Jean-Pierre Blackburn

[Bankruptcy, May 31st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, during the last session, this House adopted Bill C-55, which enables the government to establish a program to protect the wages of employees of a company that goes bankrupt. Despite unanimous support from parliamentarians, we are not in a position to bring this legislation into effect immediately without making some major housekeeping and technical changes.

That said, an interdepartmental committee is currently working on this issue and I would say we are making rapid progress.

[Regional Development, May 12th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the members of the Bloc Québécois are quite good at asking questions. They ask and ask again, but they never get results.

That said, the desire of the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec continues to be to try to find ways to help resource regions, those with a declining population in particular. I am trying to free up, from the $200 million allocated to the department, an envelope to contribute to diversifying the economic activity of regions with a declining population. That is the ultimate priority.

[Regional Development, May 12th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, hon. members know that the Economic Development Agency of Canada offers various programs to help the regions of Quebec. Despite these existing programs and despite the good will of previous governments, a fact remains: the regions—many of which are resource regions, I might add—continue to empty out. We are losing our young people. Furthermore, the economic situation is not really getting better.

With regard to the Marshall plan adopted during the second world war, I must also add that $14 billion was invested in four sectors, which generated 30 glorious years of prosperity. I want to apply this example to accomplish more for the regions of Quebec.

[Textile Industry, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, since 2004, assistance was provided to more than 50 textile companies through the CANtex program, for a total of $5.7 million.

That said, I might add that it is not out of the question that we re-examine what changes could be made in order to help the various regions affected.

[Textile Industry, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that there is a program in place to help the textile industry. It is called the CANtex program. Through this program, the affected industries and regions can receive non-refundable contributions of up to $100,000, thereby promoting economic diversification in the textile industry.

[Rail Transport, May 2nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question.

I had the opportunity to go to the Gaspé a few days ago. I told the people there and the socio-economic stakeholders that, indeed, the Gaspé had already been greatly affected by the cuts in forestry and by the entire fisheries issue. I told the people of Gaspé as Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec that it was not true that the train would be cut too.

It is in this vein that we are currently working with our partners. That does not mean of course that we will throw money at the problem, but the desire to keep the train in Gaspé is real.

[Quebec City Airport, May 2nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec City Airport project will cost $68.5 million. A committee involving the various levels of government is working on this matter. Given present circumstances, we will have to wait for the budget to see what funds are available to meet expectations and to ensure that everything is ready for Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations.

[Regional Development, May 2nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, may I ask the member to repeat his question? I did not catch it.

[Pay Equity, May 1st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I have two things to say about this. First, every five years the Employment Equity Act has to be reviewed. We will be reaching the fifth stage shortly and there will be a full review.

Next—and the hon. members of this House might be interested in this—an inter-departmental committee is currently working on establishing a legislative framework that would help settle pay equity disputes. This would avoid having to go to court for every dispute.

[Labour, May 1st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the communication did indeed allege that the Government of Mexico had failed in its obligation to ensure the effective enforcement of its labour legislation with respect to freedom of association as well as other labour rights. The Canadian National Administrative Office also concluded that the communication did not comply with the necessary criteria and has decided not to accept the communication for review.