Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have three minutes to speak to the bill of my colleague from Winnipeg Centre. The bill in question is Bill C-203, an act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, unpaid wages to rank first in priority in distribution.
The NDP members seem to be the only ones prepared to fight for the workers. They work for an employer. We are telling that employer that if he goes bankrupt, he must look out for the employees, at least.
We are not opposed to the employers, if that is the impression the other members seem to have. We are not against them. However, employers who go bankrupt have to remember who it was that generated the company's profits: the workers with the sweat of their brows. Then, one fine day, the employer announces “It's over. I can't keep the company going any longer. I am filing for bankruptcy”. The ones punished are the workers.
The Canadian Alliance members say that the banks will not make loans to these companies. If they are not prepared to make loans, the banks should close up shop. Is the sole purpose of a bank to make huge profits and then tell workers “tough luck”? The Conservative member said the same thing for small and medium size business, that the banks did not want to lend them money.
Does our country operate only through bankruptcy? Does the decision to lend money hang on whether the employees will be paid last?
Where is the human element? An employee who gets up in the morning and goes to work deserves to be paid. I know of instances in which employers have gone bankrupt, while some people were at sea, for example, for months without being paid. When they returned to land, they got a fine cheque for $1, because the company had gone bankrupt, yet its employees had worked for months without pay.
So who goes bankrupt at that point? It is the employees who are unable to pay for their homes, their cars and food to feed their children.
I think this is a very logical question. In Ontario, the premier at the time, Bob Rae, introduced legislation on bankruptcy. This did not prevent companies from having money in the bank. There is no record to this effect. I am therefore prepared to say it is not true. The banks will have to get used to that.
The people who should have priority are the workers, who bring in company profits. This is why it is unfortunate that the bill is not votable. Hopefully, the House will later decide unanimously that it is. It is important for the workers of this country.