Guy St-Julien

[Supply, May 7th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Acadie—Bathurst for his excellent speech. I also want to thank the member for Joliette for bringing forward the motion before us today, which says that we should set up an assistance program for the softwood lumber industry and its workers. I will support this motion. It is an excellent motion. A month ago, I proposed a motion that said that the House should set up a new program to build houses for aboriginal and Inuit communities in Canada. We heard comments on that subject, but today we are dealing with another issue.

We are going to war against the Americans. What President George W. Bush is doing is trade terrorism. He is killing forestry jobs in Canada and in Quebec, and it is important to say so.

I have a question for the member. Following his excellent speech, does the member agree that we need social housing, housing for the homeless, as well as for aboriginals and Inuit? It will cost us $2 billion. If we do nothing, people are going to go back home.

I must say that I was once a forestry worker. Does the member agree that we need a program as soon as possible, in the next few weeks and not a year from now, to keep softwood lumber in Canada for a year or two? As the FTQ was saying at a meeting I attended last week along with the BQ member for Témiscamingue, we must find a solution quickly. We, the government, with the co-operation of members opposite, must get this new program. Does the member agree that we need a new program to keep softwood lumber in Canada without retaliation from the WTO and NAFTA?

[Softwood Lumber, May 6th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, the Quebec forestry company Tembec of Abitibi-Témiscamingue has initiated proceedings to recover $200 million in damages from the U.S. government for the duties that have been imposed on Canadian softwood lumber by President George W. Bush.

Frank Dottori, CEO of Tembec, has stated that this measure “is tantamount no more and no less to expropriation of our market, in violation of the Free Trade Agreement, and we are therefore demanding compensation”. He went on to say, “We entered into a free trade agreement and we expect the United States to respect their international and national commitments. This they have not done”.

[Softwood Lumber, April 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday I took part in a meeting in Val d'Or concerning the imposition of a tax on Canadian softwood lumber, which is unfair and punitive toward all Canadians.

This meeting was organized by Diane F. Raymond, on behalf of the FTQ regional council for Abitibi--Témiscamingue and Northern Quebec.

In attendance were a number of representatives of unions, the forest industry and the federal MP for Témiscamingue.

We believe we must consolidate our efforts in order to get special measures put in place to help out the businesses and workers affected by President Bush's tax.

The Government of Canada must, in conjunction with the provinces, find a long term solution in order to protect the interests of the forestry communities and their workers. Let us keep softwood lumber in Canada.

[Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2001, April 23rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, please take note of the fact that I am voting against this amendment.

(The House divided on the amendment, which was negatived on the following division:)

[Inuit Community of Nunavik, April 16th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Inuit of Nunavik and the members of the 2002 general assembly of the Makivik Corporation, through the corporation's president, Pita Aatami, are calling upon the Government of Canada to investigate the circumstances surrounding the extermination of all of the dogs in Nouveau-Québec between 1950 and 1975, and demand explanations, apologies and compensation for the Nunavimmiut.

More than 200 interviews were recorded with Inuit whose dogs were put down or who witnessed such acts, and a video will be submitted to Canada. This has gone too long without being settled.

At the Makivik general assembly held at Tasiujaq on April 11, I apologized in my capacity as a Liberal government member in the House of Commons for the extermination of all the dogs in Nouveau-Québec between 1950 and 1975.

[Health, April 8th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, “What is being done for ‘newborn’ mothers?”

This is the title of a letter which appeared in the April 7, 2002 edition of La Presse . It was written by Céline Lemay, a midwife from Boucherville, and deserves the attention of all MPs and MLAs in Canada.

She writes:

The move away from hospital care has highlighted not just a failing in our health care system, but also a failing in our safety net: support for new mothers, new parents.

The rest that women get in a hospital is not really physical in nature: one is not in one's own bed; it is too hot; there is constant noise, etc.; in addition to the potential medical problems for the mother or her baby; staying in the hospital, being exposed to numerous germs, and exposing one's newborn to them.

Visiting homemakers would be quite capable of providing services in the home for a few days.

In the Netherlands, specially trained postnatal assistants help out mothers at home for several hours a day during the first ten days after they give birth.

[Economic development, February 28th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I thank you for your decision. The resource and rural regions are in dire need of autonomy. I am not asking for a new level of government for the resource regions. I would simply want to see them get the level of autonomy that they need to develop properly.

If the Canadian government really wants to help the resource and rural regions, it should look at what is being done in Sweden. What is important to know is that the federal ministers have done a good job in the regions. But there is still something missing.

The conservative member for Richmond--Arthabaska, who was serious and dynamic in his statement, stated that the resource and rural regions would have to take charge of their own interests. He mentioned a lack of money for the Val-Saint-François business development centre. We know that this centre really is very supportive ofo businesses. He talked about a vision, loans, refundable financial assistance. This is what is being suggested also for his region—he was talking about Noranda where asbestos is an important sector. This is what partnership is all about.

I appreciated the conservative member's words. Some might say “But there are not many of them”. It is true that there are only a few of them, but they have a strong voice. This is the kind of support we need.

I will quote from an article published in L'Acadie nouvelle on St. Valentine's day, February 14, reporting what the finance minister and Liberal member for LaSalle--Émard said:

The approach to problems in large cities is not the same as that for the regions. There is nothing odd about that, because they do not have the same issues. So a plan containing the same solutions is of no use.

What the government should do is have one plan for cities, which will meet the needs of centres like Moncton, Halifax and Toronto, and another plan for the regions that need one, a plan which is just as applicable to the Acadian peninsula as to Red Deer, Alberta, because they have the same problems. There needs to be an approach that can handle both situations.

He added that the money is now on the table and that all he was asking the community was how to spend it. That is the reason for his visit to the maritime provinces in particular.

Finally, the federal Minister of Finance said:

The key to this initiative lies in the public's hands. The Canadian government is responsible for being there with infrastructure and development programs, but it is local initiative which will determine how we must implement them”.

This is why I have quoted from letters written by local people asking us to intervene in the regions, whether Lac-Saint-Jean, Richmond--Arthabaska with its Conservative MP, or Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The minister must differentiate us from the major urban centres.

In closing, as far as the resource regions are concerned, such as Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 68% of our forest products go to Montreal, and 68% of the natural resources from our region create jobs there.

We in the resource regions need help. We need a change to be made to the budget so as to differentiate between our regions and the major urban centres. We have nothing against them, in fact we are proud of them, for there are major projects happening there. But we are in need of help in the rural regions, in the resource regions, for the future of our young people.

[Economic development, February 28th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, the standing orders provide that I have five minutes to reply. Nobody advised me of this, and I am entitled to five minutes to reply. I do not need unanimous consent, because this is provided for in the standing orders.

[Economic development, February 28th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I did hear the Bloc member say no. But in any case, we started later because we were interrupted by a question of privilege.

[Economic development, February 28th, 2002]

moved:

Motion No. 217

That, in the opinion of this House, the government should introduce legislation to put in place a federal economic development initiative for the regions of Abitibi, Lac-St-Jean-Saguenay, James Bay, Nunavik, the North Shore, the Gaspé and the Îles de la Madeleine.

During the last federal election, I declared the following to the population and the media, and I quote:

A new federal economic development initiative should be put in place by Industry Canada in northern Quebec, along the lines of FEDNOR in northern Ontario and ACOA in the Atlantic region.

The mandate would be to promote economic growth, diversification, jobs creation and long term autonomy for communities in northern Quebec, in co-operation with community partners and other organizations, in order to improve access to capital, to information and to markets.

The new agency's mandate would be to improve the economy of the various communities in northern Quebec by encouraging the start up of businesses and the creation of job opportunities in Abitibi, James Bay, Nunavik and Témiscamingue.

Later, when the House reconvened after the election campaign, in January or February 2001, I moved Motion M-217.

When he was in New Brunswick 15 days ago, the federal Minister of Finance and member for LaSalle--Émard said to the population that his next budget would contain specific new measures for the economic development of large urban centres and regions. He also said that it was the Canadian government's responsibility to create infrastructure and development programs but that their implementation would be based on local initiatives.

Since the election campaign, in 2001, and mainly this year, following the statements by the Minister of Finance, I anticipated this initiative thanks to messages from people in our region.

For years, I have been asking in this House, in the caucus of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Quebec Liberal caucus, as well as elsewhere in Ottawa, Abitibi, James Bay and Nunavik, for a better quality of life on behalf on the residents of resource based regions.

The Minister of Finance said that it would be up to the people living in those regions to get their message across. Since the people living in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, James Bay and Nunavik are ready, I want to pass on the following messages, which are dated.

On November 29, 2001, the Val-d'Or Chamber of Commerce, through its president, Jacques Talbot, wrote the former Minister of National Revenue and Secretary of State for Economic Development Canada, the Liberal member for Outremont. In this letter, the Chamber of Commerce wrote as follows:

The executive of the Val-d'Or Chamber of Commerce is writing this letter in order to request that you give special consideration to the regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue and northern Quebec and give serious thought to the possibility of taking energetic steps to revive the economy of these regions.

Even the Val-d'Or Chamber of Commerce received the virtual message from the Minister of Finance on Valentine's Day, in which he made the statement in New Brunswick that in the next budget it would be necessary to make a distinction between urban centres and the regions.

Continuing with the letter:

We realize that you are aware that Abitibi-Témiscamingue is going through an extremely difficult time: very high unemployment rate, brain drain, our young people moving away, weakness of the natural resource sector and so on. You have also been made aware, during your frequent trips through the region, of the efforts being made by local and regional leaders who are taking many steps to diversify and revive our economy.

The Val-d'Or Chamber of Commerce wishes to see the creation of a federal economic development initiative for Abitibi-Témiscamingue and northern Quebec. Its mandate would be to promote economic growth, diversification, job creation, and the long term autonomy of this part of the province of Quebec.

Like FedNor or ACOA, such an agency could address such issues as connectivity, innovation, trade, specific investment programs, entrepreneurship, skill upgrading, community economic development, access to capital and information, community partnerships, while reflecting the hard work and the determination of the people of Abitibi-Témiscamingue and northern Quebec to succeed and prosper in the regions.

These are letters from the local people, bearing a message for their MP. They are telling him, “You need to pass this message on to the Government of Canada”.

In that same letter, Mr. Talbot wrote:

We know that the federal economic development initiative for northern Ontario is constantly expanding in terms of developing new programs, introducing new partners and increasing funding for Ontario's northern communities. FedNor is directly investing over $45 million annually, through programs and services that provide economic benefits to northern communities, in addition to another $18 million through the provincial network of Community Futures Development Corporations.

He goes on to say:

Rest assured that the Val d'Or chamber of commerce is pleased with the success of the federal economic development initiative for northern Ontario and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, since their creation, in 1987. However, we are firmly convinced that the Abitibi-Témiscamingue and its population, which is known for its determination and its reputation as builders, as well as the population of northern region of the province, deserve as much consideration on the part of the federal government.

I carry on with an excerpt from another letter dated January 21, 2002. This is getting close to Valentine's Day when the Minister of Finance said in the Atlantic region that “the next budget will make a distinction between major urban centres and regions”. This letter is from the new Mayor of Saint-Marc de Figuery, Gilles Corriveau, who wrote:

I will tell you that the economy is very depressed and fragile, the reason being that, in our region, mines are not doing well because of the price of gold. The lumber industry is in no better shape, because of the surtax imposed by our neighbours to the south.

Therefore, in our small municipality, we promote tourism and the construction of new houses on the shores of our lakes.

It is for these reasons that they want the federal government to get involved. I have another letter dated January 30, 2002—we are getting closer to February 14, when the federal Minister of Finance made his statement—from the Senneterre economic development corporation. It is signed by its president, Claude Castonguay. He says the following:

First, asking the federal government to initiate things, to develop strategies and to stimulate economic development in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue, perfectly reflects our organization's expectations from the government. All too often, the regions are left out in the government's major policies, and it is important that our members of parliament speak out loud and clear on behalf of the regions.

However, the federal government already has CFDCs and a Canada Economic Development office on our territory. Is it necessary to create another structure? What will happen to existing agencies? Instead, the federal government should increase the budgets of these organizations, allow for the hiring of staff specialized in potential future industries for our region, and improve incentives.

Mr. Castonguay goes on to say:

The government must also work even more closely with the municipalities. Economic development is not only measured by job creation. The development of municipal infrastructure, support for local business, improvements to leisure infrastructure are also elements that have a positive impact on business but also on quality of life for citizens.

The objective that you are pursuing is commendable: making the regions a priority for the Government of Canada. We would save time by providing the organizations that are already in place the tools required for development.

I am getting close to February 14. It is now February 11. The Comité Urgence Amos-Région states, by the pen of our good friend François Lemire:

Allow us to bring to your attention the following statement—

It is important to fully understand this.

—taken from part III, the Report on Plans and Priorities of Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, on page 15.

We all know that this document is a pale blue book. There were others that were tabled this morning under the heading “Supplementary Estimates”. It states:

“The transition to a knowledge-based economy is a priority issue which Quebec has to continue to confront in order to continue its development. The nature of this challenge depends on the region concerned”.

The report continues as follows:

“The remote regions dependmore on the exploitation of naturalresources, and are thus directlyaffected by economic cycles and thevagaries of the internationalsituation. A substantial portion ofthe regions in question are likely tosee the dynamics of development driving the current restructuring of the Canadianeconomy pass them by”.

This is written in this document produced by our government. I will read further:

“Some remote regions are currently experiencing considerable difficulties owing tothe unfavourable situation in many resource sectors, and seem little able to benefitsubstantially from these emerging new sectors, including those associated with newinformation technology”.

“—these regionsare facing two levels of difficulty. First, the loss of the upcoming generation discouragesthe establishment of new firms requiring new skills. Second, the aging of the population,which in many communities is already presenting serious challenges with respect tomaintaining services—”.

And the president continues:

We understand that the Government of Canada is aware of the problems and the threats that we are facing. In this regard, we believe that it is urgent to create an economic development initiative that will allow a good complementarity with programs and services already provided by Canada Economic Development.

In particular, this should translate into a decentralization of federal budgets and human resources now dedicated to regions and managed from urban centres.

Even before the Minister of Finance made his statement, the people from the Amos area had already anticipated what would happen several days before. The president continues by mentioning:

It is imperative that these be managed by the regions themselves and that this management be done according to the specific needs of each region.

We all know that the survival of our regions depends on some fundamental elements that we must hasten to apply for the next generations:

Top notch educational and research activities on our natural resources, to develop niches for secondary and tertiary processing, and also develop a strong and continuing world class network of expertise allowing us to stand out and thus ensure our survival as a region;

Presence of effective liaison and transfer agencies such as the centres for transfer and industrial research;

Development of a qualified workforce for the establishment of a partnership of adequate funding of educational institutions;

Support in business development through the technical support provided by specialists:

Support to business development through tailored funding services.

The president continues:

We therefore strongly believe that this initiative must have the aforementioned as its primary objectives and must make it possible for a region like ours, with a fair allocation of funds and the decentralization of federal funds, to draw up its own socioeconomic development plan and to equip itself with the means to achieve its objectives.

Needless to say, this cannot be done unless there is also a decentralization of departments and the specialists who work in them, as well as the tailoring of governmental programs to our specific realities.

Moreover, who better than us can understand our situation and find the solutions that suit us. We are a dynamic region, one that is capable and anxious to take control and is also prepared to work in collaboration with your government in the creation and implementation of such an initiative, which will truly respond to the needs of the resource regions.

We are getting up to February 14, when we recall the Minister of Finance said “The federal budget will have to come from the regions”. In this respect, on February 13, I received a letter from the executive director of the Malartic chamber of commerce, Nicole Lamirande, and its president, Camil Palin. It read as follows:

Malartic being a small municipality in which most jobs are related to forestry or mining, we feel it is vital for action to be taken. The economy is already precarious, and everything possible must be done to bolster it. We are therefore counting on you, Mr. St.-Julien, to do what is necessary.

This is what is important. The last letter is after February 14. It comes from the chamber of commerce and industry of Rouyn-Noranda and region. This is the riding next to mine, and they are interested in my motion.

The Chambre de commerce et d'industrie du Rouyn-Noranda régional wishes to inform you of its support for Motion M-217.

The chamber feels that an agency similar to FedNor but with a mandate relating solely to Quebec, particularly the resource regions, would be a key economic development initiative for a region such as ours.

We can only encourage the creation of an entity different from the present Economic Development Canada, which would have more power and a bigger budget and which would be more adapted to the specific needs of the regions. For instance, just as northeastern Ontario has received thousands of dollars from FedNor to help set up air service between Rouyn-Noranda, Earlton and Toronto (Air North link), it is time that—

The other agency is 46 feet from Rouyn-Noranda, on the border between Quebec and Ontario.

—Quebec's resource regions also received their fair share of infrastructure development assistance (assistance denied by EDC in the air carrier case mentioned above).

What is important in the speech given by the Minister of Finance on February 14? The minister understood the message perfectly well, because he has been to visit the resource regions on many occasions over the years. The key to this initiative which, according to the minister, will make a distinction between large urban centres and resource regions in the next budget, lies in the public's hands. Here is what the minister told an Acadian newspaper: “The Canadian government is responsible for being there with infrastructure and development programs, but it is local initiative which will determine how we must implement them”.

That is why I brought letters today. People have written to me. It is the right time to do so. I know that my time is up, but I am counting on my right to reply to intervene later.