House of Commons Hansard #138 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was students.
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
Mr. Speaker, the important issue at this time is to get to the bottom of the events that happened in the interest of Canadians, in the interest of the truth and in the interest of the complainants who filed the original complaint before this commission. That is what we are here to preserve.
Art Hanger Reform Calgary Northeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, we are here to preserve the truth and what happened at the APEC conference.
I spent my entire life fighting crime and criminals. The Prime Minister here has been fighting students—
Apec InquiryOral Question Period
The Speaker
Colleagues, I am sure you want to hear both the question and the answer. The hon. member for Calgary Northeast.
Art Hanger Reform Calgary Northeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is fighting freedom of speech and people protesting. He wants to blame the CBC, the RCMP and even the students for the pepper spray scandal.
Will the Prime Minister stop with the jokes, come clean with Canadians and take responsibility for what happened at APEC?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that if the hon. member has any respect for the RCMP, he will stop using scandal involving the RCMP and he will wait to see what the commission reports on the conduct of the RCMP.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, for months and months, the Bloc Quebecois has been reminding the Minister of Human Resources Development that fewer and fewer of the unemployed are covered by employment insurance. This is all the more shocking because a study by his own department has not been able to refute this.
Now that he has confirmation that the reforms have hit the unemployed very hard, what is the minister waiting for before he changes the plan to improve its accessibility?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, what our departmental study showed clearly is that close to 80% of workers who lose their jobs are covered by the employment insurance system.
The Bloc Quebecois has been using the contributor-jobless-recipient ratio for the past year in an attempt to try to get us to backtrack, to bring people back to dependence on an employment insurance system which discouraged them from working. They were wrong. The employment insurance system covers 78% of unemployed workers.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, are we not to understand that the purely technocratic jargon of the minister disguises an intention to use these studies to disguise the sad reality of the jobless who are excluded from benefits under the program?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, what the study has very clearly shown is that the majority of those not covered by employment insurance are people who never worked and therefore never contributed to the employment insurance system. They are people who are self-employed, and therefore not covered, people who were working and left—
Employment InsuranceOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.
Pierre Pettigrew Liberal Papineau—Saint-Denis, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that most of the changes to our program were intended to help people stay in the work force. But what these people would like to see is a system which encourages an undesirable dependency.
These people were not covered by the EI system. The people who ought to be covered are properly covered.
Jason Kenney Reform Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister tried everything in his power to sabotage yesterday's Alberta Senate elections. He instructed his provincial wing not to run a candidate. He called the process supported by 90% of Albertans a joke. Then he appointed another patronage hack in the middle of the election. But Albertans ignored this Prime Minister and went to the polls in record numbers yesterday to give Bert Brown the largest democratic mandate ever given to a candidate in Canadian history. Will this Prime Minister abide that democratic mandate and appoint Bert Brown to the next Senate vacancy?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, in Alberta the Conservative Party provincially and federally had no candidate, the NDP federally and provincially had no candidate, the Liberals federally and provincially had no candidate, all the people from Alberta who thought this process was not very useful. The people in Alberta went to vote yesterday in very few numbers. I am told that twice as many voted on the video lottery referendum than voted on the Senate.
Jason Kenney Reform Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, this government is laughing at democracy. Yesterday nearly half a million Albertans cast ballots, the largest result for a candidate in Canadian history. Bert Brown yesterday won more votes; more Canadian citizens cast votes for Bert Brown than have cast votes for this Prime Minister in his entire political career, and he calls it a joke.
Will he apologize to Albertans for his arrogance and his contempt for democracy? Will he appoint one of the elected candidates to the next vacancy in the Senate, yes or no?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we have a Senate that is not elected. We on this side voted for an elected, equal and effective Senate while the Leader of the Opposition campaigned against the Charlottetown accord. We have a Senate that has been given to us by the Brits. It is like the House of Lords. And here I am, a French Canadian from Quebec defending a British tradition.
Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
The minister is trying to tell us that the employment insurance program meets the needs of the unemployed. That is just not true.
Is the minister simply not trying to justify the fact that employment insurance will not be improved and that the Minister of Finance can siphon money from the pockets of the unemployed without fear?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, I say very clearly that the unemployed not covered by the employment insurance system are generally those the system was not designed for, in other words, those who have never worked or have never contributed, those who are self-employed and those who have worked only a few weeks.
I want the opposition to know that we are concerned about these people too. We have set up programs for them. This is why we set up the transitional jobs fund and the youth employment strategy, which are far more useful than having them go on unemployment as the Bloc members would like.
Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC
Mr. Speaker, is this heartless speech by the Minister of Human Resources Development not recognition of his defeat by the Minister of Finance and of the fact that the theft of the employment insurance fund may take place?
Employment InsuranceOral Question Period
The Speaker
I would prefer that members not use the word “theft” in their questions.
Employment InsuranceOral Question Period
The Speaker
The Minister of Human Resources Development.