Madam Speaker, it is always difficult to rise in the House after oral question period to make a speech, but I will take advantage of the fact that there are many members present right now, especially on the government benches, to share my thoughts on the infamous Bill C-78.
First, this bill is highway robbery. The government is trying to put its hands on $30 billion stolen from various civil service pension funds, and would have us believe it is doing so after due consultation and negotiation. This is bogus, and I want to say this while everybody, or nearly everybody, is still here.
Why is the government trying to do this kind of thing in today's economy, especially after four years of negotiations with the three groups involved? We are talking about the RCMP, the federal public service and the Canadian forces. Thirty billion dollars will be taken from these people.
Negotiations went on for four years, and the President of the Treasury Board even said these discussions were encouraging. He went as far as to say that these consultations could lead to a partnership that would implement, within the public service, the concept of a management board independent from the government. That statement was made in February 1998 by the President of the Treasury Board.
We have before us today Bill C-78, which totally ignores the discussions that went on for four years as well as the nice words of the President of the Treasury Board. I think the government is showing us its true face. We are seeing the insatiable appetite of the Minister of Finance, who wants to put his fiscal house in order at the expense of these workers.
It is easy to understand. The government has taken everything away from fishers and from victims of the lack of jobs, those people who used to be eligible to some unemployment insurance benefits, now known as employment insurance benefits. It has taken $20 billion from that program. Where to go from here? Wherever there is a little bit of money left. It is now turn to its own workers and alienating them. It will steal $30 billion from its own employees' pension funds.
It may seem somewhat odd that a Bloc member rise in this House on a principle and ask the government to come back to its declaration of intent of February 1998 with respect to developing a partnership with its employees. It may seem unusual because some people contend that all we want to do is to leave and slam the door behind us. I wish people would at least remember that, while the Bloc Quebecois was represented in this place, they were men and women of their word. We would wish that, when an issue arises, it be discussed openly, and not behind closed doors.
I am happy to see that my comments today are waking up members across the way. However it is unfortunate that we have to rise our voices from time to time. I can do it and I will do it.
What I find even more horrendous is the similarities between what is being done today and what was done to those who rely on the financial support provided through the employment insurance. They were robbed of $20 billion and now the same thing is going to happen to others.
If, at least, the government said it was going to use that money for equalization purposes, or take a part of that money so that less money has to be taken out of the employment insurance fund. Public servants are fortunate enough to have a job; financial support should be provided to those who fall victim to the lack of job opportunities, or at the very least the money should be used to reduce workers' contributions and to create new catalysts to revitalize the economy in severely affected regions.
We hear speculation that the finance minister will use it to pay down the accumulated deficit. That would be nice, but can someone tell me what good it would do to pay $30 billion on a debt now reaching some $600 billion? Especially since, according to the documentation I have received, these payments would be spread over a period of 15 years. I am a bit skeptical about this whole thing.
The second question we should ask ourselves—and I am not saying that it should not be done—is: How will the payments be calculated or estimated so that they have as little impact as possible on the exchange rate? We know full well that when the finance minister turns on the tap to pay off accumulated debts we owe to other countries, the next morning, Canadians will realize that they have not only been paying toward this debt, but they will continue to pay, because the exchange rate is dropping and they will have to pay more for imported goods.
The Bloc Quebecois wants the President of the Treasury Board to redeem himself, to face up to the Minister of Finance, who seems to carry more weight than him within the Cabinet, and to come to an agreement with the three groups concerned. An agreement should be negotiated with the public service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian forces.
Otherwise, what signal would we be sending out to Canadian corporations? If the Canadian government sets an example by taking money out of the public service pension plan, what will prevent Canadian corporations from doing the same with the accumulated surpluses in the pension plans of their own employees? This is the example it is about to set. It could be hazardous.
There have been lawsuits. I will let my colleague from Saint-Jean elaborate on that. But we will recall that that is precisely what the Singer Company did. The case is still before the courts, but I have yet to see the Minister of Human Resources Development put pressure on the company and tell it “You were caught helping yourself to your employees' pension fund”. Apparently, the case has not yet been settled. With Bill C-78, the President of Treasury Board is legitimizing a $30 billion robbery.
When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, whenever a kid from the neighbourhood was caught stealing candy from the pot at the convenience store—sometimes the general merchant would keep in a corner the extra candies he could not find place for on the shelves—that kid was called thief.
Today, a man who may have done the same thing as a kid—because we were all kids at one point—is stealing $30 billion and we call him Mister Minister. Furthermore, we are expected to say “Thank you very much”.
What Canadians should do now is pay very close attention to what the President of the Treasury Board is doing. They should monitor the adoption process of this bill. Of course we cannot put pressure on a government between elections. I hope however that people will remember who turned the tap off, who stole $30 billion, who gave such a bad example to Canadian businesses, which will no doubt feel free to help themselves to the private pension funds of their employees.
We should keep an eye on that—