Debates of Feb. 11th, 2008

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on January 29, I rose in the House during question period to ask the Prime Minister to separate the budget vote from the vote on the trust for regional economic diversification. Members will recall that when he made his announcement in New Brunswick, the Prime Minister said that it absolutely had to be passed together with the budget.

That was on January 29. The Bloc brought up the issue every day thereafter, and finally achieved satisfaction. The government decided to separate the vote on the trust from the budget. That was a good decision. We asked for it over and over.

Therefore, I was stunned to read in the weekend papers that the member for Mégantic—L'Érable, who is the Secretary of State for Agriculture, had criticized me for asking for this. On February 9, he said, “If Mr. Crête wants to make himself useful, he should start by convincing his leader to”—

[The Acting Speaker, Royal Galipeau]

The member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup is a seasoned veteran of this House. He is seated in the front row. He knows to not refer to a member by name, himself included.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, please excuse me.

The Secretary of State (Agriculture) was hoping that I was beginning to convince my leader to support the next federal budget so that the community development trust would see the light of day. The secretary of state was a week late because the Prime Minister sided with us the week before. He told us that the trust money would be separate from the budget. The Secretary of State for Agriculture likes to boast that the Bloc Québécois does not have any power; however, the Bloc won this one. The secretary is not up to date. A week after the fact, he was still going on about it.

Having said that, one important issue remains. On the weekend, the Premier of Quebec, Mr. Jean Charest, again raised it with the Prime Minister of Canada. He told him that it was a good idea to separate the money, that he himself had asked for that and that it agreed with the Quebec consensus that the votes should be separate. He also told him one more thing: that more money is needed. One billion dollars is not enough. More money is needed.

Last fall, the Bloc Québécois presented a $3.5 billion action plan, with $2 billion for the manufacturing industry, $1 billion for the forestry industry and $1.5 billion for employment insurance. That is a total of $4 billion. $1 billion has been put into the trust and the remaining $3.5 billion remains to be disbursed.

Will the government go ahead and respond to the second requirement of the Quebec consensus and agree to allocate the money, from this year's $10 billion surplus, as follows: $3 billion to the debt, $3.5 billion to recovery and $3 billion to help seniors? Is this not the right decision, which the government should make public as soon as possible?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am once again pleased to inform my friend from Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup of the extensive support that our government is delivering for the manufacturing and forestry sectors, especially through the community development trust.

With the community development trust, our government intends to make a concrete difference for communities and workers who are adjusting to a shifting global economic landscape.

While Canada's economy is very strong overall, we know that global economic volatility has put pressure on particular communities and workers, especially those communities that rely on a single sector or company that is being challenged. That is why we will be investing $1 billion in the community development trust to support provincial and territorial initiatives that help these communities and workers weather the economic storms facing them.

This initiative has been widely praised by key organizations and provincial leaders. For instance, Shawn Graham, the Liberal premier of New Brunswick, remarked that his government was “pleased that the Prime Minister and his government have made this commitment”. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities declared that it “applauds the federal government's decision to help Canadian communities hit by economic upheaval”. The fund “is more than welcome”.

Indeed, communities told us that they need to receive this assistance in a timely fashion. That is why we introduced Bill C-41 to rapidly implement the trust. That is why that legislation received unanimous all-party support in this House, including support from the Bloc.

As Bill C-41 has now received royal assent, we are currently working as quickly as possible with each province and territory to identify priority areas for action and to seek their public commitment to support communities consistent with the objectives of the trust.

This trust builds on the significant actions we have already taken to strengthen the economy and improve the business environment, enabling businesses in all sectors to become more competitive and invest for the future.

We have brought in significant tax reductions and are on our way toward the lowest business tax regime in the major industrialized economies.

We have invested in skills development and education so that Canada can have the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world.

We have provided unprecedented funding for infrastructure, totalling $33 billion over seven years, to ensure that we have the critical and up to date infrastructure that drives a modern economy.

We have acted to reduce the burden of government so that these businesses can focus on what they do best: investing, producing value and creating jobs for Canadians.

Our government is committed to providing the conditions for economic success, and the community development trust demonstrates that.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague. It is a real storm that has hit the manufacturing and forestry industries in Canada, but particularly in Quebec and Ontario.

The problem is that the allocation among provinces is unacceptable. Although there are two provinces that are very affected, all the provinces will receive money. I have nothing against Prince Edward Island, but $99 per person, while Quebec will receive $22? That is completely unacceptable.

There are also agreements with provinces, which is interesting. But I will conclude by asking my colleague whether he will inform the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food that he wrote to people in my riding, a week late, to say that we were voting on this at the same time as the budget.

He should have been aware of the situation and admitted that the Bloc Québécois succeeded in getting the government to act, and that it was better for everyone for the $1 billion to be available as quickly as possible.

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, while we share the member's concern with the volatility facing manufacturing and the forestry sectors in his province, we note that the larger Quebec economy remains very healthy, with the unemployment rate at a 33 year low of 6.8%. This January alone, 7,200 new jobs, mostly full time, were created in that province.

As McGill University economics professor, Tom Velk, pointed out in The Montreal Gazette, he said that most of those new jobs were from the private sector and outside of export dominated industries.

Indeed, some sectors in Quebec are even facing skills shortages.

As John Simonetti, the president of a Montreal employment agency, recently noted, finding people to fill vacancies in many industries is an increasingly difficult challenge. He said, “We can't find people, that's the problem. There is a shortage of skilled, experienced people in certain fields”.

Clearly, Quebec and Canada still have solid economic fundamentals as demonstrated through our robust labour market, fundamentals that we will build on to ensure Canada remains well positioned to face any volatility.

[The Acting Speaker, Royal Galipeau]

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:48 p.m.)