Mr. Speaker, yesterday the multinational Wal-Mart announced the closure of its Jonquière store. I was extremely saddened and upset at the news.
A company like Wal-Mart cannot challenge the fundamental right to form a union. It has acted in bad faith, claiming an agreement with the workers was impossible. The people of my region do not deserve such shabby treatment from the firm's management, which, visibly engaged in global expansion, thinks it can do anything it pleases.
Two hundred jobs lost in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean is a huge number. These workers have my sympathy for losing their jobs so abruptly and at a particularly bad time, moreover, because the La Baie plant of Abitibi Consolidated also shut down for good just a few weeks ago. That put some 650 people out of work
I heartily condemn this action by Wal-Mart, a very poor corporate citizen. I call upon my colleagues and the general public to challenge such actions.