France Bonsant

[Foreign Credential Recognition Program, June 6th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, today, we are going to debate Motion M-195 put forward by the hon. member for Brampton—Springdale. This motion concerns skills development, which is Quebec's responsibility.

The Bloc Québécois is denouncing the federal government's interference in an issue that is clearly within the purview of Quebec. There are currently loads of unprocessed immigration files. Out of the blue, the government found some money to include in this year's budget. I will quote the exact figures. On April 25, 2005, the government looked under the mattress and found $75 million over five years to accelerate and expand the integration of internationally trained health care professionals.

Speaking of health, many people in my riding received degrees or diplomas abroad. Canada made them all sorts of promises. They were lured to Canada with the promise of a job. Once settled in this welcoming land, the reality hit them, hard.

The government, which is loaded with money, should give some to the provinces. Matters pertaining to diplomas and degrees and to immigration are the responsibility of the provinces and Quebec. The federal government is creating an extra level of administration to manage those who manage the managers. Clearly, that is more interference on the part of the federal government.

In addition, $68 million over six years is earmarked to facilitate foreign credential assessment and recognition. Here again, the federal government is trying to interfere in and meddle with areas of provincial jurisdiction. The provinces have the necessary expertise to assess diplomas and degrees themselves.

We also have many immigrants in my riding of Compton—Stanstead. My office is located in a multicultural district with Serbs and Croats among its residents. In their home countries, these individuals obtained diplomas and degrees which have never been recognized here. I know that professional associations in Quebec have the standards and expertise necessary to recognize foreign diplomas and degrees.

The hon. member for Brampton—Springdale has said she wants to have a national program. This is not easy, since the conditions are not the same in all the provinces. My daughter is a doctor of chiropractic. The hon. member should know as well as I do that when a chiropractor moves from one province to another, he or she has to get a new licence. Health professionals are not licensed nationally but provincially. I know what I am talking about. If my daughter wants to practise her profession outside Quebec, she has to get special permission from the other province. If this were a national program, it would be chaos once again, but the federal government seems to like that.

Besides, under the Constitution, professional corporations are under Quebec's jurisdiction. It is in the Constitution Act, 1867. This is nothing new. It is right in the Constitution. I have not been a member of Parliament for a very long time, but I have realized this government does not seem to abide by the Constitution, even if the Liberals themselves wrote it in 1867, at a time when there were only two political parties.

In case anyone does not know what I am talking about, section 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867, grants exclusive jurisdiction over education to the legislatures of Quebec and other provinces. Education and degrees are under provincial jurisdiction. One day, the federal government will understand that.

We also have section 25 of the Canada-Quebec Accord on immigration. It was not signed in 1867, but in 1991, only 14 years ago. What it provides concerning the reception of immigrants is clear. For those who forget, I repeat that this is section 25 of the Canada-Quebec Accord, which says, and I quote, “Canada undertakes to withdraw from specialized economic integration services to be provided by Québec--”

I hope the translation was well done so that people are able to clearly understand what this means.

Our dear colleague from Brampton—Springdale should talk to the member for Vancouver Centre. I will quote what she said:

The recognition of foreign credentials is a provincial responsibility regulated by provincial legislation, and many of the regulatory bodies subject to this legislation are also under provincial jurisdiction. The federal government cannot interfere and say what it wants done in this regard.

I would add that this is a federalist talking.

I think that there should be a consensus. In fact, one MP says one thing and another MP says something else. Ideally, everyone should agree. That would be best.

Also, by simply having discussions on professional associations signifies that Ottawa does not have the constitutional jurisdiction to legislate this area. All this could compromise the discussions underway between Quebec and professional associations in Quebec.

I do not know if it works the same way in the other provinces but, in our case, we have professionals handling these diplomas. As a result, interference—yet again—by our good old federal government could slow down a process already begun.

In order to make it easier for newcomers to participate, this money should be transferred so they could learn French faster. These people are here, they want to work, share their professional skills, explore and be full-fledged citizens in their new land. However, they face a language barrier.

Last year, some people came to tell me about funding cuts to language training. The fiscal imbalance is to blame. If it were resolved, many other things could be too.

The federal government is interfering in a number of Quebec's areas of jurisdiction. We are debating Motion M-195 on the recognition of foreign credentials, but manpower training is another area in which there is interference. The government also wants to keep the new Canada learning bond set out in Bill C-5.

Then, there is the child care system. The feds are in the midst of signing a pan-Canadian agreement on child care. Quebec has had such a system for over 10 years and has yet to sign anything. What a surprise.

Then there is regional development. Looking at the Summer Career Placement program, it is obvious that there is a movement of young people into the urban centres. One wonders why we still have regional development. As far as I am concerned, it is for urban regions. I also mentioned earlier the small amount of money that we were given for health, which falls strictly under the purview of the provinces. Infrastructure is another national farce. It is a responsibility of the municipalities and municipalities are managed by the Quebec government.

Moreover, they are busy enough without getting involved in the immigration sector. Immigration is very important in Quebec because it gives us a new vision and new knowledge. Quebec is already doing the work and doing it well. However, this takes time and negotiations. The federal government has just created another level of negotiation. In other words, it has just slowed the negotiations under way.

In closing, the Bloc Québécois will be voting against Motion M-195 because it basically deals with staff managing staff managing staff.

[Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act, May 30th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker. the $46 billion that has been diverted for other purposes, like a tax grab, is money that employers and employees paid into the EI fund as protection for hard times. It is tantamount to people buying insurance being given an umbrella when the sun was shining and having it taken away when the weather got bad.

The 17 members of the Employment Insurance Commission would be there to manage the fund, to prevent the misuse of the fund and unequal treatment where employers and employees are concerned. It is very important that this money go to those who have contributed to the fund and not be used as a tax grab.

[Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act, May 30th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-23 was split in two. First, this did not give more money to the program; it gave more work to public servants.

Second, my colleague is talking about literacy and learning. The Bloc Québécois has always respected provincial jurisdictions in that sense. It is federal interference, pure and simple.

Third, if we want to get into millennium scholarships, just look at what happened in Quebec: students voted against these millennium scholarships that would not get them any further ahead. It is very clear. The federal government has a knack for interfering in Quebec's jurisdictions and the Bloc Québécois wants to defend these jurisdictions.

[Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act, May 30th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I do indeed have 13 minutes left to speak to Bill C-23. At the risk of repeating myself, I will say that the Bloc Québécois is against this bill since it proposes an Employment Insurance Commission without any real power and with the opposite makeup to that outlined in our Bill C-280. My colleague from Chambly—Borduas introduced a bill for an independent employment insurance fund that would have only 17 members. Bill C-23 does not help our Bill C-280 whatsoever.

Furthermore, this bill institutionalizes blatant constitutional interference in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces, particularly with respect to the National Literacy Secretariat, Learning Initiatives Program and the Office of Learning Technologies. All these matters come under provincial jurisdiction. As my colleague already said during consideration of another bill, the federal government interferes in anything to do with provincial jurisdictions. In Quebec and in the other provinces, we have appointed people to deal with this. Visibility is one thing, but we need the money.

No measure will prevent the use of replacement workers. Also, in connection with Bill C-23, we are talking about POWA, the program for older worker adjustment. It worked very well in the 1990s, but was eliminated by the current Liberal government. At present we face problems arising from globalization. Many jobs are being lost because of industry closures, for example in the textile sector. Furniture manufacturers are closing, such as Shermag in my riding. This is happening in Victoriaville too.

These employees have training in working with wood, but have never had any retraining. POWA would help these people aged 55 and older—we want the threshold dropped to age 50—to be retrained in another area and thus continue to work. At age 50, people still have a career. These people really need financial help to get retraining in another area, rather than stay home and wait for EI benefits, which never come. Indeed, the government had fun borrowing money from the EI fund without any intention of repaying it. That is $46 billion gone.

Furthermore, the Bloc feels that Bill C-280 better responds to the demands of contributors to the EI fund. This is another matter, which considerably frustrates the people of Quebec, and, I have no doubt, the rest of Canada. Many workers contribute to EI, but are not entitled to receive it. They include women, young people and even students who have summer jobs and pay into EI. This is just a little strange. It is another hidden mini tax. We are proposing that EI be improved to help people who are really suffering.

Then there is the exodus of young people. Many of them go to work in the city, because their is nothing in their municipality. When young people leave the countryside to move to the city, they do not come back. They find work, meet people, start another life and do not come back. It is extremely hard on the farming sector, succession and replacement work. So this is why it is vital C-23 not be passed.

In terms of workforce development, the government must respect's Quebec's authority. The current government must stop meddling in areas of jurisdiction not its own and must unconditionally transfer the money to Quebec.

In Quebec, our post-secondary program was developed based on our culture and needs. However, the federal government is constantly interfering. We are simply asking this government to mind its own business.

The federal government should also negotiate an agreement with Quebec to transfer four groups that were not included in the 1997 accord, namely young people, disabled persons, immigrants and older workers. Earlier, I talked about older workers when I mentioned POWA.

As regards young people, the summer career placement program ended up surprising everyone in that, in my opinion, it was a total failure.

There are many immigrants in downtown Sherbrooke who would love to work, but there is a language barrier preventing them from doing so. Because the government made cuts to French language courses, these people have to wait, often for long periods of time, for months and even years, before being given the opportunity to learn French and thus be integrated into Quebec society.

The Bloc Québécois supports the Quebec government, which feels that Ottawa should give these people the maximum amount provided by the Employment Insurance Act for training. There is an annual shortfall of some $200 million. This amount would allow us to invest in education and literacy. Quebec is also deprived of $100 million in the area of manpower, for those four groups. As I just mentioned, when it comes to development for young people and disabled persons, Quebec is ending up with an annual shortfall of over $400 million, which is a significant amount.

Many young people are discouraged because they are not finding any work in their field. So they are leaving for the cities. They would like to have access to courses in agriculture, another area that is really threatened with extinction. I wonder how we are going to feed our people in future.

The government does not acknowledge fiscal imbalance. This is another area that is costing Quebec $50 million a week. A careful calculation will make that a total of $2,500 million a year. That amount is not going to health, post-secondary education or young people. With $50 million a week, we could do things in Quebec to help the coming generation and especially the seniors. Seniors are often neglected. They have a wealth of life experience. Unfortunately, they are shunted aside as unimportant, to the detriment of Quebec society.

Among examples of the federal government's mismanagement and incompetency I note that it also enjoys taking away programs that are working well, such as POWA. I would add that section 78 of the Employment Insurance Act allows the federal government to invest 0.8% of total insurable earnings in support measures. At the present time, its investment is 0.57%. That is why it is making a profit while the provinces are in the hole.

As I have said, the deficits primarily affect women, who earn 70¢ for every dollar that men earn. So there is a 30% shortfall. We must not forget that children living in poverty have poor parents. Then there are the single mothers who count on EI when they are between jobs. They are penalized or disqualified because they have returned to work and have to accumulate 910 hours rather than the 360 the Bloc Québécois is calling for.

So, the cycle continues. These women cannot receive EI benefits in order to make ends meet or feed their children. So, they have to apply for social assistance, a temporary free pass, which is not something Quebeckers want to rely on.

So, it is extremely important for the Government of Canada to consider the provinces by transferring this money in order to help the four categories of applicants we are proposing.

Quebec will also be able to take care of itself, redistribution and its own areas of jurisdiction. We hope that, if the fiscal imbalance were resolved, the problems in hospitals would be fixed too. This would also correct the problem in post-secondary education, where young people are discouraged due to the lack of follow up. Furthermore, teachers lack support and the school boards need more teachers. As a result, burnout is a frequent problem. You have to work in the public sector to know what burnout is. In Quebec, many nurses have cancer, because they work non-stop and drive themselves into the ground. However, at a certain point, the human body needs to rest.

I repeat that, with regard to Bill C-280, the Bloc Québécois is proposing 17 commissioners instead of 14,000 public servants. These 17 commissioners could administer the EI fund, without anyone being tempted to take money that does not belong to them. We must weigh our words carefully here in the House of Commons, because some parties do not like to hear themselves described as they really are.

This $46 billion was taken from funds belonging to employees and employers. This money, that does not belong to them, is like a small hidden tax to pay the mortgage when the house burned down. It is all well and good to pay down the debt, but never at the expense of individuals, families and children. As I was saying earlier, children are poor, but some people forget that the parents of those children are poor as well.

As for manpower development—I am going from one thing to the next because I have so much to say—there is interference there too. Does the government intend to create hidden education? Is it going to want to develop a department simply to manage other departments that manage departments? This is very costly for no gain.

The government also has to negotiate with Quebec on the 1997 agreement. We have four categories that do not belong to Quebec: young people, persons with disabilities, immigrants and seniors. We must protect, develop and help these four treasures. The youth of today will become the adults of tomorrow.

I already touched on the $412 million shortfall. In October, Labour Canada said it was open to discussion. However, it did nothing. That is why we have to continue to drive home the fact that it is a provincial jurisdiction and that provincial jurisdictions absolutely must be respected.

[Youth Employment, May 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of young people and hundreds of companies and agencies in Quebec are anxiously awaiting the start of the 2005 summer career placement program. This year, Ottawa's funding criteria were changed without any consideration given to young people, the regions or the needs of the agencies. One of the direct consequences of this situation is the risk of a mass exodus of young people.

Does the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development intend to correct this situation and review the criteria of this program as soon as possible in order to index resources and divide them fairly among all the ridings in Quebec?

[Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act, May 9th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, this bill creates and defines the new Department of Human Resources and Skills Development as a complementary manifestation of federal interference into sectors under provincial jurisdiction, namely manpower and education.

To the Bloc Québécois, this bill also presents an inadequate vision of the EI commission. As a result, the Bloc does not support this bill. The Bloc Québécois has introduced various bills calling for the creation of an independent EI fund. This would help to ensure that EI claimants are treated, insofar as possible, not as numbers but as human beings.

Currently, 14,000 public servants are managing a fund belonging to the employees and employers, and the government is using that fund as a long-term loan, which it has no intention of repaying. Consequently, the Bloc Québécois is calling for the introduction of a bill to make 17 individuals responsible for managing this fund, which belongs to the employees and the employers.

Why do we want this independent fund to be managed this way? Because if an individual in the private sector had sold insurance at astronomical premiums to someone in dire need and who then claimed that insurance, and the insurance company never paid up, the claimant would not have been able to survive for long in that situation. That is why it is absolutely essential that this fund be managed by individuals from different sectors. Having a government representative is more or less important. However, at the very least, this fund should be managed by unions, employees and employers, in order to help people who lose their jobs.

Last year, my riding of Compton—Stanstead estimated it lost some $23 million as a result of globalization. Industries are closing their doors, including the textile industry. The workers losing their jobs are 52, 53 and 55 years old and they lack the means to find another job as easily as a 20-year-old.

Regarding the massive loss of jobs, in 1995, there was a program known as POWA that was abolished by the current Prime Minister. POWA stood for Program for Older Worker Adjustment . Because of globalization and the massive shutdowns of industries, 50 year old workers are losing their jobs and finding themselves with expertise in nothing but the textile industry. POWA helped these 55 year olds to retrain in another field, to find another job and to learn another way of working. This program was working well. However, in 1995, it was abolished, probably for that very reason.

We are now working on the summer career placement program which is a complete mess, a total free for all. In a number of ridings, the grants have been cut back in this program, penalizing young people. This means that the current government is encouraging young people to leave their rural communities to come to the urban centres. These young people who move from rural communities to the urban centres will not go back to the rural regions because there are no jobs there and no programs to help them either. There are programs in the urban centres, but not in the rural regions. Why would they go back home where they will not find a job? These young people want to work and to be able to pay for their education. Once settled in the city, they do not go back to the rural communities. The government is inhumane. It does not even blink at the exodus of young people. It has other problems.

As far as community organizations are concerned, there is so much paper, paperwork and administration that the people managing them, who are close to the public needing them, are in the midst of a shambles. The situation is unmanageable. It would take a full-time employee almost to manage it. However, these NGOs, these non governmental organizations get little money and these people become discouraged and drop everything rather than keep making requests, because of the complexity of the administration. Who pays the price? The working class.

In addition, child poverty is mentioned all the time. Indeed, one child in six does not eat three meals a day in Quebec or Canada. There are poor children because somewhere there are poor parents. Parents are poor, not because they want to be, but because the government used certain funds to pay for the house that burned since there was no insurance.

With respect to anti-scab legislation, the Bloc Québécois has fought for some 12 years to protect workers governed by a federal or provincial charter in order to prevent employers from abusing power. Since people in telecommunications, like the people at Radio Nord, are governed by federal charter, they can use strikebreakers.

This means that employers can let months, even years, go by without negotiating, because nothing protects these provincial workers under federal jurisdiction. My colleague tabled a bill, which was defeated by 12 votes. A number of Quebec Liberals voted against the bill. We can see what these people are doing for Quebec.

The other thing I wanted to talk about was the homeless. The government suddenly has money for the homeless and affordable housing. Last week, it set money aside for affordable housing. The strangest thing in all this is that the money is the same money it had promised in 2002. It carried it over to 2003. It has promised this money for so many years. It still has not been put aside and spent. Promise made, promise broken.

It is clear what is happening in city centres, where the homeless and street people have absolutely nothing. It is really unfortunate. The CMHC has become a chartered bank, because it has $3.4 billion in its account. This money should be used for affordable housing. At the moment it is simply earning interest on taxpayers' dollars.

[Night Lighting, May 6th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to tell the House about an original and forward-thinking project in my riding, specifically in Scotstown, which has a population of 650 and an annual budget of barely $600,000.

Shortly before the holidays, and thanks to the support of a business specializing in this field, the municipality tabled its lighting plan. This plan is an innovative model for outdoor night lighting in a rural region.

ASTROLab in Mont Mégantic and the municipality joined forces to reduce light pollution at night. As a result, this region boasts one of the largest sections of star-filled night sky in the world.

I want to pay tribute to Chantal Ouellet, the mayor, and her municipal council for their daring imagination. I also salute the taxpayers who agreed to invest in the 21st century. Bravo to all concerned.

[Employment Insurance, April 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois reached a major milestone in its fight to improve the employment insurance program, despite massive opposition by the Liberal members.

On Wednesday, the House passed Bill C-280 at second reading. This legislation, which was introduced by the Bloc Québécois, is another step toward our objective of preventing the federal government from dipping at will into the employment insurance account.

The bill proposes the establishment of an independent commission to manage all the assets of the employment insurance account, set the premium rate and recommend improvements to the program.

This victory is a significant step for all workers, but the battle is not over. We will continue the fight until employment insurance contributors obtain justice by taking control of their fund.

[Ascot en Santé, April 14th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, for the past 14 years, the Ascot en santé group has been playing a major social role in the former municipality of Ascot.

This is one of poorest areas in the new municipality of Sherbrooke. Many single-parent families and immigrants from over fifty different countries live there. Ascot en santé has a mission to reinforce the social fabric, break through isolation and strengthen solidarity.

Ascot en santé recently unveiled a calendar chock full of activities for the coming months: a bazaar, seedling distribution, a community newspaper, creation of a youth cooperative and establishment of purchasing group so people can save money and eat better.

Congratulations to the organization's president and principal of the École du Phare, Mr. André Lamarche, and to Ms. Marie-Thérèse Lushima, Ms. Marie-Chantal Goulet and the other volunteers. They are making Ascot a great place to live.

[Place aux jeunes, April 12th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, on March 20, I had the pleasure of attending the final day of the activities of the 2005 edition of Place aux jeunes in the Haut-Saint-François region.

The purpose of this familiarization program is to stem the exodus of our young people. It encourages social commitment, facilitates job entry and stimulates the creation of businesses in the outlying regions, while raising the awareness of young people and local stakeholders of the impacts of relocation.

These familiarization visits, organized by the Carrefour jeunesse du Haut-Saint-François and spread over three weekends, give more than a dozen young people a chance to explore the region. In past years, they have resulted in several dozen young people deciding to relocate to the Haut-Saint-François regional municipality.

We congratulate Christian Gauthier, the director of the East Angus Carrefour jeunesse-emploi, and Nadia Latulippe, Eastern Townships migration officer, for their commitment to this cause and for helping entice young people back to our fine region.