Mr. Speaker, on October 19 five years ago, I was elected for the first time to represent the people of Mégantic—L'Érable. A year ago today, I was re-elected by the people of Mégantic—L'Érable to represent them and advocate for them here in Ottawa.
I have had the opportunity to speak about seniors, to vote on the bill on medical assistance in dying, and to stand up for business people, business owners and students. I have had the opportunity to talk about all kinds of things. Today, I rise to stand up for the people of Mégantic—L'Érable once again.
In March, as the country faced the worst pandemic in its history, the government was forced to adopt exceptional measures. Canada and Canadians invested hundreds of billions of dollars through these measures to protect themselves and move forward in spite of the pandemic.
Eventually, it became clear that the measures that had been put in place were stopping people from going back to work. A lot of people were getting the CERB. The Prime Minister appealed to Canadians directly. He told people to go back to work, reassuring them that they could do it with the wage subsidy and that the work-sharing program would be enhanced. Many workers in my riding decided to stop collecting the CERB and go back to work in answer to the Prime Minister's call, because their companies and our economy did in fact need them.
What happened? Those folks were proud to go back to work in May and June in response to that appeal. The government had said it would pay their companies half of their wages. Since then, however, many workers have been missing half their pay. Workers in Mégantic—L'Érable have been deprived of half their pay since May and June because the government is incapable of fixing a computer glitch between the CERB and the work-sharing program. This is unacceptable.
Let me review the facts. I sent letters to the minister. I spoke with the minister's office. I asked the Prime Minister a question on October 7, and he answered me. I was quite surprised. I got an answer from the Prime Minister during question period. He said he was not aware of the file and would get back to me. I was so hopeful. That same week, I had another meeting with the minister's office and her parliamentary secretary. I thought things were looking up and we might resolve the issue.
Where are we today? I will share the results. Initially, Princecraft had 95 workers who were getting only half their pay. Today, that number is 65. At Fournier Industries in Thetford Mines, there were 38 workers getting only half their pay. Today there are still 30. At Fournier Industrial Construction, there were 15 workers in that situation, and now there are 14. At Plessitech, there were 23, and now there are seven.
How are they supposed to live on half wages? It is impossible. These people trusted the government, and they got screwed.
When will their cases be resolved?