Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to advise you that I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Trois-Rivières.
On this symbolic day, today being the 100th celebration of International Women's Day, I would like to wish a good day to my spouse, my three daughters and my mother—the five women in my life—as well as to all other women.
I will now tell the House how the Conservative budget tabled last week was received in my riding, particularly by Quebec's many forestry workers.
In fact, with this budget, what the government has managed to prove once again is its inability to meet the needs of Quebeckers, even though identifying those needs was not very complicated. My colleagues and I toured our ridings over the last two months to find out about what Quebec really needs and we reported our findings to the Minister of Finance recently. Therefore, it was easy for him to understand the needs of Quebeckers. But once again, the Canadian federation is turning its back on the Quebec nation. This budget is undeniable proof that federalism is simply not profitable for Quebec.
The forestry industry has been suffering for far too long because of the Conservative government's narrow vision for the sector. Knowing how unimportant the members opposite think regional development is, it comes as no surprise to see them acting this way. As proof of that, the government still does not understand how important it is for people living in rural areas to have access to high-speed Internet even though the minister is well aware that the broadband Canada program lacks funding. There was no additional money in the budget to bring Quebec into the 3rd millennium. As far as they are concerned, if there is no political advantage to be gained, if it will not make their banking and oil company friends happy, there is no point investing time or money.
It is a real shame to see how subjugated the Conservative members from Quebec are to their leader and his conservative doctrine. Fortunately for Quebeckers, Bloc Québécois members are standing up for Quebec, not letting someone else pull their strings like the members opposite.
True to its unfortunate conservative ideological underpinnings, the latest budget has nothing good to offer the forestry sector. By failing to help people affected by the forestry crisis, the Conservative government is holding thousands of workers hostage. Is it aware that this affects families too, not to mention whole communities, regions, and even Quebec's economy, all of which are suffering because of the government's lack of vision?
I am one of the private woodlot owners who have been hit hard by the forestry crisis. According to the Fédération des Producteurs de Bois du Québec, there are 130,000 private woodlot owners in Quebec, 35,000 of whom are legally recognized as forestry producers. Of those, 20,000 ship lumber to market, and lumber sales and forestry work are the primary source of income for some 3,000 producers.
In Canada, 450,000 families own private woodlots. Thousands of active private forestry producers make a significant contribution to sustainable economic activity in a number of rural communities in Quebec and Canada. Private woodlot owners have lost a lot of income since the beginning of the forestry industry crisis, mainly because mills have closed and lumber prices have dropped. Currently, the situation is anything but stable.
Last month we learned of the financial difficulties facing White Birch Paper, which owns the F.F. Soucy plant in Rivière-du-Loup, near my home. From 2006 to 2009, private wood producers suffered losses totaling over $500 million. Despite this economic situation, the Conservative government has completely ignored the needs of forestry producers for a third consecutive budget.
We, on the other hand, met with forestry producers associations, including the Fédération des Producteurs de Bois du Québec, and listened carefully to their requests. Thus, we developed a comprehensive action plan and moved a motion containing some proposals that could be implemented very quickly, with some political will.
Since forests take decades to grow and therefore generate extremely uneven revenue, we are proposing the creation of a registered silvicultural savings plan, which would allow forestry producers to average their income and reinvest it in development projects, thereby continuing to cultivate the forest. In addition to providing socio-economic benefits, this measure would also bring considerable environmental benefits by protecting biodiversity.
We believe that taxation on income is another excellent tool that should be used in order to help wood producers more and support them in developing this resource. This is an intelligent, sustainable measure that all private woodlot owners in Quebec agree on.
But where are the Prime Minister's Quebec puppets when the time comes to defend such ideas within the government? Instead of being the representatives of Quebeckers within Parliament, they are the government's representatives, trying to defend its harmful projects, like the oil sands.
Quebeckers and lumber producers can be sure that we in the Bloc Québécois will not back down. I personally promise to come back again with the excellent idea of a registered silvicultural savings plan, which was suggested by all the private woodlot owners in Quebec.
Forest producers, who have lost up to 70% of their income, are finding it increasingly difficult to honour their financial commitments. We are asking the federal government to consider introducing a capital and interest payment holiday, which would help producers weather the economic crisis.
As for workers, we note that the budget measures pertaining to employment insurance are designed for western Canada and the automotive industry in Ontario, but do not help forestry workers in Quebec. This will be especially true if the transitional measures for the lower St. Lawrence region in particular are not made permanent.
The Bloc Québécois and I have done our homework. We have come up with real, worthwhile initiatives to create a better future for the forestry industry. Obviously, we have worked together with the other stakeholders, such as the Quebec Forest Industry Council.
The Bloc Québécois suggests setting up a program of loans and loan guarantees, relaxing employment insurance requirements to provide income for workers hit by the crisis, providing assistance to stimulate secondary and tertiary processing of forest products and creating a specific diversification fund for communities that depend heavily on forestry.
The Bloc Québécois even introduced a bill in June 2009 to promote the use of wood in constructing federal buildings. That is what we call consultation, cooperation and clear demands to help the forestry sector, which is a very important segment of Quebec's economy.