Evidence of meeting #116 for Finance in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was federal.
Co-coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi
I just wanted to remind the government to review the principle of the closed work permit, which has been opposed by the United Nations, among others. It needs to be reconsidered.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
I entirely agree with you, Mr. Lapointe. I prefer open work permits. We have to grant more rights and protections to temporary foreign workers in general. Our economy absolutely needs these people. You could almost say they've become a pillar.
Mr. Milliard, you urged us, in your presentation, to ask questions about continuing training and a savings fund that could help workers. So I'm going to grant your wish.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
I'll summarize it for you in one minute.
We think that we should consider lifelong continuing training. It used to be that we went to school and then university or CEGEP and that we completed our education at the age of 25. Now, we have to acknowledge that it's valuable to go to school and to continue learning all our lives. We have to destigmatize this idea that going back to school and learning new skills is the result of a mistake in our past. That's not the case; it's an investment in the future.
We should have a tax system that acknowledges that. Just as we contribute money to an RRSP for retirement purposes, there could be a plan to which both employees and employers would contribute. That money could grow on a tax-free basis and be used for training projects. It would be a kind of training RRSP. I know that some unions don't agree with this because they think it's employees who should invest in their training.
I think employers could contribute a large portion of their training budgets to the plan. It could also become a separate benefit offered by employers, who could decide to contribute to the plan up to 2% or 3% for every 1% contributed by their employees.
In that way, thanks to the money set aside for six, eight or 10 months, employees' financial situation would be less unstable when they went back to school to earn another diploma or something else later on. I'm the best example of this type of arrangement. I'm a pharmacist by profession, and I'm appearing today before the Standing Committee on Finance. Anything is possible in life.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
My training is in sociology, but then you have to go and find a job.
Thank you, Mr. Milliard.
Liberal
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to share my speaking time with my colleague. I think he wanted to ask a few more questions.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
I'm going to go back to the question on the carbon tax. It's been raised in the House of Commons. The inflation rate in Canada was recently 3.8%. We've been reminded that it was higher in Quebec, at 4.8%.
In this context in which the inflation rate in Quebec is greater than the Canadian average, do you think that Mr. Legault should eliminate the carbon tax in Quebec in order to lower inflation and encourage the investments we need here in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada?
November 13th, 2023 / 10:10 a.m.
Director, Public and Economic Affairs, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
That's not one of our demands for the very simple reason that Quebec is involved in a carbon exchange for most of what we just discussed.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
My question could also concern the carbon exchange.
Director, Public and Economic Affairs, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
My response would still be no.
Director, Public and Economic Affairs, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
What's important for businesses is predictability.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
I'm going to interject here.
There was some crosstalk and interpretation was not possible. We've paused the time.
Could we have a repeat of that so the chair can hear what was being said? I'm sure it was very important.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mr. Lavigne, if I'm not mistaken, you mentioned earlier that legislation would be needed in order to mandate a balanced budget.
Does that mean there's a lack of trust in democracy?
Wouldn't our elected representatives be able to make the right fiscal decisions?
Director, Public and Economic Affairs, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
Quebec actually has a Balanced Budget Act, which works so well that members have agreed to suspend it even in a crisis such as the pandemic or in a particular situation. Otherwise, the principle remains. The act is now back in force, and we have to return to a balanced budget.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
If there's a crisis, the Balanced Budget Act will ultimately have to be amended.
It's all well and good to say that Mr. Girard balanced his budget, but don't forget that it was the federal government that paid the pandemic-related expenses during the crisis. We all know that.
Thank you.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Ms. Corcoran, my question mainly concerns the co‑operative business model.
Earlier, we discussed the labour shortage. What is your group's position on how to solve that problem? Is it to promote personnel retention or to include more people in the labour market?
Executive Director, Canadian Worker Co-op Federation
We believe the co‑operative model promotes retention because workers share ownership. We see this in our statistics. This model attracts people who are going to become entrepreneurs collectively and wouldn't have been otherwise.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Do you think the co‑operative model could be a solution to the labour shortage or difficulties related to labour retention and the inclusion of people not currently in the workforce?
Executive Director, Canadian Worker Co-op Federation
Yes, it can certainly help address these challenges.
Liberal
Co-coordinator, Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi
Can you repeat the question?
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
We're talking about the co‑operative model. Personally, I find it very interesting.
Do you think this model could be a solution to help people?
We know there are difficulties and inequalities in the regions. Is there a way to support the creation of co‑operatives so that more people are included in the labour market?