Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to intervene once again on Bill C-12. I do not understand how the secretary of state can boast that this is a bill for women. I do not believe it for a minute.
I do not know whether the secretary of state heard or read the same news as us, but it is a fact that no more than two weeks ago a press conference was held here by a number of women's groups. They included NAC, the Fédération des femmes du Québec and a number of other groups that criticized this bill, because it is bad for women.
Why is it bad for women? Because it will penalize part time women workers, and not only women but young people. The secretary of state for the status of women said that 77 per cent of women worked in part time jobs. How is it she is alone in saying so-because she represents the Liberal government, which supports the bill-when women are criticizing this bill, which will penalize part time workers?
The government is boasting that UI benefits are counted and paid as of the first hour worked, but these women, who work less than 15 hours, will not qualify, as we know very well. A lot of women work part time and less than 15 hours a week. What is going to happen? These women will not qualify for unemployment insurance benefits.
I am not the only one saying so, and my colleagues in the Bloc are not the only ones saying so. Women's groups in Canada and in Quebec, and not just Quebec, are saying so. It is not simply for partisan reasons we are speaking to this issue, a lot of people outside the Bloc have criticized it.
I do not know whether the secretary of state watched the news on the weekend, but as late as yesterday, on Mother's Day, a press conference was held in Montreal where unions and Françoise David, representing the Fédération des femmes du Québec, criticized this bill on behalf of women because it is no good.
I very much regretted the absence of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women. It could have taken the government to task and could have expressed its opinion on this unfortunate bill, which hurts women. The government deplores poverty among women, but what is it doing with this bill? It is going to increase poverty among women, because women will not be able to qualify.
Also, the secretary of state is boasting that it will be a good piece of legislation for women, and that pregnant women will be entitled to more UI benefits. I wonder how the government intends to help women when, in the case of pregnant women, they will need 716 hours of work to qualify for UI benefits.
A number of people will be affected by this bill, especially seasonal workers. I assume women too have seasonal jobs. For instance, women in the tourism sector, or fisheries; this is seasonal work. Will these women be penalized because they do not hold full time jobs, either by choice or because they have children at home and cannot work full time? Yes, they are going to be penalized.
I will say it again, I do not understand why this government is insisting on passing this bill, which will be bad for women. It should go back to the drawing board and review this bill.
When the Liberals were in the opposition, they criticized certain aspects of this legislation, they criticized the Conservative Party. They said it was on the wrong track, and was going to penalize people. Everything we are saying now was said then by the Liberals. Why? Because they were in the opposition.
Now they are in power and they do not have the courage to go ahead with what they criticized in the past. Today, I am criticizing them for it. I am criticizing the lack of realism on the part of this government with regard to unemployment.
We all know that times are tough in terms of employment. People are without a job through no choice of their own. This weekend, we learned in the news that hotels Le Méridien and Auberge des Gouverneurs are facing financial difficulties. What does that mean? It means the employees of those hotels will soon be unemployed. This is disturbing.
The unemployment insurance fund is going very well; there is a $5 billion surplus in the fund. Five billion dollars! Instead of helping these people make it between two jobs, they are reducing the number of benefit weeks and making criteria more exacting.
The secretary of state for status of women said earlier that the employment insurance program, which is no longer called the unemployment insurance program, will not necessarily deal with unemployment, but instead will give grants so that people can receive training and return to work.
This is another case of duplication and overlapping, and I regret this way they have of interfering in areas already under Quebec's jurisdiction. Instead of sending the money and budgets necessary for the implementation of a real employment policy in Quebec, instead of helping workers and facilitating their training, they keep $5 billion and adopt a piecemeal approach to solve the unemployment problem which is still prevailing in Quebec and in Canada.
Several groups testified before us and are shocked to see the government's lack of compassion for the precarious circumstances of some people who find themselves on unemployment insurance through no fault of their own. So, it is no longer an unemployment insurance.
As I was saying recently in a speech, it is no longer an insurance that makes sure people will have a minimum of money to provide for their needs when they lose their job. If 77 per cent of women work in part time jobs, they will be doubly penalized by this bill.
They will be penalized because they will no longer have a job and they know very well that these are very precarious jobs. There is no continuity in part time employment. They will have a hard time finding another job. This will mean these women, men and young people will go on welfare. You know, going on welfare is a vicious circle. What does it mean for these people? It means moving further away from the possibility of finding another job.
When the government was in opposition, it was against discriminatory measures targeting the unemployed. It should reconsider because it will have to pay the price.
As we have seen, the people of Quebec and of Canada are against this bill that does not provide unemployment insurance in case of job loss. The government will penalize people over the number of benefit weeks and will raise the criteria, so that the unemployed will no longer receive the assistance they expect.
Yet, these people have paid their premiums. I too am paying premiums and I hope I will not have to rely on the UI system some day. But these people have paid so that other people, perhaps even themselves, can receive UI benefits some day. It is not by penalizing them, by increasing the hours of work required that the government will solve the problem.
Moreover, they take the money from the pockets of people who will never qualify for unemployment insurance because they did not accumulate the 700 to 910 hours of work per year required to be eligible for UI benefits.
Meanwhile, as I said before, the government is keeping $5 billion in its own pockets. But that is not all. It is only for this year. What will happen with next year's surpluses? This government is responsible for social cohesion. Only the future will reveal the impact of today's unemployment, and the government will be responsible.