Gilles Duceppe

[Employment Insurance, September 15th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government announced new employment insurance measures, but many questions remain unanswered. For example, will this measure help workers in the forestry industry, which has been going through a very hard time for years, particularly in Quebec? Will this measure help workers in the pulp and paper industry, where several mills have been going through intermittent closures?

In other words, the Conservative government may have good intentions, but will its conditions not deny lots of what it calls long-tenured workers access to additional weeks of benefits?

[Member for Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, September 15th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the election of the member for Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, who is the most senior member of this House.

He was elected in 1984, during the time of the “beau risque”, as it was called by René Lévesque. He has since been re-elected seven times.

The hopes of the “beau risque“ have long since faded away.

That ship sailed with the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord.

Our colleague recognized this and helped found the Bloc Québécois, a sovereignist party.

Despite appearances, he did not change parties, because he represents loyalty to the Quebec nation, a loyalty that only the Bloc enables him to fully express.

Our friend was elected eight times because he is always there for his constituents.

And 8,000 of them came to pay tribute to him in Sorel-Tracy on September 4.

We are proud to work alongside him, and to have him as chair of our party's caucus.

We pay tribute to him today for his loyalty to Quebec and his loyalty to his constituents and colleagues.

[Justice, September 14th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister never proposed eliminating the possibility of release after serving one-sixth of a sentence. What he just said is completely false. Our bill addresses only release after one-sixth of a sentence. Thus, there is no poison pill here, as there usually is with the Conservative government. Furthermore, there is consensus in Quebec concerning this proposal.

Will the Prime Minister act in good faith on Tuesday and support this Bloc Québécois bill aimed at eliminating the release of criminals after only one-sixth of their sentence?

[Justice, September 14th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as Vincent Lacroix's trial gets underway today, and as the number of victims of white collar crime continues to grow, concrete action is desperately needed to tackle corporate crime. Today the Bloc Québécois is introducing a bill to remove the provisions that allow white collar criminals to be released after serving only one-sixth of their sentence. With a little political will, our bill could pass in one day.

Will the Prime Minister finally put his words into action and support the Bloc Québécois bill so it can passe by Tuesday?

[Quebec, June 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this coalition abandons not only the unemployed, but also all of Quebec. Quebec has received nothing for harmonizing the GST, nothing for funding post-secondary education, nothing for equalization. Instead, the coalition has not stopped doing things to hurt Quebec. It voted in favour of a Canada-wide securities commission and against the application of Bill 101 in the Canada Labour Code. They truly are token Quebeckers.

Will this new coalition admit that it has done everything but defend the interests of the Quebec nation?

[The Economy, June 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a full-blown economic crisis and this is the last sitting of Parliament before the summer recess. Meanwhile, the co-leader of the Liberal-Conservative coalition is preparing for a fall election and the Prime Minister is holding a photo op. This is a clear indication of how little the coalition cares about the public.

Will the new coalition admit that it has entered into an agreement that will buy time in order to better prepare for a future election rather than help the businesses and workers seriously affected by this crisis?

[Employment Insurance, June 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister happens to want to have a debate with any group of unemployed people in Quebec, I am ready. Let him just say the word. But I know he will not rise to the challenge.

Where self-employed workers are concerned, what the Prime Minister has to do is to keep his campaign promise to give them access to parental leave. Self-employed people in Quebec already have that.

Does the Prime Minister realize that, as far as Quebec is concerned, this is an empty promise and what the unemployed need is a thorough reform of employment insurance?

[Employment Insurance, June 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, even before the first meeting of the bogus committee of the Liberal-Conservative coalition on employment insurance, the Prime Minister slammed the door on the 360 hour eligibility level and the Liberal leader gave in. The Prime Minister also categorically refused to do away with the waiting period. The Liberal leader gave in on that too.

Does the Prime Minister realize that the Liberal-Conservative coalition is leaving the unemployed high and dry for the entire summer? And that if there are any results from the committee in the fall, it will have laboured mightily and given birth to a mouse, because from the very start, certain elements essential to real employment insurance reform have been shunted aside?

[Participation of Women in Politics, June 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, today Equal Voice is once again challenging the federal political parties on the issue of women's participation in politics. And again, the Bloc Québécois is rising to the challenge.

In the 2008 election, the Bloc Québécois ran 20 women candidates and got three quarters of them elected. That is a much higher success rate than that of our Conservative, Liberal and NDP opponents.

Equal Voice is calling on the federal political parties to run more women candidates than in the last election. We will make every effort to meet that target. In our party's constitution, it is written in black in white that the Bloc Québécois shall endeavour to ensure equal representation of women and men. That is our goal.

In the Bloc Québécois, we have a clear political will. We want to promote more than ever the crucial participation of women in politics, bearing in mind this goal of achieving gender parity, which may sound bold, but really is only something normal.

[Employment Insurance, June 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-Conservative coalition agreement covers only two aspects of employment insurance: the Conservative election promise and eligibility. The Conservative election promise was only for parental leave for self-employed workers, and Quebec already has that. As for the 360-hour eligibility threshold, the Liberal leader is already willing to give in.

Do the Prime Minister and his new Liberal friend realize that what the unemployed need is a complete overhaul of the employment insurance system?