Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Debate on Bill C-237 that I have had the pleasure of introducing is drawing to a close. My Liberal and Reform colleagues showed no real willingness to redress the obvious injustice towards unpaid workers who assume part of the burden of their employer's bankruptcy.
Here is what the Liberals and Reformers argued. First, banks would be reluctant to lend money to companies.
Second, these same banks would lose patience more quickly when a company was experiencing difficulties.
Third and final argument, such a super priority for wage claims would be unfair to other creditors, including the Crown.
I will start by disproving the first argument. You know as well as I that generally speaking employees have no say in the way their employer runs his business. An employer can mortgage the company using his employees' salaries and wages as collateral. All creditors give legal consent for the money they loan to a company, but not employees. They have no say in the matter. Yet, their salaries, the fruit of their labour, is put up as collateral for other creditors. This is clearly unfair.
Moreover, the government does not get a penny out of unpaid wages. If salaries were to become a super priority, they would be paid to employees and the Department of Revenue would get its share. This disproves argument number 3.
The second point, that banks would be less patient with businesses in difficulty, is an interesting argument since banks are responsible for ensuring that the business to which they lend money is solvent. Banks are well placed to see if a business is able to pay its employees' salaries. If a bank lends to a business that is not able to pay its employees, it means that this institution agrees to let the workers bear the risk of the loan. Such an attitude would be both unjust and unacceptable.
Bill C-237 would force banks to be more responsible in this regard, which is highly desirable, you will agree.
This brings me to the first point. Is it true that this bill will affect the financing of businesses? I remind you that suppliers retain a right of ownership on unpaid supplies. The granting of that right in the past did not affect companies' access to funds.
We should also note that the industry committee recently tabled a report on the Small Businesses Loans Act. Here we have a good opportunity to illustrate the interdependence and complementarity of two measures: Bill C-237 corrects a problem for workers and the committee report enhances business financing. Consequently, the argument that business credit could be restricted does not hold any more. That did not happen in the case of a similar measure concerning suppliers and besides, the Small Businesses Loans Act could provide for that.
May I remind you that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry said in the second part of the debate on this bill, on October 25, that "until we have the banks acting more progressively and until their attitudes change toward small business, this bill should be defeated".
That is the main repugnant reason why some Liberals objected to this bill. That is also the main reason why all bills advocating the super priority of wage claims have failed for more than 20 years. Not for practical or economic reasons, but simply because we should wait for the banks to change their attitudes.
Well, I say no. Our workers have been subjected for too long already to the financial institution lobby. Over the past 20 years or so, in parliamentary committees, advisory committees and a stunning amount of legislation, banks have been used as an excuse to reject any piece of legislation on the priority status of wage claims, and every government has given in to the powerful banks.
In closing, let me repeat the arguments for this bill. First of all, this measure is intended to protect the driving force behind our economy, the workers. Next, the principle of priority for wage claims is one that makes up for the injustice done to workers by giving them the rank to which their work give them an indisputable right.
Moreover, this proposal will ensure that salaried employees will have better chances to be paid and paid more quickly. Let me add that the superpriority will allow them to be paid without any cost to the taxpayers. In fact, the government will get its share.
Besides, it is obvious that the risk that this superpriority would restrict credit for businesses has been deliberately exaggerated. That will not be the case. Finally, need we point out that it is not up to the workers to guarantee, with their wages, and without their consent, financial decisions made by their employers.
In its red book, the Liberal Party claims that it is committed to the principle of social solidarity, and I quote from page 73. It is stated that many of the laws and policies that previous Liberal governments enacted remain the basis of our system of social support, "through which we pool our resources to create programs that benefit all Canadians and help to sustain people through difficult times".
Therefore I ask the government members to fulfil that commitment in supporting Bill C-237 so that it can be referred to a
committee where it will be improved before coming back to this House, so that the public can be better served.