Mr. Speaker, Radio-Canada's unionized newsroom employees have been locked out for five weeks. As the vice-chair of the Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs, I am concerned.
This lockout is taking place at the same time as legal sagas involving biker gangs are unfolding in Quebec. It is in the public interest that the actions of these thugs be widely reported so that the public is informed about this gangrene which has infiltrated our democratic societies. The activities of these criminals are a threat to the life and security of our young people, for it has been shown that their attempts to drug them are succeeding. The conspiracy of silence must be broken and information allowed to circulate. Radio-Canada has a crucial role to play.
Radio-Canada managers, who are paid $52 an hour to replace the unionized workers, will never take the place of seasoned journalists on top of their stories.
Faithful Radio-Canada fans are fed up with incomplete and sloppy reports by overpaid managers.
Enough is enough.