Mr. Speaker, it is certainly my personal privilege to stand in the House today to speak on this opposition motion which should definitely be rejected.
Once again we have a very curious spectacle. The Bloc Quebecois, the party that says it wants to change this country irrevocably, the party which says that separation is the only solution to solving all of the social and economic problems facing Quebecers, is making an impassioned plea for the status quo in Canada. This is the party that is suddenly the champion of the downtrodden worker in New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia? I do not think so and neither do many Canadians.
What the Bloc's argument comes down to is that we should simply shelve any thoughts of changing or improving the old unemployment insurance system, the program with all its inefficiencies and all the unfairness. We should just ignore proposals which came about after a lengthy process of consultation and consensus building with thousands of Canadians right across the country.
The game plan of the Bloc Quebecois members is not only transparent, it is extremely cynical. It is transparent because we all know the real reason they are opposing this legislation. They simply do not want to see any improvements in any legislation that would make the country work better. They have a vested interest in failure and it shows. Failure. It shows in all their arguments.
Modernizing the employment system for all Canadian workers, lowering premiums, making it work better, expanding it to include more people, encouraging more people to work, making the system sustainable into the next century for all Quebecers and for all Canadians are not objectives the Bloc members could support. Not today, not tomorrow, nor ever and for a very simple reason. A better employment insurance system for all Canadians including Quebecers weakens their cause for separation. And this is the party which sees everything through that particular lens.
How could the Bloc possibly support the idea that 350,000 low income families across Canada will now get an extra income supplement under this new legislation? That is what this bill will do.
How could the Bloc possibly support the proposals in the bill for the first time to ensure the work of upwards of more than 500,000 part time individuals in Quebec and across Canada who are not now part of the system?
How could the Bloc agree with a bill that will give some 270,000 seasonally employed Canadian claimants an additional three weeks of benefits?
How could the Bloc be in favour of a bill that is conservatively predicted to create upwards of 100,000 to 150,000 new jobs in the country? Many thousands of them would be in Quebec.
How could the Bloc support a bill that will lower premiums for workers and employers to the tune of $1.3 million and which lets employers put their share, more than $760 million into creating new jobs for Quebecers and for all Canadians?
How could the Bloc agree with a bill that makes special provision for women who have been out of the workforce raising families to help them get back into the workforce and have access to employment benefits?
Why would the Bloc be in favour of a bill that will expand coverage of the program to include 97 per cent of workers but at the same time return contributions to more than 1.3 million very low income workers, including 920,000 who pay premiums today?
Why would a separatist party support a bill that is going to give 300,000 small businesses in Quebec and across Canada a premium refund of up to $5,000 over two years?
How could a separatist party give its support to a bill which has a series of active employment measures, including wage subsidies, earning supplements, self-employment, community job partnerships, to pave the way for more Quebecers and Canadians to get
back into the workforce? These are programs which will be developed directly with the provinces.
I guess if I were a separatist, heaven forbid, I would probably not want to see this bill go through either or anything else that might improve the employment situation in this country for that matter. The plain fact is the bill is good for workers and for the economy and we will prove that.
I think the real cynicism of the party opposite shows itself in this motion. What the Bloc is saying is that it does not want Canadians or Quebecers to talk about trying to improve the bill in our committee.
We have to come to terms with how we modernize our outdated unemployment system so that it reflects the realities of today's working world because that world has changed just as profoundly in Quebec as it has in the rest of Canada and across the western world. Fewer and fewer people work in the traditional nine to five pattern for which the old UI system was created. More and more people work part time or in multiple part time jobs. They are not fully covered under the current plan with its rigid rule of weeks worked. Since every hour worked will now count toward eligibility for benefits, workers will have incentives to accept available work.
The opposition says the new program is unfair to young people, women, seasonal workers and immigrants. What does this new measure really mean for youth? Four out of ten part time workers are young people. With an unemployment rate of 16 per cent, nearly double the average of all other workers, this bill is going to help thousands of young people who are caught in the 15 hour trap. Many employers use this 15 hour system to avoid paying premiums. That denies our young people benefits when the work runs out. This bill will be especially helpful for youth.
Young people also need support to make that all important school to work transition. For this reason we have invested in the intern programs working with business, local communities and educators. We have also invested in youth services to help young people get the experience and skills they need to find jobs. The government has announced that funding for summer jobs is going to be doubled from $60 million to $120 million. It will be committed over the next three years to help young people get into the job market.
The opposition says that women are being penalized. Again, this is not true. On average, women currently earn 70 per cent of what men earn. They make up 60 per cent of minimum wage earners. The new arrangements recognize these facts and make a real attempt to turn that situation around in several ways.
Two-thirds of those who qualify for the new family supplement will be women. This supplement results in low income single parent families receiving 10 per cent more than they do today. Women returning to work after having received maternity or parental leave benefits will have access to the new re-employment benefits for a full five years. Very low income women will be eligible for a premium refund.
What about new Canadians? The opposition claims they are being punished. Again, it just is not true. Asking for a slightly longer initial attachment to the workforce in the first year before being eligible for benefits just like everybody else is not wrong. Again, it is only the first year. In the second and following years if they have some attachment to the workforce they will have lower qualifying periods. They will also have access to re-employment benefit tools.
More good news for the home front. There is going to be a very positive impact on the social assistance caseloads within the provinces. At the moment 45 per cent of social assistance recipients have also been UI claimants within the last three years. Many are UI exhaustees. These individuals will now have access to the new re-employment measures which will help get them back into the workforce and will help reduce provincial social assistance roles. Many people are going to be very happy with this legislation.
Canadians expect us to come up with better answers and so do Quebecers. My suggestion to the opposition members is that they should join in that process, work with their colleagues who are members of our standing committee and help us come up with the right solutions. I sincerely hope they can put aside their ideological goals and help us deal with the task of creating a new and better system of unemployment insurance protection for all Canadians. This motion should be defeated.