Jean-Yves Laforest

[Petitions, April 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, here today, I would like to present three petitions concerning the cuts made to the summer career placements program.

The citizens of my riding have rallied to present 800 signatures. They are objecting to the changes made by the Conservative government. This is why I am presenting these petitions here today.

[Paillé Review, April 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in response to my question yesterday on the scope of the mandate given to Daniel Paillé concerning the granting of polling contracts, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services answered that the government had nothing to hide.

Are we to understand from the parliamentary secretary’s response that from now on the new mandate of the Paillé investigation will cover all polls, those of the Liberals as well as those of the Conservatives, up to and including 2007?

[Paillé Review, April 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the government has just appointed Daniel Paillé to review contracts for polls and their alleged use for partisan purposes.

How can the Conservative government, which claims to be transparent, explain that the review stops at 2003? Why has the government excluded itself from this review? Does it have something to hide?

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member is no doubt aware, an election was held in Quebec yesterday. Not all of the parties committed to reducing taxes.

It is now up to the Government of Quebec to manage the funds that are to be transferred. At any rate, the point is that Quebec is entitled to these transfer payments because the fiscal imbalance really exists.

The funds that are to be made available will enable Quebec to choose. I hope that Quebeckers and their government will make the best possible choices to enable all Quebeckers to resolve as many issues as possible, including the ones we have raised today.

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.

I will answer by explaining why the Bloc Québécois will vote in favour of this budget, despite all the problems I pointed out and that he repeated.

First of all, one extremely important component of this budget is the interesting approach it takes regarding the correction of the fiscal imbalance, even though the approach is only partial. We in the Bloc Québécois are convinced that correcting the fiscal imbalance will allow Quebec to find its own solutions to the problems we have raised.

In addition, I would say that a full resolution of the fiscal imbalance issue is needed to allow Quebec access to its full powers. Thus, the encroachments on Quebec's jurisdictions must stop, so that Quebec may, once and for all, address the problems that we raised and of course find its own solutions.

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my speaking time with the hon. member for Laval.

First off, I want to emphasize how proud I am to see that the Bloc Québécois' hard work to eliminate the fiscal imbalance is finally paying off. This long standing effort undertaken by the people of Quebec, which the Bloc Québécois then took to Ottawa, is now producing initial results. It translates into actual monetary gains for Quebec.

I want to remind the House that we are the ones who initiated the fight against the fiscal imbalance by chanting that the money is in Ottawa while the needs are in Quebec City. Let us not forget that the Séguin commission was struck by the sovereignists. In Ottawa, it was the Bloc Québécois that kept the pressure on the federal government and maintained standards high enough to make sure they would be taken seriously. The people of Saint-Maurice—Champlain and myself are convinced that we owe the new federal transfers we are seeing today to this relentless fight. The people of Quebec stand to benefit from the fiscal imbalance eventually being resolved. For these reasons, my colleagues and I will be voting for this budget. This money rightfully belongs to Quebeckers, and we have to make sure that they benefit from it as they should. However, the elimination of the fiscal imbalance remains only a possibility, since it is clear from reading the budget for 2007-08 that the federal transfers it contains do not quite eliminate the financial pressures Quebec is currently facing.

Clearly the Prime Minister did not keep his promise of fully eliminating the fiscal imbalance. It is deplorable that the Conservative government is still not planning to put an end to the federal government's power to spend in Quebec's jurisdictions, as the Séguin report recommends. I would remind the Prime Minister that there is a general consensus on that report in Quebec.

At most, the Conservative budget talks about limiting federal spending power by offering the right to withdraw from cost sharing programs with compensation and with conditions imposed by the federal government, which is unacceptable. Not only do the current intrusions in Quebec's jurisdictions have to stop, but Quebec has to be able to withdraw without condition and with full compensation every time it sees fit in the future.

Clearly the government has disregarded the basic solution long proposed by the Bloc Québécois and confirmed in the Séguin report, which is to transfer income tax points or GST points to Quebec and the provinces. This is not over yet.

In a number of matters, the proposed budgetary measures do not respond in any way to the requests of the Bloc Québécois or the expectations of Quebeckers. I am referring to the forestry industry, and especially to the older workers who are victims of one of the worst crises in the history of that industry. The lack of true measures to help these workers and this industry concerns me very much since the people and families in my riding are severely affected by this crisis. In Saint-Maurice—Champlain, this crisis translates into 500 lost jobs and the loss of over 1,000 jobs in the Mauricie region alone.

Clearly the Conservative government passed up another chance to help workers of the forestry industry. The Federation of Paper and Forest Workers was critical of the government about this in a March 23 press release. A suitable income support program for older workers is noticeably absent in this budget. Ever since POWA, the program for older worker adjustment, was cut by the Liberals in 1997, the Bloc Québécois and a number of groups have been calling for a new income support program for workers 55 and older who can no longer be retrained and who are victims of mass layoffs. The Conservative government has to respect the amendment to the 2006 throne speech, which was passed unanimously.

The Bloc Québécois wanted to find a concrete and immediate solution to the problem of older workers who are the victims of mass layoffs, or at least wanted the Conservative government to allocate funds to the income support program for older workers in response to the conclusions of the expert panel set up in January 2007.

To demonstrate this need, I will give the example of the workers at the Groleau plant in Sainte-Thècle, in my riding. This wood processing plant, which closed in February 2005, employed over 90 people. At the end of January 2007, 11 of these workers aged 55 to 64 stopped receiving employment insurance benefits. These workers must now turn to social assistance.

It is shocking to think that people who gave 30 to 40 years of their life to a company and then suffered the effects of the softwood lumber crisis are now in such a dire situation. These employees from the Groleau plant were not able to benefit from the TIOW because they did not meet one of the eligibility requirements— losing their job after May 1, 2006.

It is unconscionable to leave these people with nothing, and that is what the Conservative government did when it tabled this budget. These are honest citizens who have worked their whole life and now find themselves having to apply for social assistance. This is unacceptable.

As this example proves, again, it is those who are less fortunate who are the victims of the social policies of the Conservative government. So, it is not surprising that once again, the unemployed are the big losers in this federal budget. There is no separate employment insurance fund in the budget speech or plan. As a member of parliament for a region where the unemployment rate is relatively high, I am greatly distressed to see that this government is ignoring a whole category of the population.

On the subject of an independent fund, the Prime Minister previously said, on May 1, 2006, “—we share the Bloc leader's philosophy on this”. He even said that he was “on the verge of proposing to the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development that she formulate alternate measures for this government”. However, the budget that has been presented does not respond to any of the demands of the Bloc Québécois.

I want to emphasize that it should have been the duty of the federal government to create an independent employment insurance fund and an independent commission. Likewise, the day after tabling the budget, the government should have immediately taken steps to return the $48 billion that was taken from the fund.

It is deplorable to see that, in addition to making no improvement to the plan, the Conservative government will continue to use part of the employment insurance fund as it pleases.

It is obvious that even if the Conservatives claim to share the Bloc Québécois' philosophy, in fact, they follow the same practices as the Liberals. That party abandoned the population by transforming the employment insurance plan into a disguised and discriminatory tax on employment. By refusing to move on this question, the Conservatives are doing no better, as the tabling of this budget proves. The Prime Minister is far from repairing the damage done by his predecessors. On the contrary, he is once again showing his contempt for all workers.

The Bloc Québécois will continue to pursue the government on this vital issue. We will do everything we can to restore the plan to its original purpose as an instrument for ensuring reasonable support for workers who lose their jobs.

All the signs provide evidence that the most unfortunate have been cast aside by this government. You must know that for us, as members who represent all sectors of the population, it is very painful to have to explain to our voters that some of them do not appear to be considered as valuable as the rest of the population by the current government.

I recently heard from Jean Marcel who lives in Grand-Mère in my riding. This 52-year-old man has worked hard since he was eight years old and he is now unable to work. He receives $852 in social assistance per month, giving him an annual income of $9,760. He pays $5,000 in rent. This sick and very poor man does not have a family doctor. He feels abandoned by society, the same society to which he actively contributed all these years. This man asked me if he is entitled to live. What do I say to him when governments, such as the one in power, have clearly abandoned people like him?

The Bloc Québécois will continue to lead the charge on key issues such as the fiscal imbalance and to stand up for the interests of Quebeckers. As the vice-president of the Desjardins Group has said, the fiscal imbalance has only been resolved in part; a definitive solution remains to be found.

In addition, it seems that Ottawa still meddles too much in provincial areas of jurisdiction, namely health, education and labour force training. You can rest assured that the Bloc Québécois will continue to fight, with the support of all Quebeckers, for the complete resolution of the fiscal imbalance.

[Shawinigan Volunteer Centre, March 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday inSaint-Maurice—Champlain, a highly anticipated and important annual dinner was held. More than 440 people from various community organizations in the area attended the Shawinigan volunteer centre appreciation night. I would like to point out that this event, which acknowledges the exceptional contribution of volunteers in our community, was very well attended . The volunteer centre took this opportunity to circulate the Bloc Québécois petition denouncing the cuts to the summer career placements program.

Representatives of non-profit organizations attending the event are among the most affected by the unwarranted cuts by the Conservative government. More than 360 signatures were collected. This carries even more weight because these people work in this sector. These individuals are shocked by the 50% reduction in funding to a program that is vital to the training of youth in their communities. I am submitting this petition on their behalf.

[Business of Supply, March 1st, 2007]

First, Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague for the excellent speech she delivered earlier on the Bloc's motion regarding the future of the aerospace industry in Quebec and the lack of will of the Conservative government in the attribution of contracts.

I would remind her that in my riding of Saint-Maurice—Champlain, the current economic situation is extremely weakened by all the forest industry problems, of which we have not seen the end yet. For several years now, there has been a diversification of the regional economy in the form of subcontracting businesses in the aerospace sector.

Citizens have been asking me for a while now how it is that the current government does not intend to support Quebec's aerospace industry, knowing that there could be economic spinoffs, the same way it has supported and is still supporting the automobile industry in Ontario. Why is it that we are not able to benefit from the support that other regions of Canada have benefited from? Now should be the time for us to benefit from some sort of support, because this lack of will from the Conservative government could jeopardize the survival of those businesses.

Could my colleague tell me what answer I can give to my constituents about the economic future of my region?

[Suicide Prevention Week, February 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in every region of Quebec, there are hundreds of individuals who are working tirelessly day after day to ensure that suicide is no longer the primary cause of death among men between the ages of 20 and 40.

As this is Suicide Prevention Week, I want to stress the significance of this cause of death, and particularly what we should all do to prevent such deaths.

The hon. Michael Sheehan, a Quebec court judge, himself deeply afflicted by the loss of a son, recently gave a conference that left no one indifferent. In the past ten years, 12,000 Quebeckers have taken their own lives; this happens to be the exact number of people living in La Tuque, where we attended this conference.

It is important that all the citizens of Quebec realize that there are effective ways of fighting this terrible affliction. Suicide prevention centres are in great need of support, which we should really provide them. It is a matter of life.

[Canada Pension Plan, January 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. The Bloc Québécois has indeed made the question of retroactivity a priority.

I would point out again that the elderly are one of the most vulnerable groups, as the member explained. They are vulnerable, first, because of pressure from society and from government bodies. That pressure means that for them it is very often much too complicated to file applications. They always imagine that they are not entitled, that they will not be covered because of some exception. Often, because of bad experiences they had in the past, their first reaction is not necessarily to seek out people to help them, in order to get access to money that would help them, in this instance the guaranteed income supplement.

It is extremely important—to point this out one more time—to provide them with full retroactive payment. In fact, these people were entitled to that money for a number of years and did not receive it. We know that money is important, particularly for older people, who are much more fragile. Obviously, we talk a lot about the health of older people. Their health is much more fragile, and often having better income also has a positive impact on their health, because they are able to obtain additional services. Sometimes, because they do not have the income they need, some seniors will go without medications when they need them.

That is one more reason for the guaranteed income supplement to be paid to everyone entitled to it, obviously, but also for it to be paid retroactively to people who were entitled to it for many years.