Jean-Pierre Blackburn

[Employment Insurance, September 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, for one thing, we know that our economic action plan is working. So far, 7,500 projects have been accepted and 4,000 projects have begun in various regions of the country.

That said, another way of helping people during this recession is by helping those who are hardest hit, including the unemployed.

While we want to help 190,000 people who might lose their jobs for prolonged periods, the Bloc Québécois remains obstinate and is doing everything it can to delay the bill's implementation.

[.Agriculture and Agri-food, September 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I think the Bloc Québécois does not want to understand. Of course, it is only interested in separating Quebec. We are a country, and we do not want to have different standards from one province to another. Naturally, we have to find compromises. We will accept organic products from Quebec until 2011, when the new regulations take effect. That is what happens in a country. That country is Canada. It is not just Quebec.

[.Agriculture and Agri-food, September 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member already asked me that question this week. I will tell him again that it is important that Canada have a single standard for organic products that applies to all the provinces.

Sometimes provinces like Quebec have standards that are slightly different, but they have their value. We currently accept products from Quebec that are certified as organic under its standards. In 2011, Quebec will have to incorporate its standards into the Canadian standard.

[Employment Insurance, September 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, that is the Bloc Québécois policy: all or nothing. The government has to give everyone everything, otherwise the Bloc does not want the government to move forward.

What have we done? We have added five weeks of EI benefits for the unemployed because of the global economic recession. We have extended job sharing to assist employers and help employees keep their jobs. We have committed $1.15 billion so that workers can spend two years learning a new trade while being paid. Furthermore, today we are adding five to 20 weeks of benefits for long-tenured workers.

[Employment Insurance, September 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is getting to be as bad as the Liberals. While they refused to remain part of our committee and abandoned the unemployed, long-tenured workers would now like to benefit from five to 20 additional weeks of employment insurance, but the Bloc Québécois is raising objections to this bill and holding it up. Who will pay the price? The unemployed workers that the Bloc is holding hostage today.

[Employment Insurance, September 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Bloc is trying to confuse people by saying all sorts of things. The bill on the table is designed to protect long-tenured workers, people who lose their jobs after working at a plant for 15 or 20 years. We want to make sure they can receive an additional 20 weeks.

The member mentioned seasonal workers. They are already covered by the current EI system, according to regional standards. That is how the system works.

[Employment Insurance, September 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are currently holding a debate on introducing measures to help long-tenured workers. If a company closes, after one year of EI benefits, these workers could receive from 5 to 20 additional weeks of benefits.

Of course, the Bloc Québécois seems to have a great deal of difficulty helping workers, but we do not. As for the Liberals, they left the table where we were discussing how to help the unemployed.

We are continuing to work toward that goal. No fewer than 189,000 people will benefit, and that is not bad.

[Employment Insurance Act, September 17th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, there are two things. Just this morning, Guy Chevrette of the forestry sector said he feared that employer premiums could be raised. As soon as we try to help one group in difficulty someone is afraid because there is a cost associated with doing so. In the current circumstances, we have said we were freezing premiums for employees.

Permit me to say this to the hon. member. We should compare what is offered in Canada in terms of employment insurance with what is offered in the United States. There, people get between 40% and 60% of what they have earned. That is all they can get. Here, between 4 and 10 times more goes to help our employees and unemployed.

[Employment Insurance Act, September 17th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question and comment.

Once again, we are putting all sorts of measures in place in an effort to support Canadians, people and workers in this difficult economic period. We are one of the countries currently coming out of it fairly well compared with the situation worldwide. Seasonal and regular workers have EI when they lose their job. They have, based on the region where they live, between 420 and 700 hours. They are entitled to employment insurance.

The other thing we are doing this morning is adding on. We are saying this: If you lose your job and the business closes for good, you will, in principle, have a year's EI. It is there. The system is in place. We are adding an extra 5 to 20 weeks to help these people. That is what we are doing. There are parameters, of course, which we cannot avoid. There is a budget to manage. Our country has to be managed. At the same time, however, we feel a responsibility to try to help those in difficulty.

If it were left to our hearts, we would give and give and give, but we have to manage a budget and keep within the guidelines set for all governments.

[Employment Insurance Act, September 17th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, whom were we thinking of when we set up this EI program to help long-tenured employees? We thought of individuals who lose the jobs they have held for a number of years in Canada, in a region, in a business. We want to help them.

In our country, people in all types of jobs and businesses may find themselves in this situation. We are aware, of course, that there have been more layoffs in the forestry, automobile manufacturing and mining sectors and in the manufacturing sector. This is why we are helping these people.

I would remind the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord that we have also put measures in place. My colleague, the Minister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec) and I both come from that region and have put four different measures in place to support workers in Canada's forestry sector, among others.