Jean Rousseau

[Tackling Contraband Tobacco Act, June 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is not very often that I agree with my colleague.

Indeed, there is a very significant lack of co-operation and synergy between all governments and between the different levels and departments of government. In fact, no one has been able to connect the dots between the tax hikes, the costs of health care and the impacts on consumption.

When taxes on legal cigarettes are increased, there is more and more contraband tobacco. Even if taxes were substantially increased, the resulting benefits would never be enough to counteract the impact and effects of smoking on health.

As I said, prevention and good co-operation are the way to go.

I am really quite surprised and amazed to agree with my colleague. Obviously, the focus should be on promoting a relationship of synergy and co-operation.

[Tackling Contraband Tobacco Act, June 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, I will be sharing my speaking time—that is, the five minutes I have left—with the excellent member for Churchill.

Earlier, I spoke about how tobacco is a substance that is extremely hazardous to peoples' health. I also spoke about the lack of resources, and not just financial resources. Sometimes it is just material or human resources that are needed. It may be that all that is needed is a little time.

Not only is contraband a serious public safety and health problem, but it also results in a loss of tax revenue for various levels of government. The majority of tobacco manufacturers are located in Ontario and Quebec, and that is also where most contraband tobacco enters the country. That is where most tobacco is manufactured and where most contraband tobacco enters and leaves the country. Why? This happens by land and by water. Why is that?

As I said earlier, it is unacceptable that the resources are not being allocated to really fight this.

I found myself wondering about that earlier. I was also thinking that the RCMP recognizes that the increase in organized crime linked to contraband tobacco boosts other crimes. Contraband tobacco funds other criminal activities, such as weapons and drug trafficking.

Introducing mandatory minimum sentences of 90 days, 180 days and two years less a day will not resolve the situation. We know that in organized crime, when a person, a candidate, a soldier—excuse my language—is no longer needed or must be retired, he is replaced. There are pools of recruits who will commit all kinds of crimes. Increasing minimum sentences or further criminalizing contraband tobacco by making a small change to the Criminal Code will not reduce this crime.

There was a seizure in the Eastern Townships the day before yesterday. Unfortunately, 16 troublemakers were involved and they were all repeat offenders connected in some way to organized crime groups. These groups are increasingly organized in terms of technology, computer resources and vehicles.

I would like to tell you a story about something that happened in my riding. A package fell from the sky and all of a sudden a jet boat appeared to pick up the package and quickly take it across the border. The RCMP and the Sûreté du Québec had not done maintenance on their patrol boats in the previous two years and were therefore unable to reach the destination or the target. That is an example of the lack of resources I was talking about and the very serious consequences it can have.

Organized crime has the resources to easily transfer groups, vehicles and goods from one place to another. Why? Because the current government is not doing its job on the ground. It is not looking after the safety of communities or, more importantly, Canadians' health.

As I said before, provincial governments have worked hard to discourage the use of tobacco and drugs and even to prevent young people from suffering the serious consequences of membership in a criminal organization. A great deal of preventive work has been done with young people, and that work must continue. Young people need support. The government must allocate enough money for the youth centres that are located throughout Quebec, so they can hire leaders in the summer. The leaders are often young university students or other community members who help the municipalities and supervise young people during sports activities.

For example, in my riding, in Rock Forest in Deauville, there is a skateboard park. Young people love this sport. They are happy, they are outside and they are developing.

Needlessly exposing them to crime will do nothing to protect the future of our society and the safety of our people.

[The Senate, June 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals can openly plan a welcome back party for Mac Harb, who will single-handedly allow the Minister of Finance to eliminate the deficit a year sooner than planned, and the Conservatives can keep beating around the bush by carefully avoiding answering the real questions on the shenanigans of Nigel Wright and Mike Duffy, but what makes the NDP hopping mad is seeing these greedy people get rich on the backs of Canadians. We share in their anger when we see the old parties racking up scandals, just like the senators are racking up secondary residences. To make matters worse, they defend their unelected, unaccountable senator friends and cut them cheques for $90,000.

Unlike the Conservatives, we will not leave our principles at home when we form the government. Instead of stacking the Senate with fundraisers, we will close its doors for good. Canadians deserve better. They deserve—

[Tackling Contraband Tobacco Act, June 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to indicate that I will be sharing my time with the excellent member for Churchill, who is a great MP, by the way.

At first glance, this bill, which seeks to amend the Criminal Code and tackle contraband tobacco, appears to be a small bill that amends a provision of the Criminal Code. However, rather than addressing the real problem and focusing on prevention, the bill once again amends the Criminal Code in order to make the justice system stronger. This is a very noble cause or objective. However, the problem is that every time the government wants to address a problem, rather than allocating more financial, material and human resources to the organizations that are actually doing the work in order to address the real problem, it amends one or two sections of the Criminal Code and leads people to believe that these measures will solve all of the problems and that everything will be fine as a result.

I do not believe that solving the problem of contraband tobacco is that easy. We are talking about first nations, but contraband tobacco is a problem all across the country. Illegal cigarettes are flooding the market, and our young people are being shamelessly targeted by false Internet advertising. Why do we not pass similar legislation to deal with these ads?

It is so easy to go online and order illegal cigarettes, which come from all over the world and are often made by children who work in atrocious conditions. The cigarettes end up on the market. What impact will this have on the health of our young people?

Most of the provinces have extremely effective programs to combat smoking among young people. The federal government is trying, once again, to follow suit by investing in prevention. Prevention should take place at schools and in the schoolyards, but it also requires leadership. Our leaders need to take charge of the situation and send a clear message to the public that tobacco use is harmful to health.

Illegal tobacco is harmful to our health and also to our economy. Every year, contraband in Canada causes us to lose more than $2 billion in taxes. We must set aside financial and physical resources, since smuggling is going on in our waters, such as Lake Champlain, Lac Memphrémagog, the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. The Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP do not have the physical resources they need to catch smugglers. They need resources on the ground or else they will not be able to fight crime.

The Canada Border Services Agency is not inspecting packages because of an apparent lack of resources, time and personnel. How is that possible? It is unacceptable in a society like ours. This government brags about creating 1 million jobs. Give me a break. It cannot have created 1 million jobs, because we see no real evidence of that. Instead, what we see is that this government is ineffective and does not take action. Day after day, it makes investments in the wrong places.

Prevention starts with our young people. We need to encourage them to play sports, read books and visit libraries and museums. Not museums that the Conservatives have modelled around their own ideology, but museums that provide an accurate portrayal of history. We must get them interested in things that will help develop their minds and that will open them up to the amazing opportunities and possibilities available to them as citizens of a country as rich and developed as ours.

As I said, we must take action and show leadership, and this leadership must start at the top.

[Tackling Contraband Tobacco Act, June 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech, and I commend him for it. As was already mentioned, the NDP will support this bill at second reading.

I am still wondering about how effective the bill will be and what impact it will have on the tax evasion associated with contraband cigarettes in Canada, which deprives the government of over $2 billion in tax revenue a year.

I would like my colleague to share his thoughts on that.

[Tackling Contraband Tobacco Act, June 11th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will once again ask the same question that I have repeated several times.

Cutbacks at the Canada Border Services Agency, at the RCMP and in the special units have been detrimental to the fight against trafficking in weapons, cigarettes and even drugs. If the government keeps cutting these agencies' budgets, it will be impossible to fight crime, even by increasing prison sentences and so on, measures that have absolutely no impact in the field.

People need real resources. I have spoken to police officers on the front lines and that is what they have told me. The RCMP boats on Lake Champlain and Lac Memphrémagog have not been maintained and have been out of service for two years now. RCMP officers cannot even put their boats in the water to chase the boats that are crossing the lake with huge quantities of cigarettes.

It is impossible to fight crime without putting resources in the right places.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 10th, 2013]

With regard to the 2013-2014 Main Estimates for the Canada Border Services Agency: (a) how many positions were cut, broken down by program; (b) what will the sources of respendable revenue be, broken down by amount; (c) what will the sources of professional and special services expenditures be, broken down by (i) service, (ii) contractor, (iii) amount; and (d) what will the sources of other subsidies and payments expenditures be, broken down by (i) subsidy, (ii) payment, (iii) amount?

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 7th, 2013]

With regard to the 2013-2014 Main Estimates for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec: (a) how many positions will be cut, broken down by program; (b) what will the sources of professional and special services expenditures be, broken down by (i) service, (ii) contractor, (ii) amount; and (c) what are the eligibility and assessment criteria for projects submitted under the Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund?

[Business of Supply, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable for an experienced member to make such comments. They are patronizing, almost colonial comments. It is unacceptable to say that it is impossible to carry out modern parliamentary reforms. The people are seeing all the scandals that have unfolded in the past two weeks, or in the past few years in the case of the Liberals. It is possible to carry out reforms.

As for effectiveness, the Senate rates a zero. If its activities were included in Canada's GDP, we would be one of the worst countries in the world. The Senate is not effective in the least, it has a high absenteeism rate and we do not get our money's worth. The member just said that everything would shut down if we stopped funding the Senate. If they truly want to serve their country, senators should volunteer their time. In any event, they were elected by the Liberals and the Conservatives.

[Fighting Foreign Corruption Act, June 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague, the hon. member for La Pointe-de-l'Île, on her excellent speech.

To me, one thing is missing from this bill that could become law in the future. When we talk about corruption, we are also talking about working conditions. For example, we can talk about attracting businesses here by promising the working conditions we have in Canada, by telling these people that they can do what they want, that it is no problem, that enough workers are available and they can go ahead with their plans.

The hon. member spoke very eloquently about human rights, but there is also the matter of labour rights. There is a great deal of corruption. This may need to be defined. Nonetheless, this corruption might exist when we are attracting businesses. Canadian businesses that represent Canada abroad accept working conditions that would never be tolerated in Canada.

I think that allowing businesses to exploit a situation outside the country under the Canadian banner and under lesser working conditions constitutes corruption, and it would be unacceptable here.