François Choquette

[Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1, June 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Beauport—Limoilou, who is doing excellent work on environmental concerns at the Port of Québec. I am very proud because we cannot move the economy into the future in any old way.

There has to be a vision for sustainable development. I am so proud to be a member of the New Democratic Party, whose leader is the author of Quebec's Sustainable Development Act. He knows exactly what it means to move the economy forward while respecting the environment and the social concerns of workers and people.

When the people of Drummond hear about sustainable development and support for SMEs, they are truly happy because they know that is the way of the future. They know that 80% of new jobs are created by SMEs and that we need to give SMEs the opportunity to grow.

That is why we have a plan that will not only let SMEs grow and develop, but will help them to create jobs and hire people.

We also want to take back the $1.3 billion in subsidies to oil and gas companies. It is shameful that this money is used for that when it should be used to create the sustainable economies of the future.

We must not pass problems on to our grandchildren or, as the Minister of Finance said, pass the problems on to the Prime Minister's grandchildren. That makes no sense.

[Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1, June 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Winnipeg North. I agree that the Conservatives have made some poor choices, and that is why I am mentioning it. People need to understand that the only party that is ready to replace the Conservatives is the NDP.

We need to get rid of income splitting and the increase in the TFSA limit, because those measures help only the richest 15%.

People in my riding tell me that we need to look after the middle class first, because members of the middle class are the ones who are having a hard time making ends meet. We also need to look after those who aspire to join the middle class. That is why we have a plan for small businesses.

Drummond has a long list of examples of successful small and medium-sized businesses that were set up by innovative, creative people. Those are the people we need to help, so that they can create jobs. Eighty per cent of new jobs are created by SMEs, and the NDP government will support SMEs to help create jobs.

[Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1, June 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, today is a sad day, for it is the 100th time the Conservative government has put a gag order on members. We must not forget that the role of members in this House is to represent our constituents and stand up for their ideas and their aspirations.

I represent the people of the riding of Drummond, and they want me to be able to have my say on this bill to implement certain provisions of the budget. The bill is extremely important, because it will have a significant impact on their lives. Unfortunately, the Conservatives have imposed a 100th gag order, which is a new record. It is completely shameful. On top of that, we are nearing the end of this term. Fortunately, we will have the chance to get rid of this Conservative government in the upcoming election.

I am very pleased nonetheless to have this tremendous opportunity to speak to this bad bill, an opportunity that some of my colleagues will unfortunately not have. Once again, the Conservatives have introduced an omnibus budget implementation bill. This mammoth bill was drafted in order to ram through—to say nothing of the gag order—hundreds of changes to a number of laws, without any study or scrutiny.

Let us talk about the Conservatives' bad ideas that are going to hurt the middle class. On the weekend, I attended half a dozen events where I met with people from Drummond's middle class and those who aspire to be part of the middle class. They told me that the NDP's measures would encourage the middle class and that the Conservatives' measures, such as income splitting, would certainly not help them. That measure will benefit only the wealthiest 15% of our society. It is not going to help the people who truly need help in the riding of Drummond, and it will cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

Canadians need our help. They need us to set a $15 an hour national minimum wage and implement a national child care program. With that improvement, Quebec would have a better-quality child care system. Canadians need us to cancel the $36 billion in cuts to health care that the Conservatives are planning to make over the next decade. These are bad decisions the Conservative government is making.

The Conservatives are also increasing the TFSA contribution limit. This will also benefit the wealthiest in our society, but there is nothing for the middle class or the people in Drummond who aspire to be part of it.

Families in Drummondville and the greater Drummond area want a responsible government that will address the challenges of this decade and this century, such as the fight against climate change. There is nothing in this budget implementation bill about the environment or the fight against climate change. We need to stimulate the economy, but we need an economy that is in line with the three pillars of sustainable development.

I do not need to remind the House that the leader of the NDP, the member for Outremont, is the one who implemented the Sustainable Development Act in Quebec. He is the father of sustainable development. He is very familiar with the three pillars of sustainable development, whether we are talking about the economy or respect for the environment. Of course we need to stimulate the economy, but in doing so we need to be respectful of the environment and workers. Unfortunately, there is nothing about that in this budget.

It was not surprising to see that on his recent trip to Europe for the G7 summit, the Prime Minister sabotaged the efforts of the heads of state in this organization. They wanted to reach an agreement, to take a strong stand by limiting climate change and achieving carbon neutrality or no carbon emissions by 2050.

Unfortunately, the Conservative government, led by this Prime Minister, sabotaged the G7's vision by extending that timeframe far into the future. He said that our goal should be 2100. Once again, this government is passing problems on to future generations. As his Minister of Finance said, the Prime Minister's grandchildren will have to deal with this problem. That does not make any sense. It is a total lack of responsibility.

Canada definitely needs an NDP government because the NDP is the only party that can replace this tired, irresponsible government that does not care about future generations. An NDP government will make these kinds of changes.

There is no mention in this budget of programs to transition to green energy sources. As I mentioned, the government shows no desire to do so. Its weak Copenhagen target will not even be reached. This Conservative government was the only government in the world to withdraw from Kyoto. They are really out to lunch when they talk about the economy of the future. What, exactly, does that mean? It means an economy that will transition to green energy sources. The Conservative government has no plan to invest in green energy sources in its budget. It has no plan to stop subsidizing fossil fuels. Every year, Canada's fossil fuel industry receives some $1.3 billion in subsidies and all kinds of assistance. That is a huge amount of money that goes to companies that do not need it. Oil and gas companies, as well as companies in the coal industry, do not represent the economy of the future. The economy of the future involves transitioning towards green energy sources and energy efficiency.

Mr. Speaker, I see that I have just two minutes left. Time flies. That is why, as I said, it does not make sense to have a gag order.

A few months ago, I moved a motion on energy efficiency. Unfortunately, the Conservatives opposed it.

I would like to refer to some other reports, but since I do not have much time left, I will conclude with a few words about a report entitled “Acting on Climate Change”. This is a solution proposed by 60 Canadian scholars. These scientists from across Canada have proposed solutions to address climate change. The government could have found some inspiration there. The report is non-partisan and unbiased.

According to the report, the first thing we need to do is put a price on carbon. We need a national emissions cap and trade system like the one that Quebec and California belong to. The NDP's proposals are similar. The report also calls for the elimination of fossil fuel industry subsidies. The $1.3 billion I mentioned could be allocated to green solutions. That would create 10 times more jobs. There would be 10 times more jobs for the people of Drummond if the government took that money and invested it in green energy. In addition, investments in building and maintaining infrastructure would have to tie in to a long-term decarbonization goal. There are so many economic measures the Conservative government could have taken to turn our economy into a low-carbon-emissions economy, but it did not. It is not doing anything for the environment and has no vision for the future in that regard.

The only party that has a vision for the future and can replace the Conservative government is the NDP, and that is what we will do on October 19. We will propose a comprehensive vision that integrates sustainable development, and we will grow the economy while respecting the environment and social issues.

[Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1, June 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, today is truly a very sad, very anti-democratic day. The government is imposing closure for the 100th time. It is imposing closure not only on us in the opposition, but on the people of Drummond as well.

The people of Drummond elected me as their representative to speak on their behalf here in the House of Commons and to discuss the budget. The people of Drummond certainly want to know what is in the budget for fighting climate change.

What does this budget include for the environment? Nothing. It needs to be said. There is nothing for the environment, nothing for dealing with climate change, nothing for the economy of the future, and nothing for transitioning to green energy. I wanted to mention that in my speech, but I might not get to that because of this new closure motion.

The government is preventing me from having a say and preventing the people of Drummond from having a voice here in the House of Commons. That is very serious.

What is more, this comes on the heels of the Prime Minister's trip to the G7, where he once again undermined discussions to reach an iron-clad agreement to fight climate change. The G7 members in Europe wanted an agreement to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Of course the Conservative Prime Minister undermined that effort and now the timeframe has been extended to 2100, which is the same as putting it off indefinitely.

The government needs to respect democracy as well as the people of Drummond and all the other ridings, who also have the right to express themselves.

[The Environment, June 9th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, 16 communities along the St. Lawrence River are taking action to ban microbeads.

Found in a variety of cosmetics and toothpastes, these plastic microparticles are contaminating the St. Lawrence River. The NDP has shown leadership on the issue by successfully seeking unanimous consent of the House to have microbeads placed on Canada’s list of toxic substances. However, we have heard nothing since then.

What are the Conservatives waiting for before they act on our motion and protect our environment?

[Business of Supply, June 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my honourable colleague for his question and for his comments about seasonal workers. There are seasonal workers in the constituency of Drummond, and, in this regard, not only do employees come to see me but the employers do so as well. Since 2012, ever since the Conservative government made these atrocious reforms to employment insurance, small business bosses have been coming to see me and telling me how harmful the reforms have been for seasonal workers.

In addition, SME employers and bosses find these reforms terrible in terms of retaining their employees, because they take the time to train them in order to have qualified and experienced workers. If their workers have to look for another job farther away, and they may well be asked to look for jobs that are sometimes quite far away, the SMEs would lose these qualified employees.

We must get back to a better employment insurance program.

[Business of Supply, June 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I think that my honourable colleague works with local organizations in his constituency, just as I do.

As I mentioned, I work with the RDDS. There is also the provincial Mouvement Action-Chômage. We often see atypical cases of problems experienced by constituents who nonetheless observed the law, and this is the sort of thing I am referring to, among others.

There is also the fact that first the Liberals and then the Conservatives have weakened employment insurance to the point where 80% of insured people were eligible for employment insurance before, while now only 40% are eligible.

Can we say this is a valid insurance program when only 40% of people have access to it? No, we cannot.

This is what we deplore today, and this is why we must pass the motion that my honourable colleague for Trois-Rivières has brought forward today.

[Business of Supply, June 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to talk about employment insurance. I want to commend my colleague from Trois-Rivières on the excellent work that he does. He moved this motion that allows me to speak in the House about the employment insurance program and how important it is.

The motion reads as follows:

That, in the opinion of the House, employment insurance premiums paid by employers and workers must be used exclusively to finance benefits, as defined by the Employment Insurance Act, for unemployed workers and their families...

The motion goes on to explain how that would be accomplished.

What my colleague from Trois-Rivières presented is very important, and I know that he has been working very hard on this issue for some time now. It is an important issue that we have worked extremely hard on. Of course, we criticized the tens of billions of dollars in cuts that the Liberals and then the Conservatives made. In reality, they dipped into the EI fund in order to lower taxes for multinationals, corporations, instead of using that money for good.

I would like to point out that, in Drummond, I work with local organizations in order to serve the interests of my constituents. One of these organizations is the Regroupement de défense des droits sociaux des sans-emploi, or RDDS. This non-profit organization provides services to everyone, whether employed or unemployed, who wants to really learn all about their rights in terms of financial assistance of last resort, including employment insurance and labour standards. I have been working with this organization since 2011. I know it well and it has informed me about the problems of certain workers. We have worked together to meet the needs of these people and we continue to do so.

RDDS's mission is to improve the living conditions of employed or unemployed people and to help empower them by providing them with information and training on social rights. This organization is very important, and there are similar organizations across Quebec and Canada. They do excellent work and it is crucial to support them and, above all, to listen to them.

The Conservative members need to listen more closely to these organizations. They would understand why the motion moved today is extremely important.

I would like to acknowledge the excellent work done by the president of the Drummondville RDDS, Richard St-Cyr, and all of the other administrators, including Jason Grant, whom I also know very well. I also want to recognize the excellent work of the team: Joan Salvail, Sandra Malenfant and Stéphanie Bombardier. They do an exemplary job.

Recently, I had a meeting with the RDDS and the NDP riding association for Drummond, and we talked about how we could continue to inform people and what we could do to make sure that people are aware of their rights. We had the brilliant idea to invite someone who is a very well-known advocate of workers' rights and the employment insurance program, Hans Marotte, to come and give a speech in Drummondville. As members know, Hans Marotte has been the head of legal services at Mouvement action-chômage de Montréal since 1996. He has therefore been working on this issue for a long time. Mouvement action-chômage de Montréal is a community organization whose mission is to inform and defend workers and the unemployed with regard to employment insurance. Mr. Marotte also practises social and labour law. Mouvement action-chômage de Montréal and the Regroupement de défense des droits sociaux are two organizations that are working toward similar goals.

By way of information, Hans Marotte will also be running in the 2015 election in the riding of Saint-Jean. He is doing excellent work in that regard.

He came and gave a speech, and it was really interesting to learn about the various positions and about how the employment insurance program has changed over the years. First, the Liberals dipped into the EI surplus. Then the Conservatives took billions of dollars from the EI surplus, all at the expense of the people receiving employment insurance, which used to be known as unemployment insurance.

Let us remember one thing. In the past, 80% of people had access to the employment insurance program.

Over the years, Liberal and Conservative governments repeatedly made unfair reforms that did nothing to help our regions and our workers, but that instead made the jobless feel guilty.

There are many seasonal workers in the greater Drummond area, in sectors such as agriculture, forestry and horticulture. These are skilled individuals who have very good values. They have acquired valuable knowledge. The owners of these small businesses do not want to lose these workers. Employment insurance gets them through the off-season, when seasonal work is not available. They need employment insurance.

It is called employment insurance. A worker can apply for employment insurance when an accident or a problem occurs. It is very important. Hans Marotte compares it to car insurance:

I've never heard someone say that they look forward to getting in a car accident so they can file an insurance claim.

This situation is similar.

That goes for jobs too: nobody wants to lose theirs. What I do not understand is how people can get money for their car in three days but have to wait months when it is for their own selves.

See, it is the same thing. It does not make sense. When people have a car accident, they get service right away because they have insurance. They make claims. They get support. They even get temporary use of a car. They get to borrow a car. The insurer covers all of those costs because people pay for that insurance. That is how insurance works.

Employment insurance works differently. People have to fight to get their benefits, and they have to wait. We are talking about human beings and families. These are people with children; they might be the family's sole breadwinner. People are made to feel a bit like criminals when they claim employment insurance. With the new reform, people practically have to beg to get employment insurance even though it is something we should all be entitled to because we, both workers and employers, have paid the premiums for all of the years we have worked. That is why this motion is so important.

Let us take another look at the three specific points, a, b and c, of the motion. Here is what they say:

consequently, the government should: (a) protect workers' and employers' premiums from political interference;

We have watched the Liberals and Conservatives alike dip into the employment insurance fund. As of October 2015, the NDP will be in power. We want to protect us from ourselves and make it impossible for anyone to politically interfere with the EI fund. That is a wise thing to do.

(b) improve program accessibility to ensure that unemployed workers and their families can access it;

We said earlier that eligibility has gone from 80% to just under 40% today. It makes no sense to have an EI system that protects barely 40% of the people. Finally, the motion concludes:

(c) abandon its plan, as set out in Budget 2015, to set rates unilaterally, in order to maintain long-term balance in the fund while improving accessibility.

That is what we want. We want an employment insurance system that is there for Canadians. We want to listen to people on the ground who know what they are talking about. I mentioned the Regroupement de défense des droits sociaux, the RDDS, which is doing a great job. I also talked about Mouvement action-chômage and Hans Marotte, who are also doing a great job. We need to listen to them in order to reform the employment insurance system properly and take the politics out of the EI program. That is what we will do in October 2015 when we come to power.

[World Environment Day and Clean Air Day, June 3rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to underscore an important date for the environment. On June 5, people all over the world will celebrate World Environment Day and Clean Air Day. Unfortunately, environmental issues are usually ignored by the Conservative government.

However, according to a recent study by the consortium Ouranos, inaction on climate change could cost us billions of dollars in health care.

Speaking of the environment, I would like to congratulate the Conseil régional de l'environnement du Centre-du-Québec, the Bloc vert and the Groupe d'aide pour la recherche et l'aménagement de la faune at the École Jean-Raimbault, which are all doing an excellent job in Drummond.

Fortunately, on October 19, 2015, the NDP member for Outremont will make Canada an environmental leader on the world stage.

I want to wish everyone a happy World Environment Day and Clean Air Day.

[Sports in Drummond, May 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, sports are big in Drummond.

Young swimmers from the Requins de Drummondville swimming team have posted good results and are rising in the ranks of Quebec swim clubs.

The Nixines de Drummondville synchronized swimming team brought home four medals from the Coupe du Président competition.

In tumbling, athletes from Drummondville represented Quebec at the 2015 Eastern Canadian Championships.

For running fans, the popular “des Chênes-toi” race was once again a huge success, with more than 8,000 participants. There is also Raimbault-Courons, a festive family sports event that I participated in to encourage young people to stay in school.

Looking ahead, I invite the public to come to Drummondville to participate in the Triathlon FBL, which will take place on June 13.

Once again, Drummondville is the place to be if you are into sports.