House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 45% of the vote.
Supply October 26th, 1998
Madam Speaker, as I said in my speech, these are only pilot projects, and the government will make adjustments according to their results.
In conclusion I would like to point out that I do not entirely agree with the numbers referred to by my honourable colleague. According to the numbers I have, 80% of applicants receive benefits.
Supply October 26th, 1998
Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question. I clearly remember that when we were elected in 1993, the unemployment rate—as I like to point out—was close to 12%. The Minister of Finance and the government put in place certain tax policies, with the result that the national unemployment rate is now at 8.3%, if I am not mistaken.
I must say that even in Quebec, in spite of the terrible threat of separation that hangs over our heads, the unemployment rate has also gone down. I believe it is now around 10%.
I am the first to admit that there is work to do, but I am convinced that in a few months, when a new government is in office in Quebec, that rate will continue to go down.
Supply October 26th, 1998
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with a colleague.
The hon. member for Madawaska—Restigouche would like the government to make the small weeks pilot projects a permanent feature of the employment insurance system.
Like some of my colleagues on this side of the House, I greatly appreciate this salutary debate on the employment insurance system, but I must stress that these projects are, as their name shows, pilot projects. They were established in March 1997 to test other means of calculating EI benefits for a period ending November 15 of this year.
When it set up the employment insurance system in 1996, undertaking the first major reform of the unemployment insurance program in 25 years, the government knew full well that it was facing a very complicated situation.
Adjustment pilot projects were launched precisely to determine how to solve the problems faced by workers earning less than $150 a week. These adjustment projects were implemented in 29 Canadian regions where the unemployment rate consistently exceeded 10%.
These measures were taken because some thought that the new legislation was dissuading people from taking part time jobs. Some workers thought a week without income was better than a week with a small income that would reduce their EI benefits.
Since the government's general objective is to put unemployed Canadians back to work, pilot projects were created to examine possible solutions to this problem. Two methods of calculating benefits were tested. The first one was to bundle small weeks and the second one, to exclude them.
They were two different ways of solving the problem of reduced work weeks in high unemployment regions. But both methods had the same positive results for employment insurance recipients. It was a matter of methodology, as one can except with pilot projects.
The Government of Canada wanted to see which calculation method would work best and to determine the impact of pilot projects in general. It is important to remember this. The purpose of the pilot projects was to find solutions and to determine what would work best.
What were the results of these pilot projects? Since their implementation in May and August of 1997, 130,000 benefit periods have been established for small work weeks. Almost 12% of benefit claims submitted in participating regions involved small weeks.
What is important is that the people participating in the projects received benefits averaging $19 or about 10% more per week. I must specify that this group of recipients included more women—about 61%—than men.
Also, since these projects were implemented in high unemployment regions, more than 51% of applications came from Quebec and 35% from the Atlantic provinces. Overall, these preliminary results are encouraging.
However, these are preliminary—and I insist on this word—preliminary results, and the analysis has not been completed. After all, that is what pilot projects are for: to provide information that will serve as a basis for the development of long term policies.
Whether the hon. member likes it or not, policies cannot, and should not, be developed without due consideration. The government must thoroughly review the results before taking action. To do otherwise would be to act hastily.
We in this House of the Parliament of Canada know how essential the employment insurance system is to the social fabric of this country. That is why small weeks projects must be put in the appropriate context. In establishing a new employment insurance system, the Government of Canada wanted to introduce an hour based system.
In particular, it wanted to encourage Canadians to accept the work that was available. To all appearances, that is exactly what the new employment insurance program has enabled it to do. As the pilot programs have shown, the government is fully prepared to listen and to act.
As I have said, this reform is the broadest in a quarter of a century. That is why the government is prepared to examine the effects of the reform, and to make the necessary changes.
During this debate, much reference has been made to the beneficiaries to unemployed ratio. I must start off by pointing out that the beneficiaries to unemployed ratio was never established to measure the proportion of unemployed workers receiving employment insurance, and also more importantly that the it does not have a great deal to say about how effective the employment insurance program is at attaining its objectives. Why? Because the program is not intended to pay benefits to unemployed persons with tenuous or non-existent links to the labour market, or those who have left their jobs without justification.
The employment insurance program applies to 78% of Canadians with links to the labour market who have lost their jobs or resigned for valid reasons.
And although we have made great strides in the area of employment insurance, we should recognize that the plan cannot meet the needs of all unemployed Canadians. Everyone must realize that employment insurance is only part of the solution.
Other government measures are required and are in the process of implementation: measures to help people with disabilities, including a $30 million employability assistance fund over three years to help them find work; the aboriginal human resources development strategy, spread over five years and supported by a board headed by the private sector aimed at improving native people's access to employment; the youth employment strategy to help young people, including those at risk, to make a successful transition from school to work.
Finally, we set up the Canadian opportunities strategy to ensure that all Canadians have greater access to education and to the skills that will enable them to find and keep a better job. Nevertheless, the government does not have all the answers.
The concerns of the unemployed must become the concerns of all of us in the federal and provincial governments and in the private sector.
We must work together to find solutions. We must also not lose sight of the problems the employment insurance program was established to attack. It is not enough to make the plan more flexible in order to resolve the problems. That is not a solution.
As I said earlier, the situation is complex and will not be resolved with simple solutions. That having been said, we must continue to assess how Canadians and our economy are adjusting to the new EI regime.
Fortunately, the economic picture is improving in Canada. We are achieving some success in our efforts to lower the country's unemployment rate. In September, the unemployment rate was 8.3%, the lowest it has been in eight years.
We have also seen a 10.3% increase in the number of young people with jobs since the beginning of the year. The number of jobs has increased by a total of 1.3 million since October 1993.
Clearly, we are making headway. Together, we can attain our common goal of helping Canadians rejoin the workforce. As the statistics so clearly show, that is exactly what we are in the process of doing.
Seniors October 22nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, on October 13, the Canadian government had some good news for seniors.
Starting in 1999, seniors will no longer have to fill out separate forms in addition to their income tax returns for their guaranteed income supplement or spouse's allowance.
Consequently, starting next year, both benefits will be automatically renewed when seniors send their income tax returns by April 30.
Previously, they had to submit a new application every year, before March 31, to continue to receive their guaranteed income supplement or spouse's allowance.
By cutting red tape, our government is making seniors' lives easier.
Annual Report Of Chief Of Defence Staff On State Of Canadian Armed Forces October 8th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the annual report of the Chief of the Defence Staff on the state of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Kosovo October 7th, 1998
Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise in this House today in support of Canada's participation in a possible NATO operation in Kosovo.
There are many excellent reasons for Canada to participate in such an operation.
First, like the rest of the international community, Canada is very concerned about the climate of violence and human rights violation that continue to prevail in Kosovo. We have been appalled by the recent massacre of 14 civilians. We are holding the Yugoslav leadership and President Milosevic in particular, directly responsible for the current situation in Kosovo.
The Yugoslav republic's failure to co-operate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia constitutes a serious breach of its international obligations. The number of displaced persons, that is those brutally forced out of their homes, has already exceeded 280,000.
Our country, with its long and proud tradition of promoting respect for human life and human dignity throughout the world, cannot remain indifferent to such abuses, such atrocities. The time has come for action in Kosovo.
Second, as loyal members of NATO, we feel we are duty-bound to continue to unreservedly support the efforts of our allies and the international community to prevent a catastrophe in this region that has suffered so much already.
Third, such participation would be in keeping with our commitment to the principle of collective security. It would be in line with our foreign and defence policies.
Fourth, this participation would constitute a logical extension of our prior commitments in the Balkans.
In fact, since 1991 we have been involved in the efforts by the international community to put an end to the violence and the taking of innocent lives, and to restore peace to this region, within either the UN or NATO. Since the signature of the Dayton agreement, we have been playing a vital role in the measures taken by NATO in restoring stability to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
At the present time, we have six CF-18s stationed at Aviano, Italy, where they are backing up the ground element of the Bosnia stabilization force. These aircraft take part in the effort to enforce NATO's no-fly zone over these territories and in a NATO partnership for peace exercises in this region.
Resolution 1199 passed by the United Nations security council on September 23 shows how seriously the world community takes this situation.
Canada calls upon the warring parties to fulfil their obligations under this resolution and especially, pursuant to the ceasefire agreement, to take measures to bring the humanitarian crisis to an end and to come to a peaceful solution.
NATO is developing plans for various possible operations in Kosovo. It has started to take stock of all the resources its member states could provide if it was decided to launch a military operation.
Members of the alliance have yet to decide if they are going to take military action in Kosovo. However, should NATO decide in favour of military action, Canada should take part in it.
There are two main reasons why I wholeheartedly support Canada's participation in possible NATO action in Kosovo. First, I have personally been witness to the horrors hidden behind the antiseptic term “ethnic cleansing”. Also, I was able to see with my own eyes the positive impact of the presence of Canadian troops in Bosnia and the remarkable work done by our forces through NATO's stabilization force.
As the chair of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs, I had, last November, the honour of heading a delegation of eight members of the defence and foreign affairs committees visiting Bosnia.
We saw how Canada helped implement policies to establish peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Peace was maintained through our military involvement in the stabilization force under NATO. We visited reconstruction projects carried out with the help of Canadian NGOs and the Canadian armed forces.
I would like to digress a moment to remind my colleagues that Canada's participation in the region continues. In fact, since March, Canada has contributed $430,000 to UNICEF emergency measures, $435,000 to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and $400,000 to the Red Cross for aid to refugees.
During our fact-finding trip in November of last year, we witnessed democratization initiatives being undertaken with the co-operation of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the international police group and many more organizations. Judging from all we have seen there, we have concluded that considerable progress had been made in Bosnia since the Dayton accord.
We have been proud to hear and see for ourselves that Canada has played a major role in the military and civilian aspects of the peace accord, and members of our group unanimously concluded that Canada should continue to take part in this international initiative.
In all the places we visited, we felt a deep emotion and pride when we heard people tell use repeatedly how important our presence was. They also asked us to thank Canadians for their contribution and their efforts to help them rebuild their country.
During that November trip, my colleagues and I saw for ourselves the horrible destruction brought about by ethnic cleansing. Ruins could be seen throughout the countryside. In every village we visited, we could see houses that had been destroyed by bombardments during the war and other houses that had been destroyed to make it impossible for their occupants to return home.
When we first arrived in Bosnia, one of our first briefing sessions dealt with the use of land mines as a means of ethnic cleansing. We were told to stay on the paved portion of the roads and to avoid walking in the grass around the villages. We were told that, for years, the fields had not been planted with crops but with mines.
We were told that in Bosnia there were still probably a million mines left. Brief though our visit was, we were horrified by this constant, invisible and insidious threat. We could not imagine how the local people had, for years, been able to live in such an atmosphere, knowing that death or mutilation awaited them or their children at every turn.
It is difficult to describe the horror of such an experience, difficult to understand the hatred that drives neighbours who, the day before, were friends to kill each other, difficult to understand the extent of the violence of which humanity is capable.
I therefore urge my colleagues to approve Canada's participation in any NATO action in Kosovo.
Supply October 5th, 1998
Those are your figures. That is awful.
Canadian Forces October 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question because it gives me an opportunity to talk about our fine Canadian Forces.
The Canadian Forces are a multipurpose, combat capable force. As such they are equipped and receive a broad range of training suitable for a wide spectrum of operations. They may on some occasions receive mission specific training before being deployed. This kind of training has enabled them to assist many communities across the country which have been ravaged by natural disasters over the past couple of years.
Canadian National October 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, in 1996 the Canadian Parliament passed the Canada Transportation Act. Canadian National had announced an important rationalization plan for its system. The people in my region were justifiably concerned about the future of the railway.
The situation concerning the rail line between Ottawa, Portage-du-Fort and Pembroke, Ontario has just come to a happy conclusion. I am proud to have been a participant in the discussions with CN authorities, resource people and Department of Transport representatives. The sale of this rail line ensures the people of the Pontiac and surrounding area of access to transportation for years to come.
Our government brought its usual skills to bear in this operation, and I am pleased to have been able to serve the best interests of the people of my riding through my involvement.
Swissair Flight 111 September 28th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank my colleague for her question.
It must be remembered that this tragedy is far from over for us, since the military, Transport Canada, the RCMP, the Canadian Coast Guard and local and provincial authorities are still looking for the causes of this horrible event.
Some 2,000 regular and reserve members of the navy, the army and the air force from all across Canada met the challenges raised by this catastrophe. Today some 600 military personnel are involved in search and recovery efforts.