House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2011, with 35% of the vote.
Employment Insurance November 4th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that the Bloc leader and his party agree that self-employed workers should benefit from these very important measures to provide special benefits, including parental and maternity leave. Until now, this has been available to all Canadians except self-employed workers. Now self-employed workers will be able to benefit from it, and adjustments will be made for Quebec.
Conservative Government November 3rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Lévis—Bellechasse is right to wonder why. Indeed, why did the leader of the Bloc and his party systematically vote against the unemployed and their families? The only answer I can come up with is that the leader of the Bloc and his party are very negative. They have been here for 18 years and they have done nothing but criticize. They no longer see good measures that are valid and beneficial for the unemployed. The people of Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup might want to keep that in mind on Monday and send an 11th member of our party from Quebec here to Ottawa.
Employment Insurance November 3rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, once again, I must inform the member that today, we announced new measures for self-employed workers, including 15 weeks of sickness benefits that Quebec's self-employed workers will be able to collect. We are also making six weeks of compassionate care benefits available to self-employed workers in Quebec if they are interested.
I should also point out that we are compensating Quebec for what it offers in terms of maternity, parental and paternity benefits because, instead of paying the $1.73 contribution rate, they pay $1.36. That has already been done.
Employment Insurance November 3rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, that is odd. We have Bill C-50, which will give between five and 20 extra weeks of employment insurance benefits to long-tenured workers. These are people who have rarely collected employment insurance benefits.
First they ask our government for help, then they turn around and vote against it. At the same time, they stand up and ask for employment insurance measures. This is the fourth measure we have announced, and today, we announced two more for self-employed workers in Quebec who can now collect sickness benefits and compassionate care benefits. Is the party her going to vote against that too?
Agriculture and Agri-Food October 22nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, first, the people who were affected by golden nematode received $8 million to help them through their difficulties. There was also an agreement with the Government of Quebec that provided an additional $5 million to help people affected by golden nematode, not to mention other measures in the AgriFlexibility fund that could help them.
Business of supply October 19th, 2009
It provides loan guarantees.
Business of supply October 19th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I listened to the speech made by my colleague, the hon. member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord. There are a few things I would like to tell him because I do not think he is telling people the real story.
He said nothing was done to deal with the crisis in the forest industry. The hon. member was there, though, along with my colleague, the Minister of State responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and me, when an economic summit was held recently in our region. We heard what the stakeholders had to say. They asked us to do something specific for the forest industry.
So we have done four things.
First, Quebec and Ottawa jointly invested some $200 million in silviculture. In response to the requests of the forest producers, whom I have met personally, a way was found to help them.
Then they asked for loan guarantees. Thanks to the last budget, Export Development Canada can now provide loan guarantees.
For the hon. member’s information, between last January 1 and June 15—in less than six months therefore—the EDC provided $10 billion in loans to the Canadian forest industry, including $7 billion to 220 forest companies in Quebec. That is quite a few companies. This amount was $800 million more than what was provided to the automobile industry.
The Business Development Bank of Canada now also provides working capital and other kinds of capital.
We took a whole series of steps, but the hon. member does not want to talk about them or see them.
Employment Insurance October 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, once again, with respect to the employment insurance account, premiums paid by workers will depend of course on the various services to be provided to all unemployed workers. An independent board will look at the costs associated with the services provided to those who lose their jobs. At present, that is not what Canadians are concerned about. What they really want to know is when the longstanding bill to help the unemployed will be passed. When will the Bloc stop opposing it and help those people who need it?
Employment Insurance October 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, once again, for this year and next, employment insurance premiums will be frozen at $1.73 for $100. In difficult economic times what does a responsible government do? It creates measures to support those who lose their jobs. We have proposed four such measures in recent months and the Bloc voted against each one. The Bloc stubbornly refuses to provide assistance to the unemployed who desperately need it during this recession.
Employment Insurance October 7th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, with this measure to help long-tenured workers, 189,000 people could benefit from 5 to 20 additional weeks of employment insurance. Instead of making those people wait, instead of depriving them of additional weeks of EI, the members opposite should support the government and rush to ensure that the bill is enacted as soon as possible to help people in difficulty.