Pauline Picard

House of Commons photo

Crucial Fact

Her favourite word was quebec.

Last in Parliament September 2008, as Bloc MP for Drummond (Québec)

Won her last election, in 2006, with 50% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Supply March 21st, 2000

Madam Speaker, I do not know if my Liberal colleague took the time to read the motion proposed by the Bloc Quebecois on this opposition day.

I will read it to her. It asks:

Let us be clear here. We are not criticizing the transitional jobs fund. We are criticizing the mismanagement of that program.

Taxpayers' money has been used for partisan purposes. Moreover, money was taken from workers to build up a surplus in the EI fund. That surplus has now grown to approximately $30 billion, but the money is being squandered and is not being used to create programs for those who need them, including older workers.

What does the member think of that? Does she find that normal?

Supply March 21st, 2000

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to put a question to the Liberal member on the opposition motion introduced by he Bloc Quebecois, but before asking my question, I would like to remind the House of the motion we introduced. It reads as follows:

That this House condemn the government for the poor management seen at the Department of Human Resources Development, particularly in the award and use of grants for partisan purposes, and that it recommend the creation of an independent public commission of inquiry, whose members will be appointed by the House, and whose mandate will be to inquire into all practices of that Department and to report to the House by September 19, 2000.

I would like to give an example of mismanagement which is happening right now in my riding: the closure of a plant where several older workers have been paying into employment insurance for 30 years, 35 years or more. The employer has been paying his share too.

The plant will be closing at the end of the month and these workers will probably have to go on social assistance. Since it came to power, the government has withdrawn from a program called POWA. Under this program designed to help older workers, they were guaranteed $1,000 a month until their retirement.

According to the government's own data, when a worker gets to be 45, it becomes very hard for him to find another job. These men have worked for 30 years at the same job, in the same plant, in the same place, they have acquired great experience. Now that they are 50, that they still must look after their family, that they have a mortgage, that they have children in university, if the plant closes down, they will be left without means, they cannot get back into the labour market. As a result of the government withdrawing from the program for older worker adjustment, they are pushed on social assistance. If this is not mismanagement, I do not know what is.

I would like to ask my Liberal colleague whether he thinks it is all right to waste money handing out partisan grants while nothing is being done to help older workers? What is the government willing to do for these older workers who are losing their jobs due to a plant closure?

Journée Internationale De La Francophonie March 20th, 2000

Mr. Speaker, the Journée internationale de la Francophonie, which we are celebrating today, is of particular importance this year.

On March 20, 1970, three great statesmen, Léopold Senghor, Habib Bourguiba and Hamani Diori, along with officials from 21 states and governments having in common their use of French, created what was to become the Agence internationale de la Francophonie.

Thirty years later, the states and governments of the Francophonie are meeting again in Niamey, to mark this anniversary, at the invitation of the Secretary General of the Francophonie, Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

The fact that membership grew from 21 participants in 1970 to 55 in 2000 reflects the vitality of the French language around the world. Quebec will soon be a member of that group, as a country.

Human Resources Development March 17th, 2000

Mr. Speaker, while more and more grant scandals keep coming to light at Human Resources Development Canada and millions of dollars in grants are spent without creating a single job, the minister is abandoning hundreds of older workers who find themselves out of work when plants shut down.

How can she squander the money of Human Resources Development Canada and do nothing for older workers, like those of the Celanese plant in Drummondville, who will lose their jobs on March 31 and will be doomed to despair?

House Of Commons March 16th, 2000

That is not what the problem is.

An Act To Give Effect To The Requirement For Clarity As Set Out In The Opinion Of The Supreme Court Of Canada In The Quebec Secession Reference March 13th, 2000

moved:

Motion No. 387