Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague, who gave a wonderful speech on the relevance of the motion moved here today by my colleague from Hamilton Mountain. I am pleased to rise to also respond to it.
The biggest problem with employment insurance is that people look only at the numbers and forget about the faces of the people who are unemployed in Quebec and in Canada. This morning at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women meeting, we heard witnesses from the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses who explained the problems they are facing in relation to employment insurance. They came to convey the message that, first and foremost, unemployment affects human beings. They came to convey the message that, when we talk about people who lose their jobs, contrary to what our Conservative colleagues would have us believe, we are not talking about people who want to stay home doing nothing and therefore claim EI benefits.
There was even a lady 50 years of age who lost her job. She was terribly traumatized as a result. At 50 years old, when you lose your job, it’s like losing your life. So this lady lost her job at age 50. She found herself dealing with post-traumatic shock: diabetes and fibromyalgia. She cannot work regularly any more and is having difficulty finding another job. She found something at 15 hours a week. At first it was 25 hours a week, but it is in a school in the Saint-Hyacinthe region, and unfortunately she is unable to work more hours because when the students are not there, the hours are cut. She has had to leave her home and go to live with her mother. At 50, she leaves her home, says her goodbyes, sells her furniture and has to go live with her mother. It is not normal, when you have worked all your life, when you have done your part as a citizen up to age 50 and paid your contributions, to find yourself in a situation where you are forced to give up your home and your things, and go off like an beggar back to mother, at age 50.
I know that numbers are important because of course, numbers talk. Last week, we learned from Statistics Canada that about 47% or 48% of women were eligible to receive employment insurance benefits when they lost their jobs. However, this depends on the way the numbers are calculated, they way they are devised, and where and how they are collected.
Never mind what they tell us on the other side. When they tell us that most people who have paid into employment insurance are entitled to money when they lose their jobs, it is not true: it is a shameful lie. As a parliamentarian, it makes me very angry to hear things like that. That is just telling stories about the victims and pulling the wool over our eyes, when they know full well that when people lose their jobs, they have no other option than to go to the office of the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses, because they have no other means of defence.
When one hears such things, one wonders what can be done to fix the system, to heal it. Is there not enough money in the system? Did people not pay enough in years past? Is that it? I believe there is a $55 billion surplus now, and that is quite a sum. It seems to me there is no lack of money to give back to the people who lose their jobs.
Is it because of opposition members who are opposed to changing the employment insurance system because they have no vision, because they do not realize that losing your job is something terrible?
Is it because the Bloc Québécois has never tabled a bill to reform the employment insurance system? I can say that the answer to all these questions is no. The answer I can give is that the only obstacles we have are the ones the government has created. And that is not normal. The government is supposed to look after its citizens. It has the duty to look after its citizens, the duty to ensure that every citizen is properly represented and has what he or she needs.
That is covered by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. How can we allow a government that represents the people to contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? It makes no sense. I am convinced that if all members in this House were to take five minutes and think about their duty as parliamentarians, they would realize fully what needs to be done to represent those who elected us and who make it possible for us to be here.
When my colleague introduced this motion, she demonstrated a passion that we, in the Bloc Québécois, have felt for a long time. We want justice for the most disadvantaged and the most vulnerable; we want justice for all those who are struggling without adequate representation because they are represented by Conservatives. We will definitely be supporting this motion.
However, I have the same reservations as my colleague. That is normal. We need only look at what is currently happening in Canada. Women are being denied pay equity. Their rights are being taken away. In terms of what Quebec is doing, we hope that it will continue to make decisions for the people it represents. I guarantee that Quebec is different. We do not have the same values or the same ideas and when we talk about social values, we mean protecting the most vulnerable and the most disadvantaged.
We are in the midst of an economic crisis. If we had no money, I might be able to understand that the government would considering trimming the fat. But it is not trimming the fat in Afghanistan. We have seen all the money it has invested in deadly weapons and the tools of war. We have seen all the money invested in tax havens that has not been recovered. With this money alone we could have helped thousands of unemployed people who need help, not help to sit around and do nothing at home, but support to help them pay their rent, buy food for their children, live decently and so on. With only 55% of what they once earned, they would not live like kings.
I think that my colleague was absolutely correct when she spoke about the way we should be reviewing the employment insurance system. The bills that the Bloc Québécois has introduced are entirely relevant and take into account the reality and needs of the people. Contrary to our Conservative colleagues, when we say we have visited and consulted the people, we really did consult them. These were not phony consultations. We did not meet with a few people one night, and then turn around and say that we had met with everyone concerned about that issue.
We are meeting people out in the field, and the groups and people that represent them, and we have a much better idea of what these people need, what they want and what they are asking us to demand on their behalf.
We will definitely be supporting this motion, but we will definitely also be making sure that the motion respects Quebec's jurisdiction.