Madam Speaker, any MP who says that unions do not help Canada progress, have not created good working conditions, have not protected workers' health and safety, have not helped improve the status of women and have not helped the Canadian economy is wrong and is saying things without really understanding the reality in this country.
I think it is unfortunate that I have to make my presentation in the shadow of a closure motion, which does not really give me enough time to explain to the members opposite what is really going on and how we can collaborate on a budget that would help Canada and Canadians.
In a democracy like ours, MPs have the right and the duty to do the work they were elected to do.
If the Conservatives really believed that the measures in their bill were justified, they would give us a chance to debate the bill and attempt to improve it. But that is not the case. By now, we all know that the Conservatives prefer to keep people in the dark. They are allergic to transparency.
Bill C-38 is a mammoth bill that is over 400 pages long and amends some 70 laws. The environment, the economy, labour rights, old age security, the Auditor General's authority, health care transfers to the provinces and more will all be affected by Bill C-38.
This government is asking us to sign a blank cheque and to vote blindly. That is unacceptable.
I have already heard the Conservatives explain that the gag orders were justified because time is of the essence when it comes to the economy. We could say that, right now, they are the ones who are hurting Canada's economic future.
The Conservatives are also basically saying that the situation is so urgent that we must abandon our right to conduct an in-depth assessment of all the effects that Bill C-38 will have.
They even used the same argument to justify the three special back-to-work bills they made us vote on in the past 12 months. They are telling us the same thing over and over again—that this is an urgent matter and that we need to hurry up. But that is not what Canadians want. They want their democratic institutions to operate as usual and they want a real debate to be held in the House.
Everyone knows the reality: for the first time in Canadian history, the middle class is losing ground. Over the past 25 years, the income of the richest 20% of our society has increased. This trend had continued since the founding of our country, but for the other 80%, which includes the middle class, living conditions and salaries have declined.
This is the first time in Canadian history that this has happened, and we simply cannot ignore this phenomenon.
What are the Conservatives doing to address this? Nothing. Or instead, I should say, they are making the situation worse by attacking workers' rights, old age security, public health care and the services that Canadians need.
This is one of the fundamental differences between the Conservatives and the NDP. The Conservatives want growth at all cost, regardless of the consequences—growth at the expense of the environment, growth at the expense of workers and families, and growth at the expense of future generations. That is what the Conservatives are proposing in Bill C-38.
We in the NDP are in favour of economic growth, yes, but this growth must be achieved in a reasonable manner. We say yes to economic development, but it must be sustainable development that will benefit future generations. We say yes to economic development that everyone can benefit from, and not just the wealthiest Canadians. We say yes to development that creates high-quality jobs rather than unstable, low-paying jobs.
That is what we want, and Bill C-38 proposes the exact opposite.
In terms of jobs, for several months now, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has been asking for details about the cuts the government plans to make, but it refuses to give him those details despite the fact that its own Accountability Act requires it to do so.
Will the Conservatives tell Canadians how many jobs will be eliminated in the public service and what effect this will have on the programs that benefit all Canadians?
The Conservatives are preparing to rise for the holidays and leave thousands of people in the dark about their future. Thousands of mothers and fathers will not know if they will keep their jobs. In my riding of Hull—Aylmer, the tension is palpable. Every day I hear from people who are wondering about the economic impact of the cuts. People are really afraid of losing their jobs. My constituents and all Canadians have a right to know what awaits them.
As I was saying earlier, Bill C-38 is a bill that is taking us in the wrong direction and that will weaken the rights of all Canadian workers. The reform of employment insurance, the repeal of the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act and the amendment of the Employment Equity Act are a few examples.
Bill C-38 also raises other questions. The cuts announced in the latest budget will result in the loss of over 300 jobs at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, whose mission includes ensuring the safety of our food. The Conservatives are acting as though the listeriosis crisis never happened. They are also forgetting what happened in Walkerton. It is as though those incidents never occurred.
In the words of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, more and more, Canadians are eating at their own risk. Instead of addressing the shortcomings of our food safety system, the Conservatives are making them worse. Today, Canadians are asking themselves serious questions about this government's priorities, and I can understand why.
Another good example is old age security and the guaranteed income supplement. By increasing the age of eligibility from 65 to 67, the Conservatives are trying to balance their budget at the expense of seniors. The Parliamentary Budget Officer and many other experts have said on more than one occasion that our system is sustainable. There is no reason for this government to attack a program that has been helping to keep millions of seniors out of poverty for the past 50 years.
Old age security currently makes up half the income of 1.2 million people in Canada, mostly women. The government tries to justify its decision by saying that Canadians are living longer now. That may be, but many workers are physically unable to work after 65. In fact, 25% of retirees say they left their jobs for health reasons. For them and for others, the increased eligibility age is a one-way ticket to poverty. It will also create a burden for the health care system and youth employment.
The most reprehensible thing in all this is that in the last election campaign, the Prime Minister misled the public about his intention to cut pensions. He was not transparent. Hiding the truth from Canadians has become a habit for this government. It has to stop. Canadians are entitled to the truth.
We are opposed not only to the content of this bill, but also to the undemocratic way in which the Conservatives have chosen to get it passed. This government is abusing its majority power to pass a regressive bill that will set us back years.
This could have been an acceptable budget for Canadians, a budget that promoted a stable economy and created jobs, but it turned out to be the complete opposite. Bill C-38 goes against the values of justice and progress promoted by the NDP and supported by Canadians.
Canadians deserve better. They have the right to a better bill and they have the right to know what is going on and what the future holds for them. Canadians must know what the Conservatives are imposing in Bill C-38. That is why we are opposed to it.
