Good morning.
The vote was serious, from what I saw, so I'll be able to get started.
The Confédération des syndicats nationaux, or CSN, is a central labour body that brings together 1,600 unions, representing over 330,000 workers in Quebec and Canada. We represent people from all sectors, from the private sector to the public sector.
Our brief has several points. First, we indirectly address the issue of inflation by talking about the Bank of Canada, since it is through the Bank of Canada that inflation can be influenced in Canada. It has raised its key interest rate significantly. We think there should be a pause on that, because it takes time to have an effect on inflation, and because it causes a lot of anxiety for all those people we know who have to renew their mortgage. We have to recognize that.
However, we believe that the Government of Canada must act on other fronts to counter inflation and help citizens, particularly with regard to social housing. There's a major crisis in Canada and in Quebec too. We need to encourage the construction of non-market housing, such as co‑operative housing, in collaboration with other governments. It's not always easy, but we have to work on it. More targeted assistance should also be provided to lower-income citizens who are being hit hard by rising food costs.
As far as the EI system is concerned, we noticed during the pandemic that the current system is inadequate and has many shortcomings. A promise was made in this regard, and we think it must be kept to prevent many of our fellow citizens from finding themselves in what is known as the black hole of employment insurance, meaning a period without income. Yes, the pandemic is over, but there have been forest fires, and I can tell you that there are forestry workers in different parts of the country where there is no more wood to harvest, or there are workers in maritime regions where shrimp processing has taken less time, who are victims of the EI black hole, and that too is cause for anxiety.
Second, we think pharmacare should be public and universal, because it's a good way to control the cost of drugs. This would help control inflation and promote better access to medication for people.
As for the labour shortage, there is immigration, but many of the permits given to foreign workers are temporary. What's more, they should be given the right to change employers. Right now, they're a bit like prisoners—pardon the expression—of the employer to which they're tied. I can tell you that people from the UN have said that it's even worse than that. There have been abuses, and I think that allowing temporary foreign workers to change locations would prevent some of these abuses.
We could also take advantage of the energy crisis to develop a green economy. We are there. The first thing to do, in our opinion, is to facilitate an energy transition. This is a matter of urgency. I don't need to remind you of all the effects this crisis has had across Canada for some time now. We had an unbelievable summer. So we really have to put an end to the financial support of the oil and gas industry as soon as possible. In my opinion, and until proven otherwise, this industry is very profitable and does not need the support of the government or its Crown corporations.
There are tax credits. There have been some in recent budgets. That's good, but targeted subsidies would be even better and would enable the government to exercise leadership by targeting specific industries and promoting specific sectors.
We heard earlier from other speakers about batteries and electric cars. That's great. Now, we would also like to see public transit promoted.
Finally, with respect to taxation, we believe that the tax base should be improved by establishing a public registry of the ultimate beneficial owners. Such a registry would allow us to know who really has to pay tax and would allow multinationals to pay their taxes at an effective, not theoretical, rate of 25%. Of course, this is true for large multinational digital companies.
I will add one last word, by the way. While there's a tug‑of‑war going on, the media should be supported, rather than deprived of revenue. That would be important.
Thank you very much. We look forward to your questions.