Karine Trudel

[Canada Post Corporation, November 21st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, Canada Post has greatly exaggerated the amount of mail that has accumulated.

In Toronto, there are 70 semi-trailers of mail, not hundreds as Canada Post is claiming in the media. There is one truck in London, six in Hamilton, two in Halifax, and 15 in Moncton. All this mail can be delivered in a matter of days. Canada Post fabricated a false crisis and the government took the bait.

Why is the Minister of Labour not protecting workers' safety? Why did she side with management instead of protecting postal workers' rights?

[Business of Supply, November 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to the speeches since we started the debate on this motion. I remember back in 2015 when I was campaigning, the Liberals were promising money for infrastructure and talking about making major investments. None of that money has showed up in my riding, Jonquière, so far though. That is why people are worried and why we have so many questions for the government.

Let me break it down with a straightforward analogy for people watching at home while we dig our heels in on all kinds of issues here in the House. Nearly all of us have a mortgage. I do, anyway, and in 25 years, if everything goes well, I will have paid it off and I will be able to rejig my budget around my other expenses. That is what a sound financial framework looks like, and that is what we are asking for.

Why are the Liberals not listening to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and why are they not giving us proper financial footing or a timeline for balancing the budget so we can see where we are headed? I think that would be simpler. That is what regular people do in their everyday lives.

[Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, November 19th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my colleague for moving Motion No. 190.

The problems addressed in this motion are as bad as they have ever been and will keep getting worse if we do not take action now, so the committee needs to study them. This is an issue of real concern to us all, and we have got to find sustainable solutions.

The labour shortage affects the entire country, even my riding, Jonquière. That is why I would like the committee to look at the impact in places other than the GTA and Hamilton and to consider sectors other than construction. Many sectors and many parts of Canada have critical labour shortages. Still, this is a start, and I hope that the recommendations in the report will be relevant to every member's region, including my own.

We know the problem is not going to go away on its own. According to Pierre Cléroux, chief economist at BDC, quite a lot of people think the shortage is temporary. It is not. On the contrary, the labour shortage is likely to get worse over time. We are seeing signs of that all across the country. Restaurants have no choice but to close their doors at the end of the summer because there are no workers to be found. There are customers aplenty, but restaurants hire students in the summer, and nobody else is available to do those jobs when the students go back to school in the fall.

Some farmers lose their crops because they do not have enough workers to harvest their fruits and vegetables. That is not to mention another problem that we are experiencing in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, namely a serious lack of welders and other skilled workers. Businesses have to contact their competitors and ask them to lend them welders so that they can fulfill their contractual obligations. That makes no sense. In my region, there are many jobs going unfilled, and it is a serious problem.

Ensuring that skilled workers are available to meet labour demands is a responsibility the government should take very seriously. A more sustainable and equitable solution would be to see Canadian workers, employers, unions, educational institutions, and federal and provincial governments working together strategically to meet our labour force goals.

According to a Conference Board of Canada report, the wave of retirements, combined with the declining birth rate, will create a labour shortage that will continue to grow for years. Something needs to be done. Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean is already feeling the effects of the labour shortage. In 20 years, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean has gone from having a shortage of jobs to having a shortage of workers. I never thought I would see that. It is estimated that the region's population will increase by only 0.4% from 2016 to 2021, while the population of Quebec as a whole will increase by 3.8%. If this situation continues, over the long term, the revenue generated by SMEs could diminish because there are not enough workers.

The forestry industry is also an important economic driver in my region. The future of Quebec's forestry industry depends on new employment access policies for women and indigenous peoples and on better targeted immigration strategies to deal with the labour crisis in our plants. This labour shortage is already having a negative impact on economic growth in my region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean.

In March 2018, at the Action Économique conference in Alma, the CEO of Béton préfabriqué du Lac said, “We invested $25 million in our plants outside Canada, but we invested zero dollars [in those in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean]. Why? There are no workers.”

Several initiatives are already under way to solve this problem in order to make the region more appealing and attract workers.

Let me share an example of something that happened recently, about two weeks ago, in my riding. The Saguenay-Le Fjord chamber of commerce and industry organized an event to woo about 30 immigrants who have arrived in Quebec over the past five years. The purpose of the event was to encourage those workers, whom our economy badly needs, to settle in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region.

I went to the airport to welcome them personally. An entire day was set aside for them to meet with employers, bring their CVs and tour businesses. The event was an effort to attract workers to our region, and I hope it pays off, because we really need them.

I would also like to talk about other organizations in my riding, such as Place aux jeunes en région and Carrefour jeunesse-emploi Saguenay, which are doing a wonderful job of recruiting and attracting people from outside our region, keeping them in our region and facilitating their integration. I personally applaud their efforts. As an example, the goals of Place aux jeunes en région include preventing and slowing the exodus of young people to large urban centres, promoting and facilitating the professional integration of young people in the region, supporting and promoting the social engagement of young people in the region, educating young people, those close to them and local stakeholders about the impact of the exodus, and encouraging business creation in the region.

In Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, four migration officers are posted to different areas. The migration officer is the resource person for matters related to youth migration, settlement and retention in the region. The migration officer's mission is to attract a growing number of young people to the area they represent.

Migration officers are front-line, well-informed resources who support young people and engage the community. Their job is to support young people remotely through the process of settling in the region, organize and run familiarization visits, be familiar with the labour needs of local businesses and with local economic development projects, and post job offers and regional news. They also work with local employers to help them find qualified graduates to hire, encourage local teens to see the potential in their home region and learn about local labour needs, and make their community aware of the consequences of the youth exodus and come up with strategies to welcome and retain young people.

In a region like mine, Saguenay—Lac Saint-Jean, retaining young people is very important, but we also have to ensure that immigrants who come to our region find the resources they need to tour businesses and to settle in our region for good.

Those are the reasons I will be voting in favour of Motion No. 190. A study of this kind would help us make the economy more dynamic and competitive and ensure that employers get the workers they need and that workers get the opportunities they deserve.

[Pensions, November 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals refuse to amend the bankruptcy act and workers continue to be left with nothing but crumbs.

Sears Canada employees spent their lives working and paying into their pensions. Sears shareholders got $509 million, and what did the workers get? Nothing. Once again, the most vulnerable are footing the bill.

When will the government change the law to put an end to pension theft?

[Criminal Code, November 8th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, in its own report on the stakeholder consultations, the Department of Justice admitted that the strain on our system is largely due to social issues. Nearly all the participants in the round table raised the same major concerns. They said that the people coming into contact with the criminal justice system are almost all vulnerable or marginalized individuals, many of whom have issues with mental illness, substance addiction or violence.

I would like to know what my colleague thinks about the notion that the government should invest more in addressing the root causes of social inequality and stop criminalizing people in need of help.

[Employment, November 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Lowe's announced that it is closing 24 Rona stores, including nine in Quebec. In 2016, when Lowe's bought Rona, the NDP asked the Liberals to review the foreign investment review process to ensure that it is transparent and that potential job losses are considered. We also wanted the buyers' intentions to be spelled out. People have the right to know.

Do the Liberals intend to review the Investment Canada Act to prevent workers from always being sacrificed?

[Veterans Affairs, November 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, since 2016, the $372 million promised to our veterans has been left on the table. Our veterans deserve high-quality services. It is not like there are a hundred different ways to improve services; the Liberals have to invest the money they promised.

The motion we put forward today calls for the government to automatically carry forward all annual lapsed spending to the next fiscal year, which would solve the Department of Veterans Affairs' financial problems.

Will the Liberals make the right choice, put partisanship aside and support our motion?

[Business of Supply, November 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party closed nine offices that provided direct services to veterans and left $1.1 billion sitting in the coffers for 10 years, so the Conservatives are in no position to lecture the government.

However, we are talking now about services. Earlier, I talked about some of the projects that would help my region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean. There are people who volunteer in our legions every day to provide services to our men and women in uniform. These people are ready. I therefore hope that the government will be open to the idea of the care centre for people in uniform that I spoke about earlier. That would be a great help to the people of my riding.

[Business of Supply, November 5th, 2018]

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

There has been a bit of progress, but the government promised us major investments. It allocated funding, but now the department has a surplus. That money is not being used.

Last year we worked with one of my constituents for a year. We supported this individual and listened to him. However, when I asked him simply how he was doing, he said he has not been able to reach a person by telephone, just to ask whether his application was accepted. This means that problems still exist, if our constituents still have to come to our local offices to let us know that they have not been able to speak with a person.

Investments have been made, but right now we are talking about services and money that was allocated. Surpluses are accumulating, so there must be a problem somewhere.

[Business of Supply, November 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, but that was a rhetorical question.

We had to move a motion in the House because there are still people waiting. The government's website shows that 12 of its 24 service standards have not been met. That is not even at 80%.

I said this in my speech, but I want to repeat it. The Liberals left $80.9 million unspent in 2016, $143 million in 2017, and $148.6 million in 2018. We are debating this motion moved by my colleague in the House today because there are still problems.

I have many more examples of the glaring lack of services, which I could perhaps talk about in response to another question.