Pauline Picard

[Textile Industry, December 14th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, I have a few comments about what some ministers and secretaries of State have said, as well as a question for my hon. colleague from the Bloc Québécois.

I wish to set the record straight. The people opposite are bragging about a program that saved several jobs. Maybe that was the case in the textile industry, and that is fine. I want to point out however that the program called CATIP, which has now been cancelled, did not apply to multinationals. To companies like Denim Swift, in Celanese, or Cavalier Textiles, in Drummondville, the program was useless. That is why I wanted to set the record straight.

The program was indeed helpful to some small businesses. I do not know why it does not exist anymore. The government cancels programs that work for some businesses and then, following consultations, it comes up with a handful of very timid measures at the eleventh hour to try and save face.

I would also like to point out that the American president of Swift Denim wrote the Minister of Finance twice. On the other side, this government is said to be very close to the situation and to management. But this was contradicted by the secretary of state responsible for financial institutions, who said that, if they did not speak with the unions, but only to management, and knew hardly anything about the situation, they could not intervene. I am sorry, but we have been talking about this for 10 years. It is the government's responsibility to implement specific measures to save textile enterprises in all our ridings across Canada.

I have a question for my hon. colleague concerning POWA, the program for older worker adjustment. I have received a letter from the coalition representing workers 45 and over who have lost their jobs at Denim Swift, in Drummondville. This letter says, “Did the government even bother to look into the situation? Does it have any alternatives to propose?”

This is a generation which includes people with little formal education. In our community, the vast majority of those affected have always worked in the textile industry. Will the government pay small organizations like this coalition, so that additional resources can be provided? This way, these people, real people, would be able to earn a living before retiring.

I would like to ask my hon. colleague to please address the importance of and urgent need for an assistance program, probably an improved POWA, to support the workers who just lost their jobs in Huntingdon and in my riding, as well as those who are likely to lose their jobs because of this government's lack of action.

[Textile Industry, December 14th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, I would also like to congratulate my colleague from the NDP for his speech, which reflects our position perfectly.

I would like to tell him of a visitor who came to us a few years ago after Celanese and Cavalier Textiles closed down. We were visited by the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had come to tell the Chamber of Commerce and the manufacturers to forget about the textile and apparel industries, because of globalization, and move on to something else. According to him, we had to come up with specific measures. It was a lost cause, because he thought it was.

This is an example of this government's lack of action. Another proof of this, as I said earlier, is that when Denim Swift closed down, a strategic committee made recommendations to the then industry minister. We came out of that meeting very frustrated, because there was absolutely nothing on the table to try and save those jobs. The minister had promised to set up a committee, but what she gave us was a sham committee to make her look good. That committee was supposed to examine the textile situation a year ago, even if we all know it should have been done 10 years earlier. We never saw any report from this committee. This goes to show how this was, again, just window dressing.

I would now like to ask my colleague what he thinks of the bilateral agreements that the U.S. signed with Caribbean countries. The Government of Canada did not see fit to sign any such agreement in order to save our businesses.

[Textile Industry, December 14th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, the government has known for 10 years that import quotas for textile and clothing will end on December 31. The government has known for 10 years that thousands of jobs are threatened. Ottawa has been aware of the solutions for 10 years and yet, today, in Huntingdon, 800 workers are losing their job.

In the riding of Drummond, the great textile and clothing sector has been losing ground since 1998. There were closures at Celanese, at Cavalier Textiles and, recently, 600 jobs were lost at Denim Swift. The Celanese plant had been closing progressively, laying off a total of 5,000 workers in March 2000. Seven months later, Cavalier Textiles ended its production. In December 2003, Denim Swift management announced that it was ceasing its denim production activities in April 2004, putting 600 people out of work. We have been talking about this for a year, and the government has known for 10 years what will happen by December 31 and it has done nothing.

On December 21, there will be 215 jobs left at the Denim Swift plant, and management is expected to announce its intention to close, which will cause the loss of the last jobs, unless the government does something, of course.

The Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canadamakes me laugh when he talks about the measures that were taken by the former industry minister. When there was a strategy for Denim Swift, all local stakeholders and myself had a meeting with the minister, here in Ottawa. We were really disappointed with the outcome of that meeting, because nothing allowed us to save jobs at the Denim Swift plant. So, do not tell me that many things were done. There were programs, but they were totally inappropriate for this type of multinational businesses.

I would like to ask my colleague what he thinks about the government's inaction on these issues and about the solutions that the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada has put in place to save perhaps a few businesses, a few employees, but not the thread businesses.

[Textile and Clothing Industry, December 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, about a year ago, the Denim Swift company in Drummondville announced that it was laying off more than 600 employees.

Yesterday, six textile plants in the town of Huntingdon announced their imminent closure, and more than 800 workers found out, just days before Christmas, that they will be losing their jobs.

Rather than sitting idly, the federal government has an opportunity to ensure that import tariffs on clothing and textile products are maintained in Canada. It can also continue to remit customs duties paid by clothing companies and to maintain a quota on Chinese imports, under the WTO access protocol for China.

The government can also develop a program to help modernize the clothing and textile industries by stimulating research, development and creation. Finally, it could establish a program to help older workers who will not have a job to go back to.

There are many solutions available. The only thing that is lacking is a will to act on the part of the federal government.

[Textile and Clothing Industry, December 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member that I have been trying to save the textile industry in my riding of Drummond for the past year. The government has yet to take action. We are talking about 40,000 jobs that have already been lost since 1997 in the textile and clothing industry. Behind these numbers are individuals, many of whom are older workers.

In light of this reality, will the minister restore the program for older worker adjustment, which the government abolished in 1997?

[Textile and Clothing Industry, December 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Finance said he was surprised by the sudden interest shown by the Bloc Québécois in the textile industry. However, six months ago, in fact, the Bloc was proposing a rescue plan to help that industry, and was also condemning job losses. As recently as yesterday, the president of Peerless made a plea for help, on behalf of the industry.

The Minister of Finance promised an assistance plan for the industry by December 31. Can he tell us if he intends to take into consideration the proposals by the Bloc Québécois' proposals and in the unanimous report of the Standing Committee on Finance?

[Textile and Clothing Industry, December 9th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, 65,000 jobs in Quebec's textile and clothing industry, including several thousand in my riding, are at risk because the government is twiddling its thumbs while the December 31 deadline approaches. Chinese imports are the greatest trade threat in this sector.

How does the government explain the fact that it has not shown any interest in availing itself of the transitional measures allowed under the protocol of accession for China's membership in the WTO? These measures exist; the government does not want to use them. Why not?

[Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada, December 7th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, some honours are very well deserved. A case in point is Prosper Dionne, the coordinator of the Drummondville subchapter of the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada, who has won the Laura Cole Volunteer of the Year Award for all of Canada.

In its quarterly newsletter, the foundation wrote:

You are truly an incredible role model and have helped to make thousands of children’s wishes come true!

Over the past 15 years, in Drummondville, Prosper Dionne and his team have made the wishes of 57 children with life-threatening diseases come true. Of these 57 children, 14 have now passed away. Confronted with sadness on a daily basis, Mr. Dionne prefers to remember the good side of his work with the foundation and the joy it has brought him.

Prosper, who dreams of bringing all his little angels together around the same table, let us join our voices to express our deepest gratitude to him who has such a talent for putting a bit of magic into the lives of sick children and their parents.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 3rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it must not be forgotten that Quebec's farmers have lost $241 million since the beginning of the crisis—for which they are in no way responsible. The possible solutions may make corrections for the future, but can do nothing for the past.

Does the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food not agree that $241 million in losses fully justifies the implementation of specific measures to cover this loss of income suffered by Quebec's farming community?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, December 3rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, not only are the existing programs poorly suited to the Quebec situation, but they are temporary and will end in February.

Is the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food ready to make a commitment not only to cover 60% of the costs, but also to ensure that the programs lasts until the floor price of 42 cents is reached, which would be in about eight months?