Brigitte Sansoucy

[International Trade, October 31st, 2018]

Madam Speaker, a big public demonstration is planned for November 18 to support agriculture in my region. The UPA is calling on ordinary citizens, farmers, food processors and municipal and union stakeholders to march together in support of our local farmers.

The event is being called “Garde-manger en danger”, or “our pantry in peril”. It will be an opportunity for everyone in Saint-Hyacinthe and Acton Vale, my constituents, to show their support for our farmers.

Canadians care about the reciprocity of standards, clear labelling and the traceability of food, regional development and land use, as well as greater support for our agriculture and our farmers, and I invite everyone to demonstrate that on November 18 at the march to support our local farmers.

When will this government finally admit that it signed a bad agreement, one that is bad for our food sovereignty and bad for our farmers?

[International Trade, October 31st, 2018]

Madam Speaker, in the NAFTA 2.0 file, the Liberals failed dairy farmers. They failed chicken farmers. They failed egg farmers. They failed turkey farmers. They failed our SMEs. They failed to defend our food sovereignty and territorial autonomy. They failed our local farmers. They failed our family farms. Lastly, they failed Quebec.

Simply put, the Liberals signed a bad deal. I am not the only one who thinks so. All stakeholders agree.

I want to read some of their comments.

The Coop fédérée said:

By ratifying an agreement that will create new breaches in the tariff barriers protecting supply-managed sectors, the government is not giving full recognition to the agriculture and agrifood sectors for their contribution to the economic and social development of Canada and its regions.

Yvon Boucher, president of the Producteurs de lait de Montérégie-Est, said:

We feel betrayed by this government, which promised us that there would be no impact on dairy production, that it would not sign a deal that would have negative consequences for us. Now we see from the result that this was completely untrue. We have lost faith in this government.

Pierre-Luc Leblanc, president of Éleveurs de volailles du Québec, said that since the Liberals' new agreement, millions of tonnes of American chicken, eggs and turkey are poised to enter the Canadian market. He says that this may seem like no big deal now, but in five or 10 years this could further jeopardize poultry producers. Poultry producers are surprised and disappointed in this agreement and want compensatory measures from the government.

Jacques Demers, president of the Fédération québécoise des municipalités, said:

This agreement is harmful not only for dairy producers in Quebec, but also for every region in Quebec. We are talking about hundreds of rural communities whose economies have been compromised.

I could go on and on.

I commend the courage of the hundreds of farmers who called out the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food during a demonstration in Montérégie, and especially the farmers from my riding who gathered in Granby to express their displeasure. Dairy farmers from the RCMs of Maskoutains and Acton were there to discuss their situation.

Charles Graveline has a herd of 325 dairy cows in Saint-Jude. Mr. Graveline, who is a father of three and seventh-generation farmer, is saying that the government talks about financial compensation, but it will never measure up to the losses farmers are going to suffer. He believes that each farm is going to lose tens of thousands of dollars. This dairy farmer from my region expects to see a shortfall of between $150,000 and $180,000 annually. How could this government have done that to our farmers? How can they continue to claim that they signed a good agreement?

Marie-Pier Vincent, a young farmer from Saint-Valérien, started up a dairy farm two and a half year ago. Her operation has 40 dairy cows. She is worried about her future. She has said that this agreement will be very harmful to her and will jeopardize the entire future of her business. By opening up another breach, the government has just sacrificed an entire generation. Young farmers are worried, and with good reason, unfortunately. We know very little about compensation at the moment, apart from the Liberal promise that it will be paid out before Christmas.

In light of all these concerns and observations, how can the government say it signed a good agreement?

[Rail Transportation, October 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, every day, cars travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway have to stop to let CN freight trains go by.

Every year, Transport Canada keeps a sad list of railway crossings across the country with the highest risk of accidents, and unfortunately my riding is on that list.

This is also an economic development issue. The transportation of freight on that stretch of track is expected to skyrocket in the coming years. The solution to these two problems is to build a multi-level rail bridge.

Saint-Hyacinthe is the only place in Canada, and perhaps even in North America, where a rail line crosses a highway.

I have given my colleagues, the infrastructure and transport ministers, all of the information on this file, and I hope to have their full co-operation and assistance.

[Employment Insurance, October 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Liberal government has abandoned our constituents. Once again, the Liberal government has broken its promises. Once again, it is all words and no action.

EI eligibility is still under 40%. It is high time that the Liberal government understood that it is the jobs that are seasonal, not the workers.

Again, the government talks about training and pilot projects. Workers in New Brunswick and eastern Quebec keep expressing anger. Hundreds of them gathered again last month.

Considering the urgency of the situation, when will the government take action and provide a solution for all seasonal workers in Canada by undertaking a real overhaul of the EI system?

[Employment Insurance, October 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern about seasonal workers. Every year, their own government puts them in a precarious position.

Once again this winter, benefits will dry up for over 16,000 people, 40% of them in Quebec, leaving them without an income for up to four long months. Thousands of families will once again have no money coming in.

The Liberal government seems fond of half-measures, in this case a pilot project targeting just 13 economic regions. Baby steps and band-aid solutions will not fix this Canada-wide crisis.

The people of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot are once again being left out in the cold because they are, once again, not covered under this pilot project.

Every year, the government fails to fully commit, and so, every year, thousands of families go many long months with no money coming in. That puts breadwinners under intense stress. They cannot feed their families because of the spring gap.

Tying employment insurance benefits to unemployment rates means that some seasonal workers have to work a lot more to receive much less in benefits. People are worried—terrified, even—about not being able to feed their families because they will no longer have an income when their EI benefits run out.

The EI spring gap is a fundamental problem that cannot be fixed with band-aid solutions. Urgent action is needed, because thousands of families are being left out in the cold and are falling through the cracks without any income for months.

Business owners in Saint-Hyacinthe tell me their concerns about these seasonal workers. Seeing his employees struggling financially, one of the owners decided to provide loans to ensure that certain employees did not lose their homes and were able to support their children. These loans enable the employees to survive, but they also mean that the employer can count on these skilled workers when seasonal work resumes.

The NDP is fighting for a fundamental reform of the EI system, which is too flawed. This system is the result of bad choices over more than 20 years of successive Liberal and Conservative governments.

The NDP, along with unions and advocacy groups for the unemployed, has been trying to convince the government to reform this system. However, the government's idea of helping Canadians is to rely on band-aid solutions, instead of taking meaningful action.

We absolutely need emergency legislation, since time is running out for all these seasonal workers facing the threat of the spring gap at the end of the winter.

To the NDP, it is unthinkable to put thousands of workers in a precarious position when a simple legislative change is all that is needed to help these seasonal workers.

The NDP's solution to the spring gap is simple and fair: better access to EI for everyone, a universal eligibility threshold of 360 hours, and the reinstatement of five weeks of additional benefits for all seasonal workers.

A comprehensive solution must be applied to fix the spring gap once and for all. This is an urgent issue, and Band-Aid solutions only put off the problem.

No more half measures. The government must make long-term investments to overhaul the EI system.

[Employment Insurance, October 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are breaking their promises.

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Families promised to improve EI sickness benefits, but they are not doing anything. Was it all just lip service? I have to wonder.

The Liberals are tabling the budget implementation act with partial reforms to EI, but it does not contain a single measure addressing sickness benefits. They have just one more chance, one more budget, before their term ends.

Are they going to improve EI sickness benefits?

[Poverty, October 29th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals cannot prove that the Canada child benefit lifts children out of poverty. Come on.

There has been no change in the data in 10 years. There are still 1.2 million children living in poverty, and 38% of them are indigenous children.

Campaign 2000, which represents over a hundred organizations, has criticized the Liberal government's poverty reduction strategy for not being ambitious enough.

When will the Liberals set real goals for lifting children out of poverty?

Or will they continue to be satisfied with half measures?

[Infrastructure, October 25th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Champlain Bridge cannot be paved in the winter, but taxpayers have been waiting for years and they will have to wait even longer.

The minister said that these were excusable delays, but this just shows us that P3s are not actually more effective.

Speaking of the private sector, I have to wonder whether the Liberals will make sure they recover every single cent we are owed in late penalties.

How much will these excusable delays cost us?

[Employment Insurance, October 24th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I have no problem with working with the provinces. We are always the first to say, “Let's work together”.

I would like to remind the House of what I said earlier. It is not the workers who are seasonal; it is the work. However, it is the workers who are penalized. I am not the one who said that. It was the Prime Minister himself who said it during the last election campaign.

In spite of the Liberal government's actions, seasonal workers are angry because they know that, in a few months, despite the training they have received, they will still have to go without income for several weeks. Imagine what it is like to be without income in a region where there is only seasonal work.

I am speaking out on behalf of those workers who have no money to feed their children for several weeks or even several months.

[Employment Insurance, October 24th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the “black hole”, or spring gap, problem still has not been fixed. Like a broken record, the Liberals keep assuring me that a pilot project is under way. However, this pilot project only involves 13 of the 62 regions. Such a measure is unacceptable.

Case in point, the people of Saint-Hyacinthe and Acton Vale do not have access to any such measure.

It frustrates me that the government has only half measures to offer, because seasonal workers need help right now, today, to deal with the EI spring gap. The government is suggesting training, qualifications, pilot projects, targeted economic regions, short-term measures and all kinds of other ideas, when all seasonal workers want is to be able to feed their families.

By choosing training over funding, the Liberals are deliberately failing to recognize the value of a sector that is actually a driver of our economy.

As the member representing the agri-food technopole of Saint-Hyacinthe, I understand how important these workers are to our regional economy.

I want to remind the Liberal government about one thing. Jobs may be seasonal, but workers are not. We need action, meaningful, definitive action, to help the thousands of workers who will be struggling to get by this winter, facing long stretches without a job or income.

Landscaping and lawn maintenance business owners in my riding are worried. If you can believe it, some of them have had to give their employees personal loans, while this government boasts about having solved the spring gap problem.

The eligibility threshold needs to be returned to 360 hours immediately and at least 35 weeks of benefits must be provided for all manufacturing workers in order to fix the EI spring gap.

Seasonal workers are taking action. In September workers from Quebec and Acadia came together to take a united stand against the EI “black hole”, or spring gap. Some 400 seasonal workers gathered in Inkerman on the Acadian peninsula.

Pierre Céré, a spokesperson for the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses, or CNC, attended the meeting and called for seasonal workers be protected as well.

His call echoes our own. We in the NDP are calling for better eligibility and a minimum of 35 weeks of benefits, so that these workers do not have to face the spring gap year after year.

He also wants the regions affected by the spring gap to receive a special designation to help them get by.

Mr. Céré reminded the government that seasonal workers in the Gaspé, on the north shore and in Charlevoix, in Quebec, face the same realities as those in Acadia.

In August, following repeated calls from the NDP, the government announced a pilot project that will give workers an additional five weeks of benefits. However, this does not meet the needs of seasonal workers. Advocacy groups for the unemployed are saying that this government appears to be indifferent to the demands of workers.

On their behalf, I will ask the question once more. When will the government solve the problem of the EI spring gap once and for all?