Mr. Speaker, during second reading, the Bloc Quebecois expressed its agreement in principle with this bill.
It pointed out, in particular, certain concerns raised by the bill. It is true that this bill started with a request from the co-operatives, but it must be kept in mind that Canadian and Quebec co-operatives, which, like the other co-operatives in the world, have to adjust to economic changes, have been involved in serious debate among themselves. They are torn between wanting to be flexible enough for the new economy, and not straying too far away from co-operative principles.
I know, and this is a finding I want to report, arising out of the work of the committee, that the Conseil québécois des coopératives, which encompasses all Quebec co-operatives, agreed with the bill in the end, but only after negotiating and winning a number of points it proposed. At report stage, the Conseil québécois pointed out that one of the points on which it had not won out related to the powers of the general assembly of members.
I would like to take this opportunity to point out that the first amendment, which suddenly popped up after this lengthy process, which took two years, and after the end of the committee's work at report stage, without our having heard a word about it beforehand, is a new one. It must be pointed out as well that this amendment diminishes the power of the general assembly of members and confirms the concerns I have expressed.
At the report stage, in the light of the discussions going on in the union movement, I said I still had some concerns about this bill. The representative of the Conseil québécois des coopératives did not say I was wrong to have concerns. He said he shared them, but that out of solidarity he would agree with his Canadian colleagues, pointing out that very few co-operatives in Quebec are federally chartered. To my knowledge, there are only six of 2,900, if we count all the co-operatives and 1,650 if we count the non- financial ones.
The amendment is not insignificant. It eliminates the use of general meetings to replace members who themselves were replaced by the board of directors.
I will try to make this a bit clearer. When a board member appointed by the general meeting has to resign or be removed, one of two things can happen: either they wait until the next general meeting or they are replaced. The bill provided that a replacement be found just until the next annual meeting. The first amendment eliminates the “until the next annual meeting”.
Quebec law, and I checked, very specifically provides that, in such an instance, the vacancy is filled until the next annual meeting, or—to put it another way—for the remainder of the mandate. So I feel quite justified in saying that it is deplorable that, after this process, which must be commended, we end up reducing members' powers.
I add that, for Quebec members, the powers of the members at the general meeting had been reduced compared to what is provided in Quebec legislation, because in this attempt at modernization, non-members may hold capital. Under Quebec law, these non-members may become board members, because they provide capital, but their appointment must be approved by the annual general meeting. This is what the Conseil wanted in the federal legislation, but it was denied.
So, not only will there be members on the board of directors who have not received the approval of the annual general meeting, but, if a member is replaced, the bill does not say it is only until the next annual general meeting.
For this reason, I am strongly opposed to this amendment and once again I do not understand why a government that has boasted about giving co-operatives what they wanted shows up with this amendment at the last minute. It confirms the fears I had, because co-operatives, of course, have to come up with the means to operate as best they can.
This is an important sector of our economy. It is a sector that is exceptional for the collective ownership by the members, and for the corporate characteristic of putting longevity ahead of short term profits, through transferability, purchase, sale, and so forth. It is therefore an important sector of the economy that needs to evolve, but it cannot do so by abandoning its fundamental principles. One of these principles is the power of the annual general meeting.
We therefore oppose this first amendment.