Madam Speaker, firstly, I would like to commend my colleague, the member for Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, for her speech and explanations concerning the plan proposed by the Bloc Québécois.
Let me also commend another colleague who has worked very hard during the summer and who has invited the Standing Committee on Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology to sit even before the beginning of this session. I am talking about the member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.
Let me also explain or participate in this debate from an angle corresponding to the file in which I represent the Bloc Québécois interests, that is regional development.
In the past five years, certainly for the past three years that I have been in this House, major crisis have directly affected the economy of the regions of Quebec.
There was the softwood lumber crisis which is still on right now. In my region, between 3,000 and 5,000 jobs were affected, which is enormous for a region like mine.
There was also the mad cow crisis. We are still feeling its consequences all over, especially the farmers and dairy producers. They are still waiting for the money from Ottawa.
We also had plant closures, and this is important. As we know, in the context of globalization, many businesses will produce twice as much while providing only half as many jobs. They will often choose to export their expertise to other major international centres, which will result in plant closures and job losses.
I think we all agree that we do not need other labour disputes in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region or, at least, other catastrophes. Yet, our region was dealt another blow in recent months with the gasoline price increase.
I could go on and on. If I may though, I would like to mention a few concrete examples to show how my community is affected. The fact that my region is located far from the large urban centres means that this gasoline price increase has a negative impact on all consumer products.
I would like to mention a personal example. In addition to the gasoline that I buy for my car, I purchased a consumer product not long ago, because I wanted to switch from oil to wood to heat my house. What really took the cake is that I had to shell out an additional $200 in transportation costs compared to what people living in large urban centres have to pay. So, it is costing me $200 more to switch from one heating technology to another, but this is because of the gasoline price and transportation costs.
If I, as a member of Parliament, experienced this, so do all Quebeckers.
Some solutions are being proposed here by my Bloc Québécois colleagues and myself, and I am urging the government to listen carefully. It must pay attention to these solutions. We did our homework this summer and, contrary to the government, we did propose an action plan with concrete measures. If the government does not have the courage to come up with something, then it should listen to our plan, it should recognize our needs and then it should take appropriate action.
Of course, we are proposing, in the case of those who are directly affected—these are often low income earners, but they also include all consumers—refundable tax credits of $250 per person to alleviate the impact of the price increase for oil products.
Measures could be proposed—that is what we are doing—to compensate car owners. Although some individuals cannot consider alternative means of transportation—as is the case in small villages in my community where there is no public transit—there needs to be measures to encourage them to decrease their dependence on oil, and to consider using hybrid cars, for example, or other technologies. We must encourage the purchase of less energy consuming vehicles.
Earlier, I mentioned consumers who have been affected when it comes to fuel oil. This point is important. We know that regions in Quebec that are somewhat remote record very drastic temperatures. The thermometer can dip to 30 and 35 degrees below zero. It can get even colder if you factor in wind chill.
We cannot hesitate. We need effective measures because there is a risk. I want all hon. members to be aware of this situation. For example, when individuals who heat with oil are faced with astronomical costs, they still have to heat their homes, even if they do not have the means to do so.
My fear is that they will use alternative makeshift means. This is not rocket science. We saw this happen during the ice storm in Montreal a few years ago. People used makeshift propane systems and other alternative means. That is why we need an aid plan and ways to help these people and protect their health and safety.
I also want to draw your attention to a case. It is the case of a nice family business. My own father worked there a number of years ago. I have the utmost respect for this company. Recently, it had to stop some of its fruit and vegetable delivery service in the community because it could no longer compete with the larger centres. Why? Because of the increase in the price of gas.
We cannot ignore these situations, especially since they lead to the loss of jobs. For small communities like Métabetchouan with its 4,000 inhabitants, the loss of four or five jobs is a big deal.
There is also a way to help the remote areas. The government is already doing it with the very remote areas where it provides a tax deduction of $3.75 a day, up to 10% of income. What I am proposing to the government today is to extend this measure to all the regions, the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, the Abitibi or the North Shore. These regions are directly affected by transportation costs.
Other economic sectors have also been affected. I was talking earlier about the softwood lumber crisis. And let's not forget the mad cow crisis. The farmers are already having a difficult time. Can we try to give them tangible help? They must use their farm machinery to extract resources and their income from the land. They need our help now.
The softwood lumber crisis affected the forest industries and cost some 3,500 jobs in my region. Close to 5,000 jobs were affected. The EI gap creates major havoc in my region. Can we try to find ways to help the forest industries?
In closing, I would like to congratulate some people back home, of whom I am very proud. They have been manning the stockade and demonstrating against the rise in gas prices for quite some time now. The man leading this group is Mr. Claude Girard, an accomplished volunteer. In fact, along with his executive board, he is preparing a demonstration for this Thursday. The event will take place in front of the Jonquière Tax Data Centre in order to send a clear message to this government, which has not lifted a finger yet. What Mr. Girard wants is to motivate the government to take action. For regions like ours and all across Quebec, this crisis has had major and profound impacts.
This is a national movement. We know that national union representatives will be demonstrating at our side. There will be people from UPA and independent truckers. I am inviting the public to take part in this peaceful demonstration in order to send a clear message to this government, which did not do anything but which has a duty and a responsibility to act. The only thing the government lacks is political will and courage.
