francophone music.

[RESUMPTION OF DEBATE ON ADDRESS IN REPLY, November 24th, 2008]

Madam Speaker, I would also like to congratulate you on your appointment to such an important position in this House. I wish you every success.

I have a question for my hon. colleague, who also happens to be my neighbour. The riding of Rivière-du-Nord is right beside the riding of Laurentides—Labelle, and the two ridings share similar problems. I would like my colleague to elaborate a little on the bill the Conservatives want to bring back, one that is opposed in all areas of Quebec, namely, the bill concerning young offenders. I am sure that through her past experience and her experience as a member of Parliament, she has seen that sending our young children to crime school really is a very bad idea. I would like to hear her comments on this.

[Association Québec-France in Granby, November 24th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, this November, Granby's Association Québec-France will celebrate its 30th anniversary. This association has had great success in its goal of extending the government-to-government relations between France and Quebec into civil society. Because of successive presidents who believed in their association, 500 young people have been able to spend time in France gaining experience in harvesting, renovating castles, farming and numerous group outings.

The association also organized the first Semaine de la France and Semaine de la Francophonie, which included the 2004 Franco-Fête. Its members have also organized seminars, conferences, concerts, art shows, French fashion shows, contests and culinary events.

Speaking personally and on behalf of my Bloc Québécois colleagues, I would like to offer our best wishes to the Association Québec-France in Granby and wish it a long life.

[Jutra awards, March 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, last night, the 10th annual Jutra awards gala was held. The gala first toured several cinemas in Quebec from February 25 to 28, presenting the four films in the best film category. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the awards, a retrospective of Quebec's best films from the past ten years was presented. This year's best film was Continental, a film without guns.

The Jutra for best actor went to Roy Dupuis for his portrayal of General Dallaire in the movie Shake Hands with the Devil. Guylaine Tremblay won the Jutra in the best actress category for her role in the film Contre toute espérance (Summit Cirlcle). The Jutra-Hommage tribute award went to an important director who is considered a key witness of our times and our history, Jean-Claude Labrecque. The quality of the films and documentaries made by this man, who views cinema as a means of presenting history, is remarkable.

Congratulations to all the winners and everyone who was nominated.

[Afghan Women, March 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, since we will be celebrating International Women's Day on Saturday, I would like to share my concerns about women's rights in Afghanistan. The new Afghan government has been in power for six years now, and much remains to be done to improve the living conditions of women.

More women are committing suicide. Women are being raped by local commanders of fundamentalist parties. Women are being killed for expressing their political opinions. Islamic law still limits women's rights. All of these things show that there are still major obstacles to advancing women's rights in Afghanistan.

As a show of solidarity towards these women and to highlight International Women's Day, the Bloc Québécois is calling on the Minister of International Cooperation to continue what she is doing and provide more support for Afghan women who are fighting for equality.

[Canada Elections Act, February 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. I will be very brief as I do not have much time remaining.

I cannot provide all the names. However, just imagine that three ministers, people who manage huge budgets every year, committed fraud or are under suspicion of fraud. This is very serious. We are talking about people who manage taxpayers' money. It is incredible: 67 members of Parliament. We will see how this plays out.

This may be why the Conservatives are in a hurry to hold an election: to hide what exactly happened in 2006 and to prevent it from coming to light. I can say one thing for certain: we will be watching them in the next election campaign.