Mr. Speaker, on October 25 last, the Canadian people elected a new government. In Quebec, we were in the advantageous position of having the choice between three political parties. Quebecers chose to send Bloc Quebecois members to Ottawa. On October 25 last, the objective, the campaign slogan of the Liberal government was hope. All over Quebec, we heard "Votez libéral pour l'espoir". Whenever I heard that slogan I thought that it did not make much sense, especially knowing the government's background.
The Liberal government is to be blamed for most of the Canadian deficit. All the Conservatives did afterwards was to increase it. The Conservative government, which was in power in the 1980s and early 1990s, increasingly curtailed citizens' rights and now with Bill C-17, this government of ours is going even further.
Since his election as leader of his party and the last campaign, the Prime Minister is forever talking about bread and butter. We now know that those are mere words. What the Prime Minister and his cabinet are doing by amending the Unemployment Insurance Act, is to take away a little bit more bread and butter from the poorest members of our society. I rise today to denounce the irresponsible attitude of a government which is supposed to help economic recovery. A government which is supposed to make Canadians and Quebecers feel better. But what it is doing instead is taking a little bit more from everybody.
The Liberals are hitting the poorest members of our society, those who are the most in need. Losing your job is very sad. Mr. Speaker, you and I are in an advantageous situation. We are elected to serve for a certain period of time during which we do not need to look for a job. You know as well as I do that losing one's job is perhaps one of the saddest thing with which a person must contend.
All our government is doing is merely lowering the benefit rate. People who once were entitled to 57 per cent of their salary will now only be able to collect up to 55 per cent. Minor adjustments have been made, but if we look at the figures, we quickly see that two thirds of recipients will receive fewer benefits than before. This is unacceptable. When a government is given a mandate to govern, it must begin by focusing on the least fortunate members of our society. That is not what this government is currently doing. It is trying to reduce its deficit at the expense of the most disadvantaged and that is unacceptable.
The Liberals have always adopted the liberal attitude whereby the sky is the limit. Today, there no longer appears to be any limit at all, and as a result, the least fortunate are becoming increasingly dependant. What is this government doing? It is lowering UI benefits and, as of result of its actions, provinces will have to pick up a bigger share of the tab for social assistance. Once again, this government is offloading its deficit onto the provinces. This is unacceptable.
As representatives of the people, we have a role to play. We must ensure that all Canadian citizens are treated equally. Parliament must also strive to narrow the inequity gap between the classes. With Bill C-17, the Liberal government is making the gap between rich and poor grow wider and wider. We, in the Bloc Quebecois, cannot accept that. We were elected, Mr. Speaker, you, I and all the hon. members, to protect the interests of the people and, in this case, it would be in the interest of the people to at least maintain UI benefits at the 57 per cent level. This rate cannot be reduced.
The Canadian government seems to be strongly influenced by the United States, where the rate is approximately 50 per cent. But we have always had a slightly higher rate in Canada and Quebec. This government did praise the merits of unemployment insurance. The benefit rate has always been slightly higher in Canada and Quebec and I think it cannot go any lower. Let us not loose sight of those of our constituents who are poor. We have in our ridings less fortunate people who do not have enough to get by. The government has the duty-and the duty of Parliament is to support a government that does so-to do its job and be actively involved in creating employment. But it is not the case here. This government talks about doing many things. It plans to do this, that and the other, but actually does very little. This government has accomplished very little.
As you know, the rate of unemployment in Quebec is about 13 per cent. In Canada, it is around 11 per cent. Some 450,000 Quebecers are presently unemployed, not to mention those who lost their jobs but gave up looking for a new one because there are none available. It is well know that the fishing, forest, tourist and construction industries are seriously affected by the measures contained in Bill C-17. Workers will be required to work 12 weeks to qualify for unemployment insurance. There is a danger that these people will not be able to meet the 12-week requirement and will be forced to request social assistance.
It is humiliating for someone who wants to work to be on welfare. To wrap up, I think that the unemployment insurance reform reflects the contempt of the Liberals for the unemployed.
The Minister of Human Resources Development admits to pursuing the following objective: to force recipients to work longer in order to qualify for the same number of weeks of benefits.
The unemployed in Quebec and Canada did not choose to be out of work and I think the government must do the best it can to help them out.