Mr. Speaker, I will share my time with my colleague, the member for Bonaventure—Gaspé—Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Pabok.
I am pleased to join my colleagues, the member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques and the member for Québec East, and to take part in the debate on the opposition motion they presented in this House, which reads as follows:
That the House castigate the government for the catastrophic effects of its reforms to unemployment insurance; for having taken over funds destined for unemployed persons; and for its inability to adapt the unemployment insurance system to the new realities of the labour market, particularly where young people, women and self-employed persons are concerned.
It was not yesterday that the Bloc Quebecois started criticizing the reforms to unemployment insurance and its devastating effects on the people of Quebec and Canada and more especially on groups of workers in vulnerable situations on the labour market, such as young people and women, who are being pushed into the maze of social assistance.
Last week, the Bloc Quebecois initiated an employment insurance week to draw the government's attention to the experience of the unemployed in Quebec and Canada.
As we might expect, the Liberal government again displayed its insensitivity to these groups of men and women, who, after contributing to the plan, are denied access to it when they need it most.
However the media did not ignore the questions raised by the Bloc Quebecois when it reminded us that only 41% of unemployed workers get benefits and that only 26% of young workers—one in four—who contribute to the plan end up getting benefits.
All of last week, we have seen and heard reports on television and on the radio highlighting the fact that the employment insurance plan is inadequate, given the conditions on the labour market. This is employment insurance in name only. We should rather be talking about a deficit insurance plan, because the government has had no qualms about diverting EI funds to erase the deficit first and now, with hardly any embarrassment, to build up budget surpluses.
This whole situation is utterly unacceptable, and groups all over Quebec are condemning the employment insurance plan and the government's policies that have thrown so many people into poverty.
We have to stop this bleeding of public funds. The employment insurance should be redesigned to ensure a better balanced support for various groups of workers in Quebec and in Canada.
It is nothing short of shameful that the EI fund is bursting at the seams while the federal government has to admit the sorry state of poverty in Canada. In 1989, 14.5% of children lived in families below the poverty line. There are now 20.5%. There is a direct link between this and the finance minister's drastic cuts in social programs.
The federal government can try all it wants to counter through piecemeal programs the impact of poverty on children in Quebec and Canada, but it should first give the heads of single parent families better opportunities to enter the labour market and support them in between jobs.
It is the same for young Quebeckers and Canadians who hold precarious jobs, contract jobs for a few weeks or a few months. This is the reality of the workforce for several of them.
And to encourage them to accumulate this invaluable work experience that will allow them to apply for better paying and more stable jobs, the human resources development minister has found nothing better than to impose a minimum of 910 hours of work on these newcomers during their first year of employment.
This is what I could call an employment insurance welcome tax. Indeed, it is a welcome tax for new members in the workforce, workers who will be the foundation of our economy and who will ensure the existence of our social programs in the future. Is this not a situation that should be of concern?
This is quite a gift from the Liberal government to our young people. On one side, it pushes them toward welfare and on the other, with red flags in hand, it claims to help these young people with the millennium scholarships slogan. Once again, Quebec's student group representatives came to say no to the Prime Minister and their speeches were eloquent, according to those who had the opportunity to listen to the RDI special program this morning.
The Bloc Quebecois is more valuable than ever, given the arrogance of this government that pretends to be sensitive to the Canadian and Quebec people. Our clashing voice in this stagnant pool of Liberal members who are waiting for their leader's cue, even when their personal beliefs are at stake, is echoing the voice of Quebeckers who have been let down by this dominating and centralizing federal system.
In the riding of Jonquière especially, my team and I have received many testimonies from people affected by the cuts in the employment insurance system.
Among the situations experienced by my fellow citizens, there is the sad situation of several part time workers who used to be eligible for unemployment insurance and are now unable to accumulate the number of hours required in a 52 week period.
Seasonal workers, especially construction workers in our region, are also greatly affected by the employment insurance reform. For these seasonal workers, it is almost impossible to accumulate the number of hours required to be eligible for employment insurance, because work periods in the construction field are limited and the reform encourages clandestine work.
We have been told that some employers take advantage of the situation. They hire workers at a lower rate and do not pay any premium for these workers, which explains why about a hundred honest workers complain every week, because they are not eligible for employment insurance or welfare.
Other problems with section 17 of the employment insurance regulations have been brought to our attention. Some people who work for the same company but live in different regions, like the Chicoutimi—Jonquière area and northern Quebec, are being treated differently under the current employment insurance scheme.
The number of hours worked to become eligible and the number of weeks of benefits differ from one region to another, which means that a resident of Alma could receive benefits during nine weeks more than a resident of Jonquière.
If, as the Minister of Human Resources Development put it, he is really “following this reform very closely in order to ensure that it continues to serve Canadians well”, I would invite him to take note of all the flaws the Bloc Quebecois has spotted in his reform of the employment insurance program.
Last week, the health minister announced a new subsidy to ParticipAction. Let me encourage this organization to launch a new fitness program especially designed for the Liberal members, something to stimulate their brains and help them connect with today's reality, so they can notice the living conditions of the unemployed, since almost half of the contributors are no longer eligible for employment insurance benefits.