Lise St-Denis

[Government Programs, June 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, with Bill C-38, the government is cutting the heart out of our small communities by attacking library services. The government plans to eliminate the only program that has provided reliable high-speed Internet access to small communities. Saint-Adelphe, in my riding, is one such community.

How does the minister plan to provide fair access to the cultural and historic heritage of our communities, no matter where they are located?

[Business of Supply, May 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, how is this employment insurance reform going to solve the rural problem? I do not see how it will. We are all working hard in our ridings to find solutions to help people find work. Co-operatives are one example of that. I am from a region that was once prosperous because of forestry. All of the jobs in that sector have been lost. I do not see how the government's proposal will help solve the problem of poor people who do not have jobs.

[Business of Supply, May 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, that is not what I was talking about. I never said that there is no need for employment insurance reform. I said that the proposed reform was developed without consultation. Without consultation, the government's solution is nothing but its personal take on the situation. It does not take the regions into account.

Yesterday we talked about co-operatives. Co-operatives create employment, and that has nothing to do with the 750,000 jobs that have been created. It is great that 750,000 jobs have been created, but the proposed changes to employment insurance will not solve the problems of people in the regions. That is all I am saying. If the government had consulted with people in the regions, it would have understood the situation. Municipalities are dying. Nobody lives there anymore. Towns will have to be shut down. The government's proposal is like saying that, since these people do not have jobs, the municipality will have to be shut down, and they will have to move somewhere else so they can get jobs.

Is that what the government is suggesting with its proposal?

[Business of Supply, May 31st, 2012]

The world has changed since the 1990s. It is different. The economic situation and the employment insurance situation were both different. My justification has nothing to do with it. In the 1990s, we had not gone through the economic crisis that we have now gone through. Our problems are different. They have nothing to do with each other.

That question has nothing to do with what I said.

[Business of Supply, May 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in Bill C-38, the Conservative government is attacking Canada's employment insurance system. Not content with gutting almost all of our country's social programs, the Conservatives have decided to make yet another reform, without consultation.

Employment insurance plays an essential role in this country by providing a safety net, as flimsy as it may be, to protect against the ups and downs of the market economy. Canada is such a large country that fluctuations in the economy generally create some degree of dissonance from one region to another. Thus, the realities of the fisheries on the country's east coast have little to do with those on the west. The same holds true for forestry development and the tourism-related service industry.

We have always been faced with regional disparities, which become less pronounced in periods of prosperity and more pronounced in periods of crisis. Thus, the unprecedented economic crisis that western economies have been experiencing for the past few years has served only to further accentuate the economic difficulties of some regions of Canada. No one here, in this time of crisis, has spoken about maintaining the status quo in applying the Employment Insurance Act. As legislators, members of Parliament in this House are all aware of their responsibilities, which are all the more important in these times of fiscal restraint.

However, questioning the employment insurance system in this time of crisis cannot be done without a minimum amount of consultation with subject matter experts, the political class concerned and the social groups that provide front line, essential services to people who are looking for work.

The Conservative government is forgetting the human tragedies resulting from the loss of employment in the regions. The thousands of unemployed workers who are receiving employment insurance benefits are getting only a fraction of their former salaries, which negatively impacts the resources available for community development.

This most recent EI reform, which attacks labour force mobility and the prerogative of job seekers to use their skills, does not take regional realities into account at all. What is more, the change to the definition of suitable employment ignores the minimum measure of dignity that must be included de facto in this type of program.

We built these programs to help the unemployed and meet the minimum needs of individuals and communities in crisis. Today, the current government is attempting to redefine the relationship between citizens and the state by introducing fundamental ideological messages within these reforms of Canada's social security system. The government does not have the mandate to redefine the role of the state and the social programs that are definitely part of our national identity. Our mandate is to make the country work in spite of the inherent differences resulting, in part, from its vastness.

This employment insurance reform is an attack on seasonal workers, and will force them to move in order to take jobs for which they have few or no qualifications. The government wants to force people, by imposing mandatory wage cuts for the jobs to which they apply, to go into areas of the labour market that are foreign to them. The fisher or forestry worker must now redefine suitable employment and trust an employment insurance system that denies the seasonal economic reality of these industries. The Conservative government is introducing reforms without serious studies of the economic and social consequences.

By reducing administrative employment insurance appeals, the government is ensuring that any impulse to appeal is nipped in the bud. The government is saying no to consultation and no to appeals.

On the east coast, in Quebec and the Maritimes, large sectors of our economy are subject to seasonal employment rules.

The Conservatives' announcement on EI reform upsets an already precarious balance for the people working in the fishery, forestry and tourism. Failing to consult local decision-makers, economists, the opposition and social groups about this reform shows the Conservatives' lack of sensitivity toward the regions and reveals beyond a doubt their ideological rigidity that draws on theories from another century that are no longer current in a complex and ever-changing world.

Changing employment insurance without consulting the local communities is contemptuous and disregards the historic reality of this country and its regions.

We cannot forget the successive structural crises that have affected our fisheries and our forestry and held them hostage in the international regulatory no man's land for which the Conservatives have such an affinity.

Legislating the changes proposed by the Conservatives without consulting Canadians is symptomatic of a government that relies blindly on market forces.

We have a duty to bring in reforms, because the government must be the people's watchdog when it comes to crises that shake up the world every so often. We must bring in these reforms while remaining focused on restoring regional economies, which have been abandoned by this government, which still believes in the principle of natural justice at a time when government intervention is crucial to social cohesion.

In closing, I would remind the members opposite that our economic performance today and our national security depend heavily on a government that engages with its people and its institutions. Believing that these EI reforms will fix regional inequalities and give jobs to the unemployed is magical thinking.

Before making any changes to the EI system, the Conservatives have a moral obligation to help rebuild the regional economies that have been devastated by globalization, technological changes and environmental degradation. The proposed EI reforms are unequivocal proof of this government's lack of vision and realism. Furthermore, this reform could deprive regional economies of the temporary foreign workers needed to work in seasonal industries.

This extremely symbolic displacement of workers forced to apply for jobs within a one-hour commute of their homes will affect the structure of seasonal employment in the regions. Without a doubt, we need to examine the costs involved in this kind of reform, by highlighting the real economic contribution that seasonal jobs make to our communities, and to work on creating economic programs that will support local economies.

[Business of Supply, May 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, there is one thing that I do not understand.

It is true that there are jobs available and that people are looking for jobs. It is true that they want to match people on EI to available jobs. If the goal really is to find people to fill available jobs, why does the government simply not conduct an advertising campaign to better inform people about available jobs, without putting this in the law?

[Business of Supply, May 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague pointed out earlier, I had intended to speak about the co-operative in Notre-Dame-de-Montauban, but I am simply going to talk about the cuts made by the federal government, which has distinguished itself by cutting the services of the Co-operatives Secretariat.

The latest federal budget reduced grants to Canada's co-operatives still further, despite the fact that they are on the front line in our rural communities. Technical support for the development of co-operatives in Canada, the only federal government program specifically for co-operatives, has shrunk to almost nothing. The budget for the specific program called the co-operative development initiative has been eliminated, without any alternatives being set up.

Nevertheless, the Conservatives, who boasted about being the all-out champions of rural development, have scrapped one of the few development initiatives for small and medium-sized communities in Canada in one fell swoop.

We are happy to see the co-operative movement set up new structures in Mauricie, but we hope that this model, the final barrier against the decline of our towns and villages, will develop throughout the area. We will have to invest the funds needed for the co-operatives' start-up in order to help the rural communities take control and ensure the stability of their towns, I could even say, of our towns.

I would like to ask the ministers opposite if they can tell me exactly how the communities should attract entrepreneurs to the area if they cannot even ensure the survival of local businesses. Rural development, whether agricultural, mining, industrial or business-related, is inextricably linked to maintaining basic services.

[Business of Supply, May 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would appreciate it if my colleague would explain a little more about the human side of co-operatives.

What impact do these co-operatives have on people in small towns, for example, regarding their current attitude toward going to big box stores and other places that are, to some extent, absolutely dehumanized?

[Shawinigan Cataractes, May 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain and Shawinigan.

I am very pleased with the interest that the members of this House have taken in this tournament. This is a victory for all communities in the Mauricie region. Once again, our common passion for hockey has connected Canada's regions.

I salute the Cataractes' victory in a thrilling game of our national sport. I would like to congratulate the Edmonton Oil Kings, the Saint John Sea Dogs and the London Knights, which all contributed to the success of the Memorial Cup tournament.

Our leader and I were at this historic game. We would like to acknowledge the hospitality of the people of Shawinigan. Congratulations Shawinigan Cataractes, 2012 Memorial Cup champions.

[41st General Election, May 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I must insist. Now the noose is tightening regarding the robocall scandal. It has recently come to light that the IP address used by Pierre Poutine was that of a Conservative campaign worker. Furthermore, the list used to call non-Conservative supporters was taken from the Conservative CIMS database.

What more does the government need for it to redeem itself and share all information with the authorities?