André Bellavance

[Agriculture, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, foreign countries already have access to 5% of our market under supply management. For certain products, such as hatching eggs, that access increases to close to 20%, even though those same countries, on average, are opening only 2.5% of their protected markets.

Instead of calling supply management into question by trying to weaken it, can the minister require the Europeans and Americans to open their markets and make the same effort as Canada has made since 1996?

[Agriculture, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the government was hesitant in the past to defend supply management in the negotiations with the WTO. Yesterday Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the organization, warned Canada that it will have to make further efforts if it wants the negotiations to succeed.

We know that the Europeans and the Americans are challenging supply management. The government says it is for supply management and the House has spoken unanimously in its favour.

Will the Minister repeat to Mr. Lamy that there is no question of dropping supply management and that there will be no compromise?

[Agricultural Marketing Programs Act, June 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in this House with respect to Bill C-15. We will take advantage of this moment when all the parties seem to agree on the matter. Indeed, it is not every day there is solid agreement in this prestigious place. We will this use it to good advantage.

Bill C-15 was introduced to amend the Agricultural Marketing Programs Act. In fact, as my colleagues before me have stated, it is a new version of C-69, which was introduced in October 2005 by the previous government. We supported the principle of Bill C-69 at the time. We still do today, of course, as Bill C-15 is an improved version of C-69.

Quebec's Union des producteurs agricoles, the UPA, has long called for the amalgamation of the two federal programs, the advance payments program and the spring credit advance program, known as APP and SCAP, to facilitate financial management.

The UPA also called for an increase in the ceiling of interest free advances by $50,000 to $100,000, which was done, and wanted the new program to be expanded to more sectors, including livestock. These amendments contained in the bill are certainly welcome.

In this regard, Bill C-15 proposes more than its predecessor. The ceiling for advances would increase from $250,000 to $400,000. The amount of interest free advances would increase to $100,000 from $50,000 and, as I was saying earlier, livestock and more crops would now be eligible.

Amalgamated, the advance payments program and the spring credit advance program will make things easier for producers while putting an end to administrative duplication, which led to unnecessary costs as the programs are complementary. It has been our habit to strongly criticize duplication when it involved the federal government and extended to the provinces, but even within the machinery of the federal government there is duplication. So we will be putting an end to some of this duplication, which is good news.

However, some questions remain. My Liberal colleague mentioned earlier that this spring there was no cash available immediately. We too find this inexcusable.

There are other questions. At this stage of the process, as I stated at the beginning of my speech, the Bloc Québécois is in favour of the principle of the bill. However, it does give rise to certain questions. Since the program is part of the agricultural policy framework agreed to by the federal and provincial governments, how can the government make unilateral changes without consulting Quebec and the provinces? It is a question we asked ourselves and that we asked at a briefing by the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food. It appears that it can do so, but we believe it is a legitimate question nonetheless.

The costs of these programs are shared and so another question comes to mind: when the new bill to amalgamate the two previous programs is implemented, will it cost more for Quebec and the provinces?

There is yet another question. Although the new program includes livestock and a larger number of crops—good news, as I stated earlier—it excludes all agricultural products subject to supply management. We know that, in Quebec, supply management is extremely important as it accounts for 40% of revenue in Quebec's agricultural economy. In this regard, we would have liked improvements to the bill.

From an administrative point of view, the current programs are managed by the producers' associations. Although no official announcement has been made, we have some information and we are hearing things. We are somewhat concerned. Some information from the department leads us to believe that the financial institutions could ultimately administer this new program. We are totally against this way of doing things. As I stated earlier, there is nothing concrete stating that this will happen but this may be a possibility.

We totally disagree with and are opposed to this possibility. We want the producers' associations to continue managing the program, as was done when the two previous programs were administered by the agricultural producers.

In the short term, Bill C-15 is good news. As for the medium and long terms, I toured Quebec's agricultural regions a week ago. People asked a lot of questions and expressed a lot of concern about many things, including the Canadian agricultural income stabilization program, or CAIS. We know that the minister announced plans to change the program, but we are still in the dark. Among other things, we still do not know how much money will be distributed to agricultural producers through the Canadian agricultural income stabilization program.

Quebeckers' concerns are as follows. With respect to the method of calculation for inventory valuation, the billion dollars will be used to spread out recovery of the overpayments distributed through CAIS, as I said, so that farmers will know, at the very least, how much they are likely to receive once the program is changed. This money will also cover administration of changing to the inventory valuation method and increased negative margin coverage.

However, inventory valuation methods differ from province to province because the federal government handed over responsibility for managing CAIS to the provinces that wanted it. As a result, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and Prince Edward Island were free to choose whichever method they wanted. In 1992, Quebec chose to use accrual accounting, which, according to the minister, is the method the federal government wants to put in place. Quebec and other provinces that already use this management practice will be penalized because they already have a system in place that uses these accounting rules.

During my meetings with regional agricultural producers in the UPA, people told me that they were wondering how the minister planned to distribute funds allocated under CAIS.

Furthermore, during our tour, there was some talk about agricultural policy framework over the longer term. The government certainly must have heard the cries of the farmers, who rallied right here on Parliament Hill on April 5. The next day, a take note debate was held in this House concerning the farm income crisis.

Farmers would like the government to finally establish a real agriculture policy. A farmer in my riding even asked me if Canada still wants to continue farming, if it wants to encourage agricultural production in this country and in Quebec, of course, since we are still here for now. One thing is certain: we have some grave concerns in this area.

In its preparations for a new agricultural policy framework, we sincerely hope that the government is finally hearing the farmers. They were consulted by the previous government when the first agricultural policy framework was being created. Despite those consultations, however, the changes that the farmers were hoping for concerning Canadian agricultural policy were never really implemented. Their demands and concerns in this area remain the same.

Bill C-15 is a step in the right direction. It does not resolve the entire farm income crisis, but it is close. We believe that this bill should be passed quickly so that farmers may reap the benefits as soon as possible.

[Supply Management, May 31st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, with what we just heard today and yesterday in committee, what is clear and public is that supply management is in danger. This government’s approach is becoming ever more obvious.

In the environment, it is abandoning Quebec in favour of the western oil companies. In agriculture, it is abandoning supply management to satisfy the interests of western farmers.

How does the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food intend to explain to Quebec farmers that he is abandoning supply management to make it easier for western farmers to sell their wheat?

[Supply Management, May 31st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the day after the unanimous vote on the Bloc motion reaffirming the members’ desire to defend supply management at the WTO, the Canadian negotiator in Geneva stated that he did not feel bound by the vote.

Apparently, instead of the government imposing its view of things, it is the negotiator who is imposing his line of thinking on the government.

In order to dispel all uncertainty, what is the government waiting for to make the nature of the mandate it gave to the negotiator public?

[Chrysotile, May 30th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I recently had the opportunity to attend the International Conference on Chrysotile organized by the Chrysotile Institute.

I wish to congratulate the chairman of the institute, Mr. Clément Godbout, for organizing this event which set the record straight on the use of chrysotile fibre by reviewing the most recent research on this subject.

The Conservative government confirmed that it supports the safe use of chrysotile in Canada and around the world. However, action to this effect is not forthcoming.

It should turn to the recommendations contained in a unanimous report of the Subcommittee on International Trade, Trade Disputes and Investment, tabled in the House of Commons by the Bloc Québécois, which states that the Government of Canada must adopt a national policy on chrysotile that will provide information about and promote this product as well its safe use, undertake a comparative study of the hazards of replacement fibres for chrysotile, carry out a national and international public awareness campaign promoting the safe use of chrysotile, and promote the use of chrysotile in its own infrastructure.

That is what has to be done to help in a tangible way an industry that employs several hundred people in the mines of the Asbestos and Thetford Mines region.

[Criminal Code, May 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for his question and his very relevant comment.

His is the same concern expressed by members of the legal community in Quebec. I should add that Quebec also has another interesting feature: legal aid. People who are entangled in the justice system, whether they have committed offences or are charged with offences, but who do not have the means to defend themselves in court, can take advantage of legal aid. As in all other things, nothing is perfect, but at least we have a system in place that enables people without means to defend themselves in court.

Quebec is setting a good example. Quebec is also setting an example in terms of rehabilitation, which keeps people out of prison rather than sending them there to learn how to commit more crimes, which is what happens when people are sent to jail systematically.

The government's plan is very troubling. I share my colleague's opinion on that.

[Criminal Code, May 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very relevant question. I would add that this type of bill also presents a conservative view. A bill is usually tabled in order to correct a situation. As I was saying earlier, the Bloc Québécois would have agreed in order to correct certain shortcomings in the existing legislation. Then again, why fix something that is not broken? As I said, we could cite many examples in which judgments were not terribly relevant or were ineffectual, which of course, can happen in society. However, we must look at the situation as a whole.

As my hon. colleague just said, in Quebec we have developed tremendous expertise in the area of rehabilitating young offenders. Why should we send them to a school for crime? What is the idea behind Bill C-9? It is no more than a populist notion to please certain people who say that if young offenders commit crimes, they have to pay their debt to society.

We agree that offenders must pay their debt to society. However, we have found a way that works for us, one that focuses on rehabilitation. This method has been successful. If it had not been so successful, I would agree that new legislation should be brought in to fix the situation and we would support it. However, the exact opposite is true. Judges have ample latitude to impose a conditional sentence, depending on the circumstances, if that proves to be the best solution.

Under this bill, their hands would be tied and that would be it: from now on, everyone would automatically go to prison, in other words, to the school for criminals. This is a bad idea.

[Criminal Code, May 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my eminent colleague from Chambly—Borduas for agreeing to split his time with me for speaking on this very important bill.

Yes, this bill is important, but it would be frightening if it were passed. This act to amend the Criminal Code (conditional sentence of imprisonment) gives us a glimpse of the true face of this government. Since the election on January 23, all sorts of accusations have been made about the government’s propensity for modeling its policies on those of George W. Bush. My colleague from Brome—Missisquoi brought this up a few moments ago. This is disturbing.

The true face of the Conservatives will become increasingly clear, and not only in justice matters. They are moving increasingly to the right, and they are copying the policies of George W. Bush. I know this is not necessarily being received with pleasure, but that is precisely what this sort of bill is doing. This is happening not only in justice, but also in the environment, where the example is quite convincing indeed. They cannot say that scrapping the Kyoto protocol was a “made in Canada” policy when Quebec, the other provinces and even previous governments have always made the environment a priority, even if they did not always do so effectively. At least we supported the Kyoto protocol, we submitted a plan. The Conservatives are in the process of setting all of this aside. It is the same thing with employment insurance. I could go down the list, but I prefer to spend my time talking about Bill C-9.

The people of Quebec are increasingly worried about the values being promoted by this government. In the present case, these values are modeled on those of the United States, as I have said. In the United States, they have built prisons, they have increased the severity as well as the length of sentences. Is the crime rate lower in the United States than in Canada? The answer is no. My colleague from Chambly—Borduas gave an eloquent demonstration of that just now.

Our criminologists, who are as good as those of other countries, have long agreed that harsher sentences do not reduce the number of offences. In Bill C-9, the approach of the Minister of Justice is illogical because it is not aiming at the right target. Here is what we could have done to be constructive and help lower the crime rate in this country: the government should have corrected the quasi-automatic nature of parole. All releases should be tied to merit, instead of taking place virtually automatically once the criminal has served one sixth of the sentence. I do not understand why the government has not considered this issue, instead of imposing on judges the sentences they have to give.

Instead of that, the minister preferred to restrict judges' discretionary powers. Thanks to Bill C-9, judges will no longer be able, in nearly all circumstances, to allow offenders to carry out their sentences in the community—a practice that has existed since 1996—even when they have committed a minor offence involving no violence and accompanied by mitigating circumstances. It can happen, even though all crimes must be punished. There must be agreement on this. No one is saying that what happens is not serious.

We can count on our judges, I believe. No doubt we can find examples of decisions that were perhaps not the best or the most convincing, but, generally speaking, we must trust in our judges and our legal system. It has served us very well, we have to admit, particularly if we compare it with that of our neighbours to the south. A distinction must be made between a dangerous repeat offender and a first time offender.

It has been said in this House that a judge had the responsibility of examining the evidence adduced and deciding, based on the circumstances, whether an individual could serve his sentence in the community. This does not mean that the person is released, returns home and continues to offend. The criteria are very strict. A person who reoffends or fails to meet the conditions very often receives a much harsher sentence than they would have had had they not been given a conditional sentence.

The minister decided to back up ten years, when conditional sentences did not exist. The Bloc Québécois supported the establishment of such sentences in 1996 because it felt that every crime is different and must be evaluated accordingly. The government has therefore decided to take away judges' prerogative of evaluating the cases according to the conditions and circumstances surrounding them. A number of criteria come into play in the determination of a sentence, such as the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender. With Bill C-9, the government withdraws this discretionary power, which must be available to a judge throughout a case.

Conditional sentences are part of a well accepted model of justice in Quebec and in the other provinces in general. It is based on a process customized to each case. This is particularly true in Quebec. Here in the House we had a big battle in connection with the Young Offenders Act. At that time, the Liberals let themselves be pushed towards the right by the Reform Party in its bid for increasingly tough legislation. At the very moment when this tougher law was being imposed in Quebec, however, the rate of rehabilitation among young offenders was at 82%. This way of doing things, this toughened approach, was never understood in Quebec, when the approach to follow was in a way to open wide the doors to the rehabilitation of young offenders.

The government wants to take away the possibility of giving an individual a sentence to be served in the community if this person does not represent a threat to the safety of the public. That is what Bill C-9 does. We are talking about prison sentences of less than two years, are we not? If we introduced conditional sentences, it is because we believe in rehabilitation, as I said earlier, and restorative justice.

The Minister of Justice chose the approach of imprisonment at all costs and repression. We heard this earlier from the very mouth of a Conservative member, who was talking about law and order. Obviously, we are not against law and order, but at all costs and the way in which they want to impose it on us, it is not the right approach. That is the priority of this government concerning rehabilitation. It is not the priority of either Quebec or the other provinces. This law and order must not be achieved to the detriment of the necessary rehabilitation. Have we forgotten that the prisons are schools of crime? That has been said here many times. A first time offender who goes to prison has every chance, or rather mischance, of ending up with someone who can teach them a great deal about how to improve their criminal potential. This is obviously not what is desired when we talk about rehabilitation.

Do the government members really think that building bigger prisons and filling them even fuller are the ultimate solutions for dealing with crime? The example of the U.S.—that was also mentioned—however, is very conclusive in this regard.

The direct impact of Bill C-9 will be an increase in the number of inmates in the prisons of Quebec and the provinces housing offenders serving sentences of two years less a day. These prisons are already full. Some are overcrowded. This will allow the Conservative government to keep another promise, that of building new prisons perhaps. I do not think this is a good move for rehabilitation and I do not think this is the type of promise the public was expecting. The Department of Justice itself estimates there will be an additional 5,000 prisoners, offenders who normally would have received community sentences and who will now be sent to prison.

Financially speaking, I am not sure they have truly looked at the cost of implementing Bill C-9. The current average annual cost per inmate in a provincial prison is more than $50,000. That is the cost per year. The average annual cost for an offender serving a sentence in the community is less than $2,000. That is a big difference. The government jumped into drafting this bill without even comparing or assessing the financial burden it will have on Quebec and the provinces. And the Conservative government brags about saving taxpayers' money. But no money was saved when it drafted this bill.

The Bloc Québécois could have supported a bill that would have prevented the use of conditional sentences for the most violent crimes that are not excluded by the current legislation. Victims deserve justice, but very few of these crimes are not covered by the current legislation. The Criminal Code could have been amended; that approach could have been considered.

I will close by saying that we are asking the government to take action with respect to parole. We support the creation of a victim's ombudsman office that could react to and counterbalance the powerful National Parole Board and Correctional Service Canada. The priority should be to force these agencies to take the victims into account. Bill C-9 is a rather repressive measure and an ineffective one. We will vote against it.

[Agriculture, May 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary answered again, but he still has not answered my question about how much Quebec will receive. I have some quotes for him as well. The Union des producteurs agricoles deplores the fact that the measures announced by Ottawa do not specifically target the hardest hit sectors, such as grains.

Will the minister promise to meet right away with the minister of agriculture of Quebec, who has been requesting a meeting, to determine how Quebec's share can be redistributed immediately to the sectors with the greatest need for income security? I am waiting for an answer.