Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today, not because this budget pleases me, but to give the people in my riding an opportunity to speak through me. I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Rimouski—Mitis.
If I may, I will pick up the thread of what has been said this afternoon. The member speaking before me mentioned that the Minister of Finance would go down in history as one of the greatest ministers of finance. The people of the Gaspé will remember the Minister of Finance as the greatest conjurer, that is, he has a talent for juggling figures, making believe a cut is no longer effective and having us believe that what he is giving us is coming immediately, when it can take three or four years, as the Reform MP mentioned. It is time to set things straight.
The other thing I must mention is that this conjurer opposite got his deficit to disappear by having the provinces and the unemployed pay first. I will elaborate on these two points.
First, let us talk about the unemployed. Everyone knows now that there is over $20 billion accumulated in the employment insurance fund. I am entitled to speak to this subject today, because the Minister of Finance included the employment insurance revenues in his consolidated budget.
This year, he is telling us that he thinks he will have revenues of about $18.8 billion, of which he expects to spend about $17 billion. But everyone knows that he will once again save at least $6 billion. The magician that he is comes up with various expenditures, but he never thinks about the well-being of the unemployed.
I want to take a moment to mention the excellent information work being done in the Gaspé region by the Mouvement action chômage Pabok and by its coalition, whose two co-chairmen, Mr. Cousineau and Mr. Blais, do a great job.
Let me go back to the manifest released by the coalition in New Richmond, two weeks ago. These people are asking three things from the government: first, to establish an independent employment insurance fund run by representatives of the contributors; second, to improve the employment insurance program; third, to put the surplus back into the fund.
These three issues are important to regions such as ours. I see that some Liberal members are listening carefully. Why is it so important? Because, in January 1999—I do not have the current figure—the actual unemployment rate was 20.8%. The average for 1998 was 22.8%.
Moreover, in the riding of Bonaventure—Gaspé—Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Pabok, a paper mill may close and 300 jobs will be lost if one of the two machines is shut down, or 600 jobs will be lost if both machines are shut down. We are told “perhaps work can be done for other companies during down times”. But this requires maintaining the social security net, that is the employment insurance program, even though I would much rather see the paper mill operating year round with the two machines and the qualified workers who are already there.
I remind members opposite that our riding must also face the closing of a copper mine in Murdochville. This means that 300 jobs will be lost. This time, it is not the federal government's fault; it is because the mine is depleted.
When these job losses are added to the existing unemployment rate, members can see the how important the transition measure, the social net provided by the EI program really is. The Liberals did not say much about that. The minister of regional development will perhaps be able to confirm this, but my reading of the budget is that there is actually less money available for regional development. I would like him to respond to this.
The second point I would like to make is that the Minister of Finance magically transferred the deficit onto the backs of the provinces. Wearing three jurisdictional hats at once, he slashed the health, post-secondary education and social assistance envelopes.
However, this time, he is saying that, with the situation bad in the provinces and problems in the hospitals, the government will come up with some money and pretend to alleviate matters but will impose a medical police force to keep tabs on how it is spent.
This is disgraceful. Hospital management comes under provincial jurisdiction and the money is now in Ottawa, but it is always the same taxpayer footing the bill. The public will not be fooled.
That brings me to the following point. The sectors I have just mentioned come under provincial jurisdiction. But what about the fishery and the catch, which really do come under federal jurisdiction? Do members recall that there is a groundfish moratorium, that it is still in place, and that experts agree that the commercial fishery will not resume on its former scale any time in the next five years?
As for TAGS, the Atlantic groundfish strategy, the last lump sum payments will be made in May 1999. Nowhere in this budget is there any mention of what will become of fishery workers after May 1999.
What about the people approaching retirement age? What can we do in a devastated region such as ours, where fishing is no longer possible, when we get to be 50? What new job direction are we supposed to take, and where are the energies and catalysts for recharging our economy? There are none! Yet, they have jurisdiction over this, and it is easily enough understood.
I will use the other official language to pass the following message to my friends in the other maritime provinces, and I want the Liberals over there to listen carefully.
What kind of hope could this budget deliver to the fishing worker? There is nothing in this budget to cover the end of the TAGS program which will stop at the end of May 1999. This budget gives only dividends to people who have a chance to work, mainly Ontario workers. I am glad for them but nothing is done in this budget for the people from the maritimes and the Gaspésie. The people from Newfoundland and elsewhere in the maritimes should raise this question with their members, if the members have the courage to go back to these ridings after the last vote on this budget.
We are trying to stay calm, but this is becoming increasingly hard to do. In mid-January I was present at four or five different demonstrations. The people are taking to the streets of the Gaspé to voice their despair and confusion. At the moment they are doing so peacefully, but I am afraid, and I want the cries of the people to be heard all the way to this House.
I would like the Minister of Human Resources Development, or rather the Minister of Finance, to stop fiddling with the figures and to understand that the people need dignity, a social security safety net, and catalysts for a diversified economy. This is what they want the government to know. They do not want to be on employment insurance for the rest of their lives; they just want help in getting through some bad times, and unfortunately there is nothing in this budget that allows them any hope.