Paul Crête

[Committees of the House, February 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the speech by my colleague, with whom I have the opportunity to work on the Standing Committee on Finance. Our economy has indeed performed extremely well in the past decade, thanks to the concerted efforts of people across the country.

But times have changed. The United States is on the brink of recession, and Canada's manufacturing and forestry industries are in a major crisis. The government acknowledged as much this morning when it decided to make the $1 billion trust fund available more quickly, before the budget is tabled.

Last year, there were warning signs. The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology produced a unanimous report with 22 recommended measures for the Minister of Finance to include in the budget. But they were not in the budget. We expected to see them in the economic statement in the fall, but only one recommendation was implemented.

Does my colleague not recognize that Canada needs much stronger action now and that our businesses need a tax base that will promote research and development?

When the current government decided to reduce corporate taxes across the board, it was using one of the tools at its disposal. The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology had stated unanimously that this was not the priority, because it would give money to businesses that already made huge profits, but it would not encourage less profitable companies to increase their R&D.

Does my colleague not recognize that refundable tax credits for research and development would give our businesses a tremendous boost? Is this not one of the measures the government absolutely must put in place as soon as possible, using this year's surplus, now that it has $3 billion to pay down the debt and it could spend $2 billion to help businesses in the same way, without hurting—

[Committees of the House, February 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I fully agree with what my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie is saying. A year ago, I was industry critic. The Standing Committee on Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology made the recommendations that the Standing Committee on Finance is now proposing to the House. This was all done in a context of sustainable development.

There is no finer example than public transit in terms of capital cost allowance. If there is investment in cleaner transportation, jobs will be created. For example, the Bombardier plant in La Pocatière manufactures railway cars, locomotives and that type of vehicle. What is more, they are helping the environment. We are incorporating the idea of sustainable development and making great strides.

The current government has always made a distinction between economic development and the environment, but we now need an approach focused on sustainable development, as my colleague was saying. We have to make sure that any economic decisions are made with a view to sustainable development. In future, there can no longer be reckless development that does not take into account the impact on the environment.

The measures being proposed today would help achieve balance. The federal government has helped the oil sands industry and the oil industry very generously over the past few decades with all sorts of tax credits. Now it has an opportunity to help us have a cleaner manufacturing industry.

This industry has already made a significant effort in Quebec compared to the other provinces. We can report on the progress it has made. Nonetheless, this type of credit would allow stakeholders to go even further and, ultimately, we would have cleaner industries. This will allow development instead of the current laissez-faire approach that is resulting in job losses. Products will always need to be manufactured somewhere, but we cannot continue the current practice of offshoring. In some countries, of course, jobs are a matter of day-to-day survival and that is harder to reconcile with environmental issues. Nonetheless, if there is one thing we can do for this planet, it is to ensure that development is accompanied by acceptable environmental sustainability. The little things we do today can have a very positive impact in the future. Companies may get tax credits to improve their productivity and will thereby contribute to sustainable development for Quebec and Canada.

[Committees of the House, February 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour for his remarks.

Regarding the allocation of the billion dollars that we just voted for, that will be decided when we determine how the funds in the trust will be allocated. We will have to fight again because it simply does not make any sense and is totally out of keeping with the economic reality.

I gave some examples to illustrate the seriousness of the crisis in manufacturing. Some 78,000 jobs have been lost in Quebec since the Conservatives came to power, 21,000 of them just in forestry. These figures do not include the period since the summer of 2007. In the meantime, jobs continue to be lost. Quebec and Ontario are the heart of the manufacturing industry.

A fund was created in the case of mad cow disease. The people affected by the crisis could take advantage of the fund, and that is how it should have been.

That is why it is important this morning to adopt the report that was submitted on tax measures for these industries. The tax measures will benefit the existing industries, especially the refundable tax credit.

Companies in Quebec that are currently fighting hard to offer innovative products and keep their market share unfortunately cannot decide to invest in research and development because they are not generating the profits needed to take advantage of the tax deduction. Oil companies, on the other hand, are raking in huge profits and get tax credits as well, which have the effect of reducing their taxes payable. Even if manufacturers do invest in research and development, they are not making any profits and do not benefit, therefore, from the tax credit in the same way, because it is not refundable.

In my view, there is an injustice here. There is an obvious emergency and the money should be made available as quickly as possible. We managed to get the Conservatives finally to move on this issue, thanks to the consensus in Quebec, as conveyed to the House by the Bloc Québécois. I agree with my colleague that a lot of Conservative members must have been very surprised this morning. Ever since Christmas they have been defending the Prime Minister’s claim that we would have to wait for the budget and nothing else could be done. He could not remember that they had done it differently with the economic statement last October.

Now the Conservative members have just been astounded by something else, and I want to conclude on this point. The Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec said yesterday that it was all thanks to the Bloc Québécois. We hear the Conservative members from Quebec say over and over that the Bloc is not good for anything. Yesterday, the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec said that it was the Bloc that forced them to move.

We are here to defend the interests of Quebec, and we proved it this morning. However, the battle is not over. There is more to do. We will win because we have Quebec behind us.

[Committees of the House, February 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I move that the first report of the Standing Committee on Finance, presented on Thursday, November 29, 2007, be concurred in.

It is with great pleasure that I rise today to ask that the House concur in this first report of the Standing Committee on Finance, as it relates directly to the decision that has just been made. The government had decided to establish a trust whose implementation would have been dependent on the passage of the budget. Following representations arising from a consensus in Quebec and led by the Bloc Québécois, the government agreed to no longer tie to the passage of the budget the motion for the establishment of the trust in question. That is a good move, and we are pleased about it.

However, much remains to be done to provide the forestry and manufacturing sectors with adequate support. That is what prompted, in November, the Bloc Québécois to have a motion passed at the Standing Committee on Finance. This motion was included in the committee's first report, which reads as follows:

—the Standing Committee on Finance recommends that the government promptly introduce the tax measures in the unanimous report of February 2007 entitled Manufacturing: Moving Forward — Rising to the Challenge, and that the adoption of this motion be reported to the House at the earliest opportunity.

Now that we have succeeded in getting the government to make funding available for the trust as soon as possible—legislation was passed—the government has to agree to make the money available from this year's surplus. While $1 billion will go to the trust, another $10 billion will go to paying off the debt, even though Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio is currently the best among G-8 countries. The problem is that Canada is not doing enough to deal with the crises in the forestry and manufacturing sectors. That is the context in which the report of the Standing Committee on Finance was produced.

Remember that there was no opposition to this report. When the report calling for the implementation of the tax measures in the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology’s report on manufacturing was adopted, the Conservative members of the committee were not opposed. The vote was unanimous, without any opposition. All the other parties supported the Bloc motion because there obviously really was a crisis in manufacturing as a result of the increase in the value of the dollar and competition with the rest of the planet due to globalization. Something concrete had to be done.

Why does this matter so much? Manufacturing is a crucial sector in Quebec. It accounts for 536,000 jobs and $22 billion in wages and salaries. It provided 17% of all jobs in 2005 and nearly 21% of earned income, nearly three times as much as in Alberta. In addition, 90% of Quebec’s international exports come from manufacturing. Manufacturing shipments make up 59% of GDP. Even more important, ultimately, are the thousands of jobs that depend on it. The crisis in manufacturing is therefore extremely serious.

Some 78,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Quebec just since the Conservatives came to power. Since April 2005, 21,000 jobs have been lost in the forest industry alone, including allied industries and services such as transportation and forest equipment. That is half the Canadian total.

But now they are planning to spread the assistance all across Canada, with every province benefiting. This clearly does not reflect the reality. The fact of the matter is that Quebec and Ontario are most affected by the crisis in manufacturing and forestry, and the allocations should take this fact into account.

Today we are asking Parliament to approve the report of the Standing Committee on Finance, which asks the government to implement the tax measures in the report on manufacturing. The tax recommendations can be implemented very quickly. We saw it today. Two weeks ago, the government was saying that we would definitely have to wait until the budget, everything would be decided in the budget, and we would have to vote in favour of it if we wanted these measures brought forward.

The government knew, though, that it could introduce a bill and have it voted on, just as the government did last fall at the time of its economic statement. There was a consensus a little while ago and they changed their budget approach to the $1 billion. Now we are asking the government to continue in the same vein, heed the unanimous recommendations of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, and of the Standing Committee on Finance and proceed with the tax recommendations in the report.

Here is the first recommendation:

That the Government of Canada modify its capital cost allowance for machinery and equipment used in manufacturing and processing and equipment associated with information, energy and environmental technologies to a two-year write-off (i.e., 50% using the straight-line depreciation method) for a period of five years. This measure would be renewable for further five-year periods upon due diligence review by a parliamentary committee.

In the last budget, the Conservative government took a tentative step in the right direction and granted this tax advantage for two years. Representatives of businesses in the manufacturing sector, particularly the pharmaceutical sector, told us that a two-year time frame was not enough to convince their parent companies to invest in Quebec and Canada, even though that is what we would like to see.

We hope that the Standing Committee on Finance's first recommendation, which was unopposed in committee, will be heeded here and that the House will adopt the report at the end of this debate, which was initiated by the Bloc. Everyone hopes that the government will extend that period to five years, as recommended by the committee. Support for this is unanimous. The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, including the organization's Quebec wing, the federation of chambers of commerce and everyone else wants accelerated capital cost allowance to be extended for five years.

In the last budget, the federal government decided to lower business tax rates, which was good for businesses that are making a profit. However, the measure did nothing at all to make things better for those that are not making a profit. The government says that it does not have the means to implement such a measure, yet all it had to do was keep the tax rates where they were. At any rate, given the current surplus, there should be no problem bringing in a measure like this.

The second recommendation of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, which is supported by the Standing Committee on Finance, would affect taxation. It reads as follows:

That the Government of Canada raise the capital cost allowance rate for rolling stock, locomotives and inter-modal equipment to 30% using the declining-balance depreciation method.

Clearly, this recommendation is inspired by the same logic as the first one. In addition, it has important environmental aspects. Rail is a very clean and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is a more economical and sustainable way to transport goods and people. It is easy to understand why the Standing Committee on Finance sees this as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

I was on the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology when it unanimously adopted the 22 recommendations. I became the finance critic and had these tax recommendations adopted by the Standing Committee on Finance because the unanimous report of the House called for what Quebeckers and Canadians want: economic action by this government, an economic policy to replace the current laissez-faire approach. That is why the committee would like to see this recommendation implemented.

The third tax recommendation by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, supported by the Standing Committee on Finance, reads as follows:

That the Government of Canada improve the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Tax Incentive Program to make it more accessible and relevant to Canadian businesses. The government should consider making the following changes:

1. make the investment tax credits fully refundable;

Businesses, which are promoting research and development today and are competing for contracts, must have refundable tax credits so that they can make the necessary investments in research and development. If they do not make a profit, they are unable to fund their research and development. We have to put an end to this vicious circle and ensure that Canada can move forward by supporting our businesses. That would help them land contracts. I am not talking about subsidies; I am talking about creating a fiscal framework that would enable companies to compete and take their place on the market.

The government should also consider the following changes:

2. exclude investment tax credits from the calculation of the tax base;

3. provide an allowance for international collaborative research and development;

In the current wave of globalization, this last change would facilitate partnerships with interested companies in the U.S., Europe and all the other countries in the world. It would also restore Quebec and Canada to their former positions as leaders in research and development. Currently, R&D is lagging somewhat here.

The government should also consider the following change:

4. expand the investment tax credits to cover the costs of patenting, prototyping, product testing, and other pre-commercialization activities.

It became clear that our businesses needed a boost, an advantage, in order to spark their interest in research and development. It was with this in mind that the measure was included in the report prepared by the Standing Committee on Finance.

All of these measures came from the recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology. Before the budget, the Bloc Québécois estimated the needs in the area of $4.5 billion. I would remind the House that this year, if no action is taken, a few minutes ago, a billion dollars was allocated to the trust. That money will be available immediately, thanks to the efforts of the Bloc Québécois to be the voice of the consensus in Quebec on this.

There is still $10 billion left, which will be paid against the debt, even though it is not needed at this time. Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio is one of the best of all G-7 countries. What is less positive is that we are not helping our businesses enough to be competitive. From that perspective, one would think that, with the $10 billion surplus, the federal government could, in order to restore its reputation as a fair government, help seniors with the guaranteed income supplement in the amount of $3 billion. We would like $4.5 billion to be allocated for immediate economic renewal measures. A payment of $1 billion was just passed, for communities affected by the forestry crisis. Additional money is also needed to help our businesses. We just saw some measures put forward for this year's budget. This could mean some $1.5 billion and $500 million for Technology Partnerships Canada. That program already exists and has helped businesses create new products.

We have a fantastic example in Rivière-du-Loup. Premier Tech is a company that has benefited from assistance measures. It has partnered with the federal government on two occasions and the amounts received definitely led to the creation of hundreds of jobs. This program was abolished by the Conservatives. They established a new program that helps only the aviation industry. This sector needs assistance and we see that it works. However, the fund should be reactivated to help other sectors that are creating new products. We believe that an amount in the order of $500 million could be allocated for this year.

Therefore $1.5 billion is required for equipment upgrades, $500 million for Technology Partnerships Canada and $1.5 billion for assistance to workers affected by this crisis. We feel that these amounts are reasonable and are options the government should choose in the coming days and weeks.

Why table this motion today? Because we realized that, by hammering away with solid arguments, we could manage to move the government. We have made it take action on the trust. We will now work on having it allocate a portion of the current year's surplus right now, soon, in the days to come, so that we can move on helping the manufacturing and forestry industries that are currently in the grip of a serious crisis.

Last fall, the Minister of Finance, with his rose-coloured glasses, told us that everything was going well. We laid the figures on the table, we showed him that although jobs were being created in the energy sector, the manufacturing and forestry industries were not doing well. We told him all over again, we laid the arguments on the table, we provided statistics, we obtained strong support throughout Quebec and across Canada and, finally, the government agreed to create a one billion dollar fund, with the rather petty approach of tying it to the budget. We continued to fight for the immediate release of the money.

Last fall, the Bloc Québécois made public some proposals that are also found in the unanimous report of the Standing Committee on Finance we are debating this morning in this House. That is what needs to happen next. This needs to happen. The government needs to accept the proposals of the Standing Committee on Finance, and of the Standing Committee on Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology. They are proposals by the Bloc Québécois, which worked out the numbers and put them on the table last fall.

As far as the higher dollar is concerned and the parity we have seen for the past few months, we still have not felt its impact in terms of job creation. The negative impact will be felt in the coming months. We know that the U.S. economy is experiencing a major slowdown, and may be heading into a recession. We have the means to intervene, but the federal government is acting like a homeowner who is obsessing over putting all his money into paying down his mortgage as quickly as possible without spending the bare minimum to maintain his house and improve it.

I gave that example to the representative from the Coalition pour le renouvellement des infrastructures du Québec, the mayor of Laval, who said it is not just a matter of fixing up the back deck; the foundation is in disrepair.

Part of the investment the Bloc would like to see can be done by injecting money into infrastructure in the next budget. The gas tax rebate for municipalities needs to be stepped up. Instead of a slow 1¢ or 2¢ increase until 2010, in the 2008 budget, there needs to be a 5¢ increase. That would put $1 billion back into the economy that could be spent on improving infrastructure.

There is concern among the public and the financial sector. We see it in all the newspapers. They say that companies would like the federal government to be innovative and ensure that new tax cuts are targeted, through refundable tax credits, for example. The Bloc Québécois is speaking on behalf of employers, workers and all those who are having a very difficult time dealing with the current crisis. This is not just a matter of principle.

In Donnacona in Mauricie and in Shawinigan and Cabano, where I went during the prebudget consultations, in the eastern regions of Quebec, people told us that it was urgent that the federal government live up to its responsibilities, that it use a significant portion of this year’s surplus to restart the economy, and that it do so, not in the form of subsidies, but rather a positive tax base.

Of the $10.3 billion surplus remaining after $1 billion is allocated to the trust, they are prepared to allocate $3 billion to the debt. That still leaves $7 billion that can be committed in the days to come. This morning we saw that we are entitled to do it, we can do it, and it is legal. The only thing missing is the political will, and that is what we want. We want the federal government to come around to putting this forward. As it did in the case of the trust, we hope that it will also recognize the merit of the Bloc’s arguments and the arguments presented in this House.

I hope that we will have massive support by all parties in this House for approving the report. There would be nothing better than a report approved unanimously by this House to tell the federal government that these measures have to be put in place as soon as possible, that we have to use our share of the available surplus and that the next budget also has to go in the same direction. These are the two actions that we must continue to put forward.

Before we came to this House, the Bloc Québécois committed itself to using every parliamentary tool to achieve these results. Last week, a major offensive was undertaken in five different committees, and today we are continuing, by using another tool: the fact that the report of the Standing Committee on Finance can be approved. We are returning to the fray in question period now that Parliament has resumed.

The people of Quebec and Canada, and many communities, expected this billion dollars for the trust to be available now. We have won this victory. Those people also expect that a significant portion of the surplus for the current year will be reinvested in the economy so that we can deal with the manufacturing and forestry crises, the slowdown in the American economy and the rise in the value of the dollar. It is our responsibility, as parliamentarians, to move forward on this.

I hope that the Bloc will receive all parties’ support in this House in voting for this motion. We would point out, and I will conclude on this point, that support in the Standing Committee on Finance was unanimous. The Liberals and New Democrats voted for this motion, while the Conservatives abstained. I hope that we will find the same kind of unanimity and that the Conservative Party, which has started to budge in response to our arguments, will move forward. This is important for the economy, for jobs, for families and for communities in Quebec and Canada.

[Manufacturing and Forestry Industries, February 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance is claiming, falsely, that he is not aware of our demands concerning the manufacturing and forestry industries. On November 28, the Bloc unveiled its emergency plan funded out of the $11.6 billion surplus for the current year. More recently, on January 24, we made public our demands for the next budget. Moreover, I will be pleased to explain all that to the minister at our meeting on Wednesday.

In the meantime, will the minister acknowledge that it is irresponsible to use $10 billion of this year's surplus to pay down the debt when he is allocating only $1 billion to help the manufacturing and forestry industries?

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, February 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Saint-Jean for his very relevant intervention. I would remind him that in May 2001, the National Assembly of Quebec called on the federal government to consider Quebec's approach. The text read:

That the National Assembly call on the Government of Canada to make provision within the criminal justice system for young persons for a special system for Quebec under the Young Offenders Act, in order to fully reflect its particular intervention model.

At that time, we will remember, the nation of Quebec had not yet been recognized in this House. A Bloc motion lead the debate on that issue, and the Prime Minister agreed to recognize it. The time has come for concrete actions to illustrate how this nation is different and today provides a very concrete way to do so. The Conservative Party needs only to recognize that the nation of Quebec wants a different model and that even if the rest of Canada wants a more Republican approach, modelled on the U.S. Republican Party's punitive approach, that is not the approach Quebec wants to take. If the concept of nation means anything, this would be a concrete way to prove it, and recognize that Quebec could have a different model.

Unfortunately, the Conservative party says one thing and then does another. For example: the nation was recognized, Bill C-25 is still being debated and there is no specific measure to allow Quebec to withdraw from its application. Quebec's approach has produced some interesting results. Youth crime is handled differently; rehabilitation is possible. We want that approach to continue.

Thus, we must be clear that we are against the approach in Bill C-25. In the past, there was an epic debate on this whole issue. Today, there are specific measures, but the federal government's attitude remains the same. Whether Liberal or Conservative, the government wants to impose the same repressive right-wing American model on everyone, while Quebec's model is exemplary and has been recognized. Earlier I heard some members from the Liberal Party of Canada cite it as an example.

I hope that we will come to recognize the background of this issue, the battles that have been fought and the way youth justice is applied in Quebec, so that this approach can continue to be used in that province. I also hope that the repressive approach in Bill C-25 will be dropped.

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, February 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to address this bill today. I remember a few years ago, when the Bloc Québécois fought an epic battle regarding the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Our justice critic at the time, Mr. Michel Bellehumeur, had tabled 3,000 amendments to the bill, and over 2,800 of those had been deemed in order. These proposed changes by Mr. Bellehumeur—who is now a judge—were based on the approach that has been in use in Quebec for several years.

Indeed, when it comes to youth justice, we must really promote rehabilitation. Young offenders must understand the consequences of the bad decisions that they have made, and of the actions that they have taken. They must realize that they did not do the right thing, and we have to help them reintegrate society and become good citizens again. We must avoid sending them to what is known as “crime school”, by slowly putting them on the path to penitentiaries, because these young people may then make inappropriate contacts and end up making the wrong choices. It has been demonstrated—again in the 2007 data—that Quebec's approach results in lower crime among young people, while there is an increase in all of the other provinces of Canada.

That was an epic battle indeed. In the end, we lost the vote in the House and the act was amended. However, a court ruling helped reduce the impact of the decision made by the federal government in office at the time, which was influenced by the American model and which felt that this was the way to go. Ultimately, the results achieved were not as bad as expected. However, the Conservative government is now going on the offensive again and wants to introduce measures that will again target youth behaviour, rather than focus on rehabilitation.

In that sense, the point of view the Bloc Québécois supports in this House is shared by all of Quebec. Our point of view is in direct opposition to the Conservative government's vision. Let us remember that the Minister of Justice said that children as young as 12 should be thrown in jail. Then we were told that the statement was being quoted out of context. However, the spirit in which this bill was tabled, the spirit in which they want it to be adopted, reflects the attitude that young people should be punished. According to this draconian policy, the justice system should punish young people, not rehabilitate them. The bill before us is not in line with choices that Quebec has made in the past. In Quebec, the crime rate has dropped.

For example, clause 1 of Bill C-25 states that the judge should presume that pre-trial detention is necessary if a young person is charged with a violent offence, has been found guilty of failing to comply with non-custodial sentences, or has been charged with a crime for which an adult would be liable to imprisonment for a term of more than two years and has a history that indicates a pattern of findings of guilt.

This is the same line of thinking that motivated the government to impose mandatory minimum sentencing in all adult cases. They want to box young people in. That kind of attitude can have a very negative impact when it comes to youth crime. We have seen how Quebec's justice system works for minors, and it is important to have an approach that makes it possible to find real solutions that will result in the rehabilitation of young people, not the opposite.

The clause before us may seem appealing at first glance, but we have to take a closer look. By attempting to transfer the burden of proof to youths, the Conservative government is challenging a basic principle of the justice system, the presumption of innocence. As we have so often seen, charges do not necessarily result in a guilty verdict. Teenagers who are detained prior to trial, and who are then found innocent, will have been subjected to the awful consequences of detention even if they did nothing wrong.

With the presumption that is weighing on him, a young person will have to prove that he does not pose a threat to society even before being found guilty of an offence. Moreover, this will even have an impact on his day-to-day life. To his classmates, it will be as if the young person was found guilty before the fact, which is not necessarily a happy choice. In our opinion, this clause is not in line with the logic that should prevail on the issue of youth crime.

Clause 2 makes a major change in sentencing criteria. It states that, from now on, sentences can be aimed at denouncing unlawful conduct or deterring the young person and other young persons from committing offences. This seems benign in and of itself, but it is anything but. It represents a fundamental shift and goes against Quebec's traditional position. Moreover, the Supreme Court issued this opinion on this issue:

Parliament has sought preferably to promote the long-term protection of the public by addressing the circumstances underlying the offending behaviour, by rehabilitating and reintegrating young persons into society and by holding young persons accountable through the imposition of meaningful sanctions related to the harm done.

This is not the spirit of the bill before us. For that reason, we believe that we are right to be opposed to the bill as introduced.

According to the Supreme Court, the fact that deterrence is not among the objectives of youth sentencing is a very significant deliberate omission. We have found that the spirit in which the federal government acted is meeting with a great deal of opposition from stakeholders in Quebec who are concerned about the whole youth crime package. We would therefore like the federal government to reverse its decision and reconsider the issue so that the approach developed in Quebec can continue to apply appropriately.

Our fear is that Bill C-25 is merely the first step. It is not necessarily surprising to see the Conservative government put forward measures like the ones in Bill C-25. It is not very surprising, coming from a party that tolerates the fact that its Minister of Justice is so blinded by his ideological approach that he is contending that the only way to eradicate the supposed wave of youth violence is to increase public safety, restore public confidence in the justice system and sentence young people to prison, even children no older than 12.

The law currently states very clearly that incarceration should be an exceptional measure and that the judge must give priority to extrajudicial measures before incarcerating a youth. So it is obvious that the bill's proposed amendments to sections of the act go against the spirit of judicial intervention in this sector. For these reasons, the Bloc Québécois believes that this bill should not be passed as is.

The former minister of justice said that it was acceptable to incarcerate young people aged 12 and up. At the time, there was a concern that this statement implied that the Conservatives' goal was to change the sentencing principles in the act to make incarcerating youth the rule, instead of the exception. Now we see that the minister did not make a mistake, but that this is the path the Conservative government wanted to take. This is why we will vote against Bill C-25 as it stands now.

In conclusion, I would like to remind the House about the epic battle fought by Michel Bellehumeur, the member for Berthier—Montcalm at the time, which was supported by all the Bloc Québécois members. Our strength in that battle came from the fact that we had the support of all of Quebec.

The scope of Bill C-25 is much less broad, but it still has the same goal and would still have us copy the American model. The Bloc Québécois says no to this approach and it is representing Quebeckers on this issue.

[Forestry Industry Support, February 4th, 2008]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[Manufacturing and Forestry Sectors, January 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister gave the following reply concerning help for the manufacturing sector:

—we cannot spend money without having concluded [legal] agreements with the provinces, or without the approval of this Parliament.

However, the Prime Minister knows very well that to allocate money to the trust, only Parliament's approval is required. The responsible thing to do would be to table a bill now, before the budget, to take that money from the $11.6 billion surplus, and to give us a chance to increase the amount and vote on it.

Does the Prime Minister acknowledge that linking the creation of this trust to agreements with the provinces is an attempt to transfer the blame for his failure to act—

[Committees of the House, January 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is very appropriate that this matter is before the House, and the party that introduced it should be commended.

I listened to the speech from my colleague, who has an action plan and has considerable experience in this area, as we know. The Olympics are supposed to be a display of human achievement. I am reminded of the saying, “a healthy mind in a healthy body”. It would look very bad if we did not do everything we could to avoid the kind of trafficking that we suspect, and that will happen if we do not take the necessary steps.

Obviously, it does not all come down to a single event. But focusing on this event will help get a real, concerted effort underway. Our society has taken serious action about this in the past. Now, we must put in an extra effort and we must take the offensive.

Does my colleague think that the Conservative government is properly addressing the issue at this time, and that it will be able to implement an action plan similar to the one proposed by the member?