Mr. Speaker, I welcome this opportunity today to speak to the bill introduced by the hon. member for New Westminster-Burnaby.
I listened carefully to the hon. member's arguments. Members with whom I spoke in the Bloc Quebecois, and I personally, are in favour of this amendment. It is clear that individuals who are ordered in civil court to pay damages in respect of an assault or battery or any another act that could lead to a conviction in civil court, should not be able to shirk their responsibilities by declaring bankruptcy.
Like our government colleague, I think this amendment to the Bankruptcy Act is admissible and useful.
There is also the aspect of interest payments which may be useful in an amendment to the bill introduced by the minister on the same subject.
However, I was less inclined to appreciate the arguments presented by the hon. member to justify his amendment. I agree there is a problem. In Canada, individuals convicted in civil court of causing damage as a result of violent acts or sexual abuse should not be allowed to escape the consequences of their actions. However, I think the hon member-and this is just a comment-was putting his amendment in a rather negative context.
There was a lot of talk about crime, a list of people convicted of sexual abuse or acts of violence was mentioned, cases were cited, and so forth. Perhaps the climate in my riding, in my region, and even elsewhere in Quebec is not quite the same, but I have not met many people in my area who are afraid to go out at night for fear of being assaulted or abused. These things can happen, of course, but they are not so widespread that they can be used as arguments to justify otherwise quite worthwhile amendments.
The hon. government member also noted that, last November, the Minister of Industry tabled in this House a bill to amend the Bankruptcy Act. This bill is much broader than the amendment proposed by the hon. member because it kind of overhauls the Bankruptcy Act. Like the hon. member who spoke before me, I did notice that there is an identical clause in the bill introduced by the Minister of Industry and in the bill presented by our colleague from the Reform Party today.
I even think that, had it realized this sooner, the committee in charge of determining which bills shall be considered as votable items might have decided that this bill was redundant in light of the minister's bill.
When I went over clause 105, a little paragraph further down caught my eye. It has nothing to do with this debate, but I know, Mr. Speaker, that you are quite lenient on the issue of relevance. I do not know if my colleague from the Reform Party saw this paragraph that makes it more difficult for students who are out of school but are unable to find a job to declare bankruptcy.
They are told they cannot do so within two years of finishing their courses. This is, I feel, an aspect which merits attention perhaps. I wanted to bring it up here in the House, and my party will debate it when the time comes. I believe that, after all of the Reform member's justifiable severity concerning people getting out of their responsibilities after a civil judgment, he ought to focus the same amount of energy on the student situation in order to determine whether there is a problem. We know that in Canada, and in Quebec, my region in particular, getting into the work force is a huge problem for students.
I feel therefore, that in the bill to be introduced by the Minister-I know I am not in order, but I feel this will have to be examined carefully. It is all very fine to want to be strict, to want to see people pay their debts, but one still needs to have a proper understanding of the situation. My colleague has justifiably pointed out that people found guilty in civil suits ought not to be exempted.
Looking at the student situation, however, we become aware that the minister's bill is very severe, considering that at the present time the job market for young people in Canada is very bad, and when it comes right down to it, one realizes the amendments proposed by the minister are unfavourably biased against students. A student who is unable to pay his debts after graduation is judged initially as in some way guilty of fraudulent intent in not wanting to repay his government loans. This is, I feel, not the case for the large majority of students. The bulk of young people forced to declare bankruptcy at the end of their studies do so because they really cannot pay.
Certainly there are some people who will take advantage of such possibilities to commit fraud. However, as was said this morning concerning the whole unemployment insurance question, when a system is put into place there are always some people who will try to cheat, but it is my belief that not everyone using the system ought to be tarred with the same brush as the dishonest few.
I hope that the government will take this into consideration when the time comes to examine this legislation, particularly since the unemployment insurance reform will mean that students who have terminated their studies will be hit hard by that as well. We realize that a student completing school and finding a first job will have to work 910 hours in order to qualify for unemployment insurance.
Lots of students today are on contract, and it is rare that anyone gets 910 hours in one go. Young people will not qualify. If they cannot qualify, they cannot pay their student loans. If they cannot pay their student loans, they will have difficulty meeting their obligations. Under the amendments to the Bankruptcy Act the minister has tabled, young people will not be able to pay and therefore will not be able to declare bankruptcy and will be unable to pay. It is not clear where they will end up.
In any case, I hope that, when the committee studies the legislation, it will look carefully at the amendment the member proposed, because I think it is acceptable, but I hope it will also look at other aspects of the legislation, which are tightening and toughening up the system. Basically, Canada's entire social system is becoming harsher. It is our whole way of looking at our young people in school and people having difficulty finding a job.
Our whole approach, that of Canadians and of Quebecers, is getting tougher. We accept the situation, because it is always being presented in the light of our difficult economic situation, but still, in such a situation, things have to be taken into account, as I suggested my colleague have done in connection with the whole issue of crime and its control through more severe measures.
I think we have to take things into account as well in our attitude toward Canadians and Quebecers who need a little more support from the government in a time of greater economic difficulty. I thank you for having tolerated my wandering slightly off the topic of debate.