Jean-Pierre Blackburn

[Employment Insurance, October 7th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this is the fourth measure we have introduced to help the unemployed while the country and the world are going through economic difficulties and a recession.

We began by adding five weeks for the unemployed. The Bloc voted against that. We proposed adding things for work sharing and training. Now, we want to provide 5 to 20 additional weeks for long-tenured workers, those who have been working for a long time, who have paid employment insurance premiums and have never had a chance to benefit from them in the long term. We want to help those workers by giving them an additional 5 to 20 weeks. The Bloc seems to be against that as well.

[Employment Insurance, October 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to describe what we have done, for the benefit of the people who are watching.

We have introduced four different measures to help people who lose their jobs during the current economic difficulties. We are extending employment insurance by five weeks. They wanted an extra two weeks only. We are adding five, which is helping 289,000 people. They voted against that. We are extending work sharing arrangements by 14 weeks to help companies and employees who want to share their work time. They also voted against that. People who take workforce training for a new job can receive two years of benefits. They voted against that as well.

[Employment Insurance, October 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I also noted the Bloc's suggestions. They know that all their suggestions are nothing but hot air, because they will never take power and never be able to implement any of them.

It is easy to look good in front of people, but I am going to come back to the issue of military bases. The member said yesterday at a press conference that he wanted to cut the army's budget. Which military base does he want to close? The one in Bagotville? What does the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord think of that? His colleague wants to close the military base, yet recently he wanted to have all the Chinook helicopters. He is talking out of both sides of his mouth.

[Employment Insurance, October 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as hon. members are aware, the Canada Employment Insurance Commission will be an independent body that will make decisions and set the contribution rate according to the benefits that are provided for workers who lose their jobs. We have decided to freeze that contribution rate for this year and next year so that people do not have to pay more during these tough economic times.

We have recently introduced four new measures to help the unemployed. The Bloc Québécois has voted against every one. What do the Bloc members have against the unemployed?

[Employment Insurance, October 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to remind the hon. member that the employment insurance program helps workers and people in difficulty in various ways. Earlier, the member asked a question about long-tenured workers. We want to help some 189,000 people who are in this situation and could benefit from employment insurance.

Why is the Bloc against that? Why is it against the fact that we want harsher sentences for child traffickers? Why is it against the fact that we want to make an additional $20 billion in tax cuts? Why is it always against the interests of Quebec in the House?

[Employment Insurance, October 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder why, when the time comes to help the unemployed, the Bloc member votes against our bills. The Bloc wanted an extra two weeks of benefits. We decided to add five weeks for unemployed workers. The Bloc and this member voted against that. We also wanted to help people who were willing to share their work time to help their co-workers keep their jobs, so we added 14 weeks. We are helping the unemployed. The Bloc voted against that as well.

What sort of thrill do the Bloc members get out of always being against the unemployed and, in this case, against Quebec's interests?

[Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, October 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to take action when I was the Minister of Labour. I went to Colombia and Peru to speak about this free trade agreement and, among other things, a side agreement on workers' rights.

I had discussions with the President of Colombia. Naturally, Colombia wishes to have Canada's support for the implementation of this free trade agreement, which is going in the right direction. It will make progress in the area of workers' rights for unionized workers and all Colombian workers.

With respect to workers' rights, there is a side agreement in which Colombia confirms that it will respect fundamental labour rights. It also confirms its intention to grant the right to form unions, to not condone child labour and to ensure that there will be annual discussions among unions, workers, the government and entrepreneurs.

Either we allow them to be isolated or, on the contrary, we help them move in the right direction.

I therefore ask the member why do they not want to allow Colombian workers to hope for better days and ensure that Canada will partner with them and make it possible for them to head in the right direction?

[Employment Insurance, September 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, with our bill, we are going to pay out $935 million and help 190,000 people. People across Canada will benefit during these tough economic times.

What is more, a few months ago, we added five weeks of EI benefits, introduced measures to help people who want to take extended training, and expanded work sharing to help companies and employees.

The Bloc is against the bill. It does not want the bill to move forward and it does not want to help unemployed workers, whom we are working to help.

[Employment Insurance, September 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of our bill on long-tenured workers is to ensure that those who have paid into the employment insurance system for years and years but have not received benefits for an extended period can receive from 5 to 20 additional weeks of benefits when they lose their jobs during a recession.

We want to help these workers and people who are losing their jobs, but the Bloc is doing everything it can to block this bill and prevent it from going forward.

[Employment Insurance, September 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the House again that the longer the Bloc Québécois delays the implementation of this bill, the more people are being penalized. We want to help 190,000 workers and we are injecting $1 billion—well, $935 million—to help people who are losing their jobs. We want to help these long-tenured workers who have paid into employment insurance for years and years, so they can now have from 5 to 20 weeks longer.

Why are they delaying the application or implementation of this bill?