Diane Bourgeois

[Supply, October 28th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about equalization and about fiscal imbalance, they are certainly not the same thing in my view. The member who asked a question earlier was not wrong when she said that a few years ago, Canada had a deficit.

Members will recall that to remedy that deficit situation, the Liberal government of the time slashed expenses. It cut back on transfers to provinces and forced provinces to tighten their belt and to rethink their funding. Thus the fiscal imbalance appeared over time, as Canada solved its own deficit problem at the expense of the provinces.

I would like to ask the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord to repeat to me, because I did not understand well, how much the problem of the fiscal imbalance costs his region.

[Canadian Council for International Co-operation, October 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, a coalition of more than a hundred voluntary sector organizations working to end global poverty, has just presented five policy papers that review Canada's international policy.

Knowing that the aid granted by Canada to developing countries has been considerably reduced and that we are only half way to the aid target percentage; that nearly half the world's population lives on less than $3 a day; that a third of all deaths in the world—50,000 deaths a day—are from poverty-related causes; and that poverty is a major obstacle to security, we have no choice but to support the work of these agencies that fight for social justice.

The Bloc Québécois commends the members of the coalition and assures them of its support.

[Yves Tessier, October 7th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a resident of Blainville who has recently returned from Nevada's International Police and Fire Games with a gold medal in shot-put.

This international event brought together more than 600 competitors from 25 different countries. Yves Tessier is considered the best shot-putter in Quebec. A motorcycle policeman, he still finds time to lobby in connection with the lack of facilities for his sport in the region and to act as the spokesperson for the Blainville athletic association.

This 37-year-old policeman won a bronze medal in Indianapolis in 2001, a silver in Barcelona in 2003, and another gold this summer in Calgary at the Canadian Masters Athletic Association championship in Calgary. A role model for the young people of Blainville, Yves' perseverance has earned him the honours we are proud to share with him.

The Bloc Quebecois joins with the residents of Blainville—

[Public Service, May 5th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, Canadian Heritage dismissed one of its employees, Edith Gendron, who had just become the president of a sovereignist group in the Outaouais called “Le Québec, un pays”.

This measure by the federal government squarely violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, considering there was nothing wrong with the work performed by Ms. Gendron. Moreover, as a federal public servant, she has political rights recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada.

It is also strange and ironic, to say the least, that one of the members of the committee that made the decision to dismiss Ms. Gendron is none other than Guylain Thorne, a well-known Liberal and former chief of staff of the member for Bourassa.

By refusing to get involved, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, who is also a Quebecker, becomes an accomplice in the taking of a partisan, undemocratic and totally discriminatory measure. Such are the true Liberal values.

[Pay Equity, May 3rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, pay equity is no more than a theory in the federal government. Female workers are still only earning 72% of what their male counterparts are making.

The existing provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act on pay equity have not allowed us to bridge the gap. The system in place is forcing women who are discriminated against to use the legal system to obtain justice.

For example, how long have female employees at Bell Canada, Canada Post and the CBC waited, and how much longer will they have to wait before finally getting fair pay? All the federal pay equity cases that are currently before the human rights tribunal go back more than 10 years. Does this mean that female workers must wait more than 10 years to obtain justice? And what about those who are not protected by a union?

The government should not wait for the courts to force it to take action. It is its duty to do so now.

The Bloc Quebecois is asking the federal government to do the right thing by Canada's female workers and put in place proactive equal pay legislation.

[Workplace Psychological Harassment Prevention Act, April 28th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the bill I am introducing is extremely important and in many federal public servants it raises a hope that the psychological harassment they have suffered or are now suffering will be recognized and that they will obtain satisfaction.

I have in my possession a number of files from federal public servants. These files concern psychological harassment grievances, well-founded grievances, that have not yet been settled.

I was speaking this week with the hon. member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, who said that our ridings are similar because we have establishments where public servants—federal public servants—work. In his office he has met a number of employees of the federal public service struggling with the phenomenon of psychological harassment and, unfortunately, he does not know what to say to them.

Indeed, it is very difficult to decide whether something is management of the establishment or harassment. Sometimes the individuals who are harassed all have the same profile: they all have physical problems or psychological problems due to a failure on the part of management or poor protection of their physical and psychological integrity.

We know that as a public service employer, the Treasury Board of Canada is committed to providing an environment free from harassment for all persons who work in the federal public service. This commitment has translated into the adoption of a policy on prevention. Nonetheless, such a policy leaves the door wide open to all sorts of abuse and circumvention.

Unfortunately, the employer, the federal government itself, is currently not implementing its own internal policies. Worse yet, these policies, in practice, protect harassers and do not provide any redress for the employees being harassed.

The bill which I am introducing in this House and which we are debating this evening is often confused with the whistleblower legislation, but it is not at all the same thing. The Public Service Integrity Office was set up last year and the Public Service Integrity Officer has opened—just imagine—over 105 files in a year's time on whistleblowers alone. In these 105 files there are complaints about the violation of a law or a regulation, complaints about the abuse of funds or public property, in other words, blatant cases of bad management. There are also—and this is adding up—29 cases of harassment and abuse of power.

I have always maintained that over 30% of the public service is harassed. It is not whistleblowers being harassed, but regular employees. Here we have the proof. It is a report hot off the press that came to us barely a month and a half ago.

I will conclude by saying that this bill goes beyond any political consideration and must hold the attention of this House. It must be sent to committee. If the committee decides that it is inappropriate, then it will drop it. Nonetheless, for now, I am calling on this House to give a chance to the 30% of public service employees who are being harassed.

[Parental Leave, April 28th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, we have to be careful here. First, the federal government should consider withdrawing its appeal to the Supreme Court on this issue and, second, it should recognize that it is unacceptable and counterproductive that the Quebec government be constantly forced to go before the courts to prevent federal intrusions in provincial jurisdictions.

What we want to offer to Quebeckers is our own business. The federal government should stop interfering, it should stop sticking its nose into this, and it should hand over the money that belongs to Quebec families.

[Parental Leave, April 28th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of parental leave has been at a stalemate for several years because the federal government stubbornly insists on imposing its own program rather than helping to fund the Quebec program, which is much more complete. This is a very important question and I am addressing it to the Prime Minister.

Will the government pledge to reach an agreement with Quebec before an election is called?

[Parental Leave, April 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, one judgment is still to come. We want to know if the federal government can make the commitment that, regardless of what the upcoming judgment says, any future agreements concerning parental leave will include the right to opt out with full compensation so that, in the future, the federal government cannot take advantage of these to tell Quebec what to do in its own areas of jurisdiction.

[Parental Leave, April 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec proposed setting up a comprehensive parental leave system. The federal government refused, and the case was brought before the courts, which decided in favour of Quebec; Ottawa decided to appeal the judgment. The Prime Minister told us he was going to negotiate with Quebec and reach a settlement.

Consequently, can he promise to reach a settlement before the election is called?