Annick Papillon

[Taxation, April 15th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are fooling themselves.

Economists have said that the Conservative budget contains tax hikes on a number of goods. Corporate executives have candidly said that their products will cost more and that they will have no choice but to pass the cost on to the consumer.

Only the Conservatives are in denial. Canadians will have to tighten their belts another notch to pay the Conservatives' taxes. That is a fact.

Why are the Conservatives refusing to support our motion to take these taxes out of the budget? It is simple.

[Taxation, April 15th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to losing billions of dollars to tax evasion, the Conservatives have hiked import tariffs on almost everything.

Moreover, Sony executives confirmed last week that they were already paying the new MP3 tax. Electronic devices will not be the only goods affected. Coffee will also cost more and, just in time for the cycling season, so will bicycles.

The Conservatives promised that they would not increase taxes, but that is what they are doing. They can still correct their mistake. Will they support our motion to condemn these new tax hikes?

[Search and Rescue, March 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, training exercises at the Halifax centre revealed some major shortcomings in the coordination of rescue services in both official languages. Despite those shortcomings, some activities of the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre will be transferred to Halifax in three weeks. In light of the Conservatives' contempt, we have asked the Commissioner of Official Languages to conduct an urgent investigation to determine the current linguistic status of that service.

Do the Conservatives realize that closing the Quebec City centre will endanger the safety of francophones on the water?

[Official Languages, March 20th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, let us stay on the topic of language.

The pilots who travel on the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City have had to file a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages because they are unable to communicate in French with the icebreaker crew working on the St. Lawrence.

Already with the closure of the maritime search and rescue centre in Quebec City, we had to expect less service in French, but now things are downright dangerous.

On this International Day of La Francophonie, why are the Conservatives jeopardizing the safety of ship pilots, who have the right to work in French?

[Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012, March 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to speak today about the umpteenth gag order that this government is trying to impose on us and shove down the opposition's throat. This shows just how little the government listens to anyone: not to the experts, not to the municipalities, not to the provinces, not to the opposition. The government does not believe anyone.

Do my colleagues know where cynicism comes from? Public cynicism is created when governments like this come to power with a majority and do not listen to what the opposition has to say. I would have liked to have talked about what each of these bills might bring to my region and what changes might occur. It is through debate that we become better, we improve. And when people refuse to listen, things do not get better. And this government is not a good one. People feel it and see it, regardless of this cynicism the government is trying to stick us with.

[Criminal Code, March 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak about such an important issue, particularly since I am a young woman working in politics. Bill C-452 seeks to amend the Criminal Code in order to provide consecutive sentences for offences related to procuring and trafficking in persons.

Bill C-452 also makes it possible to reverse the burden of proof for this type of offence. The accused would therefore be considered guilty until he proves beyond doubt that he is not exploiting others. Finally, this bill adds the offences of procuring and trafficking in persons to the list of offences to which the forfeiture of proceeds of crime apply.

Public Safety Canada accurately describes human trafficking as one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, often described as a modern day form of slavery. It is nothing less than that. The victims, who are mostly women and children, are deprived of their normal lives and compelled to provide their labour or sexual services, through a variety of coercive practices all for the direct profit of their perpetrators. Exploitation often occurs through intimidation, force, sexual assault and threats of violence to themselves or their families.

Human trafficking is a scourge that knows no borders and affects many countries, including Canada. We must not put on our rose-coloured glasses. People need to know that this is happening here, not far from where we live.

According to the Department of Justice, it is difficult to provide accurate estimates on the full extent of trafficking in persons within Canada because victims are reluctant to come forward, and understandably so. Often victims are afraid to testify against a procurer for fear of reprisal.

The RCMP described human trafficking as a growing phenomenon. Statistics are hard to ascertain; however, estimates indicate that between 1,500 and 2,200 people are trafficked from Canada into the United States every year. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police estimates that around 600 women and children are trafficked into Canada each year for the purposes of sexual exploitation, and that this number rises to 800 when broadened to include those trafficked into Canada for other forms of forced labour.

Contrary to popular belief, victims of trafficking in Canada are not just young women from abroad. They are often Canadians. Unfortunately, trafficking of Canadian men within the country is a problem not often covered by studies and statistics about human trafficking, especially trafficking related to the sex trade. People who come to Canada to flee conditions of abject poverty in their own country can end up in a work environment where they are taken advantage of. So, too, can women from all over Canada, many of them young women in crisis and socially or economically disadvantaged women who leave their homes to join the sex trade in major Canadian cities.

There are a number of reasons why a vulnerable woman may be convinced to become a prostitute. We do not have to identify them all here, but no matter the circumstances, trafficking of Canadian men and women is a reality in our country, and it affects the most disadvantaged communities in particular.

For that reason, although Bill C-452 is a step in the right direction, we need a more comprehensive response to the problem of human trafficking. We have to wage this battle with practical resources. To solve the problem of human trafficking, we need a plan that will mobilize human, police, electronic and material resources that goes far beyond a simple bill. We need political leadership.

Surveillance of strip clubs, massage parlours and Internet networks and the creation of a joint investigative unit are solutions that should be studied. Canada must implement a strategy that will not only attack the source of the problem, but will also help the victims and support the work of our police services.

Julie Miville-Dechêne, president of the Conseil du statut de la femme du Québec, also recommends establishing shelters for female trafficking victims. She said:

There are no shelters specifically for female trafficking victims. But their issues are very different from those of domestic abuse victims.

However, there could be some problems with the proposed consecutive sentencing and the presumption that reverses the burden of proof for procuring and human trafficking offences. The reversal of the burden of proof could be challenged on constitutional grounds. As my colleague, the member for Windsor—Tecumseh, has said in the past, passing Bill C-452 does not guarantee that sentences will be much longer. The courts could potentially base their decision on the principle of proportionality, which means that sentences served consecutively may not end up being longer than if they had been served concurrently.

Despite these pitfalls, we will be supporting Bill C-452 so that it can be studied in committee. The problem is simply too serious to ignore. I have had the opportunity to meet with organizations in my riding that help boys, girls and women who are involved in prostitution. I would like to commend Projet intervention prostitution Québec and Maison de Marthe, which do excellent work with the limited resources available to them.

I want this government to take a comprehensive approach to the issues of prostitution and human trafficking. I would like it to address them here in the House, by amending the Criminal Code, as well as on the ground, where more help is needed for truly effective action. To me a comprehensive approach includes these simple bills that allow us to deal with other related issues.

This Conservative government has dismissed a bill as effective as Bill C-400 on social housing on more than one occasion. Organizations across Quebec are scrambling to get together and call on the Conservative government not to wait until the end of March 2014, but to renew the homelessness partnering strategy, the HPS, immediately.

This strategy provides a solution to associated problems and can help us take a comprehensive approach to this issue. It is important. The government must renew funding for the HPS immediately, for example, by adding an extra $50 million for Quebec. I know that my colleagues agree with this idea because it is an excellent decision. It is simple. We are talking peanuts here. Compared to all the F-35s and ships that will cost billions, $50 million is nothing.

The government is slowly destroying our social safety net, which would help us take a much more sensible and thoughtful approach to this problem we are facing.

I heard my colleague from Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine. Movies can sometimes have a huge impact on us. The movie that hit me the most was Human Trafficking, which came out in 2005 or 2006. This movie shows us how international the problems of human trafficking and prostitution are.

It is so insidious and pervasive that we must be aware. Who knows, we may have crossed paths with people who are experiencing these problems, in downtown areas, for example. We cannot be indifferent to what they are going through. My heart goes out to them, which is why I support Bill C-452. That said, I think we must do more, because small, simple actions could help us take a broader and more sensible approach.

[Public Safety, March 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, one of my constituents, police officer Sandra Dion, has been fighting for more than a year for her own safety. This is an important cause. The criminal who attacked her several years ago is now living in a halfway house near her home.

This is not an isolated case. The Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime asked for changes in 2010 to protect victims, but the report has been collecting dust for more than three years.

Will the minister agree to meet with Ms. Dion and to make the changes needed so she never again has to go into exile in Ottawa for her own safety?

[Search and Rescue, February 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, first, the Quebec City centre is not a “sub-centre”, it is a major search and rescue centre. It will not be as easy to close as other centres elsewhere in the country. It is a major centre, the only one in the country that is officially bilingual. I am not sure that it will be possible to provide the same high-quality services in French as before.

Expanding the Halifax centre and relocating the Trenton centre, as well as setting up two relay sites, will call for major spending that was not planned initially. They said they would scrimp here and there to save $1 million. But to date, we know it has cost at least three times more. The logistics cost so much that scrimping here and there makes no sense.

We have to realize that far too much money has been spent to date. To make sure that francophones are safe on our navigable waterways throughout Canada, the best thing is to keep the Coast Guard search and rescue centre in Quebec City open year-round, with no changes, for everyone’s benefit. In Trenton and Halifax they do not find this funny.

[Search and Rescue, February 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, in 2011, the Conservative government announced the closing of the Quebec City maritime search and rescue centre. The closing will lead to the transfer of more than 1,800 calls for assistance to the coordination centre in Halifax and the centre in Trenton, Ontario.

Shift personnel in these centres are still not bilingual, and we know that, since the announcement of the closing of the Quebec City maritime search and rescue centre, three staffing processes have not been successful in finding enough bilingual officers who could become maritime SAR coordinators able to handle urgent requests in French.

No matter what the results of the forthcoming staffing actions are and no matter what the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans says, over the years it will be impossible to maintain the required level of bilingualism in these rescue centres.

The most logical solution, the simplest and least expensive solution, would be to keep the Quebec City centre open. If the government does not quickly overturn this misguided decision, incidents involving francophones will be handled in centres where the language of work will still be English, and we will lose the geographical knowledge that is essential for quickly identifying the location of an incident, local resource capabilities and local crisis solutions. To date, no effort has been made to train staff in Halifax or Trenton on the specifics of the Quebec City area.

I think it is important to point out that, on January 9, 2013, Guillaume Gagné, a resident of Cap-Saint-Ignace, in the Montmagny area, found himself in difficulty when the ice pan on which his fishing hut stood broke off and began floating down the river with the tide as night was falling.

The man’s life was in serious danger, because later that night violent winds destroyed the ice pan. It is important to recognize the work done by the Quebec City maritime search and rescue centre, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Lachance family, who joined forces and used local resources that were tailored to suit the circumstances.

Dominic Lachance, who saved the young fisherman, said that things could have gone very differently if the maritime search and rescue centre in Quebec City had been moved to Halifax, as the Conservative government is planning.

This is what Mr. Lachance had to say after the rescue:

If the office were located outside, the connection would probably be slower… They are going to have to find a way of communicating and mobilizing the people on site, because otherwise I think some very unfortunate things could happen.

With that kind of example of effectiveness, and given the repeated statements by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, who says that the safety of Canadians is the government’s priority, do we have reason to hope that the minister will order the Canadian Coast Guard to keep the maritime search and rescue centre in Quebec City in operation for good?

Can we count on this government to reconsider that decision instead of postponing the shutdown? The government has postponed it twice so far and will continue to do so because it is very clear that the decision makes no sense. What can the minister tell us today? Good news, I hope.

[Quebec City Homeless Shelter, February 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago today, La Maison de Lauberivière opened its doors and began helping people in need.

Located in Quebec City's lower town, this shelter welcomes men and women who have nowhere else to turn during difficult times, and provides them with some comfort.

The shelter's mission has evolved over the years in order to adapt to the needs of its clients. Today it offers many services including a shelter, a soup kitchen, drop-in centres, social reintegration, education, detox, and help to become financially independent.

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the religious communities and the archdiocese of Quebec City for supporting this organization from the very beginning.

Thank you to its donors and the many volunteers for their support and their dedication to this cause. I wish to sincerely thank the executive director, Éric Boulay, and his entire team who open their hearts every morning when they open the shelter's doors.

On this Valentine's Day, I thank you for this 30-year-old love story in Quebec City.