Lost his last election, in 2000, with 42% of the vote.
Bc Mine November 4th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
In the BC mine issue, everyone is calling for an improved POWA to help older workers who have just lost their jobs. Only this Liberal government is turning a deaf ear.
Is the minister, who has had since last week to give this matter some thought, ready to change his position and allow this request?
Program For Older Worker Adjustment October 29th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, former minister Young, who led the unemployment insurance reform, had pledged to establish an income support program to replace POWA.
Will the Minister of Human Resources Development follow up on the former minister's commitment by establishing an income support program for older workers or, alternatively, by restoring the original POWA?
Program For Older Worker Adjustment October 29th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
Contrary to what they were advocating when they formed the opposition, the Liberals decided last year to eliminate the program for older worker adjustment, or POWA.
Will the minister go beyond fine speeches and formally pledge to do what is necessary to help the victims of the closure of the mine in Black Lake, giving them access to POWA, as Louise Harel, in Quebec City—
Newfoundland School System October 27th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, next Saturday, November 1, LAB Chrysotile, a limited partnership led by Jean Dupéré, will close the 110 year old BC asbestos mine in Black Lake.
Three hundred workers will lose their jobs; 82% of them are over 50 years old, and 36% are over 55. These 300 workers have an average of 27 years of experience at the mine.
This mine closure is catastrophic for the Thetford and Black Lake area and for the whole MRC. It must be understood that 300 layoffs in Thetford and Black Lake is the equivalent of 7,000 layoffs in Montreal.
Three weeks ago, the BC mine workers committee met with the assistant deputy minister of human resources development for the province of Quebec, André Gladu. On behalf of the Minister of Human Resources Development, he proposed three active measures to the committee, namely targeted wage subsidies, training courses and what was formerly known as self-employment assistance.
You have to admit, as I do, that these three measures are definitely not enough to help our workers. It is not realistic considering the age of these workers. It is not realistic also because of the current economic context in the asbestos industry.
The objective of the economic recovery committee, the objective of the federal member is to provide for, to plan an improved POWA, a program that the human resources development minister himself abolished on March 31, 1997. In May, for five weeks, the community of Thetford Mines saw no less that nine ministers and the Prime Minister. They did not really come to visit the region as tourists. They came very regularly, so often in fact that their limousine drivers became familiar with all the short cuts to the asbestos region.
It is strange; the human resources development minister has been as silent as the grave since we have needed him on the issue of asbestos. Consequently, I wish to inform him officially that on Wednesday, two days from now, about a hundred mine workers will be here, in the House. If the minister cannot go to Thetford, the Thetford workers will come to him. But it is still quite surprising that, during the election campaign, he found time on two different occasions to come and beg for their votes.
We are not asking for active measures for our mine workers, but for an acceptable preretirement package since—
Closure Of Bc Mine October 21st, 1997
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
In ten days, the BC mine in Black Lake will be closing down and putting 300 people out of work, most of them over the age of 50, in a region that is already devastated by unemployment. There is no future for these workers, who have little chance of finding other work.
Can the minister tell us what active measures are being contemplated to return these people to the work force, and also what answer he could give to the appeal they have made to the minister, these 300 workers who—
Supply October 21st, 1997
Madam Speaker, my Liberal colleague from Ontario, the hon. member for Stoney Creek, is showing no compassion for the people of Canada, all Canadians, and low income earners in particular.
Witness his allusion to the Minister of Finance stating, in his economic statement last week, that a $10 billion shortfall was discovered. I can tell you where this missing money can be found: in the employment insurance surplus, a plan whose premium rates are clearly too high. Unemployed workers who show up at the EI office to claim what paying these high premiums entitles them to are often told they are short a few hours—since the new system counts hours—to qualify.
The benefit period for those who qualify was also reduced. In short, premium rates are sky high, there are fewer eligible claimants and benefits are paid over a shorter period. This is how we end up with the $12 billion projected surplus for the year ending March 31.
The Minister of Finance also lacks compassion. Here is further evidence: a millionaire, who registers his ships in countries described as tax havens to be able to hire crews that do not fall under Canadian jurisdiction and to pay them less as well as to avoid paying taxes here, in Canada, that is who we have as a Minister of Finance.
In my riding, in Black Lake to be specific, LAB Chrysotile is set to close down an asbestos mine, the BC mine, BC standing for British Canadian, in the next seven or eight days. This closure will result in the laying off of 300 mine workers, more than 200 of whom are over 50. That is tragic.
The Minister of Human Resources Development happens to be the one who, on April 1, slashed the Program for Older Worker Adjustment, or POWA. Over 200 workers would have been eligible under POWA. But the minister destroyed a program that worked well and served as a safety mechanism in many cases. The program was not perfect of course, but it was a safety mechanism.
People in the riding of Frontenac—Mégantic want to see the minister. Strangely enough, he is no longer available. Yet, between April 27 and June 2, he visited the region three times and twice came to the riding of Frontenac—Mégantic. But now, it is impossible to talk to him. He is silent as the grave. The minister shows no sign of compassion toward these workers.
Earlier, the member for Stoney Creek showed us, with his speech, that he does not know either what it is like for a family to live on an income of $25,000. He brags that the unemployment rate has gone down. He should visit the regions. He should get out of his riding. He should urge his human resources minister to show that in his chest is a real beating heart and not a stone.
Supply October 21st, 1997
Mr. Speaker, thank you for recognizing me so quickly.
I am pleased to put a question to my distinguished colleague, the member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, since his riding is similar in every respect to that of Frontenac—Mégantic.
I would like to tell him about an encounter I had last week in my riding. Last week was a week set aside for members who wanted to touch base with people in their ridings. That is what I did during the seven days available to us to meet with our constituents.
In Lac-Mégantic, at the Sears store, I met a saleswoman who told me a rather sad tale about her daughter. Her daughter had left university and worked hard to find a job. Unfortunately, three weeks ago, she received notice that she was being let go.
Naturally, because she had to live, she left home. She had to pay for rent and for food. She had to make payments on her furniture and her television. She had to pay for cable, the telephone and so on. So she went to the employment insurance office. The good Government of Canada had played with the terms so it is no longer unemployment insurance, but employment insurance. As she was short some ten hours in order to be eligible, she will have to turn to social assistance.
When the government says that the rate of unemployment has dropped since it came to power on October 25, 1993, it is not telling the truth, it is playing with the figures. Accordingly, when a person is not actually receiving employment insurance or actively looking for a job but living off social assistance, they are not counted. The same head cannot be counted twice. You can only count one person once.
I would ask my distinguished colleague from Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, since I managed to remember the very complex name of his riding, to tell us whether I am mistaken or whether I am right and whether in his riding, which is identical to Frontenac—Mégantic, unfortunate situations like the one I described keep occurring.
Income Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 1997 October 20th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, the federal riding I have the pleasure to represent in this House, the riding of Frontenac—Mégantic, lies along the American border, so that I have over 500 retired people who are being unfairly penalized by the convention adopted January 1, 1986.
Most of them are suffering, because their incomes are between $10,000 and $18,000.
Under this convention, which is still in effect, they lose 25%. The United States takes 25.5% of their American pensions at source, and there is no way to recover this amount, even though they should be able to recover much of it.
For those in the low income group, this is therefore unfair, and in the riding of Frontenac«Mégantic, more than 500 people are directly affected by the legislation before us this morning.
I have three questions for my colleague from Durham. When can retired people expect to receive their American cheques in their entirety?
My second question is: I understood that this bill would be retroactive from January 1, 1996, is this still the case?
My third question is not a question but a comment. My colleagues in the Reform Party intimated earlier that they would do everything within their power to delay passage of Bill C-10, which we are debating this morning. I think I understand why the Reform members are so strongly opposed. There were loopholes in the 1986 convention but there was also abuse. The Minister of Finance of the government to which the member for Durham belongs shamelessly took advantage of tax shelters by registering his vessels of the Canadian Steamship Line in tax havens. This is perhaps why the Reform members are opposed to Bill C-10.
We in the Bloc—and Gérard Lamothe who is watching us this morning is no doubt very proud of his member of Parliament—will support you, but we would like you to act very quickly, because a number of our constituents have been calling for this bill to be passed for months.
Supply October 9th, 1997
Madam Speaker, when I was at college, I took two courses on statistics. And we were told that, when a general survey is mailed out, for every person that answers, there are between 75 and 119, if memory serves, who read the document, and who are interested in replying, but who are afraid to, or do not have the time or the guts to do so.
As regards the trail of wrongdoings now plaguing the government and the Liberal Party, five corporations, five businessmen informed the Minister of Human Resources Development that they had been asked for cash contributions, and asked to keep quiet about it.
If five have done so, according to the figures I recall, there may well be 800 to 1,200 industries, businessmen, who have had their arms twisted to contribute very large amounts of money. We have learned that in certain cases, and this is absolutely scandalous, amounts as high as $50,000 were involved. I must applaud the businessmen, the entrepreneurs who took the trouble to write or telephone the Minister of Human Resources Development to tell him that this seemed dishonest, that it had a certain odour about it, and to bring it to his attention.
Naturally, the minister took the trouble to write to Mr. Murray of the RCMP to ask that the matter be investigated. If five individuals brought this to the minister's attention, it means there are many others who coughed up large amounts. And I suspect that certain companies in my riding coughed up money.
Supply October 9th, 1997
They did worse.