Brigitte Sansoucy

[Employment Insurance, May 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, this week, after meeting with representatives of more than one million citizens calling for improvements to EI sickness benefits, the minister rose in the House to say that we must take action. However, the following day, the Liberals on the committee outright rejected a motion to hear from experts and the sick, simply refusing to vote for or against the motion.

Why, once again, are the Liberals saying one thing and doing another?

[Réal Laflamme, May 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House to pay tribute to Réal Laflamme, a recognized leader in the agricultural community and throughout Quebec.

Farming in the Laflamme family is a tradition that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Mr. Laflamme has made a tremendous contribution to the development of the Société d'agriculture de Saint-Hyacinthe, an undeniable asset for our region, as well as on the provincial, national, and international scenes in both sports and agriculture.

Mr. Laflamme, a well-known agricultural entrepreneur, has been a long-time advocate for and ardent defender of supply management. His efforts have earned him induction into the Quebec Agriculture Hall of Fame as well as the Ordre national du mérite agricole.

Mr. Laflamme has been active in the co-operative movement in Quebec, with Comax, the Coop fédérée, and the SOCODEVI. He has also served as an administrator with the Société de financement agricole du Québec, the Saint-Hyacinthe Agricultural and Food Exhibition, and the Salon de l'agriculture. He is still very active in a number of strategic projects for our region.

On behalf of everyone in Saint-Hyacinthe and Acton Vale, I thank Réal Laflamme for his dedication.

[Infrastructure, May 10th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, people's expectations tend to run pretty high when they hear about historic, $180-billion investments.

I represent 25 municipalities who now have very high expectations after hearing that announcement. They have a very clear picture of the infrastructure they need and the existing infrastructure they would like to upgrade. They have projects for the next 10 years. The same goes for the provinces. They have their five-year plans and they know exactly what they need. Their needs go beyond what the federal government can offer them each year, in fact.

That is why municipalities are asking for funding that is as predictable as other funding models such as the gas tax, so that they can plan ahead. They also need funding that will help the smaller towns as much as the bigger cities. I sincerely hope that all of these agreements with all—

[Infrastructure, May 10th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I rose in the House in February to ask this government to reassure the provinces and municipalities about its infrastructure plan and the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Communities recently gave an update on the first phase, but I have to say that I still do not feel reassured.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer reported in March that half of the infrastructure money set aside for the first phase had not been spent or even allocated. The minister, meanwhile, claims that nearly 80% of the money has been spent. That still leaves 20% unspent, which amounts to $2.6 billion in unused funding.

A recent article in the magazine L'actualité reported the following:

The provinces want Ottawa to give them more flexibility for spending federal funding, especially the ability to replace part of their own contributions with federal money.

In my riding, one project that is vital for the economy and for businesses in Saint-Hyacinthe and Acton Vale is the one to build a multi-level rail bridge to replace the current grade crossing on the Trans-Canada Highway. Yes, we have a railroad crossing the Trans-Canada Highway at grade.

The Quebec department of transport, sustainable mobility, and transport electrification confirmed early this year that this is a priority project, but it currently does not fit into any federal grant programs.

Last Monday, I hosted the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in my riding. For me, Saint-Hyacinthe is a must-see, which is why, to kick off its cross-Canada tour, the committee made its first stop at Jefo, a company that has been working in the field of feed additives for 35 years now.

From the very beginning, Jean Fontaine, and now the next generation, have always seized opportunities and developed a vision that benefits the agricultural producers in our region and around the world, since Jefo has operations everywhere there is agriculture.

The visit to the Jefo facility really opened our eyes to the enterprise's importance in the field of animal nutrition. During the visit, Jean Fontaine and Jean-François Fontaine made it very clear that their plans for expanding Jefo are certainly not complete.

I am proud that Saint-Hyacinthe continues to make its mark as an agrifood technopole thanks to one of its businesses, Jefo, which is the only private company in Quebec to offer a capacity of 100 train units, in or out, as we were told by its president, Jean Fontaine.

Another thing that Jean Fontaine and Jean-François Fontaine wanted to talk to us about was how much the development and expansion of Jefo and other businesses in my riding depend on plans to replace the current grade crossing that crosses the Trans-Canada Highway with a multi-level rail bridge.

Not only is this project crucial to the safety of everyone in the region, but it also represents a key asset for the economic development of Saint-Hyacinthe and the surrounding area.

Since I was elected, I have had dozens of meetings with my federal, provincial, and municipal colleagues, as well as representatives from Canadian National, to try to bring this project to fruition. My point here is that it is important to listen to the provinces, which are asking for more flexibility in terms of how federal subsidies can be invested.

Will this government give the provinces and municipalities the flexibility they are asking for to decide which infrastructure projects are important to their communities?

[Health, May 10th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the number of opioid overdoses is increasing at an alarming rate across the country. This is more than a crisis; this is an emergency.

In 2017 alone, there were 4,000 deaths as a result of opioid overdoses. We can no longer call them isolated cases or accidental poisonings. We have to be concerned with the impact on the victims' families and on our health system, which is already overloaded.

When will the Liberal government finally recognize that this is an urgent public health problem and allocate the needed resources to address this situation?

[Pensions, May 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, again, the member is talking about those who are 65. What about those who are 66, 67, 68, 70, 75, 80, or 85? Poverty also goes hand in hand with health problems. Seniors most often end up poor and sick.

It is astounding to hear the same old empty rhetoric. Our seniors need the Liberal government to finally show some real initiative and make the guaranteed income supplement automatic for everyone. It is not normal that in 2018, in a wealthy country like Canada, our seniors are living in poverty after a lifetime of working for this country.

When will the government keep its promises and help all our seniors?

It can and must do so.

[Pensions, May 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, in January, I rose in the House to ask a question about the Liberal government's broken promise to make the guaranteed income supplement available to all our seniors. Thousands of low-income or very low-income seniors are still struggling to make ends meet, even though they are eligible for the guaranteed income supplement. Why are they not receiving it? Because this government did not make it automatically available to all seniors.

When I talk to my constituents about this, they tell me that this is absurd and unfair, and they are right. Of course, I commend the fact that since January 1, low-income seniors have been getting the guaranteed income supplement when they turn 65. The NDP had been calling for that for a long time and were finally heard. However, the government tripped at the finish line. Instead of making the GIS available to everyone, it is applying this change only to people who turn 65 and not to those who are already over 65. Thousands of seniors are living in a precarious situation. Our seniors who are most in need are being left behind.

Let me make one thing clear: as long as one senior is living in poverty and not receiving the guaranteed income supplement, I will continue to rise in this House. I have said it before, and I will say it again: even one senior living in poverty is one too many. Seniors who are eligible for these benefits must be automatically enrolled for the guaranteed income supplement. This government must keep its promises and ensure that all our seniors can live with dignity and get a decent income. As an aside, I would like to commend the work being done by the Richelieu-Yamaska branch of FADOQ and thank everyone in Saint-Hyacinthe and Acton Vale who is speaking out against this injustice and calling on this government to act now. Their calls echo ours, and they can count on my support and that of the NDP caucus to represent them.

The Prime Minister and the Liberal government love calling themselves progressive. This is a great opportunity for them to prove it for once through concrete action, rather than just empty rhetoric. That is why the NDP has been asking for quite some time now that everyone eligible to receive the guaranteed income supplement be automatically enrolled. The NDP is calling on the government to make the guaranteed income supplement automatic so that all seniors can finally access it. We also call on the government to enhance this measure in order to lift all our seniors out of poverty. We need to act now.

For quite some time now, the NDP has been asking that everyone who is eligible receive the guaranteed income supplement, because we in the NDP believe it is impossible for these individuals to live on less than $10,000. Does this government think otherwise? Can this government say here in the House that $10,000 a year is enough?

Once again, this government promised to lift hundreds of thousands of seniors out of poverty. I urge this government to fulfill its commitments once and for all and to take action. If the Liberals do not know how to help the thousands of seniors who are still living in precarious situations, the NDP would be happy to give them a very simple solution that they could put in place tomorrow morning: make the guaranteed income supplement automatic for everyone.

[Employment Insurance, May 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand with Marie-Hélène Dubé and the Canadian Union of Public Employees today. Together they represent over a million Canadians who are calling on the government to enhance the employment insurance sickness benefits.

The Prime Minister and the minister both promised to do just that, but the sick are still waiting. They should not have to deal with financial problems. They should be focusing on getting well.

When will the government keep its promises?

[Employment Insurance, May 7th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is high time that the government took responsibility for its actions. Under its dynamic program, 60% of workers do not qualify for EI, and families are going weeks without any money coming in.

We are facing a major problem, and the superficial measures the Liberals have taken so far are not enough. It is time for real action.

I will therefore ask one last time: when will the government finally decide to take action to help seasonal workers and their families, and when will it accept that the training programs are not working? Workers in eastern Quebec have been left to fend for themselves.

[Employment Insurance, May 7th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, on January 29, I rose in the House to ask a question about the EI spring gap, which continues to affect thousands of our constituents. For those who need reminding, the spring gap is when close to 16,000 workers go without an income, some of them for over four months, during the off season because of bad EI reforms instituted by Stephen Harper's Conservative government.

During the last campaign, the Prime Minister promised to reverse the Conservatives' reforms, which penalized seasonal workers and their families. Sadly, the reality today is that nothing has been fixed.

For the past few weeks, the Liberals have been boasting left and right that they fixed the spring gap for seasonal workers. The reality on the ground says otherwise. The government should have taken emergency measures to help seasonal workers. Unfortunately, they decided to offload the spring gap problem onto the provinces. The result is that unemployed workers in eastern Quebec are knocking on doors only to be told that programs do not exist. They are ending up broke and in debt. Is that what the Liberals call fixing the problem?

The Liberals got themselves elected on the promise of fixing the spring gap, so when are they actually going to do it? We can only wonder.

On the ground, groups of unemployed people are worried and rightly so. Last week, Gaétan Cousineau, spokesperson for the Mouvement action chômage Pabok, said that the unemployed in the Magdalen Islands went to their local employment centre to access these measures. They learned that no measure was available because not enough people had signed up. The Minister of National Revenue and hon. member for Gaspésie—les Îles-de-la-Madeleine said that her government had finally fixed the spring gap. In the Lower St. Lawrence, there is currently no program in place and victims of the spring gap are directed to the welfare office. Imagine that.

These people do not need welfare, they need financial support before they resume working. Again, it is the jobs that are seasonal, not the workers. Alain Lagacé, coordinator at Action chômage Kamouraska, said, and I quote, “[The Prime Minister] was elected in eastern Canada on a promise to fix the spring gap. In 35 years as an advocate for the unemployed, I have never seen things so bad. Workers in the Lower St. Lawrence feel like the Liberals are leaving them high and dry.”

MASSE, the Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi, condemns this situation, and so do we. Simple solutions are available, such as emergency financial assistance for victims of the spring gap, reducing the employment insurance eligibility period to 350 or 360 hours, and providing at least 35 weeks of benefits. Every year, the EI spring gap affects seasonal workers and their families, yet no government, be it Conservative or Liberal, has seen fit to truly reform employment insurance. Unions, groups advocating for unemployed workers, and the NDP have been calling the government's attention to the need for a massive EI overhaul that accounts for the realities of seasonal work. This has been going on for way too long, but so far, nobody seems to be listening to us.

The NDP fully supports the workers and unions who are fighting to get the Liberal government to introduce functional emergency measures to address the situation. Words are no longer enough. It is time for action, time to find a practical, sustainable solution for our 16,000 seasonal workers.