Guy André

[Supply, November 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I commend my hon. colleague for his remarks and I agree with the important points he made.

I come from Berthier—Maskinongé, a rural area. In that rural area, agriculture is very important of course. Our rural areas have been affected by this problem. The furniture industry is currently ailing. And there have been plant closures in the textile industry.

Negotiating for supply management entails a bargaining relationship. One enters negotiations to gain something and prepared to give something in return. We consider that supply management in this case is not negotiable because, without it, our regions are likely to shut down.

The government of the day will have to be very sensitive to this situation where regions are having their lifeblood drained away. Indeed, rural areas are shutting down. Agriculture is one of the ways to ensure the vitality of our rural areas. So, the concern raised by the hon. member very much strikes a chord with the Bloc Québécois.

That is why hon. members have to support the motion we have put forward. It is important for our region, for Quebec and for many other regions across Canada.

[Supply, November 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed the hon. member's speech.

We are just a few weeks away from the WTO negotiations, in Hong Kong. There is a gloomy feeling among producers in my riding, in Quebec and in Canada. Supply management, which is a great system for the marketing of agricultural products such as milk, eggs and poultry, is being threatened. Right now, producers do not have confidence in this government.

Back home, the president of the UPA is worried. He said:

On the eve of the renewal of the Canadian negotiators' mandate, if what is currently on the WTO table is to be agreed to—that being the lowering of over-quota tariffs and increased access to our milk, egg and poultry markets—this would be a death sentence for any productions that are under supply management”.

My question is for the hon. member. The latest American proposal during the negotiations is that what are known as sensitive products in the WTO negotiations not be accessible to more than 1% of the tariff lines. If that measure is implemented, 80% of the supply managed products would be threatened.

What does the Conservative member think of the government's position, which has not been openly critical of the American proposal?

[Criminal Code, November 21st, 2005]

Madam Speaker, we are not necessarily opposed to this bill. We are not opposed to a policy aimed at providing animals with more protection against cruelty. We do, however, find that the legitimate activities set out in the bill, such as hunting and fishing, and other activities involving the killing of animals, are not clearly delineated.

Here is my question for my colleague. Given that the bill has been introduced in the House on numerous occasions—we have had C-10 and C-22—would there be some way of reworking it to provide a more detailed definition of what constitutes cruelty toward animals and what constitutes a legitimate activity? This bill is not sufficiently clear on that. A major effort would have to be made on this, to ensure that the bill includes protection for farmers, hunters and others at risk of being charged with an act that would not necessarily constitute animal cruelty. That is my question for my colleague.

[International Solidarity, November 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the ninth annual Quebec International Solidarity Days are taking place from November 10 to 20. A variety of activities celebrating international solidarity are being held in over 70 countries.

In Quebec the rallying cry bringing everyone together is “Un monde sans pauvreté: Agissons!” or “Make Poverty History”. Throughout the year, as part of the global call to action against poverty, appeals are made to world leaders to take action to make poverty history.

I invite the public to attend the lectures, the exhibits and the music and poetry events focussing on the issue of poverty. These activities raise awareness about the various forms of poverty and the possible solutions for eradicating it.

Let us all heed the appeals of Quebec's association of international cooperation agencies, for the sake of fairness and humanity.

[Supply, November 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to put a question to the Conservative member. One of the major proposals made by the Bloc Québécois is to have the Access to Information Act based on an effective whistleblower protection system to ensure that information released is not restricted by political considerations. I think this is a very important element.

Something we learned in the context of the sponsorship program, which I consider fundamental, is that a number of communications agencies that no doubt received grants or sums of money were not necessarily uncovered by previous inquiries.

People are afraid to speak up. These agencies were receiving contracts and are afraid of not getting any more from the federal government for communications or advertising. So, not all the information comes out in a scandal like the sponsorship scandal. It would seem that people are afraid, for political considerations, of losing contracts if they say something.

So, how would a Conservative government resolve this situation?

[Supply, November 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to first of all congratulate my colleague for his fair and apt presentation on the Access to Information Act. He has shown a great deal of perspicacity. I have a question for him.

This Liberal government has been in power since 1993. It administers public funds. Now it is 2005. This government has had to deal with several financial scandals, including the sponsorship scandal, where money was transferred in a special way to federal institutions at the time of the 1995 referendum. Still today, we note a degree of hesitation on the part of the government to justify all of its institutional spending.

This is my question for my colleague: in the aftermath of the many scandals we are all familiar with, what interest can this government still have, now, in wanting to conceal or deny public access to all f the facts about spending by the various institutions currently administered by it?

[Annual Public Health Days, November 14th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the ninth edition of annual public health days will run from today until November 17.

This major annual professional development event in Quebec public health draws doctors, researchers, teachers, students, nurses, social workers and many other public health professionals.

It plays a vital role in the acquisition of ever evolving scientific and medical knowledge, enabling participants to increase their effectiveness and expand their expertise.

The Bloc Québécois is proud of the commitment by all of these people to excellence in public health. We wish the event success.

[Softwood Lumber, November 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the two Canadian softwood lumber negotiators, Paul Tellier and Gordon Ritchie, have reached the conclusion that there is nothing more to negotiate and last week, they announced their intention to resign.

Now that it is clear that this conflict will not be resolved any time soon, does the government intend to grant the loan guarantees that the softwood lumber industry has been demanding for a long time now?

[Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act, November 1st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to say that I agree with my colleague from the NDP that there are certain measures missing from this bill. I have a question for him.

What does he think of the response from another hon. member, to whom I put a question earlier, who insinuated that the astronomical profits of the oil companies were justified because they helped create jobs? According to a study by the research chair of the Université du Québec à Montréal, the profits of the oil companies have risen 585% over the last 15 years.

In my opinion, this increase in profits is not proportional to job creation. In fact, profits have risen 585% in the last 15 years, and according to the same study, over those 15 years there has been a 54% reduction in employment. Therefore it is not true that the increase in the profits of the oil companies is creating jobs.

I would like to hear the hon. member on this subject. Keep in mind that we are in favour of this bill. But we believe that other measures could be taken to encourage a greater contribution by the oil companies to these social measures, and of course to ensure that this bill can reach other clienteles who have need of it.

[Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act, November 1st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, permit me to doubt the fact that this government is really doing the right thing. While the rich oil companies are lining their pockets, the population is getting poorer.

They are trying to set up a program to help the disadvantaged of our society, but they forget the farmers, the students, and other single persons even more disadvantaged.

Meanwhile, the oil companies have increased their profits 157% over the last five years. That is the finding of a study done by the research chair of the Université du Québec à Montréal. We are talking here about Imperial Esso, Shell Canada and Petro-Canada. The study shows that Imperial, for example, has made $12.1 billion in profit and issued $12.5 billion to its shareholders. The intention of these oil companies is therefore to return as much money as possible to the shareholders and not to develop new refineries or take other measures to play a “more social” role in our society.

I would like to hear the hon. member on this subject: once again, it is the people, through their taxes, who will pay for these measures being put forward, while the oil companies, who are making all these profits, will be contributing very little to this bill.