Alexandre Boulerice

[Business of Supply, June 17th, 2020]

Madam Chair, many freelancers and self-employed workers are both their own employees and employers, which means that they are not eligible for employment insurance.

Does the government intend to expand the program to cover self-employed workers?

Given the circumstances, does the government also intend to extend sickness benefits from 15 to 50 weeks?

[Business of Supply, June 17th, 2020]

Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from London—Fanshawe.

I will make a brief introduction and then I will ask some questions.

As New Democrats, as a progressive party, we have worked constructively on finding solutions to help people from the start of the pandemic. We proposed an emergency benefit of $2,000 and successfully made it happen. Initially, self-employed workers, students and freelancers were excluded, but we pushed to have them included. This really helped people.

In light of the current situation, we asked that the CERB be extended for people who still need help, including those who work in tourism, arts and entertainment and hospitality. The government partially answered our call. At least we made progress and managed to get eight more weeks.

We have come to realize that our social safety net is full of holes. At the beginning of the crisis, employment insurance was inadequate for meeting the needs of people who were losing their jobs. The emergency benefit was launched. However, some day we will have to consider improving the social safety net so that no one slips through the cracks. We have to look at having a broader, more robust employment insurance system that would cover more workers.

At the beginning of the pandemic, only 40% of workers who contribute to employment insurance were getting enough hours to collect employment insurance benefits.

I would like the government to say a few words about its intention to expand the program to make it far more inclusive and target all sectors as well as every worker who needs help when they lose their job.

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech, which clearly demonstrated her interest in and passion for defending the environment. I obviously share that interest, since I was the NDP critic on that file for many years.

What is more, I really like her bill on the Paris targets and the need to table annual reports in that regard. I tabled the same bill in June 2019, before the last election. It is a very good bill.

As for House procedures, I think we need to acknowledge that we cannot continue to function with the maximum number of members currently authorized to debate and vote in the House, specifically 10% of the total number. That is discriminatory towards the other 90% of our colleagues, mainly those who live in remote areas and have a hard time getting here.

We need to find other solutions. I think the motion moved today allows us to continue to hold the government to account while tasking the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs with coming up with a way to have hybrid debates that meet public health guidelines, as well as secure hybrid voting. That solution does not exist at this time. We are therefore at an impasse, and we will have to have to wait for the committee's report to see how we should proceed.

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech.

Regarding one of the last points she raised, I have to say that one of the things I like best about being a politician is going door to door. I have a feeling people might not be too keen to open their doors and shake our hands. We will have to rethink how we do a lot of things.

Regarding how we do things, I am having a hard time understanding the Bloc Québécois's stance, which seems kind of contradictory at the moment. We are indeed legislators. That is our role, and we want to debate legislation, but because there is no safe way to vote on legislation, what is the point of debating it if we cannot vote?

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When my colleague gets emotional, his voice gets a little raspy and he reminds me of Jean Garon.

I just want to say two things, Mr. Speaker.

First, I completely agree that we must improve the working conditions of front-line health care workers. These workers are often nurses or orderlies.

The NDP has been saying for a long time that we must increase provincial health transfers. However, with regard to increasing orderlies' wages, we should not meddle too much in provincial jurisdictions. I am nodding to my colleague as I say that it is Quebec's jurisdiction.

Second, two weeks ago, the government did an interesting about-face, and I would like my colleague to comment on that.

Countries such as Denmark, France, Poland and even Scotland stated that if businesses resort to tax havens, do not pay their faire share, cheat and do not contribute to the public coffers, they will not be entitled to government assistance.

The Liberals woke up one morning and announced that they were going to do the same thing. It took less than 24 hours before we heard the “beep, beep, beep” of the government backing up. It was no longer going to do that.

I would like the member to tell me why he thinks that the Liberal government is incapable of mustering this political courage.

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the pandemic and the current crisis have exposed all of society's flaws and failures, vulnerable populations, the effects of privatization, the cuts and the austerity of unbridled capitalism.

Does my colleague agree with the NDP that things must not go back to normal, since what was considered normal before was a big part of the problem?

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I also want to congratulate his local hockey team, which won the championship for the second consecutive year. That is wonderful.

My colleague raised some important points. The government had to act fast. It made announcements quickly, but it was not able to keep its promises right away. It often changed the rules and the criteria along the way.

My team in Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie noted that people were very confused for a long time. The Liberal government unfortunately chose one approach and did not consider the universal programs that the NDP was proposing. We ended up with a patchwork solution.

As for the arts and culture, the $500 million announced by the Minister of Canadian Heritage represents a 25% increase of all existing programs. I think that this situation calls for much more targeted measures. I spoke about that earlier, and I would like to hear what my colleague thinks.

For example, what is being done for people who take part in festivals all over the world? Festivals have been shut down, and no one can even fly anywhere. This includes festivals in Quebec. Every summer, there are tons of cultural activities in Montreal, and I am sure there are also some in my colleague's riding. What is being done for people who had planned on exhibiting their paintings or sculptures? Everything has been cancelled, and we have no idea when those activities will resume.

All those people who did not participate in programs in the past have been completely forgotten. I would like to hear what my colleague thinks the Liberal government could and should be doing.

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech with interest. It is true; he is very eloquent.

I really appreciated two expressions. The first: necessity is the mother of virtue—sorry, of invention. Sometimes it could be virtue, depending on the person. If necessity is the mother of invention, I think it is good news for workers that we are aiming for a minimum of 10 paid sick days per year.

Then, we will ask the federal government, Quebec and the provinces to sit down together, take stock of these social and human necessities, and invent a solution.

That is our goal because we are humanists, we are progressives, and we want to help people who are struggling. We want to make sure that people have sick leave so they are not forced to go to work for fear of not being able to pay rent or buy groceries.

Why should everyone not have that right? Yes, let's get together and talk about it.

The second expression I really enjoyed was putting the cart before the horse. I agree with that as well. If we did not find a solution that would allow every member to be able to vote in a hybrid Parliament, then it makes sense to have a committee think about it and find a solution.

Maintaining a Parliament, whether it is hybrid or not, without remote or electronic voting, will not work. We need to consider this and not put the cart before the horse.

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

I have a question that is bothering me about the position of the Conservative Party. They always say that they do not want the 338 members back here, but they want Parliament to work. At the same time, they do not want electronic voting.

How can we vote if we are not all here at the same time, and there is no electronic voting?

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his efforts and his passion for the Côte-Nord. It is very evident.

This is not an ideal situation. We are going through a crisis. There is a pandemic. I believe that everyone is trying to find ways to help people and to keep Parliament working.

We have made some progress with the new motion that we voted on. Until June 18, we will sit four days a week. We will have more time than usual to put questions to the government.

Typically, Parliament rises for the summer around Quebec's national holiday and we resume in late September.

However, we have ensured that Parliament will continue its activities, and we will meet at least once a month during the summer on a regular basis. This will ensure that by means of video conferences and a hybrid Parliament, we will be able to continue our discussions, put questions to the government and try to work on improving existing programs.

We will also be able to work on creating new programs. For example, there is one thing that is important to NDP, and I am sure it is to the Bloc as well. I am referring to compensation for artists whose exhibits, shows, tours and festivals were cancelled this summer. They have not yet received any assistance.